I am a Junior in my school's Computer Engineering curriculum, and am thoroughly enjoying it. Since CpE programs vary enormously, here is my flowchart for reference. I have added a few courses (actually, 26 credits of courses) for a Japanese minor, and this will cause me to graduate one semester late (I'm taking 12 to 24 credits over summer semesters, but scheduling conflicts force me to take the extra fall semester). That doesn't really pertain to much, but I thought I'd toss that out there in case anyone asks how I liked Semiconductor Physics, which I have put off.
My ECEN elective will probably be high-speed computer arithmetic, and my technical elective will probably be a mathematics course, but I may also consider something from physics or computer science. I am aware that this degree plan only scratches the surface of the field, and that many positions will be closed to me until I return for a Master's degree.
That being said, what does industry have to offer BSCpE graduates? Will I get stuck configuring servers and writing high-level programs, or is there a good chance that I can work at a much lower level, designing and programming microcontrollers or designing and implementing control circuitry? The carrot that the curriculum dangles in front of me is computer architecture, but I know that field is held by a very small number of highly skilled engineers, and I am very unlikely to get in there no matter how advanced my degree is. So the question is, what is left once that is gone?
When I attend my university's career fairs, recruiters seem altogether oblivious to the similarities between electrical and computer engineering. In fact, if you look at this flowchart, you will see that the core curriculum is the same, differing only in electives and the choice of statics over discrete math in BSEE. This obliviousness, and many other things, make me worry that I will get stuck either in software or network engineering. These are great fields, and I may end up going to one of my own free will at some point, but I don't want those to be my only viable options. I enjoy building logic circuits and driving motors with microcontrollers too much to just kiss low-level abstraction goodbye when I graduate.
So, PF, what is out there for me?
My ECEN elective will probably be high-speed computer arithmetic, and my technical elective will probably be a mathematics course, but I may also consider something from physics or computer science. I am aware that this degree plan only scratches the surface of the field, and that many positions will be closed to me until I return for a Master's degree.
That being said, what does industry have to offer BSCpE graduates? Will I get stuck configuring servers and writing high-level programs, or is there a good chance that I can work at a much lower level, designing and programming microcontrollers or designing and implementing control circuitry? The carrot that the curriculum dangles in front of me is computer architecture, but I know that field is held by a very small number of highly skilled engineers, and I am very unlikely to get in there no matter how advanced my degree is. So the question is, what is left once that is gone?
When I attend my university's career fairs, recruiters seem altogether oblivious to the similarities between electrical and computer engineering. In fact, if you look at this flowchart, you will see that the core curriculum is the same, differing only in electives and the choice of statics over discrete math in BSEE. This obliviousness, and many other things, make me worry that I will get stuck either in software or network engineering. These are great fields, and I may end up going to one of my own free will at some point, but I don't want those to be my only viable options. I enjoy building logic circuits and driving motors with microcontrollers too much to just kiss low-level abstraction goodbye when I graduate.
So, PF, what is out there for me?
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