Higher Education

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the college I am preparing to graduate from in December 1998. It is located on the Silicon Prairie. I am majoring in Computer Engineering of the College of Engineering's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Want to peek at the curriculum I entered into? The new CompE curriculum is much more sane than the one I am graduating from.

Research areas on campus that have grabbed my interest:

• The Center for Reliable and High-Performance Computing
• Illinois Pulsar-based Optical Interconnect
• The Center for Supercomputing Research and Development

Classes

Want to see my annotated class listing on Computer Engineering classes I have endured?

Classwork on the web

CS322 - On Implementing Debuggers For Interpreted Languages (Fall 1998)

Suggestions for students entering into CompE at UIUC

Look at the curriculum. You probably like computers enough by now that you are not clueless about the differences between software, hardware, and electronics. If you are, you're entering this curriculum purely for the monetary benefits... please don't even bother majoring in CompE. Go be a business major.

First, ask yourself some questions.

• Do you want to do hardware or software?
• Do you know the differences yet?
• Do you want to learn about electronics at the lowest level possible?

After getting accepted,

• Did you know that the most valuable knowledge you will learn in college is what you do not learn in class!?
• Take sane courseloads especially if you are not happy with relearning material that you learned in high school.
• Do not follow the recommeded course listing. Find students who have graduated and ask them about courseloads.
• Sign up for more classes than you are expecting to take. Expect to drop one class. Taking 12 to 14 hours of classes is a lot more bearable than 15-18!
• Make sure you are in an air-conditioned residence hall if you do not work well in sweltering heat.

Freetime

If you think that classes are my life, well, you are way off. I participate in many extracurricular activities:

Organization Affiliation

I am a member of the Association for Computing Machinery at UIUC - This is one of the largest and most active ACM student chapters in the nation.

I am also the President of ACM@UIUC's SigMicro (Microcomputer architecture) Special Interest Group.

I am a co-chair of ACM@UIUC's MacWarriors "Everything Apple" user and developer group.

Programming Projects

Go back and look at my projects homepage.

Interests

I rarely miss the opportunity to Dance At Joes! every Thursday night to a great selection of 80's music! This is my only specific college-reltated interest. Check out my other interests.

Real life

I roller bladed, jogged, and danced throughout my college life. One of the most memorable drinks I have ever had I experienced at an apartment party:

The Chief

• 1 jug of Sunny Delight
• 1 bottle Southern Comfort
• 1 bottle of Peach Schnapps
• 1 bottle of Amaretto
• 1 bottle of Vodka

I also learned about some of the more premium beers

• Guinness
• Killians Red
• Murphy's Irish Pale Ale
• Hornsby's
• Woodchuck

And mixed drinks and shots

• Fuzzy navel
• Harvey Wallbanger
• Amareto Stone Sour
• Sex on the beach
• Blue Hawaiian
• Bacardi 151 & Coke
• Lemon drops
• Dead moose

As well as the ones to avoid

• Diesel
• Prarie Fire
• 3 Wise Men (Jack Daniels, Jim Beam & Jose Cuervos!)
• Tequilla shots

And my favorite recipie for spiked punch

1. Add kool aid mix
2. Add correct amount of water
3. Add vodka til you can taste a slight hint of vodka
4. Add sugar until you cant taste the vodka!