ECE 1100 Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering

ECE 1100: Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering Set #7 – Advising, Faculty, Review of Academic Success Strategies Dr. Dave Shattuck Associate Professor, ECE Dept. Shattuck@uh. edu 713 743 -4422 W 326 -D 3 Some slides adapted from lectures by Len Trombetta

Advising and Faculty • This part of the course amounts to what I would call orientation. • We want you to use faculty well, including using their advice appropriately.

Advising Everyone will be assigned an advisor. Letters went out informing you who your advisor is; assignments are posted in the glass case outside the ECE office. Let Dr. Barr know if your student number is not there or you don’t get a letter. The programs below are included among programs that require advising. Honors Program University Scholars Program PROMES Program

Not an ECE Major? ? …but planning to become one? Go see Dr. Barr. …and don’t know if you want to become one? Find out who your advisor is in whatever department you belong to, and see that person.

Advising Steps to Advising and Registration. . . • Review the flowchart, with a long-term view. • Look for “critical paths” • Make an appointment with your advisor. • No advisor? See Betty Barr, Office Room: N 311 D, Voice: x 34450, Email: Barr@uh. edu • Call “VIP” (Voice Information Processing). • Consult the Class Schedule

VIP Notes VIP does not check for prerequisites. However, if you are missing prerequisites, you will be notified by the department at the beginning of the semester. VIP will not allow you to register in a “full” class. If that happens, talk to the instructor or see the department that offers the course to see if it is possible to get you in anyway. (Better yet, register early to avoid this problem. )

Advising Issues Prerequisites and co-requisites are put in place so that you are properly prepared for the courses you are taking. They are not there simply to annoy you. They cannot be easily waived. Your advisor cannot waive prerequisites. This is done through Dr. Barr. (ECE) Your advisor cannot get you into a full class. This is done through the department office. (ECE)

Advising Issues Watch the course schedule for these dates: • • • Last day to drop with refund Last day to drop without a grade Last day to drop, period After the last day to drop, students receive either W or F. There is no such thing as “WP” or “WF”. An incomplete (I) is given only under special circumstances. You cannot get an I to get out of a class you are flunking.

Probation If your UH or your major GPA goes below 2. 0, you are “on probation”. * In that case… …you must maintain a GPA of better than 2. 0 in EACH semester until your cumulative GPA goes above 2. 0, or else you are on suspension. *If this happens in your first semester, you get a “warning” instead of probation.

Where in the UH Are We? UH Organizational Hierarchy: • What’s going on here? • Who’s in charge? • Who cares? • Where do I go for help/information/complaints?

Organizational Hierarchy College of Engineering Dean: Ray Flumerfelt Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs Larry Witte ECE Department Chair: Fritz Claydon (ECE) Director of Undergraduate Studies Dr. Betty Barr (ECE)

Organizational Structure Board of Regents University of Houston System Head: Chancellor Arthur K. Smith University of Houston Head: President Arthur K. Smith Provost: Edward P. Sheridan Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Elaine Charlson

UH Colleges • Architecture • Business • Education • Engineering • Hotel and Restaurant Mgmt. • Humanities, Fine Arts, and Communications • Law Center • Natural Science and Mathematics • Optometry • Pharmacy • Social Science • Graduate School of Social Work • Technology

Faculty Who we are: - Mostly Ph. Ds from Engineering/Science Where we are: - Teaching and Research University - Urban University What we do: • Teaching • Research • Service

Teaching <==> Guidance • Resources - Texts/Literature/Web • Tools - Homework/Exams/Projects • Preparation - Lectures/Notes/Assignments/Grades • Administrative Stuff - Paperwork/Paperwork

Research • Funding - Grants/Proposals • Facilities - Research Equipment/Lab Space • Projects - Interest/Relevance • Graduate Students - MSEE, Ph. D • Publish or Perish !!

Service • University Service - Governance (Example: Faculty Senate) - Committees (Example: Grad & Professional Studies) • College Service - Recruiting/Scholarships - Promotion/Tenure • Department Service - Computing Committee - Graduate Advisor

Case Study: Trombetta Rank: Assoc. Professor (1993) Assistant Professor (1986) Teaching - Circuit Analysis/Lab - Electronics/Lab - Solid State Devices/Lab - Computers in Engineering - Introduction to ECE - Grad Courses MOS Devices Solid State Physics for Engineers

Trombetta Research - Electronic materials: Semiconductor/Insulator Systems - Solid State Device Physics Service - Graduate and Professional Studies Council - Department Web Coordinator - Course Coordinator, Electronics Sequence - Department Computer Committee

Academia: What Are the Benefits? Tenure - Academic freedom - Job security: Can be fired only for “cause” - Post-tenure review Average Salaries (1997, 9 months/12 months) - Assistant: $48 k/$64 k - Associate: $54 k/$72 k - Full: $74 k/$99 k Note: Engineering faculty salaries are ~ 15 % higher

Tenure and Promotion/Tenure Track: 6 years Associate Professor Assistant Professor with tenure Productivity: Research Teaching - or - Terminal Contract Full Professor 3+ years

Criteria for Promotion Assistant to Associate w/ Tenure - Evidence of Good Scholarship (research) - Funding/Publications/Grad Students - Evidence of good teaching - Student Evaluations - Peer/Chair Reviews Associate to Full - National Recognition - More Funding/Publications/Grad Students - Good Teaching

Do Teaching and Research Conflict? Issues. . . - Relevance to upper division courses - Grad students - Enthusiasm for the field - Opportunity for research as an under-grad More Issues. . . - There are 24 hours in a day; no more, no less - Teaching/Research faculty

Faculty and Topics Electromagnetics and Solid State • EM: antenna theory, propagation and transmission of electromagnetic signals (Jackson, Williams, Wilton, Long, Shen, Liu) • SS: solid state devices, integrated circuits, optoelectronics, VLSI design (Trombetta, Wosik, Wolfe, Charlson, Pei, Le, Ruchhoeft)

Faculty and Topics (con’t) Power and Controls • Power: generation and distribution of electric power, motors, transformers (Crisan) • Controls: robotics, electronic control of machines (Ron Chen, Shieh)

Faculty and Topics (con’t) Signals and Communications • Signals: manipulation and filtering of signals, digital signal processing (Glover, Jansen, Ktonas, Claydon, Karayiannis) • Communications: wireless communications, computer networks, fiber optics (Pai, Anderson, Barton, Ji Chen)

Faculty and Topics (con’t) Electronics • circuit design: amplifiers, signal generators, feedback, instrumentation (Shattuck) Computer Engineering • interface between hardware and software, software development, microprocessor design (Markenscoff, Hebert, Ogmen, Ji Chen)

Who cares about this stuff? • I do, obviously. But that is not really your question. Your question is, why should you care about this? • You should only care about this in the way that it influences your academic career. If understanding faculty helps you learn from them more effectively, then it is worth understanding them. If not, then it is not.

Academic Success Strategies Landis Chapter 3: • Structure Your Life Situation • Don’t be Afraid to Get Help • Use Collaborative Learning • Use Your Professors • Utilize Campus Resources • Learn good time management skills • Develop Your Study Skills But first…

…Set Goals for Yourself Setting a goal allows you to… • Focus on what you are trying to do; • Set priorities; • Spend less time on unimportant things. Setting a goal requires making a commitment. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. ” - I don’t know who said this, but it’s right.

Structure Your Life Situation Make sure your environment is such that you can accomplish your goals. • Living arrangements • Work hours • Course load • Family and friends

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Help You should be making use of. . . • Your peers; • Your instructors; • Campus resources.

The Learning Process Typical engineering class: “Sage on the Stage” (Prof. John Butler, Assoc. Dean, NSM) “The information passes from the notes of the professor to the notes of the student without passing through the mind of either one. ” - (Landis, Chapter 3, p. 105)

Your Peers: Collaborative Learning Try to find a small* study group, because. . . • You’ll learn more effectively and efficiently; • You’ll probably study more; • It’s better preparation for the “real world”. Q. What if it doesn’t work? A. Find another study group! * Small = 2 or 3 other students

Making Use of Your Professors What your professors can do for you: • Give you extra help; • Write a recommendation; • Make suggestions for studying; • Hire you in their research lab; • Help you make a career choice; • Give you some advice.

What’s Up With These Profs? ? 1. They think their areas of technical specialty are critically important and extremely interesting. 2. They have chosen to devote their career to academia rather than industry, and they believe they are outstanding teachers. 3. They don’t call them “professors” for nothing. They have lots of knowledge and love to convey it to others. - Landis, Chapter 3, p. 116

How To Annoy Your Prof. • Come to class late (or not at all). • Read a newspaper in class. • Receive a phone call/page in class. • Sleep in the back row. • Don’t turn in any homework, don’t visit him/her for help, then complain the exam was too hard.

Go To See Your Professors Most profs have office hours, e-mail, and voice mail. Find out what these are. Go to the professor if you have questions, even if you think the questions are stupid. Pay a visit once in a while, even if you’re not having trouble. Be prepared to ask a question.

Campus Resources Campus Publications: • Undergraduate Studies Catalog • Student Handbook (Dean of Student’s Office) • Telephone Directory Campus Services: • Counseling and Testing Service • University Health Center • University Career Services • Scholarships and Financial Aid

Time Management Students have trouble getting everything done, because… • They often don’t know how to budget their time; • They are over-committed. • Both Commitments: - family - work - classes/projects/reports/labs - recreation

How Much Time Should I Spend on My Classes? Bad answer: “As much time as it takes. ” Problem: If you don’t know how much time you are going to need, you cannot plan well, and you are almost certainly going to run out of time. Better answer: “Four times* the number of credit hours per week. ” * Four times is a “first guess” for how much time should be spend outside of class. Refine later, either lessening or increasing, as necessary.

Handling Your Time Trombetta’s suggestions (a little bit of the “blind leading the blind”)… • Get used to making a schedule • Set up a priority list (what has to get done this week? ) • Do it NOW, -or • Do at least some of it NOW

Prioritizing Assume that everything on your “to-do” list is not going to get finished, and make sure that the things that don’t get finished are the least important things. Ask yourself several times a day: “Am I doing the most important thing right now? If everything on your “to-do” list is finished, you’re list isn’t long enough.

How I am going to get all this done? ? 1. Don’t panic. 2. Review your priority list and … a) Remove something from it; b) Reduce the amount of time you’re planning to spend on some things; c) Re-order your priorities.

Learn Good Study Skills By “study”, I mean something other than homework. It’s possible to sit in front of a book or set of notes for hours, and learn nothing. • Use a study group. • Take a break when you are “saturated”. • Get help when you are stuck. • Learn to ask yourself questions about the material. • Use homework as a guide to what you know and don’t know.