Today we shall be debugging👩💻 the most famous rumours and stereotypes about Computer Systems (CompSys) engineering! This post will help you clarify the difference between CompSys and other specialisations whilst giving you the scoop on a few of our Part II Courses! So, without further ado… lets get right to it!👉
CompSys is for people who don’t get into electrical or software🤯
Umm… that is entirely wrong!❌ CompSys is for people who are eager to pursue both electrical and software (embedded systems) – meaning we basically end up with the broadest skillset of all three specialisations! CompSys is extremely flexible and has great futuristic potential.
In my opinion, CompSys is similar (and superior) to mechatronics. In both specialisations you explore various mainstream engineering pathways, however by removing the mechanical aspect, CompSys gives you the opportunity to go more in depth with electrical and software design, allowing you to gain more complex knowledge within those two areas rather than scraping the surface of three areas (mechanical, electrical, software).
ECSE (Elect/CompSys/Software) students are all smelly nerds🤓
While there definitely are many talented nerds among us who code or solve circuits all day, everyday, the ECSE department has a diverse mix. As a person who does not identify as a nerd, I was previously quite intimidated by the challenge of having to keep up with these ‘nerdy’ students. Although I often have to put in extra effort and I sometimes look silly asking ‘easy’ questions,🙋♀️ I have come to the conclusion that you do not have to be a nerd to succeed in ECSE.
Whilst trade companies and technical firms may search for the nerds among us, there are other CompSys relevant companies searching for people with diverse interests🏂 and the willingness to learn,🧠 rather than people who only have great technical capability. So, for you non-nerds out there… if you don’t want to give up all your hobbies and touching grass🌱 to keep up with the nerds, find other things such as engineering clubs or projects that can give you an alternative competitive advantage!
So, no, all ECSE students are not nerds. But as for the ECSE aromas…💨 I would not be opposed if someone were to sponsor free deodorant for our department!🤣
COMPSYS/ELECTENG 209 will take up ALL your time⏳
You might as well park a bed in the floor 5 labs – you WILL be spending hours in there (9pm is my personal latest🥱).
This is the first project (designing a smart energy monitor) you will do in this degree which requires true initiative as there isn’t always a ‘correct’ decision.🤔 All the information you need is covered within lectures, and the lab tasks hold your hand throughout the project. Make the extra effort to understand the theory, every element of your project, and how to use the lab equipment because this will carry you through tests and interviews.
If you do not enjoy the practical electrical components of Semester 1, consider switching to software as this course is extremely electrical intensive⚡ and would be a huge struggle for anyone who does not have true passion for the electrical aspect of this degree.
So, although 209 may feel like a full-time job… it will push you to gain practical skills that cannot be developed in any other second-year ECSE course, and hopefully you will start to feel like a ‘real engineer’, with meaningful skills you can apply when working in industry.🧑🎓
SOFTENG 284 is a self-sabotaging mission for a CompSys student🥲
Rumour has it, 284 (data structures & algorithms) is much more difficult for CompSys students than software because we don’t take the relevant SOFTENG 282 course in Semester 1. Graduated CompSys engineers claim that 284 is the most difficult🥵 course they took in their degree.
Well, I haven’t made it out the other side of this course quite yet… but I am here to tell you it that it is definitely achievable as CompSys student.😎 I was a bit thrown off after hearing “You covered this in SOFTENG 282, right?” mentioned at least five times in our first lecture… but after worrying about knowledge gaps for about a week, I soon realised that everything covered in this course has multiple YouTube videos▶️ covering the same concepts. Use that to your advantage to solidify your understanding of what is taught in lectures.
This course will not be a walk in the park, but the assignments are built of lecture examples and the test and exam are multichoice (meaning guaranteed 20%, right!?🤪). The hardest part is balancing 284 alongside the time-consuming 209 course, so my top tip is to is to get in the habit of doing LeetCode challenges (with python!) during Semester 1 ‘for funsies’, and maybe watch some YouTube videos on time complexity if you want to feel extra prepared.🎒
Computer Systems Engineering is just Computer Science +1 year🤷♀️
Although there is some overlap (like with SOFTENG 284), these two degrees have extremely different focuses. CompSci is more aligned with software engineering.💻 CompSci focuses heavily on programming theory, abstraction, and algorithms, whilst software engineering looks more into programme design and how to implement industry coding practices.
CompSys on the other hand highlights how we integrate🔗 software and hardware to design digital systems. So, whilst we do have the opportunity to explore the high-level programming elements of CompSci (object-oriented programming, design patterns, data structures and algorithms), the core courses we take focus more on low-level programming (microcontrollers, FPGAs) – translating from electrical signals to software interpretable 1’s and 0s. This specialisation is perfect if you want to learn how to write efficient, beautiful code whilst simultaneously growing your understanding of how we integrate the digital and physical world.
Hope the busted myths above have helped guide your big specialisation decision! I shall leave you with the following meme… which may or may not be accurate (off the record, I have seen my CompSys peers struggle to project their laptop screens and download social media apps😅). Good luck engineering on… I’ll see you in the next one!🤗
