Ask HN: What 5 classes would you recommend for electrical engineering education
I'm in a unique program at my university that combines design, business, and engineering education in a single degree. There is a set "core" curriculum that every student takes that covers basics in coding, entrepreneurship, design, prototyping, etc. Each student also chooses two "emphases" in the areas he/she wants to focus in. The current emphases are: technology (practical CS), visual design, audio design, venture management, communications, and mechanical engineering. Going into the program, I told the administration that I would like to take an electrical/computer engineering emphasis, and they are happy to accommodate this. The only issue is that the university's EE department doesn't want to officially participate in this, so I basically have to design my own curriculum.
I need to figure out what four-five courses to take to get a foundational understanding of computer engineering/ electrical engineering. I came to college having taken four years of CS classes, so I have somewhat of a background in data structures and algorithms (I know Java, Swift, and JavaScript). However I have no education in pointers, memory allocation, etc. which I know is necessary for higher-level CS and any EE. I also took a graduate level Fourier optics course this semester, so I know the basics of linear systems and Fourier transforms. I have not taken any linear algebra or multivariable calculus.
To give you an idea, this is the mechE emphasis curriculum:
(A one semester course that's supposed to cover all of physics and calculus using Matlab)
Statics
Strength of Materials
Mechanical Behavior of Materials
Dynamics
Computer-Aided Analyses for Aero-Mechanical Design
Coding basics and Android app development
iOS app development
Mobile Development for Content and Media
Advanced Coding
Cloud Architecture and Applications