Electrical Engineering VS Computer Engineering

Hello Guest, There is nothing like one better than other.....all are equal...if you are having the right mix of talent,dedication,will to learn and excel..you will do wonders in any discipline of engineering. This is the most common misconception about engineering...there is no heirarchy...nor there is one discipline more interesting than other....it is all within you.... Follow your mind and heart. Good luck.

I am not an EE but I interest myself in educational standards.

Your choice seems to be between Power generation & distribution and Computer sciences and Information technology .

Power - Did not change that much over the last 30 to 50 years - The demands are forever growing. there seems to be a short supply of manpower. This will be a steady job.

IT & Comp - It has changed a lot in the last 40 years and is changing at a bewildering speed but it seems to be very dynamic & challenging. There will be a lot of opposition and if you are not prepared to spend additional time to keep up to date, you may find yourselves sidelined. Job opportunities will be divers and the eventual choice of a employer may be more critical.

The eventual income will be determined by your value to the employer (Job functions or role in org. , Knowledge area and mastery level)

It is unknown from where you are. I could not access educational standards from India, China & Japan. If you are from there you may first have to compare standards against USA, Germany, UK, Canada, New Zealand etc.

For myself I would go for computers but only you can be the judge of what you should do.

If you are into real engineering, may I suggest you also learn how to play with a screwdriver and soldering iron.

For the past year I have been working in a small electronics company that develops wireless modems ( just a few electrical engineers with a lot more experience than I have). I have become pretty handy with a soldering iron, building up circuit boards as well as assembling the final product. However, I am only able to perform light engineering work because of my inexperience, can you suggest any reading materials or easy applications that could help me develop the skills I need to perform atleast somewhat complex tasks. I was thinking of taking a few circuit design courses along with a printed circuit board assembly course to get certified for electronic assembly. This would give me a better understanding of the test equipment that I use at work. I plan to continue working atleast part time while obtaining my EE degree.

Guest - please register on CR4 as this will give respondents an opportunity to advise based upon a specific location.

In the UK, the local reference library can be a valuable source of readily-available information on all manner of subjects. Borrowing books for short periods is free to registered users of the library, which is especially valuable to those at the Spring of their careers and experience, when cash is sometimes very tight.

Showing some capability in physics and mathematics to those that allocate study courses at interview, in addition to having adequate communication skills (the written English used here is fine, BTW), will place one at a high risk of securing a place on an undergraduate course in the chosen subject.

It might be worth spending some of the part-time earnings on suitable books from secondhand bookshops, perhaps? The search for them can be quite entertaining too!

Hello,

I was in a similar place when I went into college. In high school, I took a lot of civil engineering classes that got me interested in engineering, but when I became very interested in computers I ended up going for computer engineering. At the school I went to, the two curriculum's where nearly identical. The CE curriculum involved a bit more programming, Computer Science I was for both majors, but Computer Science II and software engineering was only required for the CE major. The CE course also had a lot more digital design and theory in it. The EE course required taking Electromagnetics I and II along with more power theory classes. CE only required E-Mag I. Most of my friends were EE majors, but we still had almost all the same classes together. Switching majors partway through the curriculum wasn't a big deal either.

I graduated two years ago and I am working now, I've made good use of a lot of the additional programming material I learned in the CE curriculum. At the same time though, I've had to teach myself much of the information I missed about power systems and electromagnetics.

What do you enjoy more? If you like programming and the idea of learning about the digital innards of computers then go CE, if you like electromagnetics, power systems and antenna design go EE. Have a look at the classes you'll need to take, and which are available as electives.

In my experience, this decision wasn't like choosing one direction or the other from a fork in the road, more like choosing to walk on one side of the same path as the EE majors.

Some of this has been covered by others but here are my thoughts.

You should look at the curiculum of the scool or schools your are thinking of attending. There may be very little difference or it could be quite different. Where I went to school it was very similar to Hawk in that the major difference was EE's had to take 2 semesters of Electromagnetics where CE's didn't, plus EE's had more choice on their electives were CE's had more required programming classes. A lot of prople choose CE due to the difficult reputation of EM. As a freshman I was in the same boat as you. The thing that decided it for me was an opinion I was offered that suggested as a CE you will do mostly programming as an EE you may do some programming but not only that. I decided I liked programming but didn't want to do it exclusively so I choose EE. I'm sure there are a lot of exceptions to the rule above but there is also some truth to it as well.

Good luck!

Shawn

Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. These discussions have given me a lot more information and ideas. Right now I am enrolled in a few general education classes such as english and college algebra, these courses are required for graduation in both majors. I have time to plan out which courses to take. As of right now, I plan to go for my EE degree. In the school I'm going to, electrical and computer engineering reside in the same department. Hopefully the classes are similar and I may be able to get some more programming knowledge through electives.

Get the EE, and you'll find no serious difficulty to Computer Eng. But in the other hand, CE first, then you'll find trouble to learn EE. This because I'm EE.

The industrial trend seem like will shift to Electrical-Computerized, see the Automation sector.

Guest,

I've been in IT since 1985 when I left High School and only this year did I work out which engineering qualification I wanted to aim for.

My Perspective, based on experiences in Australia: -

The current trend in Oz is more computers, less engineers and technicians.

However, there is a growing requirements for Electrical Engineers with a very well developed knowledge of IT equipment and it's requirements and pit-falls.

Data Centres are a combination of Factory Sized support infrastructure running a "White Room" (almost) environment with many challenges.

This is due a number of issues related to the changing technology of IT equipment.

So from where I stand\sit looking back from today, go with your heart today and pick one.

Once you have finished that, you can go back to Night School or Tech, and pick up the extra modules required to get the qualifications in the other field.

In the TAFE system I am enrolled in, the courses share many common modules and after discussing the issue with various instructors, this is a viable option.

After all, Life is about improving ones self and more learning is better than less.

Combining Data Centre Facilities Management and Part Time Electrical Engineering Student has bought the joy of learning back to me.

I have gone from student to IT Operator, to IT Support, to Now.

Now = Begining

Have Fun with which ever choice you take.

Sapper.

Dear Friend,

i am a electronics Engg. 10 years exp. i was doing a lot in electrical works in distrubution side, now i have less knowledge in electronics, have nill in software programming. i am feedup with this field work. riskin this kind of job. if u towards software with any degree u can do well.