2013

ELECTRONICS AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

A Collection of Information About the University of Arkansas at Little Rock of Electronics and Computer Engineering A profile composed by Sraddhanjoli Bhadra

OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................................... 2 INTERVIEWS..................................................................................................................................................... 3 PROFILE: DR. HIRAK C. PATANGIA .................................................................................................................... 3 PROFESSOR ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 PROFILE: JONATHAN LEVESQUE ....................................................................................................................... 6 STUDENT ............................................................................................................................................................... 6 PROFILE: GEOFFREY LUEKEN ............................................................................................................................ 8 PROFESSIONAL ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 REFLECTION ................................................................................................................................................... 10 USEFUL LINKS: ............................................................................................................................................... 12

Overview
Electronics and Computer Engineering is an engineering discipline that integrates two major fields of engineering: Electronics and Computer. In Electronics we design electronic circuits, devices and systems using passive components like transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits. In Computer we design software. So in Electronics and Computer we merge hardware and software. The first question that arises: Why Electronics and Computer Engineering? Some selfless answers to this question can be: change the world with revolutionary technology; improve peoples lives around the world; solve the planets energy needs. Whereas, some self-development answers can be: a degree program that is industrially relevant; a program with scholarships to help with the finances; a well-paid and rewarding job when you graduate. The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics reports that electronics engineers earned an average annual income of $94,670 per year in 2011. Business, medicine, aviation, communications, transport, space exploration, industrial automation, crime prevention, science, entertainment, music, gaming and environmental monitoring have all been revolutionised by electronics and computer. Electronic engineering, with

unequivocal commercial significance and with a growing impact on almost every walk of modern life, is also a broad and vibrant multidisciplinary academic field. Some interesting facts that really fascinates me about the discipline and I hope it does you too are: recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,675 U.S. homes in one year; one metric ton of circuit boards can

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contain 40-800 times the amount of gold and 30-40 times the amount of copper mined from one metric ton of ore in the U.S.

Interviews Profile: Dr. Hirak C. Patangia

Professor
Dr. Patangia popularly known as Dr. P was really into Math and Science since his high school days. He did his high school from a government (public) school and also had a merit scholarship. He wanted to pursue a career where he could see the applications of Maths and Science which made him think and his school teacher were also motivating factor. His first preference was Electrical Engineering. Engineering from a premier school in India, namely IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology) which is a world class institution. He had an entrance exam to get into the school and may be 1 or 2% are accepted. He had a national merit scholarship to pursue his ambition. In the first year of his BS, he thought that he came to a wrong place as he felt that his classmates knew more than him as they already had their Bachelors degree in Physics or Chemistry. But he worked hard, persevered and became the 3rd rank holder of his graduating class by the time he finished his BS degree. Then he came to Canada and got his MS degree in two years and Ph.D. in five years from McGill University which is known as the Harvard of Canada. He was working as a Teaching Assistant during his MS and was a Senior Instructor while he was a Ph.D. student. He would have completed his Ph.D. in less time but he had to prolong it as he got married at that time and had to support his family. After his Ph.D., in 1978 he came to UALR and got appointed as a faculty of Electronics Engineering. In fact he was the first faculty of the program. He believes that teaching (not just what is in a textbook) is his major focus. Good teaching motivates students (not grades, according to him) and he believes in an education He completed his BS degree in four years in Electrical

that Engineering is the field where he can find that. His father

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that has a residual effect. Along with teaching, he likes to do quite a bit of research work. He believes good teaching comes with good research. When I do research on a topic, I get to know more about it and which in turn helps me while I am teaching my students as I can share more information and practical examples with them to make them understand things more clearly, he said. He also believes research should be externally funded as it elevates the quality of research. He was the first one to get a basic research grant at UALR because of which his name was published in local newspapers and university publications. He is a strong supporter of undergraduate research and his funding has enabled him to hire undergraduates and provide them with research experience. He is a prolific grant writer with most success in NSF funding in the College. Many of his undergraduate researchers have gone for graduate studies both at MS and doctoral level. Outside funded research, he has been doing some consulting work for companies in town. One was a local entrepreneur who wanted to have a Public Announcement (PA) system for school kids regarding their safety issues. So he developed a system where the bus driver will announce its arrival time 8-10 minutes before so that the kids will get ready to go to the bus stop while someone can keep an eye on them. The other project that he did was infrared system for hearing-impaired people. For example, in a public meeting people with hearing problem are frustrated as they are unable to hear the speaker. To mitigate their hearing problem, they could use a headset which can receive the audio signal from the speaker. So he designed a system that emits intelligent infrared rays which is converted to an audio signal at the receiving end. He developed a digital system, the first one in market, and the reception was very clear and clean. The difficulty faced by this project was the distance. In a big auditorium, the distance covered was not adequate. Now a day, he uses the system for demonstration to visiting high school students, Along with these big projects; he also provided help on some smaller projects for other companies. With his NSF grant he introduced a new theory and a lab course in the program named PV (Photo Voltaic) Engineering, as he believes in renewable energy. Solar is a nondiscriminatory energy and available in abundance at no cost.
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Other than teaching and research work, he likes cooking which is also his passion and tension reliever. As he says, Every engineer should be a good cook because they like to tinker with electronic gadgets and softwares, and cooking is somewhat similar to that. As you come up with different ingredients, recipes and create your own innovative dish. He cooks all varieties of dishes both Western and Asian. His favourite Indian dishes are Shrimp Curry and Butter Chicken which he often cooks for his son. During his initial days at UALR, he used to teach four courses each semester as he was the first faculty of Electronics Engineering. So he has taught almost all the courses in the ECET program. But nowadays, he teaches two courses with labs, supervises undergraduate and graduate research each semester while serving as a program coordinator. Yet

Your retirement completely depends on your will not your age.

the courses that he teaches are considered to be the most difficult courses in the department which includes: Communication System and Applied Transform. The Applied Transform is math heavy. He also introduced a new course called PV (Photo Voltaic) Engineering which also has a lab with funding from NSF (National Science Foundation). Every summer he brings in high school students for outreach activities and provides them with hands-on experience in harvesting solar energy. He strongly believes in renewable energy. Dr. P believes that students motivate him. He says, New students, fresh blood, new brain always gives new dimensions and keeps me young and motivating. Its been 35 years for him at UALR still going strong and not thinking about retirement. He thinks that he has lot more to do in life. Once he fulfils his dreams here, he plans to spend more time in his country of birth, India and try to start a small industry. He will give the profits earned from the industry to the poor needy people. In India there are huge amount of people suffering from poverty and hunger, he said. And there are many orphans who dont know who their parents are. I truly feel for them and I would like to do something meaningful for them. By interviewing him I felt like he is one of the few people who have had so many achievements in his life but still he is equally grounded and humble. As being the Coordinator of the ECET program he is very student friendly. It was easy for me to talk to
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him as he made the interview very interesting and humorous by telling some jokes and sharing his knowledge regarding the field. I hope you as an audience also felt that. And as he says, Your retirement completely depends on your will not your age.

Profile: Jonathan Levesque

Student
Jonathan Levesque popularly known as Jon is originally from Massachusetts. In 2001 he joined the US Air Force at the age of 17. He worked as an Electronic Warfare Systems Technician, repairing radar jamming and missile deterrent equipment on military aircraft for 7 years as an active duty member in several states and countries. In 2008 he transferred to an Active Reservist (drilling monthly) in Little Rock and began work at Dassault Falcon Jet as an Avionics Checkout Technician. In other words, he used to fix electrical systems, radios, and navigation systems on corporate aircraft. A few years into the job, he realized that there was no room for advancement as he didnt have a degree and only had military experience so he decided to go back to school. He has been here ever since. Jon began college classes in the summer of 2010 while he was still working at Dassault Falcon Jet. The workload allowed him to take only 1-2 classes per semester. He didnt begin full time until Spring 2011; so its been about 3 years. He went through the ECET program in the order it is given in the program except for math and physics. Instead of Applied Physics I and II and Applied Calculus I and II, he took Physics I and II for Scientists and Engineers and Calculus I and II. He continued with more math classes to finish up a math minor, but now he doesnt think it will be necessary. The course load could easily become overwhelming if time isnt managed correctly due to the number of lengthy labs math by taking Differential Equations and Calculus III. He wishes that he had time for a few

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required for each class, he said. There may have been times where I felt ahead of the curve earlier in the degree program, but recently Ive been burning the candle at both ends. This is because he is currently working as an intern with AT&Ts RAN (Radio Access Network) Engineering Department for the Arkansas/Oklahoma area. He has been working in different departments like: planning, optimization, and other sections and trying to learn the business. He says, Its hard if you dont enjoy it and challenging if you do. Maintaining a balance between study and personal time is a constant battle for him.

Even though he manages everything very well as he doesnt often sleep more than a few hours a night, so he doesnt mind waking at 3 or 4 AM to finish a 20-page lab report. of our professors are the same from semester to semester. So it is difficult for Since our department is small, many

In engineering, there is not always a right answer.

him to say from which professor he has learned the most. But if I had to choose, I would have to say Dr. Patangia, he said. As he finds his courses to be developed to determine what a student does not know as opposed to what he/she does and is quite effective but at times use them to solve more abstract problems, instead of trying to duplicate results from problems discussed in class. According to him, Dr. Patangias Applied Transform Method and Dr. Hoffmans Differential Equations were the toughest among all the courses he has taken so far. In both the classes there was one thing in common: understanding the concept first. Because only that can help you solve the problems correctly and get a good grade in the course. But he found both of them quite interesting though. In case of engineering or a math class, he mostly goes over the concepts and tries to relate them to the experiences he had. Whereas in case of a class like sociology it becomes a little bit strenuous for him as for some reason he can never keep social science terms in his head. Jon wasnt sure of what to expect from the program but after 3 years of engineering he is pleased with the results. At times he used to wonder if he should have chosen Systems Engineering since he cannot achieve a PE in Arkansas with an ECET degree, but he Also, he finds electronics to be much more fun than electrical systems. definitely enjoys this degrees as it is more hands on and practical approach to engineering. frustrating. This approach challenges him to think more about fundamental concepts and

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He says, In engineering, there is not always a right answer. In a classroom setting, of course, there is usually a right answer for testing purposes. But seeing the variety of approaches people take to solve a given problem often surprises him. He believes that one needs more critical thinking for engineering, although having common sense often helps. Without common sense, from his experience, engineers could tend to over complicate or over-engineer an item. He thinks that the purpose of this degree is to obtain a practical understanding of electronics and electrical engineering with an emphasis on applied uses. In more simple words, develop an understanding by a hands-on approach. EIT Systems Engineering department for his masters. Five-six years from now he will like to see himself comfortable in his new career while continuing school. Perhaps at that point he will have his masters, but for him the job comes first so he will likely take only one class at a time. I have had three classes with Jon in last year and also taking one class this semester. After the interview session I know exactly why he is one of the favourite students of all the professors in the ECET. He is a non-traditional student but he was focussed since the very beginning. As he finishes up the assignments and completes the project before time. Being a senior year student he already has got a job in hand. As we say, its your education and your degree that will help you to move to a higher level in your job. And most importantly, its never too late! Since the ECET program does not have a masters program, he will likely apply to the

Profile: Geoffrey Lueken

Professional
From a very young age Geoffery Lueken has always been interested in technical fields. He likes math and science and always had a natural ability to understand electrical and electronic systems. He wanted to pursue a career in this area to learn more about these systems. Also this is a field that will continue to have many job opportunities in the future.

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He began attending UALR in 1991 but was unable to continue at that time. He returned back to UALR in 2010 and graduated in May 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Computer Engineering (ECET). So it took me about 4 years, but if you add in all the in-between-time, it was about 22 years, he said. Geoffery works as a Level II Flight Simulator Technician in Air Force, Jacksonville. He went through two interview sessions after the selection of his resume. As he graduated in Spring 2013, so all-in-all its been five months since he started working as a professional. He says, There is also a very extensive background security clearance that I am currently involved in to confirm my long-term employment. As a technician he is responsible for doing daily checks on all of the flight simulators. He is also required to respond immediately to fix any problems that arise during equipment operation throughout the day. All of the equipment must be operational 24x7! Excluding him there are 18 other technicians working under a single manager as a union. All of the technicians answer to the manager. He is a very reasonable man who is very easy to talk to and to work with, he said. Since, Geoffery and his colleagues are a part of a union the work environment is not very competitive which gives them job stability as they cannot be fired unless they do something really terrible and intentional. Plus the only way to advance within this company is through experience and seniority. The best part of his job is being able to work with very interesting electronics and

mechanical systems. The simulators are very advanced, Just like $30 million video games. But the time in between actual work turns out to be boring, when they have everything working correctly and all of their updates and checks are done. I am not doing too badly, but I will be much more comfortable when I get all of my student loans paid off, he said. As the salary range in his job varies from $70k to about $89k including the benefits. His company also guarantees a raise annually. In addition to that he does not work on Fridays or Saturdays. He also has every other day off after 3:30

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PM, which gives him a lot of time to get things done during the week and also have weekends to spend time with his family and friends which are also some of the advantages of his job. After four years of engineering and five months of job experience Geoffery advised me two important things that I should do. First is to continue study hard as the grades I make now are directly proportional to the positions available to me when I graduate. while in school. They are the type of people that companies want to hire. not stand out from the crowd, then it will he said. The resume should clearly list Secondly to make sure that the resume is done professionally. If your resume does Employers will precisely take a look at grades and other accomplishments that I will achieve

probably end up in the stack with the rest, everything good about me so that it gets the employers attention and give them a reason to take a second look and hire me. Apply to multiple companies and apply often. Some companies dispose of applications and

If your resume does not stand out from the crowd, then it will probably end up in the stack with the rest.

resumes every month or so. He says, Dont assume that they still have a record of you if it has been a while since you sent them your information. Stay current. Be professional. The more options you have, the better off youll be. He also added, If you are offered a job that isnt exactly what you are looking for do not pass it over. You may want to take a position to get a job if you already have one. courses. Before interviewing him I thought that he will talk to me as a professional. But it was completely opposite; he was the same old, friendly and easy-going Geoffery that he used to be while he was a student. After interviewing him its very clear that no matter how successful you are, dont lose yourself. Be the same way with people you knew before your success. And once you have taken up something finish it, you may take a break but dont give up! I have known Geoffery since last semester as he was my class mate in one of the that isnt perfect for you simply because any job is better than no job and it is always easier

Reflection
I have seen people from my family experiencing failure in this field. Because of which I didnt want to go for this field at the very beginning. I wanted to go for Computer
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Science as it is based mainly on software. But somewhere my Dad wanted me to face my fear and conquer it by taking it up as my major. I was very annoyed with my Dad and asked him, Why me? He smiled at me and said, You will be able to do it. Today when I look back I am glad that I listened to him and believed on his faith that he had on me. After coming here I got a wider view of my field. The interview assignment has been a great experience for me. Although I had a course in solar energy production, I wasnt aware of the current research in this field. But after interviewing Dr. Patangia, I came to know about the new direction of research that focuses on reducing cost for Photovoltaic solar energy systems. Reduction in cost will be attractive to customers who would like to use solar on the roof top. This will have a tremendous effect on energy independence and energy security, and pollution-free clean environment. I feel fortunate that I got the opportunity to know him a little closely as a person. I also came to know about various options that I can have after my Bachelors degree. After interviewing a non-traditional student like Jon, I have learned that its never late to start over again. When he began taking classes at UALR, he listened to his faculty (again Dr. Patangia) and became a fulltime student which allowed him to graduate within 3-4 years. He was firm and focused in studies. Due to these qualities, he is one of the high calibre students of ECET. This past summer he got an internship through faculty guidance at AT&T, and has now been offered him a fulltime job with a good salary. Its very important to be focused and to prioritize responsibilities. He has been a source of inspiration and a role model for others. He kept a balance between the family and his study time. After interviewing Geoffery, I have learned never to give up. Always finish up what you have in hand. It might take a little time for you. But be on the track and you will reach

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the destination. One should have a good resume to get a good job. Try to learn as many software as you can and have a firm grip on all your basic fundamentals. Before this assignment, I was confused with what I want to do after my Bachelors. But now, I have few options to consider: I can go directly for a fulltime job like Geoffery, I can go for M.S. with an assistantship, or I can work in an industry and simultaneously do my M.S. by taking one or two courses per semester which is Jons future plan. After interviewing all three, one thing is very clear that everyone has planned and followed their own path of reaching out the milestone. Everyone has got their unique journey of their life. Their experience has given me renewed hope and inspirations. After three years of engineering, I know that this is the field suited for me. I gradually built an interest in building circuits, especially when it comes to digital circuits. Its a field for those people who are interested in the magic of electronics as well as in programming and coding. As ECET is a combination of hardware and software. I have found the overall experience to be very inspiring and encouraging. I also hope that this information will help my audience to decide if Electronics and Computer Engineering could be the field of their career choice.

Useful Links:
http://work.chron.com/electronics-engineer-salaries-7211.html http://www.engineering.leeds.ac.uk/electronic/undergraduate/why-study-electronic-engineering.shtml http://www.bristol.ac.uk/engineering/departments/eeng/courses/why-engineering/

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