EE related info required!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Florida
1

<p>Hello to everyone!! I'm an international applicant and I got my admit from UFL last Friday for MS in ECE!!</p>

<p>I've secured 5 admits, my best admits being ASU and UFL ($11K achievement award) for MS in ECE for Fall '07. I plan to do VLSI related courses (preferably Digital VLSI). As of now i have no inclination to do my PhD..Its too early now to decide I think.. </p>

<p>Since many of you are currently in UFL I would like to get inputs from you, so that I can decide which university to attend. First hand info is valuable and welcome!!</p>

<p>I had few specific doubts about UFL::</p>

<p>--> As I had mentioned earlier I wish to pursue VLSI related courses..How is the course/proffs/research for VLSI in UF?
--> Job/internship opportunities in EE (esp VLSI related) in Florida.
UF is not in a very good location. Is that going to affect my job prospects?
--> Funding/GA/RA opportunities for MS students.
--> What is the class strength like for EE?</p>

<p>Hope I haven't bombed you with a lot of questions!! Looking forward to replies!!</p>

2

<p>First let me start off by saying: I do not have a degree from the Engineering School, however I do know that our Engineering Department is consistently ranked in the Top-25 and is one of the strongest in the South-East USA. I believe ASU has a reputation of being a regional school at best. Needless to say, I can almost guarantee a MS from UF will give you better placement. Keep in mind the cost of living in Florida is extremely cheap.</p>

<p>This website may be helpful:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.eng.ufl.edu/about/statistics/index.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.eng.ufl.edu/about/statistics/index.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>SSobick...Thanks for your inputs.. more responses are welcome!!</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
--> As I had mentioned earlier I wish to pursue VLSI related courses..How is the course/proffs/research for VLSI in UF?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>VLSI is a major topic of research at UF (as it is at all respectable engineering schools). </p>

<p><a href="http://www.ece.ufl.edu/research/divisions/electronics.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ece.ufl.edu/research/divisions/electronics.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I would go to some of the faculty's home pages that research VLSI and take a look at what they're doing. Perhaps read some of their papers and try to contact them with interest in doing research with him. I know you're not looking for a PHd, but plenty of Masters students do research and if you are doing the thesis option, you have to find a research adviser.</p>

<p>
[quote]
--> Job/internship opportunities in EE (esp VLSI related) in Florida.
UF is not in a very good location. Is that going to affect my job prospects?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>UF isn't a great location, but its recruiter and peer assessment is very good. It isn't limited regionally. </p>

<p>
[quote]
--> Funding/GA/RA opportunities for MS students.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I know it's a lot easier for if you are in the combined BS/MS program, they hand you a teaching assistantship. It is difficult getting a research assistantship, I read in one of the professor's pages, that he will only take the very top students in a graduate course for his research. So for funding, you're best bet is to apply for a teaching assistantship for undergrad courses. I have heard that they were cutting pack on TA funding though. I would give ECE graduate student services a call, they're really helpful. It's summer right now, so they have free time. (352-392-9758)</p>

<p>
[quote]
--> What is the class strength like for EE?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Here are the graduate guidelines, <a href="http://www.ece.ufl.edu/academics/graduate/handbook/Guide2006.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ece.ufl.edu/academics/graduate/handbook/Guide2006.pdf&lt;/a>,
a lot of info is in there, plus all the courses offered. Pages 28-35 have all the course descriptions. They are taught rigorously, I've taken one grad course (not VLSI related) and it wasn't easy.</p>

<p>BTW: ASU is also a strong engineering school. I don't think you can go wrong with either.</p>

5

<p>In layman's terms, what is the purpose of VLSI. </p>

<p>Went to wiki and got this, but I don't have the knowledge base to know what it means. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistor-based circuits into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device. The term is no longer as common as it once was, as chips have increased in complexity into the hundreds of millions of transistors.

[/quote]
</p>

6

<p>It's basically solid-state technology, the purpose is to make electronic chips and circuitry smaller and smaller while increasing efficiency and speed. As a result, it makes things a lot cheaper due to its mass production. That's why you can get a nice computer for cheap because the Intel chip is getting cheaper due to VLSI.</p>

7

<p>thank you GatorEng23..you sure have cleared a lot of doubts..which course are you pursuing currently?</p>

<p>I did go through the ECE dept pages and the faculty's pages earlier but no one seems to be actively involved in Digital VLSI research...</p>

<p>I will call the ECE graduate student services and try to ask more questions to them!!</p>

<p>I plan to get industry exposure before pursuing my PhD...only time will tell if I can find something interesting to work upon!!</p>