Talk:Computer engineering

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[edit] World view

World comprises more than US and Japan.--Light current 20:01, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Still, I think it's a very good article.-Anonymous Non-Member

, if someone wants to ad the IIT or chinese perspective, please do so. I don't think the article itself is very good yet. It seems to be describing something else and I am a CE. We certainly do study statics and mechanics. Possibly it should be mentioned that the private trade school ITT (not IIT) that runs all the TV ads has a "CE" degree, but their usage is an abuse of the term since their graduates do not design things but rather fix PCs and that sort of thing. (I have restored the full comment I made, which was truncated to the point where it made no sense whatsoever, inspiring the following comments. My point was about ITT (US trade school) grads with 'CE' degrees that are not real ones, but just fix-it degrees, which should be distinguished from real ones from real universities that have a curriculum involving calculus and quantum physics). RichardAdams 08:15, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Computer engineering graduates do design things, anything from hardware to software, depending on their specialization. As far as I know most computer engineers do not fix PCs. Those are usually the technologists and technicians. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.52.166.205 (talk • contribs) .

Yes, CEs do design. Take megasquirt as an unofficial example. Please sign your comments. --ДрakюлaTalk 15:14, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

I think an abuse of use section can be added to the article. BTW, instead of randomly inserting universities in the article, I've made a list for the academic departments. Does anyone think a list like this is appropiate? Also, I feel that "Computer engineering technology" should have its own article since its not really about computer engineering itself. Engineering is a profession with professional regulations and its own governing body. These bodies only accept people with accrediated degrees as members. Also, I feel "Degree level education" section needs a bit of cleanup. I vote for a more international perspective. This article mainly describes North America and Asia. Views from other continents would be ideal.--Shion Uzuki 07:23, 10 February 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Academic departments

Are you kidding !? Only in Brazil must have equal number of Departments, what is relevance of this VERY uncompleted list ??? Please move this section to new article and complete the list, or remove it. --200.232.147.103

I agree. Furthermore, I am highly skeptical that the list will ever be complete, or that it will be useful if it is complete. Besides, lists like this are much better handled through categories. I have removed the list of academic departments from the article. --Allan McInnes (talk) 01:37, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
    • Agree. A list of that kind is useless. Thanks.--Shion Uzuki 03:05, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] CE vs CpE

Before reading this article I had never heard CE referred to Computer Engineering except by mistake. I'm a Computer engineering student, and my university refers to it as CpE in order to seperate it from Civil and Chemical engineering (both more common than computer). Is CE really a more common abbreviation than CpE? Should we add CpE/remove CE from the article? --Bakkster Man 02:05, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

My university uses both CE and CpE for Computer and uses CE for Civil. Chemical seems to have been replaced by Materials here. However, it's difficult to say which is a "more common" abbreviation for Computer (CE vs. CpE), but clearly CE is more common for Civil (CE vs. CE). Personally I find CpE to be better, as it is less ambiguous, but that's nothing more than POV. Regardless of which is more acceptable, it seems both are widely used from a quick Google search. I've also seen CmpE used. --Kamasutra 06:52, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

I have never seen CpE used and only CE, my school however does not offer Chemical engineering so there would be less confusion --129.21.115.54 19:58, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

At the University of Michigan, CE is Computer Engineering, ChemE is Chemical Engineering, and CEE is Civil and Environmental Engineering.

[edit] Definition of Computer Engineering

The definition of computer engineering in the header seems to keep subtly changing back-and-forth.

Saying computer engineering encompasses both computer science and electrical engineering is correct. However, that is not very detailed. If more detail is required then in reality, both at most universities and in the workplace, the following definition is accurate:

"Computer engineers are electrical engineers that have additional training in the areas of software design and hardware-software integration. In turn, they have less emphasis on power electronics and physics."

Is there anyone that disagrees with this? This was removed in favour of:

"This hybrid of electronic engineering and computer science allows the computer engineer to work on both software and hardware, and to integrate the two."

While that is accurate, it is simply a restatement of "computer engineering encompasses both computer science and electrical engineering". If more detail is required then the first definition is more accurate and more detailed.

Along these same lines, in the opening line about how computer engineers are involved in all aspects of computing, I added in a statement about designing circuits, since it exclusively referred to computer architecture. Computer engineers, both in academia and the workplace are involved in more than just computer architecture.

Also, along these lines, I removed the statement about in the workplace "electronics engineers" and "computer engineers" sometimes work together, since it both somewhat out of place and it is a bit misleading. It is misleading because in that it seems to continue to imply that computer engineers can't be involved with hardware design. In reality computer engineers can't be labeled so easily in academia or the work place. They may be working on hardware, they may be working on software, they may be working on the integration of the two. The original definition explains exactly what their strength and weaknesses are.

Drdestiny77 01:05, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

I like the changes you made. The new definition is a lot better. RichardAdams
I agree with RichardAdams. --Allan McInnes (talk) 17:19, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Video Game Programming

I'm going to be a freshman at college and I'm not sure about my major in Computer Engineering. I'm hoping to become a video game programmer and don't know if a BS on Computer Engineering would be the best choice for me if I do pursue that career. I've heard that people with Computer Science degrees have better chances at programming games, but if I do decide to major in Computer Engineering, would I still be on the same boat as the people with CS degrees?—The preceding unsigned comment was added by L0cth0rp (talk • contribs). Computer Engineering has much more of a hardware focus rather than a software focus. You would be much better off getting a CS degree if you want to program video games.

I don't mean to be a spoilsport, but you may want to reconsider becoming a video game programmer (incidentally, my degree was computer engineering). They will make you work 80 hours a week, burn you up, and spit you back out. You will have to work within amazingly tight deadlines, and there will be a constant revolving door of starry-eyed graduates wanting to compete for your job. You may try it if you like, but you will be so burnt out that you may not ever want to touch a keyboard ever again. Currently I work a 40-an-hour week job doing programming for a not-so-exciting discipline (first, transportation engineering, then tv advertising agencies). It's not glamorous, but I am able to balance programming with a fulfilling personal life. You will feel healthier, and possibly make a better salary and get more vacation. Keep in mind that being a computer engineer doesn't preclude you from going into programming, as long as you stock up on computer science electives. Also, computer engineering gives you a different perspective on programming that's not offered in computer science curriculae (specifically, how your code behaves at the hardware level, and you will have more math and science background). This may help you as a video game programmer, or a scientific research programmer, as you will be more aware of tricks to squeeze out performance. When you graduate, you will have the option of either going into engineering or programming. You will be more versatile while running the risk of being slightly less qualified in programming than a graduate with a CS degree.--Cnadolski 17:05, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
At my school, computer engineers write games and examine high-performance computer graphics architectures as a case of computer architecture. The CS prof does not typically consider game writing a valid problem in CS as it normally lacks theory.
Computer engineers write the graphics drivers (and most, if not all the IO drivers). EE discipline is typically devoid of programming and the software engineers are typically not exposed to enough hardware
The Computer Engineer is the one who puts it all together, sitting at the interface between the hardware and the software. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.118.128.56 (talk • contribs).

[edit] Computer Engineering being phased out at universities?

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so this somewhat disturbing trend I've observed here may not be representative of the worldwide (or even USA-wide) perspective, so can someone with more broad knowledge of how CE is treated at universities please provide some insight? From what I see here, several key institutions (notably Stanford) which once had CE majors have dropped them in favor of more traditional CS or EE majors. Is this a widespread trend, and if so, why? 71.146.0.79 07:04, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

At my school, Georgia Tech, CmpE = EE + a couple CS classes. And I'm fairly certain that it's here to stay. I'd prefer it if they combined the schools into EECS, but I doubt that's going to happen in the next twenty years. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 14:07, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Computer Engineers Vandalizing Wiki

Once and a while a person, who may be a Computer Engineer, vandalizes this wiki by saying Computer Engineering (CE) is like working at a slaughterhouse or the like. Please avoid such gross comparisons or slaughterhouses may claim we are trying to drive them out of business. I know that CE is not the “hot job” in demand and managers want the CE to do both the work of the EE and CS they fired. Nevertheless, be objective and tactful. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Septagram (talk • contribs) 22:56, 15 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] I need more info on Computer engineering

I want to know the kind of work a computer engineer does and I also want some information about universities with the best Computer engineering courses.196.207.12.58 17:11, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

In a nut shell, a Computer engineering (CE) occupies a place between an Electrical Engineer (EE) and a Computer Scientist (CS). The EE (who can be anyone who designs power plants to microscopic integrated circuits) tends to be the ones who make the individual bits of hardware (CPU, chips . . . ) for computers. The CS tend to “ignore” hardware and work only on software applications. The problem came when the two fields overlapped. EEs needing to take all those chips and make them work together to accept software. The CSs needed to take their big applications and figure out how to get the hardware to accept it. Enters the CE, who takes all those chips, puts them together so they are ready for software, then writes the bits of software that permits the large software application to talk to hardware.

On large team projects a CE may get a little part of the hardware and software to integrate (like having the USB port chip talk to the south bridge chipset on a supercomputer). On small projects, the CE may write all the software and build all the hardware (like building a programmable thermostat or hand-held devices). The typical project a CE may have, is some dedicated embedded system (mostly a single purpose electronic system using one software program and a “microcontroller” which its main function in life is unchangeable by the user. Like a TV remote controller or a jumbo jet). The nature of the beast for a CE job is mostly contract work where a company may need a new project (i.e., a space shuttle) done in three months ready to ship and have the CE come back, on call, to fix your bugs, or other peoples bugs. Get use to terms like “can hit the ground running,” “likes to work under pressure,” and “must own the job.” In many cases the CE is the first man to prototype managements ideas and last man to get it all working before the dead line after everyone else has “done their job”. Sometimes, a company may realize they need a CE permanently when they realize just how useful CEs are, for example fixing problems that crop up in a production environment. A common misconception by managers is, since CEs can do both hardware and software, they can 100% replace both an EE and/or a CS with a CE with the same efficiency. A CE is around 50% EE and 50% CS. Which means you do not want a CE to create an accounting program or design an electric generator for Hoover Dam. Other than that, being a CE is a lot of fun. Septagram 20:16, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Case for Verilog

In the CE program at the university of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), they are very heavy into Verilog and use it to program FPGAs, SOCs and other embedded projects. I believe that Verilog should be included as part of the CE article. Maybe the Verilog professor at UCCS could explain Verilogs' benefits better than I? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Septagram (talk • contribs).

Programming PLDs is definitely part of Computer Engineering (or should be, since it makes heavy use of digital logic, software code, and general electronics, which are the foundations of CE), but rather than focusing on Verilog specifically, this needs to be generalized for a general article like this. Verilog is in a special class of languages called HDLs (Hardware Design Languages), and it competes with VHDL for popularity (although Verilog seems to be more popular in North America). These HDLs are used to program PLDs, the most advanced of which are generally FPGAs. So, yes, this is a very notable sub-field of CE, but instead of focusing only on one language like Verilog, there should be a mention of hardware design languages and how they're used to design SOCs out of FPGAs, CPLDs, and the like, with appropriate links to more specific and detailed articles. 69.226.218.90 22:42, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
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