IT/Software career thread: Invert binary trees for dollars.
- Thread starter Traak
- Start date
-
Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
That's true. I would love to.do an EE masters but I'd be worried my skillset isn't broad enough for that
The_Black_Log Foler
PalsCo CEO - Stock Pals | Pantheon Pals
- 47,951
- 43,143
Are you good at math? Diffy, calc, discrete, a lot of tricky algebra, etc. That's all EE is, just applied math with some physics.
What
wormie
said. I'd be hesitant at a master's in CE. Imo you're gonna benefit most when you focus on a niche post grad. CE from my experience just combines EE and CS courses and skips some of the more in depth shit.EE can be fucking brutal though, especially if you get into semiconductor physics and electromagnetic fields stuff. So prepare thyself. At this point I'd personally do CS over EE any day. I still get my jollies off prototyping my own circuits for personal embedded projects but fuck doing PCB design and anything lower.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
Now you got me guys asking my boss about it.
I wouldn't do CS. I feel like after so many years in the industry I'd get a lot less out of a CS masters. It'd also pigeonhole me
I wouldn't do CS. I feel like after so many years in the industry I'd get a lot less out of a CS masters. It'd also pigeonhole me
- 1
The_Black_Log Foler
PalsCo CEO - Stock Pals | Pantheon Pals
- 47,951
- 43,143
Do this. If a master's in CE is all that's on the table, it's at least worth your time to look into the course list of whatever college is your option. It may be that it allows for more specialization than I'm assuming.
EE is a shit ton of fun. Especially if you love math, because really that's all it is, math and a knowledge of physics. It's broad as hell and when combined with higher level programming experience, you can do some really fun stuff. At that point anything you dream up you can make, and usually at very little expense. Can't say that for civil, mechanical or aerospace engineers!
Check out: adafruit.com and sparkfun.com
Look at their tutorials. If you like to tinker and with your programming background, EE could open up a whole other world of fun.
Lemme know what the course lineup looks like, now I'm curious.
- 1
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
Oh I know about EE. About half or more of my courses were EE and I've made home circuits and shit. My BS was pretty rigorous
- 1
alavaz
Trakanon Raider
- 2,003
- 714
My company will pay for a masters as well. I don't see a professional benefit to it. The only jobs that I would be interested in that actually require anything higher than a BS are R&D type positions that "require" a masters, but realistically won't employ anything other than a PhD.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
Our company has so few phds it's crazy. We just got one on our team and it's... Daunting sitting next to him.
I would never go for a PhD , just never been that academically inclined.
Got the deets. Company pays 100%. I'd do part time Tues/Thurs nights for 1-2 years. Any degree I want from northeastern and includes a "leadership cert" on top. Whatever that is. They'd pay for certain hours for schoolwork while I remain fulltime.
Asking for more details but this is sounding good. Now I need to look at degree offerings.
I would never go for a PhD , just never been that academically inclined.
Got the deets. Company pays 100%. I'd do part time Tues/Thurs nights for 1-2 years. Any degree I want from northeastern and includes a "leadership cert" on top. Whatever that is. They'd pay for certain hours for schoolwork while I remain fulltime.
Asking for more details but this is sounding good. Now I need to look at degree offerings.
- 2
Asshat wormie
2023 Asshat Award Winner
- 16,820
- 30,968
MS in ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING WITH CONCENTRATION IN COMMUNICATIONS, CONTROL, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING
EECE 5666 - Digital Signal Processing
EECE 7200 - Linear Systems Analysis
EECE 7310 - Modern Signal Processing
EECE 7312 - Statistical and Adaptive Signal Processing
EECE 7346 - Probabilistic System Modeling and Analysis
EECE 5644 - Introduction to Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition
EECE 7203 - Complex Variable Theory and Differential Equations
EECE 7397 - Advanced Machine Learning
Covers your degree. I would add on top of that
EECE 7323 - Numerical Optimization Methods
EECE 7337 - Information Theory
Yes I am bored
EECE 5666 - Digital Signal Processing
EECE 7200 - Linear Systems Analysis
EECE 7310 - Modern Signal Processing
EECE 7312 - Statistical and Adaptive Signal Processing
EECE 7346 - Probabilistic System Modeling and Analysis
EECE 5644 - Introduction to Machine Learning and Pattern Recognition
EECE 7203 - Complex Variable Theory and Differential Equations
EECE 7397 - Advanced Machine Learning
Covers your degree. I would add on top of that
EECE 7323 - Numerical Optimization Methods
EECE 7337 - Information Theory
Yes I am bored
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
Yeah I am looking at the exact same thing.
I had never heard of a combined MSECE before, that's even better!
BUT - I would need to think about it because I don't want to just jump in for something related to my work right now if there's something more interesting.
Also.. I took a Numerical Analysis and Optimization grad course before and I H A T E D it. I didn't understand it, professor wasn't good, no tests or homework. Is a course like that better or am I staring down the same thing?
Edit: Also not sure, but I might need to take the thesis option because our powerpoints discuss doing the thesis with faculty (here) advisement and relation to our work.
I had never heard of a combined MSECE before, that's even better!
BUT - I would need to think about it because I don't want to just jump in for something related to my work right now if there's something more interesting.
Also.. I took a Numerical Analysis and Optimization grad course before and I H A T E D it. I didn't understand it, professor wasn't good, no tests or homework. Is a course like that better or am I staring down the same thing?
Edit: Also not sure, but I might need to take the thesis option because our powerpoints discuss doing the thesis with faculty (here) advisement and relation to our work.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
Well I'm going for it. Deadline for next year just passed, so I'd start app process in october
- 3
alavaz
Trakanon Raider
- 2,003
- 714
BBN is the big R&D arm of Raytheon. Check them out, PhD's out the ass I'd imagine.
Asshat wormie
2023 Asshat Award Winner
- 16,820
- 30,968
Numerical analysis is my favorite topic so I am a bit biased. To me it is one the most interesting and useful topics when mixing computers and mathematics. However one does need to be very comfortable with linear algebra and calculus to understand it AS LONG as the approach to the topic is algorithmic. Biggest problem with such a course is that a lot of math professors view numerical analysis as nothing more than the study of error. This in my opinion, while is important and sheds a lot of light on some things, is often very unintuitive. Its not very illuminating to approximate some error through algebraical means of some polynomial interpolation that has a factor of Nth derivative; you cant really visualize it and it just feels fucking bad and hand-wavy. Anyway a lot of this shit is taught in a very dry and dull manner because most mathematicians dont want to understand the fucking topic. To me numerical analysis seems more than studying error. It is the fun of algorithms but is solving the continuous instead of discrete which requires a more interesting mathematical thought, one dealing with the infinite instead of finite.
TL;DR your professor sucked dick.
As an example of what i tried to ramble on about, and since I mentioned it before in this thread, when i learn a new language, I do it by implementing linear algebra routines, using efficient and not efficient methods, one finds in any scientific library (a library that is usually calling on some god awful Fortran written 50 years ago). My favorite, probably because its simple and intuitive, is implementing least squares solution using Householder Transformations. Basically you take a mathematical fact, proven by fairly basic proof, and apply it algorithmically to solve a problem. Its cute, its fun and it shows the power of mathematical truth when applied to a problem.
More TL;DR Something...something, school good, professors bad.
Take a look at Numerical Linear Algebra by Trefethen or Matrix Computations by Golub to see an example of interesting presentation of Numerical Analysis + Optimization. For a more mathematically heavy approach, and one that requires a bit of basic analysis, I would recommend Michelle Schatzman's book.
TL;DR your professor sucked dick.
As an example of what i tried to ramble on about, and since I mentioned it before in this thread, when i learn a new language, I do it by implementing linear algebra routines, using efficient and not efficient methods, one finds in any scientific library (a library that is usually calling on some god awful Fortran written 50 years ago). My favorite, probably because its simple and intuitive, is implementing least squares solution using Householder Transformations. Basically you take a mathematical fact, proven by fairly basic proof, and apply it algorithmically to solve a problem. Its cute, its fun and it shows the power of mathematical truth when applied to a problem.
More TL;DR Something...something, school good, professors bad.
Take a look at Numerical Linear Algebra by Trefethen or Matrix Computations by Golub to see an example of interesting presentation of Numerical Analysis + Optimization. For a more mathematically heavy approach, and one that requires a bit of basic analysis, I would recommend Michelle Schatzman's book.
Last edited:
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
Yeah the professor was bad. A little more about him - he wrote the book for the course (thankfully, he gave it to us for free) but also had a 'side' book on linear algebra he referenced. For starters - linear algebra was absolutely not a pre-req for the course and it was apparent to me as an undergrad in a grad course that it should have been. It was also his last semester before retiring... that was also painfully apparent. There was 'homework' that was never graded and was just handed back to us later with no real feedback. No tests. I don't know how he graded the course, but I got an A. I assumed that it was just because I showed up and was the only undergrad out of the 5 of us. This course was a very sore point for me because I felt like it was tediously difficult to decipher anything from his shitty book. He never once related it to the real world, so I left the course with exactly 0 knowledge of anything related to the course. Even if I retained anything, I had no idea if what I was doing in the course was correct.
I've heard Numerical Analysis is the (or one of) most difficult math courses possible. I certainly felt it was. My brain just never adapted to it. As you can see, it still angers me to this day.
As for the no sex. Well.. theres no change there. But that's for another day when I feel like ranting in the marriage thread.
I've heard Numerical Analysis is the (or one of) most difficult math courses possible. I certainly felt it was. My brain just never adapted to it. As you can see, it still angers me to this day.
As for the no sex. Well.. theres no change there. But that's for another day when I feel like ranting in the marriage thread.
If you can get an advanced, or preferably a terminal, degree on your company's dollar and time then 100% go for it. If you want to move up the corporate ladder, even if you don't apply the stuff you learned in grad school, at least the additional degree shows you committed and finished something that a lot of people struggle with. If nothing else it's a resume booster and raises your ceiling to some degree.
My perspective is a bit different since I work in pharma R&D, but an advanced degree is pretty much never going to hurt, and it will almost always help, potentially in a major way.
Kind of like getting your epic in early EQ. Not required, but helps pretty much every class in some way, and is almost necessary to contribute for certain classes. If nothing else it gave you some credibility that you could put in the time and effort for something reasonably difficult/demanding.
My perspective is a bit different since I work in pharma R&D, but an advanced degree is pretty much never going to hurt, and it will almost always help, potentially in a major way.
Kind of like getting your epic in early EQ. Not required, but helps pretty much every class in some way, and is almost necessary to contribute for certain classes. If nothing else it gave you some credibility that you could put in the time and effort for something reasonably difficult/demanding.
Vinen
God is dead
- 2,790
- 495
My father did this exact program at Northeastern in order to obtain his Masters in EE (He worked his entire 30+ year career at Raytheon). What is your goal here? Masters are generally useless and serve only to add to a credentials so that Raytheon can charge more for you on the contract. Some Defense Contractors also block promotions past a certain level without them as well. If you plan on staying at a Defense contractor for the rest of your life. Go for it. If you want to do something useful with your life leave Raytheon and work for a real company with real functional requirements.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
That's what I was waiting for
As for why. Since I'm on radar I've been looking into signal processing and the DSP course sort of whetted my appetite. Originally I was.going to do a five year bs+ms in college but something got screwed up with my timeline and I lost out.
I don't have some grand thought that I'll demand a higher salary with it, but there are definitely promotion stop gaps here. There are things like you cannot be a technical lead here without one (on stuff I'm working).
I'd be interested to know how your dad feels about you calling his career a waste of time. I have plenty of bad things to say about defense contracting but you have some very negative views considering you only interned at one and apparently with a yellow badge at that.
As for why. Since I'm on radar I've been looking into signal processing and the DSP course sort of whetted my appetite. Originally I was.going to do a five year bs+ms in college but something got screwed up with my timeline and I lost out.
I don't have some grand thought that I'll demand a higher salary with it, but there are definitely promotion stop gaps here. There are things like you cannot be a technical lead here without one (on stuff I'm working).
I'd be interested to know how your dad feels about you calling his career a waste of time. I have plenty of bad things to say about defense contracting but you have some very negative views considering you only interned at one and apparently with a yellow badge at that.
Last edited:
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 38,289
- 15,131
So here's where I am after researching this. Keep in mind, information is scattered and the people who are POC's just don't respond to emails.
So my work reimburses $10k/year in educational costs towards a higher degree/cert. There's an advanced study program where they select a few applicants per year to go to Northeastern (or a couple other schools) for a MS/GEL like I listed above.
The big issue is my boss told me two days ago about this, application was due Feb 9th. So I can't apply to this until next year. Kind of a bummer, but I knew it was there the whole time, just never thought about it. So what goes with that, is I can still use $10k for this next year anywhere I want really.
Do I apply to Northeastern and try to go part time? I'm pretty sure the costs are SIGNIFICANT at a private school. Do I apply to my alma mater into their grad program? It'd be $10-12k per year for a part time education there, so some out of pocket costs. However if I do that, I'd need to transfer to Northeastern and I'm not sure that would fly.
Not sure if Northeastern would let me just take one-off classes and later pull them into a degree program in a year.
What would you guys do?
So my work reimburses $10k/year in educational costs towards a higher degree/cert. There's an advanced study program where they select a few applicants per year to go to Northeastern (or a couple other schools) for a MS/GEL like I listed above.
The big issue is my boss told me two days ago about this, application was due Feb 9th. So I can't apply to this until next year. Kind of a bummer, but I knew it was there the whole time, just never thought about it. So what goes with that, is I can still use $10k for this next year anywhere I want really.
Do I apply to Northeastern and try to go part time? I'm pretty sure the costs are SIGNIFICANT at a private school. Do I apply to my alma mater into their grad program? It'd be $10-12k per year for a part time education there, so some out of pocket costs. However if I do that, I'd need to transfer to Northeastern and I'm not sure that would fly.
Not sure if Northeastern would let me just take one-off classes and later pull them into a degree program in a year.
What would you guys do?