photo of anna at her desk

Anna Koh – Class of 2023

In her own words – interviewed Fall Quarter 2022

  • Hometown: Cupertino, CA
  • Year: Senior
  • Favorite Class: Hardware / Software Interface (ECE 153A)
  • Senior Project: N/A
  • Student Organization Memberships: The Engineering Honor Society (Tau Beta Pi)
  • Interesting aside about you: I have 2 creatively named cats – kittyboy and kittygirl

Anna’s Favorite

  • Hobbies: Crafting
  • TV Show: Attack on Titan
  • Activity: Trying new restaurants and cafes
  • Sport: Trying new restaurants and cafes
  • Geeky Possession: RGB mechanical keyboard

Favorite Things About

  • CE Program: The freedom in choosing upper division electives
  • UCSB: The campus is located next to the beach!
  • Santa Barbara: The sunny California weather

Anna and Computer Engineering

Why CE as a major? I could not choose between CS and EE as a major because I found both the software and hardware to be interesting so I chose CE which I saw as the middle ground between the two. It turned out to be a good decision for me because I enjoy both sides of the major and have been trying to find a balance between them.

Why did you select UCSB's CE Program? I liked the campus and did not want to go out of state because I did not think I would survive in non-California weather.

How did you hear about UCSB's CE Program? I always heard about the UCs because I grew up in California. A few upperclassmen from my high school attended UCSB and told me good things about the university, so I decided to apply to the CE program because that is the major I was interested in.

Prospective students and parents often ask, what can you do with a CE degree? UCSB’s CE program has a lot of flexibility because of the way it is structured and just because of the nature of CE itself. We get to pick our upper division electives from both the ECE department and the CS department which gives students the flexibility to choose the topics that interest them. I have seen the whole spectrum of students from those who choose only CS upper division courses to those who choose only ECE upper division courses and anywhere in between. Thus, the UCSB CE degree is versatile for preparing students to be able to go into virtually any industry involving computers.

The Curriculum

What has your experience been like taking the Math and Physics core classes? I had taken AP Calc BC in high school so I got to skip the first two math courses and having also taken AP Physics made most of the Physics class material feel like a review, therefore I would recommend taking these classes in high school if possible. Regardless, it is important to learn the concepts from the Math and Physics core courses thoroughly because the major classes rely on them.

What has been your most challenging but rewarding course? My most challenging class but rewarding course has been the Hardware/Software Interface (ECE 153A). I spent a lot of time completing the labs and homework assignments with other students taking the course in the Harold Frank computer lab where I also got help from the TAs in that class. Despite the challenging workload, it was a rewarding class because I had learned a lot of new concepts and gained new problem solving experience.

What area do you want to specialize in? Currently, I am not sure what field I want to go into, but I enjoyed the HW/SW interface & Sensor and Peripheral Interface Design (ECE153AB) series and the Computer Networks (CS176AB) series . I also will be taking the VLSI (ECE122AB) series in the upcoming quarter to see if I would be interested in pursuing something in that field. Ideally, I want to find something that involves both hardware and software because I do enjoy both aspects and would not want to waste half of the knowledge I learned.

Have you done an internship? In the summer of my sophomore year, I interned at Google under their Student Training in Engineering Program (STEP). I was on the Hotels in Maps team and worked remotely from home where I implemented the backend of a new carousel on Android Google Maps. This past summer I went back to Google as a Software Engineer (SWE) Intern in Kirkland, Washington where I worked for the Vertex Training team under Google Cloud to develop machine learning tools for Google Cloud Platform. From these two internships, I got to experience what industry was like compared to school and got a better sense of what I like and dislike when it comes to work.

Have you had any on-campus research opportunities at UCSB? I joined Jonathan Balkind’s lab at the beginning of junior year after he had sent an email to the CE program looking for students to join his lab. Despite my lack of experience and knowledge with research when joining the lab, Jon was very encouraging and supportive of me in learning the knowledge I needed for the project.

Preparation from High School to College

What prepared you the most for studying engineering in college? Taking AP Computer Science in high school got me interested in the software side while taking AP Physics C got me interested in the hardware side. The teachers for those classes had taught me well so I felt that I had a solid foundation of knowledge going into engineering in college.

Are there any classes that you suggest CE students take before entering UCSB? I would recommend taking AP Computer Science in high school because it introduces the software side of the major and it can be used to skip the required intro CS course. I would also recommend taking AP Calculus BC also because it can be used to skip the first 2 required math courses.

Any additional experiences that you would like to share with students to help them prepare for college? My top piece of advice would be to go to office hours for classes. I actually did not go to any office hours during my freshman year because I did not understand the need despite being told repeatedly by others that I should. But when classes got more difficult, I started to take advantage of office hours and I was able to resolve my misunderstandings faster – therefore I got through my work more efficiently. Why struggle alone when there are TAs there to struggle with you?

Student Life at UCSB

What is campus life like for CE students? Outside of attending courses, I tend to spend time in the computer lab doing my work and hanging out with my friends who also go to the computer lab, but there are many other good places, around campus and off campus, to study as well. There are also many student organizations that students can join and university-hosted events to participate in. As many have said before, it is up to you to decide what to make of it.

What is the social scene like on campus, in Isla Vista and off-campus like for CE students? There are a variety of options of things to do around the area: on campus, there are student organizations and university events; in Isla Vista (IV), there is the party scene; and in Santa Barbara, there is downtown. There are a lot of hikes and nature activities to do, and being so close to the beach gives easy access to many water activities. Again and of course, this is not the limit because it is all up to you.

Describe your housing experience frosh to present: Freshman year, I lived in Santa Rosa which is one of the on-campus dorms. It was very convenient to get to lectures from Santa Rosa, but I disliked having to use a kitchenette because it limited how I could cook. Sophomore year, because of the pandemic, I lived at home and attended lectures remotely. Junior year, I lived with my friends in Tropicana Villas which is an off campus apartment complex owned by the university but managed independently from university housing. We chose to live there because there were not many options by the time we started searching for housing. I would advise students to start considering housing options for the upcoming year early rather than leaving it for later, especially when choosing to live in non-university affiliated housing, in order to increase chances of getting your preferred housing.

After Graduation

What are your “big picture” plans/aspirations after graduation? My plan after graduation is to either go directly into industry or do UCSB BS/MS degree under the ECE department then go to industry after that. I would want to stay in California for the weather, but I would also consider other places as well to explore more of the world. Unfortunately, I do not foresee myself going after a Ph.D. because writing research papers is not something I particularly enjoy.