Computer engineering
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- Laboratory Equipment Planning, Acquisition, and Maintenance
- Departmental Hardware, Software, and Networks Support Personnel
- Departmental Laboratory Equipment Support Personnel
Resources and SupportComputing Resources As stated in Criterion 7.1, every faculty’s office is equipped with a desktop and/or notebook, a printer, and a network connection. In addition, most of the faculty offices are also equipped with a scanner. Similarly, all classrooms are equipped with high-resolution projectors and network connected computers with commonly used Microsoft applications (such as Microsoft Office) being installed on them. Other more specific software/tools can be installed on request. In addition, students can access the network through the use of the CCSE general-purpose labs described earlier. Alternatively, both faculty and students can access the network through the use of the Information Technology Center (ITC) campus-wide IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN. The ITC wireless LAN helps reduce the demand on the general-purpose labs. In general, the ITC is the primary computing facility at KFUPM. It provides computing support for education, research, and administrative applications for the university community. Networking facilities at KFUPM have seen exponential growth over the last few years. The networking facilities provided by ITC comprise a fiber optic Gigabit Ethernet backbone serving more than 10,000 fast-Ethernet switched network points. All faculty offices, classrooms and PC labs are connected to the network. Faculty housing and multi-story student dorms buildings are also connected to the network. As stated earlier, the network is enhanced to provide IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN connectivity to all academic buildings across the campus. A total of 390 access points have been installed across the campus. Dial-up facilities are also available for remote access to KFUPM Intranet and Internet resources. Figure 7.2 -14 shows the overall network connectivity at KFUPM. 
Figure 7.2 14. KFUPM network connectivity. In addition to the aforementioned computing resources, several labs are used by both faculty and students to fulfill course outcomes as well as to conduct research. Each lab is equipped with adequate set of hardware and software items as stated in Criterion 7.1 and as presented in Appendix .C. All previously stated computing resources are adequate for the student’s ability to achieve the program’s outcomes and the faculty’s teaching and scholarly activities.
The COE department continuously addresses any upgrades/additions for the labs by estimating the yearly budget needed for the labs and submitting it to the university. The full process used to determine the department lab budget is divided into two levels: (1) the university level, and (2) the department level. The two levels are described next. At the university level, as every fiscal year is coming to an end, the planning committee at the university level is required to review the needs of major equipment and PCs of all academic colleges and make consolidated recommendations for the allocation of an appropriate budget for the next fiscal year. In this connection, a memo will be sent to all the academic colleges/departments by the chairman of the university planning committee at least four months before the end of every fiscal year requesting them to prepare their lists of major equipment and PCs for labs to be procured during the following fiscal year. A standard proforma is provided to all the departments to fill their lists of major equipment and PCs for labs. This process is currently being conducted online. At the department level, the chairman of the COE department labs committee will send a memo to all the faculty and lab coordinators asking them to prepare the list of major equipment, software tools and PCs for all the labs to be procured during the following fiscal year. The lists of items required for all the labs are to be prepared on the prescribed proforma providing appropriate information in all the following columns – Item description, quantity, estimated unit cost, Total amount, Priority, justification. These form the basis for future lab budget allocations and justifications. All lab coordinators will be required to discuss the requirements of their respective labs with the course coordinators and all the instructors teaching the respective courses. The objective is to consider the upgrade/enhancement of lab facilities (in terms of addition of new equipment and PCs as well as replacing old PCs) to:
Once these requirements are received from the lab coordinators and faculty on the prescribed proforma, a consolidated list is prepared indicating the budget allocation required for each of the labs as well as a summary of the total labs budget projection. The department labs requirements will be presented at the college council by the COE department chairman and will then be taken up for discussion and subsequent approval. Budget approved at the college council will be sent to the university planning committee for necessary action. Also the labs budget requirements will be entered at the university lab budget online system. With that process in mind, Table 7.2-41 provides the approved labs budgets for the fiscal years 2005 to 2009. Table 7.2 41. Approved labs budgets (Fiscal years 2005 – 2009). 
Note that the fluctuations in the lab budgets is due to many factors including, but not limited to, the need to expand the current educational and research facilities in a particular year, faculty needs for various projects, and the availability of consumable components. The COE department lab-wise budget allocation summary for the fiscal years 2005-2009 is provided in Table 7.2-42 through Table 7.2-46. Table 7.2 42. Lab budget allocation (Fiscal year 2005).
Table 7.2 43. Lab budget allocation (Fiscal year 2006). 
Table 7.2 44. Lab budget allocation (Fiscal year 2007). 
Table 7.2 45. Lab budget allocation (Fiscal year 2008). 
Table 7.2 46. Lab budget allocation (Fiscal year 2009). 
Once the budgets have been approved by the university, the acquisition of the laboratory equipment is done through the submission of purchasing requests to the university purchasing department. In turn, the purchasing department requests quotes from several vendors. Once the quotes are received and compared against the purchasing requests, a vendor is selected and a purchase order is submitted to acquire the requested lab equipment. With respect to labs maintenance, the lab support personnel, and in coordination with lab instructors, is responsible for determining if a defective equipment is to be repaired in-house, repaired at the manufacturer, or replaced. The laboratory equipment planning, acquisition, and maintenance processes are adequate for achieving the program’s outcomes at COE. Departmental Hardware, Software, and Networks Support Personnel The College of Computer Sciences and Engineering (CCSE) has its own complete IT infrastructure, which provides all the standard IT facilities to our faculty, staff and students. Currently, there are 17 network engineers and technicians providing IT support to the college. Among them, there are 5 MSc graduate holders. The CCSE network support is divided into the following: windows system administration and user support (3 personnel), UNIX system administration and support (2 personnel), network hardware and infrastructure (5 personnel), PC lab and classroom administration (6 personnel) and administrative, inventory and purchasing (1 personnel). Departmental Laboratory Equipment Support Personnel The COE department has one dedicated engineer with a BSc in Electronics and Electrical Engineering for all departmental laboratory equipment support. Note that the CCSE general-purpose labs are maintained by the college’s support personnel as explained in the previous subsection.
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