Change of Focus within Major

[Gamingphreek]

Hey Guys,

I haven't posted here in a while because of all the stuff I am doing during my Sophomore Year of College at Virginia Tech (Sports, Christian Fellowship Leadership, Classes, Friends) but I actually need to call upon AT Forums for some help.

I have been thinking a lot lately about internships and co-ops. During our Engineering Expo, I looked at the CIA and NSA and liked the limited stuff I saw. This got me thinking about my focus within my major lately.

Currently I am in Electrical/Computer Engineering and I was planning on focusing on Microprocessor Architecture. Hopefully working for Intel, AMD, TSMC, Samsung or some other semi conductor. What I wanted to do, hopefully, was be one of the people who sat down and decided what new technologies went into Next Generation Microprocessors (For instance, when to include HyperThreading, when to add new SSE Instructions, etc...). Does anyone here currently work in the field and therefore knows what it entails? Wages? Experience out of college? Companies (Preferably East Coast)?

After visiting the booth for the CIA and NSA, I began toying with the idea of changing the focus from Computer Engineering -- Microprocessor Architecture, to Computer Engineering-- Network Engineering. Networking seems like a far more wide ranging industry with far more career opportunities. If I were to do this career path, a position in a Government Agency (Preferably Intelligence or Defense) seems more likely. Does anyone know what some popular jobs are here?

I plan on getting my Masters Degree upon receiving my Bachelors Degree-- will that benefit me a lot?

Thanks Guys,
-Kevin

 

[intogamer]

Lol you add Hyperthreading and SSE instructions when you are told to?

Plus I don't think it works that way? Development puts in new technologies.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Exactly, I want to be one of the people who gets a say in the discussion of how are we going to change this next processor architecture (ie: What features go into it- Hyperthreading and SSE were just examples of technologies). Does anyone know what I am (feebly) trying to get at here, I know my explanation is kind of poor.

I have been messing around with Linux on and off for the past year or so. If I lean more towards the Network Engineering side, I feel that I should become more familiar with Linux/Unix and the variants. Am I correct in this assumption?

-Kevin

 

[darthsidious]

You might want to post this in Highly Technical. I know a couple of microprocessor guys frequent that forum, and they could give you a better idea.

IMO, you probably want to get a job in microprocessor design (I don't know if you can start directly in architecture - correct me if I'm wrong) for what you want to do. Be warned though - the kind of descisions you're talking about are very high-level architecture/platform descisions. You're very unlikely to get input into them till you have a lot of experiece, and become a high-level architecture guy. In the begining, youre likely to be writing a lot of RTL code, and implementing things, rather than architecture. Also, many of the jobs even in a microprocessor company are outside of the core chip design - like verification, debug, test, etc.

Edit : One piece of advice. Do your best to get an internship at a semiconductor design company. Put a lot of effort into this, because if you get a good internship, it makes finding a job a LOT easier. A Master's is also valuable in getting a pay bump, and many companies now require master's for design positions.

As for salaries, it depends on company, what kind of work you do, and what degree you have. As a rough range, think about 50-65k with a bachelor's, and 60-80k with a master's. I can't give you a better idea about the range and other companies to apply to, becuase I work in analog design.If you like analog, the pay can often be better than jobs at large companies like AMD or Intel ( I just accepted a job offer at an analog/mixed signal company in austin today, so I'm biased )

 

[Gamingphreek]

Yea-- by want to do that, I mean just EVENTUALLY get somewhere near that level. I know I wouldn't be able to right out of college.

Am I correct in assuming that Network Engineering has a lot more opportunity in the Intelligence/Defense field (With a Government Agency). It would just seem to me that more Hardware Architecture and Design aren't available in those agencies.

-Kevin

Edit: Congrats on the new job darthsidious!

 

[darthsidious]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Yea-- by want to do that, I mean just EVENTUALLY get somewhere near that level. I know I wouldn't be able to right out of college.

Am I correct in assuming that Network Engineering has a lot more opportunity in the Intelligence/Defense field (With a Government Agency). It would just seem to me that more Hardware Architecture and Design aren't available in those agencies.

-Kevin

Edit: Congrats on the new job darthsidious!

Sure, you're not going to find many circuit designers in NSA or the CIA. But why are you interested in a job in the govt/defense sector? Also, what precisely does network engineering entail?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: darthsidious

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Yea-- by want to do that, I mean just EVENTUALLY get somewhere near that level. I know I wouldn't be able to right out of college.

Am I correct in assuming that Network Engineering has a lot more opportunity in the Intelligence/Defense field (With a Government Agency). It would just seem to me that more Hardware Architecture and Design aren't available in those agencies.

-Kevin

Edit: Congrats on the new job darthsidious!

Sure, you're not going to find many circuit designers in NSA or the CIA. But why are you interested in a job in the govt/defense sector? Also, what precisely does network engineering entail?

By Network Engineering I mean, dealing with the Servers, managing the domains, wiring Networks.

-Kevin

 

[darthsidious]

It would seem like certifications/practical experience would be the best thing for something like that. Why not spend college learning things you won't be able to otherwise?