Computer engineering vs. electrical engineering

[DrPizza]

Which one would be a better major? Why? What's the job outlook for each? (I'm trying to help a student.)

And, is a dual-major in these two possible?

 

[ichy]

They're essentially the same thing. Often the difference is a couple of classes, although CE can be much more focused on Computer Science. What are you better at, math or programming?

 

[Gibson486]

lots colleges let you dual major, some colleges you are forced to dual major.

Computer is more software oriented, Electrical more hardware and can also include 3 phase power. Honestly, they both over lap so much...you could easily start out as a CE, then change to an EE and vice versa. It mostly depends on how they differentiate the curriculum.

Honestly, if you do not know, you should not be advising the student on what the difference is.

 

[mnewsham]

Which one would be a better major? Why? What's the job outlook for each? (I'm trying to help a student.)

And, is a dual-major in these two possible?

Computer engineering is sometimes set up into two sub-fields Hardware and software. Is this student interested in both or just one? Electrical is fairly broad, Micro-electrical engineering (if offered) would be similar to Computer hardware engineering. For the most part though you dont get to that level of study until a masters. Though it obviously depends on the institute. As for which is "better" there isnt a clear cut answer. Job outlook is also a hard one and I will leave that up to someone else

 

[ichy]

It seems like most EEs end up programming FPGAs all day long, might as well go with CE.

 

[busydude]

It is not really black and white. There is a lot of overlap between the two majors.

In my case though.. I am an EE, but all of my work is mostly based on stats and software coding. IDk.. the more you think about it.. the more confusing and convoluted it gets.

If I have to choose between them.. I would say Computer Engineering, but in reality there is not much of a difference.

 

[Aharami]

computer engineering is something he/she should pursue if interested in software development and architecture. the courses involve some overlap with CS courses such as software algorithms, OS, etc and you get to learn coding (although not as extensively as CS). There is significant focus on digital systems, digital systems design, and computer architecture.

Electrical engineering focuses more on the analog devices, and there's hardly any programming courses. Both will involve high level calculus, physics, and circuit design classes. The courses are pretty similar for the first two years. In fact I remember being the same class as many electrical engineering majors. It's the 3rd year when the courses start diverging. I remember my EE friends bitching about courses like Analog Circuits, and Magnetism. Where as CE's bitched about courses like OS and DSD.

I'd say tell him to check out the courses for each path and see which one he is interested in more. Since the courses are pretty much the same for the first two years, he can always switch paths before the 3rd year.

 

[TecHNooB]

An EE would benefit from taking all the programming courses CmpEs take. A CmpE would benefit from taking all the E&M and DSP courses that EEs take. From my experience, EE is more desired at job fairs but CmpE gets paid more. Back in the day, there was no CmpE so that might attribute to EE being more popular.

 

[highland145]

1st year is going to be the same anyway. He needs to look at the curriculum. At Clemson, a long time ago, EE required more physics/power classes. I'm decent at math but can't stand physics.

 

[clamum]

I don't know much about either but my brother graduated with a CompE degree and my friend with dual-major CompE and EE. Seems a lot of classes are shared between the two, at least where we all went to school (Michigan Tech), and that is part of the reason my friend just went ahead with the dual-major.

As for jobs, my brother had three offers before he graduated but ended up getting laid off a year+ later by the job he ended up going with; he eventually got another job and has been there for about three months. I don't recall if my friend had offer(s) before graduating, but has had the same job for years (he graduated spring 2006 with me).

 

[ThatsABigOne]

I am studying Computer Engineering and will plan to Double major as the classes for the most part, the same.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Computer is more software oriented, Electrical more hardware and can also include 3 phase power. Honestly, they both over lap so much...you could easily start out as a CE, then change to an EE and vice versa. It mostly depends on how they differentiate the curriculum.

This. It's really not going to matter much career-wise which one he picks. Both majors will push his skills in a direction that will make him capable of doing the same set of jobs.

 

[MotF Bane]

From what I've seen, the curriculum is nearly identical. CE's get a bunch of programming classes, and more microprocessors and such. EE's only get a taste of programming, and instead get more on power and fields and such.

As for a dual major, I'd suggest looking for something called EECS; some schools use that term instead of CE, and blur the lines more.

 

[Printer Bandit]

EE gets more respect.

 

[busydude]

EE's only get a taste of programming, and instead get more on power and fields and such.

It actually depends on the field you are interested in.

Circuit testing : Mostly Cpp.. requires a lot of programming skills to generate test vectors and such.

DSP/DIP: Mostly stats and software coding.. Cpp/Java/Matlab.

Power: This is only field that I can think of that does not require coding skills.

Embedded systems: Mostly programming.. but needs indepth knowledge of FPGAs.

VLSI -> Digital circuits is mostly software oriented.. VHDL/ Verilog.

The only differentiating factor is studying in detail about OS and stuff, but a lot of universities have specialized courses on computer architecture which deals with all of them.

 

[DrPizza]

lots colleges let you dual major, some colleges you are forced to dual major.

Computer is more software oriented, Electrical more hardware and can also include 3 phase power. Honestly, they both over lap so much...you could easily start out as a CE, then change to an EE and vice versa. It mostly depends on how they differentiate the curriculum.

Honestly, if you do not know, you should not be advising the student on what the difference is.

I know the difference - I didn't ask what the difference is (though I keep getting answers to that question) and know that there's a lot of overlap. I was just one on one with him for a period & asked him what his goal was - he's trying to decide between the two (and then mentioned getting a dual major.) My familiarity with dual-majors is that to get one, regardless of how similar the courses are, colleges require something like 24 extra credit hours before graduation. Given the demographic of some of the more respectable people on these forums, I figured someone here would be able to chime in with a few things like they did. i.e. EE is more respectable; stuff like that. The kid is very bright, so I have no doubt he will succeed in either direction. (And, if goes in both directions - dual major - is there a point to doing that? Does it improve the employability enough to make it worth the bother? I knew someone else with a dual major - elementary education and... physics?! Guess what she teaches... The el ed was a waste of her time.

 

[CrazyAznDriver]

Do what my wife did, major in ee and then go into medicine lol.

 

[ussfletcher]

I'm doing Computer Engineering. At my school my curriculum is very close to that of an EE. Its often said that we take about 80% of the EE curriculum and 75% of the Computer Science curriculum. At first glance that probably doesn't seem to add up, however I take all of the pre-reqs for both majors (200,300 level courses) its only the 400 level courses that I get to choose from both majors. Also, at my school I don't believe you can dual major, because It would just take something like an an extra semester to do. Hell, you could triple major in 5 years.

What I say to people who express interest is.. If you want to design circuits, write VHDL/Verillog, or do RF analysis exclusively then do EE. If you want to program games, web apps, or other applications exclusively then do Computer Science. If you want to do embedded programming, or if you want to understand any EE and CS concepts and apply them, do Computer Engineering.

I suppose I should add too, that EE classes are so much harder than CS, so I'm glad i can dilute my schedule a bit. In fact instead of taking a 400 level analogue circuits class, I'm planning on taking two CS classes.

 

[shelaby]

Do what my wife did, major in ee and then go into medicine lol.

im the opposite, pharmD looking to get into engineering...

 

[alkemyst]

im the opposite, pharmD looking to get into engineering...

Why do you want to do that? A pharmacist's salary is about double an average engineer here and neither has a lot of room for growth.

I'd look into Network Engineering if anything at that point...especially in UC (Unified Communications) and Security.

 

[ss284]

Do CS.

 

[polarmystery]

They are so close, that at Johns Hopkins where I am at grad school, they literally call it a Masters of Science in Electrical & Computer Engineering. So when I'm finished, I'll have a MSECE. However, considering I myself am an EE (undergrad), and now knowing what I do about computer engineering, I'd say most of the environment EE's touch on is in the analog world, whereas CompE's touch the digital world. I'm not saying EE's don't, but if I had to pin the two together, I'd say CompE is a focused subset of EE.

From what I've seen, the curriculum is nearly identical. CE's get a bunch of programming classes, and more microprocessors and such. EE's only get a taste of programming, and instead get more on power and fields and such.

As for a dual major, I'd suggest looking for something called EECS; some schools use that term instead of CE, and blur the lines more.

This is more or less the same thing I've experienced in my scholastic endeavors, even today.

 

[Matthiasa]

Close enough that my university just treats CE as an emphasis of EE.
If possible get both since as mentioned the difference will likely only be a handful of classes.

 

[sciencewhiz]

All of the CEs that I graduated with are doing pure software.

 

[Gibson486]

I know the difference - I didn't ask what the difference is (though I keep getting answers to that question) and know that there's a lot of overlap. I was just one on one with him for a period & asked him what his goal was - he's trying to decide between the two (and then mentioned getting a dual major.) My familiarity with dual-majors is that to get one, regardless of how similar the courses are, colleges require something like 24 extra credit hours before graduation. Given the demographic of some of the more respectable people on these forums, I figured someone here would be able to chime in with a few things like they did. i.e. EE is more respectable; stuff like that. The kid is very bright, so I have no doubt he will succeed in either direction. (And, if goes in both directions - dual major - is there a point to doing that? Does it improve the employability enough to make it worth the bother? I knew someone else with a dual major - elementary education and... physics?! Guess what she teaches... The el ed was a waste of her time.

Well, you do not need to overload on credits if that is what you are asking. When you go through the classes, you usually have to take 4 electives of your choice. Instead of doing 4 non engineering electives, you would do the 2 or 3 of missing CE or EE classes to get the dual major. This is how it worked at my school.

As for who is more respected. Neither are more. Some schools do not teach CEs Electromagnetics, so in that respect, yeah, EE is a little more challenging. However, lots of the hardcore EE stuff (mixed signal design, DSP design, etc) require a masters unless you are top of your class or graduated from some elite school like MIT.That is at least how it is in MA.

As for employment, I will tell you now, the future is in software. Yes, there will always be the need for the hardware design, but let me ask you this, how many hardware engineers do you think it took to design the iPod as opposed to software? It does not take that many engineers to design the hardware aspect, but the need for supporting that hardware with software (firmware, embedded stuff, UI, etc) is great.

Is there a point is dualing? Like I said, it's up to him because every curriculum is different. I was 1 class away from dual majoring. I did not do it (did not take an OS class). Why would I take it if I did not care for it? If he really wants to broadest one so he can decide which to pursue later on, I would say EE, but only because lots of the EEs I know ended up doing software anyways. However, I none of my CE friends do hardware.