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Computer Hardware Engineering
There are many people who believe that computers are magical boxes on which programs run without any help. It is a popular perspective. Ideas like cyberspace have really contributed to computer misconceptions for a lot of people. Even the top computer software programmers often forget the role of computer hardware engineering in making things happen. They are busy making the newest, fanciest video games and applications for expectant customers who themselves understand the technology but little.
As a computer hardware engineer, I'm involved in a less glamorous but more essential pursuit: designing faster, better systems. Computer hardware jobs often slip below the radar of popular consciousness, but they don't go unnoticed by the big companies. For every 20 computer programmers out there, there's probably one qualified computer hardware engineer. It is a much more rigorous, difficult field because it requires precise, high-level understanding of mathematics. You cannot just come in and tinker around. To be good at computer hardware engineering, you have to understand exactly how everything fits together on a physical level.
Nowadays, integrated circuits have gotten more and more compact, and that has made computer hardware engineering more difficult. The problems we're running into have a lot to do with the fundamental limits of physics. Back in the day, computer hardware engineers could solder things onto a circuit board by hand. Everything was so spread out, so slow, and so easy to work with that pretty much anyone could dabble in the field. Nowadays, you need clean rooms and incredibly high tech, sophisticated equipment. Many of the computer chip manufacturing machines very nearly are able to count the number of molecules they spray onto a circuit board. It isn't quite to that point yet, but it's getting really close.
The way computer hardware engineering works is, the more circuits you can fit on a given piece of equipment, the faster you can get. The problem is that, as everything gets smaller, small effects start to accumulate and cause errors. For example, on older computers you could basically ignore the inductance caused by circuits to nearby circuits. A little bit of electromagnetic interference would not make a big difference. Nowadays, the circuits are so small and so compact that even a small bit of circuit interference can cause disastrous results. Everything needs to be shielded and placed in the ideal location. Soon, our circuits will be so tight that even small electromagnetic surges in the atmosphere could become problems.
These are the sorts of problems that computer hardware engineering will have to work out in the future. Every generation, the computer hardware engineers have to get smarter, more sophisticated, and more precise. On the plus side, this makes the job more interesting, more challenging, and more lucrative. It's a tough field, but it's really an enjoyable one.
Summary
It is a much more rigorous, difficult field because it requires precise, high-level understanding of mathematics. You cannot just come in and tinker around To be good at computer hardware engineering, you have to understand exactly how everything fits together on a physical level. Nowadays, integrated circuits have gotten more and more compact, and that has made computer hardware engineering more difficult.
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