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POLL: Help me pick my EE specialization

S

Stojakapimp

Platinum Member
So I go to UCSD, I'm a 3rd year Electrical Engineer, and I register for Spring classes tomorrow. Anyways, next quarter I need to start taking a depth sequence, and the each depth is listed above. Problem is, I have no idea what to take. I think machine intelligence sounds cool, but perhaps it just sounds cool and is totally lame.

Other things that might be good are Electronics Circuits and Systems and Controls and System Theory. But I really have no idea. So I'm just hoping that some of you out there would have a better knowledge of what to expect, what is the most interesting, and what has the most room to grow.

Thanks for the help
 
none of that stuff is "cool". Only if you're a die-hard nerd will you think it's cool 😛

I'm a EE myself and I keep wondering to this day WTF I'm in EE. I'm graduating in may. No job yet. ghey.
 
With the market today I'd say you should specialize in HR 🙂 I kid, I kid. My cousin remains unemployed after graduating as an EE, but I think it largely has to due with his little ability to market himself.

Honestly, they would all be interesting provided you received challenging work. I've worked a lot with communications systems in a software development capacity (IVR CTI stuff mostly) and it's always great fun.
 
True. A lot of classes sound really cool when you see the class title. When you start actually learning the stuff it becomes hell
 
i'm partial to networking and computer design. (well, networking = my depth).....networking is pretty interesting...comp design, aside from that cse12 class, it's coool...

mmmm i registered last week tuesday though...oh wait i'm 4th year going on to being a super senior 🙁 damn you revelle and your hum classes!!! :|

DSP will be a depth next year and i suggest you taking it. it's an extension of ece101 stuff. take ece161 series anyways. Because if you're not going to do DSP as your depth, you still got rid of your tech electives, and a lot of jobs are looking for DSP people, so you can put that on your resume that you have knowledge of DSP.

DSP and circuits = job security. networks and comp design = gov't military job (spawar and them looking for people like them...)

if you have over 3.0, man do circuits. hehehe and good luck w/ that. 🙂

but being ucsd and ee major, i'm sure you're pretty smart..i suck and i'm pretty dumb ...i have no idea how i got in...since i didn't like cicuits (ece60 series, etc), or rather too dumb to handle it, i'm doing networking..hehehe

But i like networking. yeah the class isn't that easy, but i like the material. The book is actually a good read and interesting (first EE book ever i found interesting).


well, whicever you're good at choose it. That's what the ece101-109 courses are for.

oh and if you're on track(like you can graduate next year), take photonics. I heard it's the most interesting among all of them..but photonics i hear is pretty hard.
 
talk to upperclassmen who have already chosen specialization and see how miserable each respective area is.
 
if you are a big physics guy, go materials/devices ( fab work) or photonics. You will need a good understanding and/or strong fondness of quantum physics/ relativity if you choose either of these though.

If you like math: z, laplace , other transforms, you can try control systems or comm. Control systems probably won't get you a job though.

circuits is a staple area ( logic design, digital design, analog design) .General hardware design

computer design is probably a mix of logic design and architecture.

others are pretty self explanatory.

 
Originally posted by: amoeba
talk to upperclassmen who have already chosen specialization and see how miserable each respective area is.
Click to expand...

lol...me and my roommate and my peers are in doing the depths.......fine i'll give you a breakdown (this is entirely MY OPINION...what you choose is up to you)hehe:

circuits: good luck finding anyone who speaks real english in there....i only see super smart, cream of the crop dudes go in there
devices and materials: i hate the prof's...after taking ece103..phok... i donno too much about this one, but i hear there's quite of bit of chem/physics involved..
i don't know anyone in this depth.
controls systems theory: ugh, i took ece171a and i didn't like it. It's very abstract and i expected more real world machine control stuff..but nop...
if you like to solve equations for flow charts and love love love that feedback stuff..then go for it.
machine intelligence: ehh..i donno too much about this one....
photonics: i hear it's super interesting but super hard..i don't know anyone in this depth either
communication systems: ahh.the most popular depth...wake up 7 in the morning w/ a 7:30 am class every tues and thurs for 3 quarters...
it's not easy, and i don't know why it's the most popular. All my ece acquantances are in it and they seem to be doing ok. So you
like cell phones and such? Take this class. I hear it goes along w/ networking really well.
networks: rox! if you like data networks..ethernet, oc12, etc etc...this is for you..but there's a crapload of hardcore statistics involved
quueing systems: ehh donno too much about this one and i donno who's in this one either
computer design: this one is interesting. layout of RAM, mobo, etc...you're going to be designing this stuff...programming knowledge req. (remember ece20B, ece30..yeah)
software systems: you like programming? I don't.. ...all your classes will be CSEblah classes...that's it...


and last of all...READ THIS http://www.ece.ucsd.edu:16080/undergraduate/
...and download the ece general catalog...if has really good information...

and talk to alfonso!! (or was it alfredo?...) arg whatever his name is...hehehe..he's actually a nice dude and helped me out big time once when i was in AP one quarter...hehehe
 
Originally posted by: HonkeyDonk
none of that stuff is "cool". Only if you're a die-hard nerd will you think it's cool 😛

I'm a EE myself and I keep wondering to this day WTF I'm in EE. I'm graduating in may. No job yet. ghey.
Click to expand...

If you were a true EE, you'd KNOW why all that stuff is cool. Seriously, if you don't love your major, you're in a bad deal.

I'm only a sophmore, so I haven't had to pick yet. 🙂
 
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