Engineering Question

[RESmonkey]

What's the main difference?

Intel, Apple, Sony, etc. all seem to hire EEs for computer stuff, with one CE here and there.
Are Computer Engineers just people who make chips, and let EEs do all the putting hardware together?

I'm confused.

 

[RedArmy]

The way our college described it was that CoE majors dealt with interfacing hardware and software while the EE majors dealt more with the physical aspect of the hardware and it's architecture design

 

[RESmonkey]

So, say for example one company was to sell HDDs. The EE would find the enclosure, dimensions, magnetic interferace, etc., while the CE would design the firmware for the HDD?

 

[RedArmy]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
So, say for example one company was to sell HDDs. The EE would find the enclosure, dimensions, magnetic interferace, etc., while the CE would design the firmware for the HDD?

I'm sure it's not that cut and dry, but yes, simply put the EE's would normally be in charge of designing the hardware itself while the CoE's get it to work with other hardware

 

[Special K]

Don't worry too much about what degree you have when it comes to EE vs. CompE (and even vs. CS to some extent). It's far more important that you take classes related to what you want to specialize in. During my interviews, my interviewers didn't care what my actual degree was (it was EE), only how my project and coursework related to the position I was interviewing for. In most programs, EE and CompE overlap quite a bit. You could even have 2 students take the exact same classes yet end up with different degrees - 1 EE and one CompE, depending on how they structured their electives.


Regarding CPU design - your position in the CPU design process as a new hire will depend largely on your relevant coursework and project experience coming in. EE, CompE, and CS degree holders are all involved in chip design.

 

[mcmilljb]

Intel is going to hire more EE's than CE's for design, but traditionally, CE was a specialized EE(computer hardware). The contemporary focus now is to either be a software engineer or a computer hardware engineer. You can still do a lot of EE courses if you choose CE, but you will have to focus on CS courses as well. Even EE's will have to take some CS courses. I remember watching the EE's struggle through the early programming classes, but they did better in the architecture courses. Also some people forget not all EE's focus on computer systems. They also work on power systems. If you want to do computer hardware engineering, I would do CE with a focus on the traditional CE degree. Just substitute any CS electives with EE electives. You just have to watch out for an overload in CS courses. If their CE courses too heavily favor CS, then I would do an EE substituting some EE courses for CS courses like Computer Networks or VLSI Design or whatever leads to your goals. Best thing you can do is talk to an advisor at the university you want to attend.

 

[George P Burdell]

At my school, CmpE is little more than a farce. We have the same core courses as EE with the exception of 4-5 courses.

 

[mcmilljb]

Originally posted by: George P Burdell
At my school, CmpE is little more than a farce. We have the same core courses as EE with the exception of 4-5 courses.

GA Tech right? I just looked them over, and they have a traditional CE degree. They still have the ECE designator which most programs have had since offering the CE degree. For my CE degree, I took about half the same EE courses and most of the CE specific courses, but I had to take a lot more CS specific courses such as Operating Systems, Computer Theory, Data Structures, and Embedded Programming. Plus CE majors had to 2 senior projects. One for hardware and one for software.

 

[edro]

I'm a CE, but work as an EE.

CE curriculum has more microprocessor / programming emphasis.

EE is such an old, solid degree that most employers just put that on the job posting.

Either degree will get you in the door.

 

[Gibson486]

There are millions of threads on this.

Truth be told....

in the electronics industry they are interchangeable for the most part. Obvioulsy, you will not see an CE do antenna design (well, you could), but they both overlap so much.


You really do not see the difference until you get outside of electronics, but even then, there is some overlap.

 

[IEC]

At our engineering school, the difference between an EE degree and an ECE degree is literally 1 or 2 classes.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey
So, say for example one company was to sell HDDs. The EE would find the enclosure, dimensions, magnetic interferace, etc., while the CE would design the firmware for the HDD?

enclosure and dimension are usually Mech. Engineering jobs It's not to say you can't find an EE or CE doing it, though.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner
At our engineering school, the difference between an EE degree and an ECE degree is literally 1 or 2 classes.

That's ECE....ofcourse it's only gonna be 1 or two classes, ECE is a dual major.