<p>I was wondering what type of engineering degree I would like best. Here are somethings that I would like to work with (in order of preference):</p>
<li><p>I’ve always liked computers, but writing code all day isn’t exactly my cup of tea. I would MUCH rather be designing a chip or microprocessor that helps the computer move at lightning fast speeds or coming up with technologies such as DSL or something. So obviously software engineering isn’t for me, would EE work for this?</p></li>
<li><p>Working with Car audio (ie subwoofers, decks, speakers, that sort of thing) or making cars work better (ie Audi’s Quattro technology that helps with turning). Its similar to computers in that I would much rather work on the technologies that make it better rather than working on the other components (which for cars would be like improving springs, suspension, engine).</p></li>
<li><p>I LOVE sports, and I think it would be a fun job to work with Nike and try and design shoes, or work with a tennis raquet company and build new racquets. But since now shoes are using electrical stuff, wouldn’t EE work for that as well?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Haha thats not really much of a choice, but would EE work for the top two fields? The only reason I ask is becuase all I hear you do in EE is work on circuit boards all day, and even though I know little about the field right now, that doesn’t seem to relate to what those choices are that I envision.</p>
<p>With digital design (designing a chip or microprocessor) you are still going to be sitting at a computer writing code all day. Only you'll be designing hardware, not software. </p>
<p>EE is much, much more vast a field than just sitting around working on circuit boards all day. Digital design/computer engineering is much, much more abstract than that (in fact, here nearly every computer engineering course is cross-listed in both ECE and CS). Systems/Signals/Communications/Information Theory is a very broad subset of EE in and of itself. Then there's Analog circuit design (designing the analog components digital designers will use without really knowing or caring how they work at the transistor level). There's materials/solid-state/plasma physics then, too, which would be researching/designing the materials used in all the above. </p>
<p>A lot of these fields cross over significantly into other fields (Computer engineering can be ECE or CS, same with signal/communication theory; the physics part obviously crosses paths with applied physics, materials sciences, maybe even chemistry/cheme).</p>
<p>But anyway, if you want to do any of those things listed above, ECE sounds right. I take it you aren't even in college yet? You've got PLENTY of time to decide.</p>
<p>well when I mean writing code, I mean that I don't want to be designing like an anti-virus thing or something like that. Designing a micro-processor would however be nice. But does car audio involve EE or ME?</p>
<p>really? How would building a car deck or designing a subwoofer involve signal processing? Also, how hard is it typically to land a job like that? I'm not exactly smart enough to get into HYPS, and I think I will probably end up at a place similar to University of Washington (maybe cornell if I get somewhat lucky and apply ED), so is it still possible to end up with a good job with a company like Sony (my dream job in this field) if I go to a school like that?</p>
<p>oh yeah, I was also wondering if designing other appliances such as TVs, home theater systems, etc. can also be included in Audio Signal Processing. The reason is that there doesn't seem much to car audio besides improving sound quality, and there is only so far that can go, and after a while there might not be much to study (which I'm a bit worried about), so I wanted to know if this will also work.</p>
<p>thanks for the reply pearlygate, but that didn't really answer my question. I was looking for an answer as to whether signal processing could crossover into other thinigs like designing TVs and stuff, and how competitive it is to get a good job in the field if you come from a good, but not HYPS type school (my example was University of Washington). </p>
<p>Also, how much is there to learn about car audio in general? I know its a bit naive, but is there really that much else to learn about that besides improving sound quality, because that seems to be the only thing that could advance.</p>
<p>I'm not really familiar with EE jobs esp in audio. But I think UWashington should provide you with similar if not better engineering opportunities compared to most ivy league school save for cornell and princeton.</p>
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I was looking for an answer as to whether signal processing could crossover into other thinigs like designing TVs and stuff
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<p>A good chunk of the electronics that go in stereos, audio systems, TV's, and entertainment systems today is based on DSP - digital signal processing. Google DSP and take a look...it's everywhere!</p>