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3-4. 1B

2021-12-07

Note: Course experiences


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This is part of a 4-part series on the first year experience at the University of Waterloo.

Today’s topic will be on 1B. I will talk about each individual 1B course experience.

# ECE 1B S19 Courses

Courses:

  • ECE 106 Electricity and Magnetism “Physics is really hard”
  • ECE 108 Discrete Mathematics and Logic 1 “Sets and probability”
  • ECE 124 Digital Circuits and Systems “Higher-level hardware”
  • ECE 140 Linear Circuits “Zappp”
  • ECE 192 Engineering Economics and Impact on Society “Money”
  • MATH 119 Calculus 2 for Engineering “Multivariable and series”

Difficulty: (Hard) ECE 106 > ECE 124 > ECE 140 > MATH 119 > ECE 108 > ECE 192 (Easy)

Interest: (Cool) MATH 119 > ECE 108 > ECE 106 = ECE 124 > ECE 140 > ECE 192 (Tedious)

Disclaimer: The above two scales are relative, not absolute.

TODO More detail

# ECE 106 Electricity and Magnetism

Physics is really hard.

Haha, you thought ECE 105 was hard? This is THE course of the term. At least it’s somewhat interesting and relevant to EEs. I gained a true understanding of the content after taking ECE 206 over a year later, as ECE 106 is fields but dodging all the math involved with fields. Instead of using the right tools, you’re doing it awkwardly with the wrong tools! Also you learn double and triple integrals in this course before MATH 119.

Desperately trying to solve ECE 106 problems together on whiteboard before an exam, then failing the exam anyway, is the pinnacle of the ECE socializing experience.

# Angry Email Incident

The ECE 192 professor gave us some extra time on our test, which ended up overlapping with a ECE 106 lecture. This made the ECE 106 professor unhappy, and they sent an angry email insulting the ECE 192 professor. This ended up getting enough attention that caused the ECE 106 professor to send an apology email.

# ECE 108 Discrete Mathematics and Logic 1

Sets and probability.

This course and ECE 208 are the closest core courses to theoretical CS. Some boolean algebra, proof methods (e.g. induction), sets, and probability. Disappointingly, number theory was removed in the switch from ECE 103, so I had some trouble in a fourth year course.

A useful mnemonic: The conjunction logical connective (AND symbol) ^ is similar to the “A” shape. Also you can think of conjunction (AND) as multiplication and disjunction (OR) as addition for purposes of operation order. TODO ∧ symbol not rendering

# ECE 124 Digital Circuits and Systems

Higher-level hardware.

Digital abstraction of the analogue circuits underneath. The focus is on how to simplify/reduce the number of gates in a circuit, which has never been more complicated. Also the implementation of memory systems (i.e. how to hold a signal by using another signal instead of a physical switch).

The labs are in VHDL. The biggest hurdle is the paradigm shift towards thinking about hardware away from software, even though it’s still coding.

# ECE 140 Linear Circuits

Zappp.

Remember systems of equations? You’ll be solving a lot of these. Also remember complex numbers? Those are used for AC systems.

The labs are exciting because at least one person will make their component explode. They are also stressful because you need to get it done within the allocated time (speedrunning).

# ECE 192 Engineering Economics and Impact on Society

Money.

Boring course about the time value of money (cost accounting and project finance?). Get equation, plug and chug. Apparently it’s now hard.

# MATH 119 Calculus 2 for Engineering

Multivariable and series.

Triple the variables, double the fun! The multivariate calculus will be learned in ECE 106 before this course introduces it.

Also series. There’s a handy flowchart for which convergence tests to use. TODO image

# Conclusion

The important information to take away is 1B courses.

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