Careers In Computer Engineering
While financial analysts, government officials, and employment specialists frequently disagree on conditions existing in the American economy today, everyone concurs with the idea that a college graduates possessing a degree in the field of computer engineering is in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose among job offers with several major computer companies and other Fortune 500 employers. Over the last five years, demand for computer engineers has grown due to the rapid growth and advances in the computer industry. Computers are everywhere, and they are utilized to perform a variety of functions. In industry, computer-aided drafting programs are used to design manufacturing processes which provide a high degree of efficiency and quality. The popular ATM, or automated teller machine available at many banks, is operated through interlocking computer networks, and a person several thousand miles away from home can obtain quick cash from a machine at any hour of the day or night. A person with a degree in computer engineering has many options for a career. Many colleges offer electrical engineering curricula and computer engineering may be an offshoot. The University of Delaware describes a person with a degree in electrical engineering as a "generalist," with computer engineers as "specialists" who spend their time focusing on computer architecture and compiler design (University of Delaware / which_degree.html). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, considered one of the best schools for computer study, offers a similarly structured program (Glass 91). While both degree programs require courses in electronics theory, devices and circuits as well as basic and advanced theories of the nature and uses of electricity, the computer engineering curriculum also includes courses on hardware applications, programming languages, software design, and artificial intelligence
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