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.'"

Comments

Electrical Engineering

[miratim]

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.

Re:Electrical Engineering

[Chundra]

Well it's like a degree in EE but with no strings attached. *cough*

Egad

[Reality Master 101]

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.

Why is this a separate degree?

[LaserBeams]

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.

Re:Why is this a separate degree?

[kemster]

First of all, it shouldn't take four years to learn most of how any kind of networking works.

Maybe you missed the fact that the students are at Auburn University...

Wireless?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, great. That ranks up there with a degree in Communications.

Pontless...

[N3WBI3]

I hate 'special degrees' Wireless shoudl be a specialization in either Computers or Electrical or both. Im sorry wireless fall totally under EM theory, Computer Algorithms, and Electronics. There is nothing in it that an EE major (or Computer Engineering) would not/could not be exposed to in the course of their required courses + their elevtives. Its a gimik to increase admissions, no more no less.

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.

gimic degrees dont impress employers

[peter303]

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.

Specialized degrees and market forces

[Infonaut]

Universities operate in a marketplace. They recognize that students are free to choose from any number of competitors. So they attempt, however slowly and clumsily, to offer degrees that fit the needs and in some cases the demands, of students.

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?

Alabamer

[LordNimon]

"It's really neat that you can communicate just through the air," Trueblood said in an interview over his cell phone. "Without wires you aren't limited to one specific area. Wherever I go, people can call me. There are a lot of advantages to that."

With such insightful commentary from Auburn's engineering students, it's no wonder that Alabama is such a hotbed of intellectualism.

The University of Texas at Dallas Offers Similar

[EvlG]

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.