Overview

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Building our eventual robotic overlords.

Description

Turns out, this computer thing isn't just a passing fad. Boy, are our faces red. But you can hardly blame us. If you went back thirty years or so, there wasn't even a computer in every home. The Internet was just a couple scientists talking and presumably swapping cat pictures. It wouldn't grow into the cultural juggernaut it is now until the late '90s.

And if you were a real computer nerd in the early '90s, you could make your dot matrix printer do this.

There's no going back now, but hey, would we even want to? After all, we can find out who won the basketball game, order a pizza, chat with a friend, and ruin our credit rating all with the same device.

Computers are amazing. And everywhere.

But just because computers are as common as the cold, it doesn't mean they're perfect. Anyone who has a computer (i.e. everyone) has had some kind of problem with it. From overheating to a virus that eats code alive, there are so many ways for computers to fail.

That's where computer engineers come in. There are still a lot of improvements that can be made to our dear computers, and this means that there's a lot of work to do. Where there's work to do, there's someone who wants to pay for it.

And let's face it. Computers are indispensable. Really, we depend on them. A lot. But when a computer breaks, it's not like you can sew on a patch or replace the tire. That's easy. The frustrating thing is that fixing broken computers often requires knowledge that you can't Google in under five hours.

Naturally, there's an active clamor for more engineers. Even tiny improvements can save hundreds of hours of work and thousands of dollars. They can probably even save a few lives, seeing as how worked up people can get over crashes.

If you love computers, this is an ideal place for you. Maybe you find you love working with your hands. Maybe coding calls to you. Doesn't matter. You're a computer engineer, and it's all part of the job.

Computer engineering is the closest thing computers get to a cross-discipline. You will get training in software design as well as electrical or electronic engineering. Unlike the more specialized areas, you will be learning about both hardware and software, as well as the means to integrate them. You will be improving, and possibly creating, both of them.

That's right, if you're all about innovation, this is a perfect spot. Computer engineers can make something new or make something old even better. If you want to put your mark on the most important technology of this age, you couldn't find a better gig.

Famous People who majored in Computer Engineering

• Dr. An Wang, computer engineer and inventor of Wang Laboratories
• Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com
• Linus Torvalds, Finnish software engineer
• Felicity Smoak of DC comics

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