Computer Engineering

oeNeo

Is anyone doing this in college? If so, could you tell me what you think about it? Is it hard/boring/fun etc., whatever really.

ARGINITE

i find it very interesting but then again i love all things to do with electronics.

leeroybrown

I'm a graduate of Comp & Elec Eng in NUI,Galway. (a combination of IT and Eec Eng).

I enjoyed both aspects of the course, especially in the latter two of the four years. Engineering courses tend to have a strong Mathimatical and Scientific grounding in the first couple of years (it ca get a bit annying at times). After getting through that the project work and more practical or core elec/comp orientation was excellent.

I'd recommend a degree of this kind to anyone who has an interest/aptitude in the area. I'd also recommend anyone to consider a common entry Eng programme where the choice is made after 1st year. All Eng courses are almost identical in 1st year and it can give you a much better insight into your choice of area.

oeNeo

Thanks for the replies. I can't really decide on what engineering course to do, so yea, I'll probably go for the the common entry course. I'm going for Maynooth so all the courses are the same for the first two years anyway.

Atreides

I wouldn't. noot that I've anything against the place, but the students I've taked to have said they get dumbed on from on high for to often in tech courses

oeNeo

What do you mean?

Atreides

Sorry I was quiet drunk. Maynooth college doesn't exactly know what type of graduate they want, so they kinda mess hte process up for people doing computer related courses (Haven't heard anything specially about engineering thought) they make bad decisions about how hte courses are run and funded. This is all thrid person BTW, if you want facts go talk to Gerry, I think hes doing some kind of computer science related degree. Basically I heard this from allot of people. Trinity on the other hand is also a two year common entry, with no quota system. We make up like 15% of all trinity students, so me get our fair shared and are threated well enough.

gobby

skanger ->

im studying in maynooth at the moment. i know that you were talking about the computer science type courses and to be honest i cant say anything about them as i am studying in the engineering side of things. the funding for the engineering courses doesnt seem to be too bad at all. especially considering they have just built a new building which is crammed with p4 flatscreens.

oeNeo ->

im studying computer engineering which is based on electronics. im in third year but ive only started in the college this year. i am a transfer student. so far the course is quite good. it is difficult in places but these places are usually the sort of thing that im not great at anyways, ie. maths.

i would definitly recommend the course. one of the things that i like about studying in maynooth is the friendly lecturers. they are very good and quite helpfull (well, most of them). since im a transfer student i have studyed elsewhere and do know other lecturers/systems to compare too.

if you like pulling stuff apart and understanding how things work then engineering is for you. it is tough though and you have to be dedicated. but if you stick it out then you could very well end up with a tasty pay check!

oeNeo

How many hours do you do per week?

Atreides

Fair enough, trinity itself has suffered from budget cuts and tutorials have gone to hell.

Btw just in case your interested trinity is about 30 hours a week including praticals tutorials and lectures. I can't remember the last time I was home before six, and hadn't gone in on a saturday to study.

gobby

seeing as how im a transfer student and have started in maynooth from third year i cant tell you anything about years one or two. to be honest, all engineering courses have about 25-30 hours/week for any year.

it is worth noting also that the engineering course in maynooth is summesterized so it is possible to have different hours for each summester of the year.

this year for example, for the first summester i had 25 hours/week and for the second summester there is only 15 hours/week. i dont think that every year would be like this though. its just that in third year we do a work experience module that lasts six months. the second summester is basically two subjects for four weeks and then six months of working.

i would definitly recommend maynooth to anyone. even though ive only been there for about five months i can already see the huge differences between maynooth and my previous college (DIT kevin street).

the engineering faculty in maynooth is very close knit and the lecturers are very friendly and helpfull. as is the network administrator, the head of the department and the secretary. although the secretary is a more than a run of the mill secretary. shes very helpfull and would go out of her way to assist anyone. you should mayby contact her if you have any major questions about the college/course.

you should be able to find any info about the courses at the faculty of engineering homepage.

as a matter of interest, oeNeo, are you male or female?

oeNeo

Male.

Thanks for the replies, I'll ask you again if I've any more questions about it

gobby

male... okay. thought id mention, lots of nice chickies in maynooth.

no probs for the replys. happy to help.

aodh_rua

Originally posted by Skanger
Fair enough, trinity itself has suffered from budget cuts and tutorials have gone to hell.

I did the Computer Engineering degree in Trinity and I'm still involved with the course, not sure if the tutorial situation is as bad as you make out - but if you think it is in trouble get onto your course director\class rep and see about getting things sorted. Most tutorials are given by postgrads so they're hardly expensive to run - even with cutbacks.

Sarsfield

I did computer engineering in Trinity. However that was 14 years ago, so my info is probably a little out of date :dunno:

Atreides

Originally posted by aodh_rua
I did the Computer Engineering degree in Trinity and I'm still involved with the course, not sure if the tutorial situation is as bad as you make out - but if you think it is in trouble get onto your course director\class rep and see about getting things sorted. Most tutorials are given by postgrads so they're hardly expensive to run - even with cutbacks.

Well I'm just making the point that the maths, and physics tutorials, are overcrowed and under maned. Thats in the first to years, however looking at previous years numbers for doing computer science your talking maybe 50(if that) in a year, which is quiet good

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

aodh_rua

Originally posted by Skanger
Well I'm just making the point that the maths, and physics tutorials, are overcrowed and under maned. Thats in the first to years, however looking at previous years numbers for doing computer science your talking maybe 50(if that) in a year, which is quiet good

It used be around 35 a year - but its down to single figures for the last two years in the computer engineering course (that's a different thing from computer science which is a course in and of itself).

Atreides

If you want to do computer engineering in trinity you have to do two years common, at which stage the years is over 250 and the tutorials are packed, this is the point I'm making.

aodh_rua

Originally posted by Skanger
If you want to do computer engineering in trinity you have to do two years common, at which stage the years is over 250 and the tutorials are packed, this is the point I'm making.

The biggest year ever in Engineering was 197 and its usually down around the 170 mark.

As for packed tutorials - I really don't think they're as bad as you've heard.

Atreides

I'm in trinity, I'm in first year engineering, and my class is 250, 190 or so pure engineers and the rest doing manufacturing engineering and stats which are part of the engineering faculty. Class lists are free to download on the web.

Originally posted by aodh_rua
The biggest year ever in Engineering was 197 and its usually down around the 170 mark.

As for packed tutorials - I really don't think they're as bad as you've heard.

aodh_rua

Skanger - I'm not trying to argue with you. I didn't realise you meant the total MEMMS + Engineering (+ MSISS maybe too?) class which would be bigger. As I said earlier - if you have problems with the size of the tutorials complain to the course director.

As for the overall course - first year is not at all indicative of life in the faculty of engineering, especially given that the maths, physics and chemistry courses aren't even delivered by faculty staff. Trust me, things improve as you go through the years and certainly by the time you do the 'real' engineering courses in third and fourth year the ratios are much better.

Atreides

Problem is last year there was like twice as many instructors and postgrads for tutorials and labs. Don't get be wrong i Realise the third year and forth years is great (for all but civil) but it doesn't half piss me off sometimes. Lectures basically told us that its a disgrace the numbers which are in the tutorials.

Unpossible

umm this is a little off topic, but someone there was talking about computers in maynooth, im thinking of transfering to maynooth next year to comp sci. Is there anyone here can give me information on it? (your expirences)