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Auburn University First To Offer Wireless Degree
EyesWideOpen writes "Auburn University in Alabama will become the first school in the country to offer a four-year bachelor's degree in the study of wireless technology this fall. Since its inception three months ago an estimated 30 to 50 students have signed up for Auburn's wireless engineering program. 'All engineering students are expected to complete liberal arts and general engineering classes the first two years of school. They then can focus on wireless during their last two years of study by taking courses such as Wireless Design Lab, RF Devices and Circuits, and 3G and 4G Wireless.'"
I can't wait to get my Wardriving degree, with a chalk marking hieroglyphics major. Let's not even get into the possibilities of fly-by wireless haxoring exams. Ooo, watch out for that tree little Jimmy!
s200.org - visit it (me), love it (me).
By the time you graduate 3g will be deployed.
Wouldn't this kids be better off with a degree in EE, concentrating in wireless? That's like getting a degree in web services instead of Computer Science.
~ The Fudge Report @ http://mywebpages.comcast.net/fudgereport/
... or you really are stuck in the stone age, atleast here in Finland you have been able to study the subject in deep detail for years. Now, seriously, is this news there in US? This is not a flamebait, I am truly interested in this.
Now, juniors and seniors can bring Cell Phones to class and the professors don't have a say.
:/
"Tomorrow" ON SLASHDOT:
"Due to increasing interest, Auburn University will launch a first-in-the-country program next fall for a B.S. degree in
NOISE POLLUTION MANAGEMENT"
~Int
Cover your eyes and click this link!
3G and 4G Wireless
Oh, well, that's good. We all know that "3G" and "4G" are such important, well defined engineering terms.
Coming soon to the CS department "Software engineering principles of version 2 and version 3 software.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
First of all, it shouldn't take four years to learn most of how any kind of networking works. On the computer/electronics side, both are basically the same, it's the transmission that's different.
Now, why not combine wireless with wired networking as a major, and then get more people into that? While wireless is all "hip" and whatnot, you can't do everything wirelessly. Transmitting through thick rock and transmitting top secret data for example. However, if you're knowledgeable with both wired and wireless networks, you are of use to almost any company, even small ones who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford separate "in-house" and wireless network engineers.
Karma: \Kar"ma\, n. [Skr.] (Buddhism) One's acts considered as fixing one's lot in the future existence.
Oh, great. That ranks up there with a degree in Communications.
A good intro class would be "Build your own wireless network card" Professor: "Ok all the course materials will be available online which you can access using the campus' wireless gateway." Student: "But how Can i get to them if I dont have a wireless network card?" Professor: ::evil grin::
just like the $EthnicGroup Studies majors. They should be specializations in either history or political science. What were beginning to do is produce college graduated who are way too over specialized. I know of EE's who think they dont need E-Mag because they are going to do VLSI.
Sorry for the rant its just my 2 cents.
So, what, there's never been a degree in radio engineering before?
I'd go into the huge theory/practice techschool/university debate, but I've finally realized something:
The truly curious and intelligent will get the theory no matter what, because they want to know and find out. The dull masses will not get the theory even when it's taught to them for four years straight. They're probably better served by a practical course of study (with lots of flashing lights).
I got to attend a preview of one of the classes. I was asked to leave over a debate about whether or not two cans held together with a shoestring is a wireless technology. Despite the dictionary's support of my view, it is not classically considered a wireless technology.
I'd hire a plain vanilla degree with good grades and from a competative university any day. In three years the current fads will have changed and only the basics will matter.
Why is this a distince degree? It would seem to be self limiting, yes?
"I'm sorry but the job opening is for advanced networking design, I'm afraid that only wireless won't cut it"
This isn't a first, in any way whatsoever.
Many universities have EE programs that require a concentration. What's a common concentration in such programs? You guessed it, wireless. Even Cornell, which admittedly is not a "strong" school in wireless despite a top-notch EE program since the main physical-layer wireless guy was hired away by Illinois, has a pretty good wireless concentration. (Due to the fact that most of the domain of "wireless" can be covered quite well by the DSP, Information Theory, and the radar people in Space & Plasma Physics, all of which are fields where Cornell is top-notch) All in all, you'll get a much broader exposure to signal theory and RF in general than you would in a "Wireless" degree.
Whatever this program is, I'm sure it pales in comparison to the EE programs at Georgia Tech and the University of Illinios (They have two of the top wireless programs in the country - It's all under the EE umbrella.) I believe GaTech has an antenna testing range and numerous other facilities that rival that of most corporations in the field.
If you want to do wireless, go to Georgia Tech or the University of Illinios. I hear Ohio State is pretty good too, as are UCSD and probably Caltech. If you want to go to a wannabe program that won't get you a broad exposure that'll leave you with backup if wireless dries up, go to Auburn.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I'm not a real proponent of specialized degrees, but the world is becoming a very specialized place. I'd also argue it's also getting tougher and tougher to make a living as a generalist, whether coming from a technical or liberal arts background.
Maybe we ought to take notice of why Auburn offered this degree, and the forces behind it, instead of just running up the, "Back in my day, we all got EE degrees and boy were we thankful!" flag.
Just my two cents. Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong. After all, I was an International Relations major, so what the fsck do I know about technical degrees?
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
The Task is to implement a program that acts as a player in a multi-player robot game. Contributed programs will play against each other in a tournament.
Sounds a lot like IBM's Robocode for teaching Java.
http://www.kubuntu.org/
With such insightful commentary from Auburn's engineering students, it's no wonder that Alabama is such a hotbed of intellectualism.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
If you want to concentrate very specifically on a field in depth (i.e. wireless), that's what graduate school is for.
I regret concentrating too much on RF as an undergrad, despite having taken a few courses outside of RF in DSP and information theory.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I am assuming from reading the article (*gasp*, yes I read it) and the comments that this is basically a EE degree with a high degree of specialization.
My Computer Engineering degree from Auburn is similar. Where at most schools, Computer Engineering is a EE with a specialization in Computer Science, at Auburn it is essentially a CS degree with a EE minor. I had to take the basic engineering courses, the bulk of the CS major courses, and the EE courses in digital electronics and computers. I thought (and still think) this combination is cool, but I found out later (when looking at graduate school) that it is kind of screwy. Basically, my credits didn't qualify me for admission to masters programs in CSE/EE in most schools without taking a few more undergraduate classes in analog electronics/powers/etc.
People taking the wireless major may have the same problem, but you can probably take most of the wireless classes as tech electives in a EE program and have the same result with a "standard" engineering degree.
As to why they did it, they wanted the money...
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
I work for a wireless division of a large network equipment maker and almost all of the guys that do the advanced theory stuff and actually push the design of the next generation products are Phd's in particle or quantum physics, but the engineers who actually design the products are mostly MS and Phd in EE. We are in Ohio, so OSU is where most of our interns come from, and we have worked closely with GeTech for antenna testing and verification, as you said their facilities are better than most corporations.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
This continuing trend to greater specialization is killing our ability to innovate. Different specialists can never communicate well enough to replace a multi-disciplined individual. Teamwork can only go so far. There is no substitute for knowing it all.
No - TeSLa patented a device to transmit ENERGY - he wanted to light light bulbs w/o wires using coupled resonant RF tank coils (Take that, Edison!). Marconi was the 1st to make and install useful wireless telegraphs and built a big business, altho he infringed on Tesla's patent in doing so. The patent office didn't catch the prior art and it was overturned by the Supreme court in the 1940's.
SEE the actual Tesla patent here and note that it says ENERGY, not INFORMATION.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
For those interested, The University of Texas at Dallas offers a similar degree program called Telecommunications Engineering. Its scope is a bit broader than just wireless.
Check out UTD's page about the program for more information.
It depends on your school. CS, CmpE, and EE are all equally tough where I went to school. Management and IE (aka Imaginary Engineers) got our drop outs. Now THAT's the kind of thing that inspires cynicism in the workforce long before you enter it. All the washouts and losers are going to be your boss!
...You know, not being an over-priced community college and all.
Of course, we didn't actually have an MIS degree.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
The reality is a college degree is practically a necessity. You'd have a very difficult time getting a job with no real work experience unless you did go to college. In college you also work at internships which gains job experience. :)
US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
How about the 1898 wireless robot boat demo? Even though the focus is on power, it seems to me like he is transmitting information.
...is the tightness of focus. There's a LOT more to RF than just digital wireless networking devices, cellphones, etc.
;-)
I would hope that the college will include solid background material in RF circuit basics (oscillators, modulation techniques for both digital and analog, power amps, basic antenna theory and practice, receivers and demodulation, etc.) as well as the material on networking.
Failing that, I would hope that they at least encourage the kids to get their ham radio tickets, and to be experimenters. That'll at least get them some hands-on.
(Yes, I'm biased, I admit it. Don't ask about my plate voltage).
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
Havn't we had 'radio engenering' for like decades?
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
this is kind of hokey. It's more like a trade than a degree.
3G? You mean cellular services? So they are offering a degree in cellular?
Degree has ceased to mean what it used to mean in America.
Aw come on....you're forgetting the Wal-Mart on College Street, the super Wal-Mart in West Point, various Winn-Dixies, the police and fire stations, and the airport :)
>
seriously though...Auburn is a small town and Opelika would dry up without it, but I miss my college days there!
shaldannon
Graduate, Auburn University, '00 CS
WARRRRRRRRRRRR EAGLE! HEY!
What is your Slash Rating?
I'm an AU grad, but I hadn't heard of this. However, if you don't like that, maybe you'd like attending the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) where it is now mandatory for freshmen to study the Koran and write (positive) reviews about what they read.
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Hmmm...you don't know Auburn all that well then do you? The Dept of Computer Science there has been administered by th College of Engineering for many many years (maybe I should say, the "Samuel Ginn College of Engineering" (that leaves a nasty taste in my mouth) since they sold naming rights to the school to the highest bidding Alumn. Oh well...still a good school despite the ugly name change.
shaldannon
Graduate, Auburn University, '00 CS
What is your Slash Rating?
Well, I did a year at UAB, and enjoyed it...nice campus if you don't mind dodging bullets on 8th Ave S. in B'ham (kinda close to the Engineering building I might add), but since it's really spread all over south B'ham, it's not exactly a student friendly campus...in fact, it's mostly a commuter campus.
:)
I finished my degree at AU, so I can also speak from experience on that score. AU has a nicer campus, generally nicer people, and the professors and students help each other a lot...
One of my fellow students had been to UAH...I lack knowledge on it beyond getting the idea that it was great for pre-engineering and aerospace.
And then there's that den of iniquity that people call Tuscaloser...I mean, Tuscaloosa...then again we can't all be perfect can we?
Oh yeah... Go Tigers
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I think at this point someone should mention that Samuel Ginn has a vested interest in producing wireless engineers.....been a while since I read the Alum mag on the purchase of the CoE, but iirc, Mr. Ginn owns a large regional cellular company.
;)
Being an Alum, I have to say I think that's a lousy name to plaster on the CoE, but nobody asked me, and I can't outbid him, so...
What is your Slash Rating?
Reputation, quality of program, broadness (Well-rounded engineer with extra knowledge in wireless vs. wireless-only engineer who is screwed if the industry goes tits-up, or gets dragged down by the fact that most of the equipment manufacturers were also involved heavily in optical networking), and facilities.
If you ask someone "in the industry", i.e. someone who is hiring, which they would rather hire - Either one of these Auburn "wireless" engineers or a GaTech EE that concentrated in wireless, they'll probably say GaTech because of its reputation and the fact that a lot of the major players do large amounts of business with GaTech.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?