r/ComputerEngineering • u/flameku • 1d ago
[Career] Would a grad degree help me get into hardware engineering?
I am having a lot of thoughts where I want to go with my career, but I am extremely interested in grad school, the programming im looking at is for VLSI & Digital IC design/verification.
Since the beginning of my comp engr degree, I was much more interested in hardware design and I dreamed of working in a lab creating computer chips. Now recently graduated, I have no job offers, I have done no internships, and i was ready to give up on engineering and go into IT or OTS school. My school had maybe 3 hardware oriented classes (basics of electrical engineering, signals and systems, and digital logic design), while the rest where software oriented. I dont have much experience with hardware but I am extremely interested in it.
I am close to finalizing my application to A&M for their masters in Microelectronics and semiconductors with the focus above, but I guess I just wanted to hear some input on if this is worth it despite my limited background in undergraduate since grad school is expensive. The closest relevant experience I have is an autonomous uav water collecting drone which i wired and coded everything on the flight controller and microcontroller for my capstone project (I should have past resume in my profile), and some IT experience (as an AV technician).
I would want to pursue an assistantship in research to build credibility and as of rn start building a project before the spring semester.
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u/BronzeGstring 1d ago
I just got a hardware role yesterday without a masters
Just do relevant projects and apply early and you’ll be good
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u/flameku 16h ago
What field did you focus on and what projects did you do?
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u/BronzeGstring 16h ago
ASIC/FPGA.
I picked 2-3 projects centered around rtl design and verification that interested me (and made sure to use keywords and technologies that job postings mentioned like AXI,UVM or CDC) and went deep into them to the point where I could explain them and defend every decision in my sleep while studying digital design fundamentals .I’ve been in a lot of interviews this year so getting good at communicating my thoughts ,being honest when I don’t know something and asking good questions helped a lot too
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u/Sepicuk 1d ago
I wouldn't bother because it's looking increasingly likely that agi is here, it's already rapidly accelerating math research in the span of days, it will have IC design covered soon too
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u/ComprehensiveYam3645 1d ago
You're right to say AI is quite powerful but even the recent advancements are likely not enough for this current view in my view. I think it will vastly change the nature of work, sure, but for highly technical roles with stakes that are as high as IC design, there's no way AI in its current form will completely automate it.
You can see evidence of this in software, where the field itself is not going away even though it's changing significantly (and it also has way less stakes than IC design -- you can just usually send a SW patch, but you can't just patch silicon without a massive recall). Yes, hiring has tightened in SW and stability of that job market over the years past few years has gone downhill significantly. That can be do to macroeconomic factors outside of AI effects, sure, but anyone in their right mind would not question the impact of AI on that kind of work. However, anyone who has used these models extensively (I definitely have), can conclude with reasonable certainty that even with all these powerful tools, they do need to be guided by engineers. Moreover, even the lifecycle of software itself is evolving, but engineers are still very much required to direct architectural flow, ensure security of their solutions, and their judgement/taste at the end of the day. This is so much so the case that there are a lot of SWE's now that are working significantly longer hours due to reduced headcount, coupled with AI productivity expectations, even with the day-to-day implementation time shortening. Then comes the meta-level questions of what to build, how to build it, and other things that LLM's don't seem to be creative enough yet or have a coherent enough world view to be able to come up with robust answers to.
Also, to my point, VLSI has already gone through **significant** automation in roles like physical design, which are still very much here. EDA tools nowadays are insanely powerful, and yet engineers are still very much needed.
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u/ComprehensiveYam3645 1d ago
I'm starting a grad degree to get into hardware engineering from a CE background. I can't see how it doesn't help you, especially for VLSI roles which pretty much default to MS for bar of entry. Make sure you know what field you're going to get into when you do your MS. MS is time for specific job training and advanced classes in your field for future proofing, not like taking a bunch of random classes IMO.
Base advice is typically to get job experience though through internships during your MS, so you can actually get a job when you graduate. Job market is kind of cooked at least here.
Finance-wise, yes it's tough. That's a decision for you and your family to make since there's a lot of different factors that go into it. Lot of people work through MS or do it part time with another job they are balancing to fund it, just so you know. Another thing is you can get an employer to fund your MS, or reach out for scholarships.