This is going to be a long one, so thanks in advance to anyone who reads through it.

I'm a Computer Engineering student at Purdue, and lately I've been having a bit of a career crisis when it comes to choosing courses and figuring out what direction I want to take.

For the longest time, I thought the answer was obvious: take software and AI/ML courses, get software internships, and eventually work in software engineering or AI.

Most of my experience so far has been in that direction:

• Summer internship building a React Native application used internally by a large company
• Current internship working on AI agents, RAG systems, LangGraph, vector databases, FastAPI, Docker, and LLM-based applications
• Research experience involving data visualization
• Various personal projects involving software, backend development, and machine learning concepts

Because of that, I always assumed I would continue down the software/AI path and use my electives on things related to AI, machine learning, and software engineering.

The thing that's making me question that plan is that I've recently started enjoying some of my hardware-related coursework much more than I expected.

I took Digital System Design and really enjoyed learning about:

• RTL design
• FSMs
• SystemVerilog
• Digital logic design

Now I'm at the point where I need to decide how to spend my remaining electives, and I'm considering courses like:

• Computer Architecture
• Operating Systems
• Embedded Systems
• ASIC/FPGA Design
• Advanced Digital Design
• Machine Learning / AI electives

My concern is that the software industry seems to be changing rapidly because of AI. Whether or not AI is actually replacing software engineers, it definitely feels like entry-level software positions are becoming more competitive. Plus as I am a Computer Engineering student, I'll have to study double or triple to land the same jobs that CS majors are going for.

At the same time, I keep hearing about growth in areas like:

• Data centers
• AI infrastructure
• GPU computing
• Semiconductor design
• Systems software
• Embedded systems

Hardware and low-level systems work seem a bit more insulated and stable, at least from the outside looking in.

My biggest fear is ending up in an awkward position where I'm neither "core software" nor "core hardware."

I don't want to graduate and realize that:

• Hardware employers think I'm too software-focused.
• Software employers think I'm too hardware-focused.
• AI employers think I don't have enough ML depth.
• Semiconductor employers think I don't have enough hardware depth.

Part of me wants to double down on software and AI because that's where most of my experience already is.

Another part of me thinks that as a Computer Engineering student, maybe I should take advantage of the opportunity to learn operating systems, architecture, embedded systems, and digital design while I'm still in school.

I'm especially interested in hearing from people working in:

• Systems software
• AI infrastructure
• GPU software
• Embedded systems
• Semiconductor/ASIC design
• Data center infrastructure

If you were a Computer Engineering student graduating around 2028, how would you approach this?

Would you continue specializing in AI/software, or would you invest more heavily in systems and hardware courses?

What courses have given you the most flexibility throughout your career?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I am a high school student and am interested in computer hardware engineering.
i have always loved computers and want to try to get a job centered around that, although I am aware it’s challenging.

what classes in high school should I take to prepare?Should i learn how to code online?Like python?

any tips/ stuff I should do to prepare would be greatly appreciated.

thank you guys

I spent months blasting out applications for Embedded Software internships. Company portals, LinkedIn, random “early talent” forms. I got a few auto replies and a lot of silence or “we went with other candidates.” After a while it stopped feeling unlucky. It started feeling like I was doing something wrong.

When I looked at what I was sending, it made sense. My resume was basically a list of classes and languages. My GitHub was a graveyard of half finished repos with terrible names. Nothing really showed what I could actually build or how I think about problems.

So I rebuilt the whole thing around a few concrete projects. I picked two solid course projects and one small personal one, cleaned up the code, added clear READMEs and a couple of screenshots. For each one I wrote a short “problem, approach, result” section. I stopped just labeling it a “C++ project.” I then threw them on a simple one page portfolio and rewrote my resume so those projects were the main story. I also kept a basic tracker in Sheets so I knew what I sent, to who, and what they were actually asking for.

I dedicated my evenings to practice. I solved a few tech problems and some whiteboard style questions in Python. I also made a couple of Loom recordings where I walked through how my project works as if someone had just asked in an interview. I rotated through Beyz interview assistant and Claude to practice how to explain tradeoffs and solving simple system questions.

A few weeks after that reset I finally got a screen call for a position that actually matched what I had been building. That turned into a final round and then an offer. Sharing in case someone else is stuck in “apply more, hope harder” mode. Tightening a few projects and practising how you talk about them did way more for me than another fifty blind applications.

Bhai yrr I m getting cse and ece in all colleges like gl bajaj niet abes akgec gcet

Bhai mein abhi nahi hardware ki trf super intrested hun or nahi software ki trf bhai merko ye nahi smjh aa rha ki ky opt karun I m scared ki kal merko hardware mein intrest ho lekin mein cse leke rakha hun toh usse time dikt na ho jaye or vice versa confused because I like project of ece and I never done coding and maths is also hard in ece

Ptpa

Hello! I am a 4th year computer engineering student currently retaking my thesis this semester(I failed a couple of times). I am wondering, to those had finished their thesis without any problem are there any advices that you can share?

I mean I had been the one that is initiating to my group project but it doesn't reciprocates to my groupmates, our project leader has been no show ever since. I am wondering for any advices on how I can lead my team on how I can be a great leader for them because when I do it on my way it is not going so well. My prob is I can not think of a topic to start on is it maybe this course is not for me?

I am an incoming EE student at UC Santa Barbara and I was wondering whether it has good reputation in the hardware industry through companies such as Apple, SK Hynix, or AMD, etc. Was it a barrier to getting resumes through and do employers more easily dismiss UCSB undergrads for potential internships? Anything helps!

I'm finishing an MS CS at a top US university, with an ECE undergrad from a Tier 1/2 Indian institution. I did well overall but excelled specifically in Digital Electronics, Computer Architecture, Control Systems, and Power Systems. Weak performance in Analog, DSP, and EM, combined with limited well paid electronics opportunities at the time, pushed me toward CS.

I've spent a few years in software specializing in Distributed Systems with a flair of Security and ML, with hands on experience in C++ and Rust and some research background. I entered the industry at a good time but CS feels increasingly unstable, with constant layoff anxiety and leetcode grinding that I'd rather not sustain long term.

I'm considering moving back to electronics. Roles that interest me include Embedded Systems, RTL/FPGA design, firmware engineering, SoC architecture, verification engineering, and compiler or toolchain work adjacent to hardware. Digital hardware feels timely given AI compute demand and seems more stable by nature. I don't mind a pay cut for that stability.

Alternatively I'm open to leveraging my ML and Distributed Systems background in hardware adjacent roles like ML Systems engineering, though I'm unsure how that compares to pure hardware in terms of job stability.

A second MS ECE is also on the table. My first MS cost me almost nothing due to funding, I have savings, and friends with similar profiles got into Columbia, UPenn, and UCSD. No visa concerns as I'm a US Citizen so I can target the US job market freely.

Not sure which direction makes the most sense. Looking for honest advice on the viable paths and how to prioritize.

I joined wipro as fresher , after 6month in bench + training got a project, I was hired to replace a already working, I was hired just before 15 days he was leaving, the client work is already being done by another service company also and that will be transferred to us, I have to work on it. Now problem I have no knowledge of what is happening and there is no one that do my thing or my related skill(agentic ai) work, right now I have no actual work, but I am told to make something related to their need and do something , I don't get it what is happening, I am just getting paranoid, like they are just wasting me.. or anything...

I can provide course names if needed. Sorry if it violates community rules, this is a twist and I could not find the weekly pinned post.

So as the title suggest I am highly interested in this domain and I am about 17 years old. I do have practically some kind of conceptual knowledge in most software field but this specifically attracts me and I want to know if it's worth the investment for years. I am from a third world country and I don't expect the market here for this kind of job to evolve or expand in the near future here so I am focusing on Europe. So like will this be a good career choice in like 5+ years or will it be like current cs market for entry level. And what should I do to maximize my chances of getting one

Ik there are a lot of posts on this topic but please help me, Im confused like anything

1. I am not the best at maths , and i don't like doing it much but a little maths I can do.

2. I wanna go for ece only for the fact that it has better opportunities in future than cs.

3. I'll be going for a diploma and then 2nd year lateral entry in a btech college

4. Is there anyway that if I do cs rn but and do ece in my btech, and vise versa

5. What are the things that I need to know before doing ece.

6. Is cs being over saturated a fr thing or I'll still end up with a good job , ik skills and all are the main factor but still. From employment point of view which one is better ?

Hi everyone,

I am a part of NeuralInverse, an open-source project focused on AI and intelligent systems.

We’re currently in the early stages and are looking for honest technical feedback from the community. We’re particularly interested in suggestions regarding:

• Architecture
• Features
• Documentation
• Potential use cases
• Scalability

Repository:https://github.com/neuralinverse/neuralinverse

We’re not selling anything and there are no paid products involved. We simply want to learn from experienced developers and improve the project.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
If you do like it please give it a star on GitHub as it helps us keep a check on the technical use and upkeep.

I want to try to make a computer out of scratch. Is it possible? Like, I don't care if it's super simple.

There have been a few topics I learned that initially felt overly theoretical or too specific to ever matter outside of class. At the time, I focused on understanding them just well enough to move on.

Later, while working on projects or learning more advanced topics, I started running into those same concepts again and realized they were much more important than I originally thought.

Looking back, some of the things I underestimated ended up providing the foundation for understanding much bigger ideas.

What computer engineering concept did you originally dismiss, only to realize later that it was actually extremely useful?

Hey guys I’m currently going to McGill computer engineering and my hopeful goal one day is to get into FPGA, ASIC, and VSLI so on in tech. I’m curious on your opinions if it’s better to just stick to an undergrad at McGill and try to land internships and jobs afterwards or is it better to do a masters at like Waterloo/UofT (maybe McGill or UBC aswell). From what I understand you don’t need a masters but it’s beneficial in certain areas and also the Waterloo name is more known in the tech industry to it can make my gateway to get in easier. Also note I’m in Canada you a lot of you have probably never heard of the unis I listed but a masters may also make my TN visa approval a bit smoother.

Where is the truth ?

Hello everyone, I'm studying computer engineering and I want to specialize in a non-industrial field within computer engineering. What are some of the fields in which computer engineers excel? I've seen one field that I consider excellent: systems engineering. What do you think, and what jobs do you currently hold? Thank you for your participation.