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Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

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Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#111

Post by Hammershaft »

Melatonic wrote: post #36
jjoonathan wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Warning: nerd trap. Low wages, horrendous deadlines (tapeout), hard work. Perhaps this has changed, given that we're in a semiconductor boom cycle now, but I have my doubts. When SMIC started trying to poach TSMC talent, the response was not to make pay competitive (or even half decent), let alone in line with the massive geopolitically-relevant value being created. No, the response was a mask-off legislative crackdo…

This honestly sounds like there is some real shady shit going on behind the scenes by the heads of these two companies. Reminds me of the whole VFX / software engineering union debacle with Steve Jobs / Lucas / etc that eventually came out and was super duper illegal.

Amazing, so Steve Jobs was involved in TWO conspiracies to fix wages!?

https://www.cgw.com/Press-Center/News/2014/Studios-Accused-o...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/business/2014/04/apple-googl...

How about instead of idolizing people like this we charge them with felonies and put them in prison?

Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#112

Post by metaphor »

nurspouse wrote: post #73
hardware2win wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats how I do feel - that better cash and more jobs = web dev, but I feel like in semico there is way more interesting and impressive stuff. Ppl who I worked with went into more web like jobs after semico But later I'd want to work as compiler engineer

Semiconductor theory is more interesting, but don't even consider it unless you love math and can do standard integrals without having to look up tables. Also, the mistake I made when I went to grad school: Semiconductors seemed to be a "new" field compared to the rest of EE. One of my undergrad professors said "They still haven't figured out what a standard textbook should contain." In reality, from a research stand…

> One of my undergrad professors said "They still haven't figured out what a standard textbook should contain."

At least for the analog domain, Gray et al[1] has been the standard entry-level gateway drug for longer than I care to remember.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470245999/

Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#114

Post by the_only_law »

Bilal_io wrote: post #8
hnthrowaway0315 wrote: post #4

As someone working full-time in Canada, wish I could roll back my life 10+ years and get into one of the semiconductor schools. Good luck to all who are admitted into this program, looks very interesting. Link to online degree: https://engineering.purdue.edu/semiconductors/degrees#online...

Semi-relates: Why don't universities offer online undergraduate programs? It's frustrating. I enrolled myself back to finish my bachelor's degree and my school offers very few or no online options for the classes I need.

Online undergrad degrees, exist but are few and far between. A good many have substandard curriculum, others are "ok" granting you a legit degree from a recognized school, but probably lower quality education than in person.

Most of the decent ones are expensive, and many still consider in/out of state tuition. There are a few good deals I've seen, highly dependent on being in-state.

The only "useful" ones you'll find tend to be CS, a handful of EE degrees exist online (no clue how that works) along with some other fields. Occasionally you'll find some in the natural sciences, but they tend to be BA's and explicitly for pre-law, pre-med, etc. I've seen maybe one online math degree and tons of social science ones, as well as "we made this major up to target to poor working people who will give us money".

At the end of the day, they exist, but are uncommon and probably not worth the price.

I researched going back to school online for years, but if I do it, I will probably do it in person (at least for the important years).

Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#115

Post by Bilal_io »

Kerrick wrote: post #108
Bilal_io wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I heard about WGU and was a bit skeptical, not knowing how it's viewed by other universities if I wanted to continue my master's program elsewhere. I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. I assume you've done your research before you joined, what made you decide to go for it? what's your current experience there? And do you know other people that took their degree from WGU and joined another university for th…

The biggest three factors that made me decide to go for it were: - Even in my first attempt at college, I was never too concerned with the name/reputation of the school. My first go around I picked a state school that gave me a full ride, rather than going for the more prestigious options. So once I checked that the accreditation of WGU was indeed legit, that was good enough for me. - Their admissions are based on yo…

That was very helpful, thank you very much. Yeah the fact that I can binge courses and take exams anytime is awesome, it can help cut down the time to graduation. Best of luck

Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#116

Post by frozenport »

irrational wrote: post #103
nurspouse wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at Intel, and with process/fab people for a number of years. Everything you're seeing in the comments is true. Compensation is not that bad. Clearly, it'll not pay SW salaries - no engineering does. But if you're a fab person, you'll work long hours, be on call often (and you will get woken up often), and eventually will own a tool that you'll be responsible for, even when not on call. Lots of abusive and pa…

> Clearly, it'll not pay SW salaries - no engineering does. For some reason, I assumed that in order to be a chip designer you had to be as good at programming as a developer. Then I became friends with two intel chip designers/engineers and was surprised that neither knew much of anything about programming, despite both having multiple PhDs in their fields. That's when I began realizing that engineering and programm…

The discussion isn't about chip designers. It's about the guys that print what was designed.

Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#117

Post by nurspouse »

metaphor wrote: post #112
nurspouse wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Semiconductor theory is more interesting, but don't even consider it unless you love math and can do standard integrals without having to look up tables. Also, the mistake I made when I went to grad school: Semiconductors seemed to be a "new" field compared to the rest of EE. One of my undergrad professors said "They still haven't figured out what a standard textbook should contain." In reality, from a research stand…

> One of my undergrad professors said "They still haven't figured out what a standard textbook should contain." At least for the analog domain, Gray et al[1] has been the standard entry-level gateway drug for longer than I care to remember. [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470245999/

This falls more into the electronics domain, which I know is sometimes put under the "semiconductor" bucket, but in universities usually has its own domain ("microelectronics" in my day). It's a lot more focused on the circuit/high frequency model of the transistor, and builds up form it.

Semiconductor theory is more about the transistor and everything below it: Starting from quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, derive the equations of electron/hole transport in a doped semiconductor, how the material's band structure impacts current flow, etc. The derivation of the transistor equations is often the end point.

Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#118

Post by nurspouse »

bushbaba wrote: post #67
plonk wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> require MULTIPLE PHDs Was that a joke? What's the point of doing two PhDs in the same field? That's like 12 years wasted. 1/8th of your life.

Nope. They said they employed folks with a PHD in Electrical Engineering who also had a PHD in Chemical Engineering or similar field.

While such people may exist at Intel, it's not at all the norm, and to be frank, doesn't improve your chances of getting a job there.

(Worked at Intel and along with fab/process folks for a bunch of years).

Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#119

Post by nurspouse »

AshamedCaptain wrote: post #107

Intel is in hiring freeze right now. So much for the gazillions of needed engineers.

Intel hired over 20,000 people this year alone (likely a record for them both in terms of absolute and relative percentage). The freeze is similar to that of other companies: Uncertainty over economic conditions.

Re: Purdue Starts Comprehensive Semiconductor Degree Programs in U.S.

#120

Post by Gollapalli »

nickelpro wrote: post #101

Ha, I'm interning with their chip design team right now. They've done 7 tapeouts but there's a lot of mistakes and other issues down in the plumbing. I wouldn't say their program is significantly better or worse than any other, and my understanding is this focus on a "Semiconductor Degree" is just a reshuffling of courses already offered in EE and ECE degrees. Certainly there are teams far ahead of Purdue. The progra…

Is OSU Oklahoma or Ohio?
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