Why Choose UC Santa Barbara Computer Engineering?
This helpful brochure from the UCSB College of Engineering has information sections that include:
- Are you in Demand and We Are Qualified: CE undergrads receive the finest engineering education...
- Why Study Computer Engineering?: a joint program with the ECE & CS departments and areas of study in CE
- Why I Chose UCSB: interview with CE student Max Hinson
- Why I Transferred: interview with ECE transfer student Victor Moreira
- What's Going On... Senior Capstone Project and education highlights
- What You Do... inventive solutions, what you will study in CE, and the places you can go
- Admissions: high school and transfer preparation
- And More... (.pdf brochure)
Contact the CE Program about a copy of the "Why Choose UC Santa Barbara Computer Engineering" brochure - ugradinfo@ece.ucsb.edu
Why Computer Engineering?
We are often asked the question, why Computer Engineering compared to Computer Science or Electrical Engineering?
The CE Program has a focus on the design of computer systems. Students learn a mixture of hardware design and software concepts. They gain experience on both sides of the traditional hardware/software "fence" and have unique capabilities in the creation and interfacing of computer systems with the real-world.
- Computer engineers differ from traditional electrical engineers in that they do not study as much analog circuit design and analysis but instead trade the units spent on those subjects for additional software-based experience.
- CE students differ from traditional computer science students mainly with respect to their appreciation and understanding of the lowest-level interactions between software and hardware.
- The CE Program trades some of the CS units normally spent on selected specialized software topics in exchange for more digital hardware design and peripheral systems interfacing.
By these comparisons one can see that the Computer Engineering student is a blend between a "pure EE" and a "pure CS" student.