If you’re interested in making things go beep and boop then you’re in the right place. Hi I’m
Jonathan and I’m this years computer systems blogger. I chose computer systems because I’m
the type of person that’s unable to stick with one thing. I have the attention span of a goldfish so
having the ability to switch between using my software and hardware skills is really refreshing
and keeps me interested in what I’m doing.
Speaking of interests, I enjoy travelling, eating food and working on projects. Some of the
projects I’ve worked on in my freetime include a lamp I made out of an old skateboard and a
personal website I host on github pages.
A lot of these interests helped in deciding to do computer systems but in all honesty I didn’t
know what computer systems was or how it was different from electrical or software. After a
semester though, what I can tell you is that computer systems is about working with the
components designed by electrical engineers and using our software background to form
circuits and devices that control or support a larger system. A cool example I learnt this past
semester is the anti-lock braking system in a car which uses speed sensors to see if one or
more wheels are locking up while breaking. If a wheel is locking up the computer reduces the
breaking to prevent skidding which keeps the driver in control.
If you didn’t find that cool, don’t worry. What you may find, and this really goes for all
specialisations, is that engineering is about being flexible. No matter what spec you choose
there are overlaps in all of them so you end up gaining a little knowledge about everything. Just
remember you’ve already made the right decision and that’s doing engineering.