Hardware Design/engineer?

Black_Viper · July 2005

<div class="IPBDescription">Help me find out how to be one...</div> Okay, so im currently only 17, and im still in high school (Ah isnt that cute, NO!) and i was thinking, my life as a kid is almost up, i need to start thinking about finding a job, or even better a carrer... But, what i want to get into isnt a easy thing to do. Id love to be a hardware engineer... I want to creat the next new graphics card, best motherboard, you know, put the compition to shame...

Thing is i dont know where to start, the only thing im good at right now is, well playing games <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif' /> and dodging work around the house <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/marine.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='marine.gif' /> I would like to find out how to start getting into this feild, ive always been around computers, and i mean always, i was born in a world of new technology... What good is it to have software/programers if the hardware is outdated...

Does any one know of anything that can help me get into this feild, the only thing about hardware design/engineer i know is how to peice a computer together... Oh ya, and im a math wizz, or so says the people around me, ill be taking AP Calc this coming school year, plus i already know of it, meaning my sister is a math wizz too (My uncle is a mathematician).

My goals in the next 10 years.
Get a degree in a needed feild to get into this area.
Work for top Hardware companies Nvidia, ATi, Gigabyte, Asus, AMD, Intel, ect...
Get payed to test my newest hardware on the newest games, cuz, u know, got to make sure it works...

Edit:
My marine didnt want to work!

Cagey · July 2005

Check out electrical engineering degrees, preferably ones that have a digital emphasis if you want to eventually work with computer components. A strong math background will help you get through the analog classes, though most digital systems are grounded in <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boolean_logic' target='_blank'>boolean</a> <a href='http://computer.howstuffworks.com/boolean1.htm' target='_blank'>logic</a> rather than calculus.

I'd also start looking for opportunities to build little devices on your own so you can get a feel for what it's like to assemble something on a <a href='http://www.iguanalabs.com/breadboard.htm' target='_blank'>breadboard</a> and get it working. You can buy many of the <a href='http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F000%5F000%5F000&site=CTLG%5F011%5F000%5F000%5F000' target='_blank'>basic</a> <a href='http://www.iguanalabs.com/mbkit.htm' target='_blank'>building</a> <a href='http://www.circuitspecialists.com/' target='_blank'>blocks</a> for <a href='http://www.play-hookey.com/digital/experiments/' target='_blank'>experimenting</a> with digital systems through mail order, and the best way to get ahead would be to understand the basics of circuit building before you begin college classes that help you understand all of the math that goes on behind electrical systems.

moultano · July 2005

Get a degree in Electical and Computer engineering, or ECE as we refer to it at CMU.

Start learning to code now, if you don't know already. Believe it or not, a lot of the <i>architecture</i> at NVidia is written in C++ before it gets turned into circuits. Learn C. It's the best place to start for someone interested in hardware or low level software.

If your interest is in graphics, there are a ton of papers you can read around the net on how things work. Read the white papers that Nvidia publishes, start fooling around with programming your GPU, things like that.

Getting an Electrical Engineering job that you want will largely be a function of where you go to college if you want to work there immediately after you graduate. I go to Carnegie Mellon, and I know NVidia hires a substantial number of engineers and computer scientists right out of here for significant salaries, and also gets a lot of interns from us.

Scythe · July 2005

You're looking for an Electricial Engineering degree specialising in Digital Design.

You'll probably be using a lot of Verilog Hardware Description Language. (VHDL)

You poor, poor bastard.

I'm half-way though a Mechatronic Engineering degree. We've done a lot of digital design stuff. It's kinda fun but VHDL is the programming equivilant of beating yourself in the face with a fistfull of broken glass.

--Scythe--

Breakthrough · July 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Scythe @ Jul 14 2005, 08:10 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> VHDL is the programming equivilant of beating yourself in the face with a fistfull of broken glass.  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
That's comedy right there... *quoted in teh sig!*

Mullet · July 2005

I'm going to be studying computer engineering at the university of nevada, reno in the fall, woot go me!

Omega_Death · July 2005

I'm currently studying Computer Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. It's a difficult degree, all the math and sciences you could ever want, think it over.

Here's the class list for SDSM&T's curriculum.
</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Computer Engineering Curriculum/Checklist

It is the student’s responsibility to check with his or her advisor for any program modifications that may occur after the publication of this catalog.

Freshman Year
First Semester
MATH 123 Calculus I (4 credits)
CHEM 112 General Chemistry I (3 credits)
ENGL 101 Composition I (3 credits)
CHEM 112L General Chemistry I Lab (1 credit)
GE 115 Professionalism/Engr & Sci (2 credits)
PE Physical Education1 (1 credit)
Humanities or Social Sciences Elective(s) (3 credits)
TOTAL 17

Second Semester
MATH 125 Calculus II (4 credits)
CENG 244 Intro to Digital Systems (4 credits)
CSC 150 Computer Science I (3 credits)
PHYS 211 University Physics I (3 credits)
PE Physical Education1 (1 credit)
Humanities or Social Sciences Elective(s) (3 credits)
TOTAL 18

Sophomore Year
First Semester
EE 220 Circuits I (4 credits)
MATH 321 Differential Equations (4 credits)
PHYS 213 University Physics II (3 credits)
PHYS 213L University Physics II Lab (1 credit)
CSC 250 Computer Science II (4 credits)
TOTAL 16

Second Semester
ENGL 279 Tech Communications I (3 credits)
EE 221 Circuits II (4 credits)
CENG 314 Assembly Language (3 credits)
Humanities or Social Sciences Elective(s) (6 credits)
TOTAL 16

Junior Year
First Semester
ENGL 289 Tech Communications II (3 credits)
EE 320 Electronics I (4 credits)
EE 351 Mechatronics and Measurement Systems (4 credits)
CSC 251 Finite Structures (4 credits)
MATH 225 Calculus III (4 credits)
TOTAL 19

Second Semester
EE 312 Signals (3.5 credits)
CSC 300 Data Structures (4 credits)
CENG 342 Digital Systems (4 credits)
MATH 381 Intro to Prob Theory/Stats (3 credits)
EM 216 Statics and Dynamics (4 credits)
TOTAL 18.5

Senior Year
First Semester
EE 311 Systems (3.5 credits)
CSC 477 Software Engineering (3 credits)
CENG 464 Computer Engr Design I (2 credits)
CENG Elective2 (4 credits)
IENG 301 Basic Engr Economics (2 credits)
TOTAL 14.5

Second Semester
CENG 465 Computer Engr Design II (2 credits)
CSC 472 Operating Systems (4 credits)
CENG Elective2 (3 credits)
CENG Elective2 (4 credits)
Humanities or Social Sciences Elective(s) (4 credits)
TOTAL 17

136 credits required for graduation

Curriculum Notes

1 Music Ensemble courses may be substituted for Physical Education courses for qualified students. Any other substitution must be approved in advance by the Physical Education Department Chair.

2 Eleven (11) CENG elective credits are required. Total design content of CENG electives must be a minimum of six (6) hours. Half of the credits in each of the CENG electives listed below are design credits.

CENG Electives
EE 322 Electronics II (4 credits)
EE 421 Communications Systems (4 credits)
EE 451 Control Systems (4 credits)
CENG 420 Design of Digital Signal Processing Systems (4 credits)
CENG 440 VLSI Design (4 credits)
CENG 442 Microprocessor Design (4 credits)
CENG 444 Computer Networks (4 credits)
(credit for only one of CENG 444 or CSC 441 may be used)

CENG 446 Advanced Computer Architectures 4 credits)
(credit for only one of CENG 446 or CSC 440 may be used)

CENG 447 Embedded and Real-Time Computer Systems (4 credits)
CSC 433 Computer Graphics (3 credits)
CSC 440 Advanced Digital Systems (4 credits)
CSC 463 Data Communications (4 credits)
CSC 447 Intro to Artificial Intellig (3 credits)
CSC 464 Intro to Digital Image Processing and Computer Vision (3 credits)
CSC 476 Theory of Compilers (3 credits)

A maximum of four (4) co-op credits may be used towards the CENG elective requirement if a written request presented by the student is approved by the CENG faculty. The student request must justify that the CENG design credit requirement is met.

Computer Engineering students are required to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam prior to graduation</td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'>

Hardware Design/engineer?

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