2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Microcontrollers and microelectronics power nearly everything around us, from smart home devices to advanced factory robots and 3D printers. As technology races forward, giving students hands-on experience with these tools early in their education isn’t just helpful; it’s essential. It connects classroom learning to real-world innovation and sparks curiosity that could shape their entire careers. Without this exposure, first-year engineering students might overlook a critical opportunity to build foundational skills in a field that’s shaping our future. That’s why we reviewed existing research to understand how universities are bringing microelectronics into undergraduate programs today. The data utilized for this analysis were drawn from four scholarly databases (Compendex, Scopus, Google Scholar, and ASEE Peer). We identified articles that discuss how academic institutions have incorporated microelectronics and microcontrollers into first-year and sophomore curricula. This poster presents a preliminary result of the findings showing the pedagogical methods used by institutions and students' learning outcomes engaging with these innovative devices. Additionally highlights the limitations and challenges these institutions encountered during the implementation of these devices in the programs.