Name: Ken Iiyoshi
Country: Japan and United States
Year: Class of 2020
Major: Computer engineering
Course: Computer Organization and Architecture
Computer Organization and Architecture, along with Advanced Digital Logic, are foundational courses in computer engineering. Through the course, I learned about how key components in computers, namely processor and memory, have evolved over the last few decades.
Nowadays, many people take digital technology for granted and perceived it to be magic that can do anything. This course really taught me that it isn’t the case. Digital technology has been a slow culmination of ingenious ideas that progressed over significant challenges.
The lecture is packed with content. Paying attention to it is like drinking from a fire hose! During lab sessions, I simulated various components of a computer to get an intuitive understanding.
Don’t worry about getting too technical during the undergraduate years, as you would most likely have to pursue a master’s degree for robotics. Liberal arts is important in robotics since it is a deceptively large and interdisciplinary field.
Learning from a textbook is important, but seeing real examples is breathtaking. For example, I loved looking at real time visual simulation of Central Processing Units (CPU) and Graphics Processing Units (GPU) and how they worked differently under different sample programs.
Ever since seeing the Asimo Robot during my childhood, I have always wanted to make robots that can contribute to communities in innovative ways.
I wanted to specialize in making their brains, particularly through Artificial Intelligence (AI), but also cover the hardware aspects of robotics. For me, this meant choosing computer engineering, which is a mix of computer science and electrical engineering.
For those interested in pursuing robotics, computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering are all good choices. What to choose really depends on what kind of robotics you want to pursue.
Intrigued by robots that perform delicate surgical procedures, NYUAD students decided to develop a communication system that can remotely control such devices.
I chose NYUAD because of its unparalleled diversity, small class size, and academic rigor. I am one hundred percent happy with my choice.
