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Electronic / Computer engineering... Where?

D_s

Going into 6th year, and just realized I'll be filling out my CAO in ~6 months!:eek:

Anyway, I'm nearly certain I want to go into Electronic & Computer engineering (ECE) or just pure Computer engineering where available, but honestly I have no idea where.
I'll lay out my dilemma:

Trinity: 2 entire years undenominated. I know I want EE/ECE, I don't want to "waste" two years of my life learning structural/mechanical/whatever engineering when it just doesn't interest me. I do like the idea of being in the center of town and it's easy to get to for me. I have been told I'd be more employable with a TCD degree also, any truth to this? I'm a bit skeptic.

DCU & Maynooth: NUIM is similar to TCD in that there's 3 years common, but it's better because at least ALL NUIM engineering courses are in the general area of computers/electronics. Also, Maynooth is a bit in the middle of nowhere, is it not?
Now DCU you can go straight into your desired course, but it'd be really difficult to get out there from Leixlip... what's it like out there? Worth the trek? Also, no Computer engineering, only electronic. What's their "Digital Media Engineering" like?

Others: Guidance counsellor etc. have said these three are the best bet, and I don't want to venture too far outside of Dublin.

So, any ideas as to how undenominated years effect you? Any truth to the "TCD get's you a job" myths? How are the courses in general? Any other routes I haven't looked at?

Sorry for the long post, but any help is immensly appreciated!

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finality

I'm going to do electronic and computer engineering in Trinity in September. Seems like the best course to me, and I actually like the idea of the undenominated years. A broad foundation seems like a good thing, I wouldn't see it as a waste of time at all.

Though I also really like Trinity as a college and that's a big factor. I think it's more well known internationally than dcu or nuim, and I definitely want to move abroad after I finish my degree, so that's something to consider too.

Oh, also, the options for fourth/fifth year in Trinity are great! There are lots of opportunities to study abroad, and I'd personally love to spend some time in Germany.

D_s

Thanks for the reply, finality.

It's not that I see it [undenominated years] as a complete waste of time, but I see them as time that could be spent focusing on more of what I know I really want to study. Do you think they affect the overall "quality" of the degree compared to other colleges, i.e. do you think by the end I'll know slightly less about pure electronics than somebody who went to, say, DCU, and spent their entire 4/5 years just doing computers/electronics??

Anyway, thanks for the input, and enjoy College in September my friend, good luck in the L.C. tomorrow!(if you're in 6th year)

A Fine Gent

Although Trinity is much more recognized internationally DCU has a full year of work experience which could prove more valuable than a recognized college and the first year is general regardless of what you have down on your CAO in DCU, also the general area's lovely and about five or six bus routes that go into town from outside the college

D_s

A Fine Gent wrote: »

Although Trinity is much more recognized internationally DCU has a full year of work experience which could prove more valuable than a recognized college and the first year is general regardless of what you have down on your CAO in DCU, also the general area's lovely and about five or six bus routes that go into town from outside the college

A DCU student then I take it?

Yeah I agree that work experience is probably more important then "reputation". I was actually considering DCU a lot for ages, except there's 2 big things that make me hesitant:

It's an asshole to get to from Leixlip! (2 busses/ train and a bus)
It doesn't have a Computer Engineering course.

I'm now fairly certain that I'm gonna do a common first year, thanks to previous posts. But I still think I'll want to go into Computer Eng. afterwards, and DCU only have EE. How does their Digital Media Engineering compare to Computer Engineering? They seem sort of similar... anybody have any insight?

Mista

My brother does the course in DCU.. theres half a years work placement there.

Its meant to be one of the best courses around, although I think it has one of the highest dropout rates.

I hope to go there and do it in September

A Fine Gent

I think it has the lowest drop out rate only due to people seeing the low points, thinking "this is an easy course" and then getting a horrific reality check

Mista

A Fine Gent wrote: »

I think it has the lowest drop out rate only due to people seeing the low points, thinking "this is an easy course" and then getting a horrific reality check

Highest :P and yea, its really low points, might go up a good bit this year though.. it's meant to be a pretty tough course.

D_s

Mista wrote: »

might go up a good bit this year though.. it's meant to be a pretty tough course.

Points != Difficulty, in case that's what you meant.
It's simple Supply and Demand

But yeah, Work placement is good. NUIM has it too, I believe.
I can't decide if I did go DCU would I be OK with EE instead of CompE though

I was pretty fixed on computer engineering

Any ideas how similar the two are?

djpbarry

D_s wrote: »

I have been told I'd be more employable with a TCD degree also, any truth to this?

Very little. I’d be wary of working for anyone who was taken in by where I did my degree. Employers are far more interested in what you can actually do.

D_s wrote: »

Also, Maynooth is a bit in the middle of nowhere, is it not?
Now DCU you can go straight into your desired course, but it'd be really difficult to get out there from Leixlip...

You seem a bit too hung up on how easy/difficult it is to get places. Getting to DCU from Leixlip doesn’t strike me as any more difficult than getting to Trinity – a train/bus would take, what, 45 minutes? Maynooth would be very convenient, but course content should trump location.

D_s wrote: »

Others: Guidance counsellor etc. have said these three are the best bet, and I don't want to venture too far outside of Dublin.

I can’t believe you’re not considering UCD or DIT?!?

D_s wrote: »

I can't decide if I did go DCU would I be OK with EE instead of CompE though I was pretty fixed on computer engineering
Any ideas how similar the two are?

What is it exactly that you want to do? What do you think the differences are?

D_s

djpbarry wrote: »

You seem a bit too hung up on how easy/difficult it is to get places. Getting to DCU from Leixlip doesn’t strike me as any more difficult than getting to Trinity – a train/bus would take, what, 45 minutes? Maynooth would be very convenient, but course content should trump location.

Trinity is a 35 min bus or less on a single train. Maynooth (obviously) would be dead handy, maybe 15 mins bus or 10 mins train. DCU would be 2 busses min, which would be way over an hour. It's a small thing, but something that would really grind away at me for 4/5 years I'd imagine.

djpbarry wrote: »

I can’t believe you’re not considering UCD or DIT?!?

I absolutely will now that others have pointed this out. Honestly though, I don't like DITs "lack of a proper campus" that I've been told of, and let's face it, its not exactly well known if I went abroad. I left out UCD originally as it doesn't have CompEng. as one of the specialised areas after 1st yr, only EE. Speaking of which....

djpbarry wrote: »

What is it exactly that you want to do? What do you think the differences are?

I've been told, and research has told me, that Computer engineering is, well, what it says on the tin. It would have more software modules than Electronic Engineering, but much more hardware than, say, computer science. As far as I know it's the tying together of software and hardware; how computers work from the ground up. As for Electronic Engineering, it would have more physics based aspects of pure electronics, and electromagnetic theory, but also Microprocessor design and some software. I was fairly set on Comp. Eng. as it has areas like Computer Graphics and Computer Vision that I'd be fairly interested in. Now though, I'm kind of not 100% sure. Anybody else want to correct me on what I think I know, or add to it?

pljudge321

D_s wrote: »

its not exactly well known if I went abroad.

None of the colleges are that well known abroad.

D_s wrote: »

I left out UCD originally as it doesn't have CompEng. as one of the specialised areas after 1st yr, only EE. Speaking of which....

There's a 3+2 integrated B.Sci & ME in electronic & computer engineering option in UCD that you can enter through the omnibus.

Doing something like this would also give you more flexibility with regards changing the path you're on if you realise you don't really like what you are doing.

Moonbeam

I know it is outside of Dublin but UL do a really good Computer engineering course so it worth looking at.

djpbarry

D_s wrote: »

Trinity is a 35 min bus or less on a single train. Maynooth (obviously) would be dead handy, maybe 15 mins bus or 10 mins train. DCU would be 2 busses min, which would be way over an hour.

There is absolutely no way it’s going to take you twice as long to get to DCU as it would Trinity. Absolutely no way. I think you’re underestimating how far away Trinity is and over-estimating how close DCU is (in terms of journey times).

D_s wrote: »

Honestly though, I don't like DITs "lack of a proper campus" that I've been told of, and let's face it, its not exactly well known if I went abroad.

It doesn’t matter. I did my PhD at DIT and it doesn’t matter a damn that nobody outside of Ireland has ever heard of the place. I will repeat – employers do not care where you did your degree. They’re only interested in demonstrable knowledge and skills.

D_s wrote: »

I've been told, and research has told me, that Computer engineering is, well, what it says on the tin. It would have more software modules than Electronic Engineering, but much more hardware than, say, computer science. As far as I know it's the tying together of software and hardware; how computers work from the ground up. As for Electronic Engineering, it would have more physics based aspects of pure electronics, and electromagnetic theory, but also Microprocessor design and some software. I was fairly set on Comp. Eng. as it has areas like Computer Graphics and Computer Vision that I'd be fairly interested in. Now though, I'm kind of not 100% sure. Anybody else want to correct me on what I think I know, or add to it?

Looks like you’ve done your research – that seems like a pretty good appraisal.

All I can tell you is I did the degree in electronic engineering at UCD and I now work on image analysis and computer vision in a cell biology lab. When it comes to working in the real world, you’ll find that these subtle differences between engineering courses don’t really matter a whole lot. What does matter is the practical knowledge and skills you come out with.

I think the best thing for you to do is go talk to lecturers in different engineering courses – they’ll generally be happy to help. Send a few emails and see if you can arrange some meetings for an informal chat. Most courses will have a specified point of contact for you to get started.

Moonbeam wrote: »

I know it is outside of Dublin but UL do a really good Computer engineering course so it worth looking at.

Yeah, UL has developed an excellent reputation in the general field of engineering. I remember they were in the news a year or two ago for developing (in collaboration with other institutes) a new nanomaterial for use in integrated circuits – it gained a lot of attention from Intel.

D_s

djpbarry wrote: »

There is absolutely no way it’s going to take you twice as long to get to DCU as it would Trinity. Absolutely no way. I think you’re underestimating how far away Trinity is and over-estimating how close DCU is (in terms of journey times).

I know it seems like a silly thing to be arguing about :P But all I will say is go Here, and all travel times are ~1.5 hours. Now try Here, and type in from Leixlip (Louisa Bridge) To Tara Street, and travel time is ~35 mins. Summer holidays and social life dictates that I make the trip to Grafton Street area numerous times a week

. Aaaaanyway....

djpbarry wrote: »

It doesn’t matter. I did my PhD at DIT and it doesn’t matter a damn that nobody outside of Ireland has ever heard of the place. I will repeat – employers do not care where you did your degree. They’re only interested in demonstrable knowledge and skills.

O.K. I will take that to heart, thanks

djpbarry wrote: »

All I can tell you is I did the degree in electronic engineering at UCD and I now work on image analysis and computer vision in a cell biology lab.

Wow, that honestly sounds really interesting. I can see myself doing something similar in the future. I hope you can see where I'm coming from with my uncertainty; would you recommend UCD? How did you find EE? Was it what you expected? Is there much programming (I know "Much" is a vague, subjective word)? UCD certainly has the most options after 1st year, even if at the moment I'd only be interested in EE.

djpbarry wrote: »

I think the best thing for you to do is go talk to lecturers in different engineering courses – they’ll generally be happy to help. Send a few emails and see if you can arrange some meetings for an informal chat. Most courses will have a specified point of contact for you to get started.

TBH I think my first port-of-call will be the various Open Days when the school calendar starts. I can ask around a bit. From there, yeah I'll definitely try to speak to some members of staff and whatnot. Thanks for the advice

pljudge321 wrote: »

There's a 3+2 integrated B.Sci & ME in electronic & computer engineering option in UCD that you can enter through the omnibus.

Really!? I'd be super interested in that! It's not on their website as far as I know, which is stupid if what you're saying is true.

Do you know where I can get info on it?

Moonbeam wrote: »

I know it is outside of Dublin but UL do a really good Computer engineering course so it worth looking at.

Hmmm, maybe if I can get a summer job this and next year to pay for accomodation

pljudge321

D_s wrote: »

Really!? I'd be super interested in that! It's not on their website as far as I know, which is stupid if what you're saying is true.

Its under the postgrad courses:

http://www.ucd.ie/eacollege/engarch/currentstudents/current_eng_students_t.html/me_electronic.html/

Modules list here:

https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/w_sm_web_inf_viewer_banner.show_major?p_term_code=201100&p_major_code=T163

Edit: Have you considered doing the undergrad abroad. Potentialy cheaper than doing it here, much better experience as well. I regret not doing it.

For example: http://www.studyguide.aau.dk/programmes/undergraduate/53183/

djpbarry

D_s wrote: »

I know it seems like a silly thing to be arguing about...

A little bit.

D_s wrote: »

:P But all I will say is go Here, and all travel times are ~1.5 hours.

Train to Drumcondra and bus/cycle to DCU? Couldn't be more than 45 minutes.

D_s wrote: »

I hope you can see where I'm coming from with my uncertainty; would you recommend UCD? How did you find EE? Was it what you expected? Is there much programming (I know "Much" is a vague, subjective word)?

I enjoyed the course, but I didn't particularly enjoy the social life - I found UCD quite insular. But, everyone's different.

I can't really remember what my expectations of the course where (I started it in 2000!), but I hadn't quite decided which engineering discipline I was going to go for when I started first year.

There was a fair bit of programming - an electronic engineer is going to struggle in the real world without the ability to program. If I recall correctly, we did a fair bit of C, along with some other proprietary stuff like Matlab, PSpice and Verilog. It was a while ago now, so the details are a bit sketchy.

D_s wrote: »

Hmmm, maybe if I can get a summer job this and next year to pay for accomodation

I think you should definitely be looking beyond Dublin - the engineering departments at UL and NUI Galway, in particular, have excellent reputations.

aperture_nuig

I just did the course in Galway, can't recommend it highly enough. I am now working with a multinational software company thanks to a lecturer's contacts. The brand new building helps too

If you've any questions just ask, or search the NUIG forum as there have been a few in there asking already.