 MEET THE STUDENTS
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Rachel's Three Favorite Things about the ECE Department:
1) Accomplished professors who are driven and excited about their work.
2) A diverse and smart group of engineering students that makes for a fun environment, both in and out of the classroom.
3) The labs are pretty neat and all remotely accessible, allowing you to do your work from your favorite spot on or off campus.
Advice to Incoming Students:
1) Go beyond the classroom and get involved in co-academic activities in and out of the department… there’s a lot to learn and ideas to be gained and hopefully implemented!
2) Talk to other students. There are loads of activities that are organized within the department that allow students to get together and talk about ideas, network or plan fun stuff to do that make life more exciting.
3) There is a limit to department funding—don’t expect to always get research or teaching assistantships. Look elsewhere on campus for sources of funding if you must.
4) If you have an idea you want to work on, don’t hesitate in approaching a professor who shares the same research interest. If it’s a particular subject area that you want to learn that’s not being offered in the curriculum, take an independent study under a professor in your area. There are always opportunities to learn!
5) Take a break from time to time and do fun stuff like swimming, dancing, attending concerts at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center or Maryland sports games on campus (Go Terps!). Make use of the wide variety of activities the university offers.
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Rachel
talks about ECE @ Maryland:
 "I hail from India, where I completed my undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. After discovering my interest in computer systems, I came to the University of Maryland for my masters in computer engineering.
I decided to apply to the University of Maryland because it is a highly ranked university with a reputed program in electrical engineering. What impressed me most about the program was the research areas in computer systems and architecture that the professors were involved in. The computer engineering curriculum allows you to work on cool course projects that enable you to get a real feel of theory learned in the classroom.
I’m currently pursuing my M.S. in computer engineering and hope to graduate by next spring. I am particularly interested in computer architecture and as part of my research, I’m working on ways to implement automatic software parallelization for multi-core processors under Prof. Rajeev Barua. It is exciting to be part of the big plans he has for the research he is currently working on.
The ECE department is an exciting place to be. Academically, it is challenging, with loads to learn and do. Professors here are supportive of fresh new ideas and encourage creativity; so if you have an idea for research or even a course, only the sky’s the limit! The ECE staff are also a great bunch of people who are really helpful and complete the ECE experience.
Students are really talented and come from universities from around the world. There is much to learn in terms of approaches to solving problems and fresh new ideas for research. At the same time, it is not ‘all work and no play’—grad students here in ECE do know how to have fun, from weekly coffee hours to fun outdoor adventure trips.
I’ve had the opportunity to teach undergrad courses for two semesters and have had tremendous fun interacting with talented, young students from different parts of the world. Outside the classroom, ECE Graduate Student Association (ECEGSA) activities, ranging from skiing and hiking to the distinguished lecture series, have been a lot of fun and leave little room to feel bored while in electrical engineering!
After I complete my masters, I hope to pursue my Ph.D. in computer architecture and then break into industrial research. Apart from the skills and knowledge gained on campus, the ECE department boasts of well-placed UMD alumni at a slew of great companies, making professional networking a great way of gaining a foothold in industry. The ‘Clark School’ brand name also gives you a good deal of credibility as a graduate."
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