Need information from Computer Engineers

[Compnewbie01]

I need to find out what some computer engineers think about their job. Nothing very specific, but I guess answers to questions such as what you valued during your undergraduate education, did you choose to go to graduate school, what type of work did you do right after college and a few years after, what did you like/dislike about your work, and lastly maybe what kind of advice you would like to give to a computer engineer student. Anything would be very helpful.

Electrical engineers and computer scientists could also give information on what they like and maybe I could how exactly the three are related knowing that CPE is kind of a mix.

Anything would be helpful and appreciated if you have any useful information or advice for me. This is my first year majoring in CPE and so far I have only touched on some computer code.

 

[Passions]

Advice: Quit and change to biology.

 

[Compnewbie01]

Could you please elaborate on that?

 

[Pho King]

I majored in computer science and I know a lot of EE and CPE's who've gone over to the software (dark) side. CPE's have a lot of flexibility on if they want to go into hardware (like chip design) or software - either embedded or application.

If you have specific questions, feel free to pm me, I'll give you the computer science perspective.

 

[JohnCU]

college is just an initiation, you don't use much of what you learn, it's like a frat, you survive it and then get to work

 

[fbrdphreak]

The job all depends on your focus in engineering.

But in all reality, you can do anything. If you want to do engineering, you'll want to pick a focus and take extra undergrad classes (you usually have electives you can use to help focus your study) or look into a Master's program. NCSU has an Accelerated Master's program where basically in 5 years you can get your bachelor's and master's, more if you take time off to co-op/intern (a very good idea BTW).

You can also go into a number of other fields. Any company that does problem solving in any way, shape, or form loves engineers. If you can communicate well (writing, speaking, team work, etc etc), you have a LOT more possibilities as well. I'm finishing my EE, already have my CPE, and got a job right out of school doing online marketing for a large computer manufacturer. I could've had a job working for a patent law firm (essentially taking engineer's designs/ideas and transferring them to patents) had I wanted to move 2 hours away, and those kinds of jobs pay well.

The question is once you get into sophomore classes, how much do YOU like what you're doing? If you don't enjoy the complex problem solving and extremely detail oriented processes, you probably won't enjoy an engineering career.

Good luck

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Passions
Advice: Quit and change to biology.

He's referring to the fact that depending on the school, EE/CPE is one of the harder engineering programs out there. Of course, Chem E, Bio, etc engineering majors probly say the same

 

[CraKaJaX]

Originally posted by: Pho King
I majored in computer science and I know a lot of EE and CPE's who've gone over to the software (dark) side. CPE's have a lot of flexibility on if they want to go into hardware (like chip design) or software - either embedded or application.

If you have specific questions, feel free to pm me, I'll give you the computer science perspective.

Software engineer = dark side?

What's Calc 3 & 4, system dynamics, physics 102 and other things software engineers don't have to take categorized as?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: CraKaJaX

Originally posted by: Pho King
I majored in computer science and I know a lot of EE and CPE's who've gone over to the software (dark) side. CPE's have a lot of flexibility on if they want to go into hardware (like chip design) or software - either embedded or application.

If you have specific questions, feel free to pm me, I'll give you the computer science perspective.

Software engineer = dark side?

What's Calc 3 & 4, system dynamics, physics 102 and other things software engineers don't have to take categorized as?

I used to be a firmware Engineer. i wa sgood at it, but I hated it. Nothing worse than sittong in a cube without anyone to talk too. Atleast when you are in a lab, peopel actually want to talk.

 

[Compnewbie01]

Thank you all so far for your answers. This is very helpful to me because I am having trouble figuring out what I want to do (and my college requires you to have a declared major). One question I would like to add is what number percentages would you give to how much CSC and EE makes up CPE. Is it really *that* open and versatile where you can go both directions or does it really require some extra focus to one side?

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: Passions
Advice: Quit and change to biology.

QFT
<---- BSEE + MSEE

 

[LS20]

Originally posted by: Compnewbie01
I need to find out what some computer engineers think about their job. Nothing very specific, but I guess answers to questions such as what you valued during your undergraduate education, did you choose to go to graduate school, what type of work did you do right after college and a few years after, what did you like/dislike about your work, and lastly maybe what kind of advice you would like to give to a computer engineer student. Anything would be very helpful.

Electrical engineers and computer scientists could also give information on what they like and maybe I could how exactly the three are related knowing that CPE is kind of a mix.

Anything would be helpful and appreciated if you have any useful information or advice for me. This is my first year majoring in CPE and so far I have only touched on some computer code.

in CS in undergrad, i liked having classes with 100 nerds and 3 girls - 2 of whom looked like guys. i liked reading the mandatory BB inundated with geeks talking in irrelevant geekspeak. also, i liked sitting in front of a computer at 2am trying to program recursion. then i changed to a major that let me go outside, has field trips, a 2-month summer camp, and a job a year before graduation with more pay and benefits than CS ever could, that lets me go overseas often. well, theres not many more girls in this field either, but evreything else is good. so yeah, get out while you could.

 

[evident]

stay in your CPE program, dont switch to CS. If you are in a good university your CPE classes should teach you all the concepts normally taught in CS and more. CS majors in my school don't even touch any assembly, let alone know how anything works below third level programming languages (java, c++). As a CPE major at my university, I learned all the basics of circuits (EE) logic gates, boolean algebra (very very low level math that pertains to assembly that every programmer needs to know) and assembly, as well as object oriented high level programming as well. This gives you the whole picture of what you want to do and lets you be very flexible with your job out of college.

one thing though, you have to actually like this stuff or at least find it interesting, or it can get dull very quick!!

 

[Compnewbie01]

Well so far we have had to learn C which I am not liking at all. I want to stay far far away from coding if at all possible. I need to know if coding is a big part of all CPE jobs or if there is more to it.

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: Compnewbie01
Well so far we have had to learn C which I am not liking at all. I want to stay far far away from coding if at all possible. I need to know if coding is a big part of all CPE jobs or if there is more to it.

Uhh, you might want to consider your choice of major. CpE in all forms IS some type of coding, whether it's RTL, VHDL, C, or Java or matlab...

 

[EmperorIQ]

Originally posted by: evident
stay in your CPE program, dont switch to CS. If you are in a good university your CPE classes should teach you all the concepts normally taught in CS and more. CS majors in my school don't even touch any assembly, let alone know how anything works below third level programming languages (java, c++). As a CPE major at my university, I learned all the basics of circuits (EE) logic gates, boolean algebra (very very low level math that pertains to assembly that every programmer needs to know) and assembly, as well as object oriented high level programming as well. This gives you the whole picture of what you want to do and lets you be very flexible with your job out of college.

one thing though, you have to actually like this stuff or at least find it interesting, or it can get dull very quick!!

depends on your univerisity i guess. My university, CS majors go into low level, into assembly and digital design of circuits.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Compnewbie01
Well so far we have had to learn C which I am not liking at all. I want to stay far far away from coding if at all possible. I need to know if coding is a big part of all CPE jobs or if there is more to it.

I switched from CPE to EE when I transferred to a (cheaper) school that didn't have an accredited CPE program (in the process, yadda, yadda...). Anyway, if you like the circuit side of stuff but don't like programming, I know plenty of EE's who don't program -- if you go into certain apps like power or (to a lesser extent now) audio.

<-- Senior in EE who enjoys programming.

 

[timosyy]

Originally posted by: LS20

Originally posted by: Compnewbie01
...

in CS in undergrad, i liked having classes with 100 nerds and 3 girls - 2 of whom looked like guys. i liked reading the mandatory BB inundated with geeks talking in irrelevant geekspeak. also, i liked sitting in front of a computer at 2am trying to program recursion. then i changed to a major that let me go outside, has field trips, a 2-month summer camp, and a job a year before graduation with more pay and benefits than CS ever could, that lets me go overseas often. well, theres not many more girls in this field either, but evreything else is good. so yeah, get out while you could.

What did you switch to? I'm a sophmore in CPE, and I tried some business classes over the summer with intent to transfer into the major because I wasn't doing well academically, but I found the classes (while easy) didn't make me happy/sort of made me sick so I went back to engineering. Call me whipped.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: timosyy

Originally posted by: LS20

Originally posted by: Compnewbie01
...

in CS in undergrad, i liked having classes with 100 nerds and 3 girls - 2 of whom looked like guys. i liked reading the mandatory BB inundated with geeks talking in irrelevant geekspeak. also, i liked sitting in front of a computer at 2am trying to program recursion. then i changed to a major that let me go outside, has field trips, a 2-month summer camp, and a job a year before graduation with more pay and benefits than CS ever could, that lets me go overseas often. well, theres not many more girls in this field either, but evreything else is good. so yeah, get out while you could.

What did you switch to?

He just suffered severe head trauma and thinks things changed for the better.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: timosyy

Originally posted by: LS20

Originally posted by: Compnewbie01
...

in CS in undergrad, i liked having classes with 100 nerds and 3 girls - 2 of whom looked like guys. i liked reading the mandatory BB inundated with geeks talking in irrelevant geekspeak. also, i liked sitting in front of a computer at 2am trying to program recursion. then i changed to a major that let me go outside, has field trips, a 2-month summer camp, and a job a year before graduation with more pay and benefits than CS ever could, that lets me go overseas often. well, theres not many more girls in this field either, but evreything else is good. so yeah, get out while you could.

What did you switch to? I'm a sophmore in CPE, and I tried some business classes over the summer with intent to transfer into the major because I wasn't doing well academically, but I found the classes (while easy) didn't make me happy/sort of made me sick so I went back to engineering. Call me whipped.

I know a few people who are like that. Felt they couldn't / didn't want to hack engineering, tried business, and were disgusted by it.

 

[Compnewbie01]

Once again, thanks for the help. Are there any people here that could describe what they do at their job and whether or not they like it?

 

[Xstatic1]

i think the ppl who mentioned biology are giving u pearls of wisdom. if u want to truly be in the enginering field, go for biomedical engineering.

 

[Compnewbie01]

Is there a reason for that though?

 

[Pho King]

Probably because they think the grass is greener on the other side.

I have some friends who majored in biology; some went on to medical school - but they have ABSOLUTELY no life whatsoever. Just be sure it's what you love and you're dedicated....

 

[CraKaJaX]

Don't do it for the money. Do it if you have a passion for it, and enjoy it.