Sonoma State University

Pathway to a Successful Engineering Education at SSU

In order to prepare for your future engineering career, it is important that you plan ahead. The following roadmap helps you understand when you are expected to participate in extracurricular activities and seek opportunities for hands-on experience, start looking for internships, prepare your resume, connect with professional groups such as IEEE, consider choosing a minor, start taking skill-building courses, test your skills and enter in a technical competition or hackathon, and think about attending a graduate program. By planning ahead and taking these steps, you’ll make yourself a competitive college graduate and become a highly successful engineer.

Year 1

Fundamental Courses: Take Math, CS and Physics courses.
Hands-On Courses: Take EE 110: Introduction to Engineering course.
Community/Department Service: Get to know the senior students.
Professional Activities: Become involved in clubs.
Apply for Scholarship: In Spring Semester, apply for LSAMP.
Skill Building Activities: Apply for a Summer project.

Year 2

Fundamental Courses: Take Math and Physics.
Engineering Courses: Take electronics course.
Hands-On Courses: Take electronics lab course.
Skill Building Activities: Take CAD/3D Printing/PCB Design Workshops. Apply for Summer project.
Community/Department Service: Help with outreach.
Professional Activities: Become active in a technical club.
Real-World Experience & Activities: Got a resume? Consider assisting senior students with their senior design project. Search for Summer research, I-Corps or internship.
Plan for a Minor or Grad School: Start planning for a minor or graduate school. Take GE courses.
Apply for Scholarship: Apply for McNair/LSAMP scholarship. Apply for Koret scholarship.

Year 3

Engineering Courses: Take the advanced EE courses.
Hands-On Courses: Take Microcntlr. & Prog. Courses.
Skill Building Activities: Take 1-Unit Skill Building labs.
Community/Department Service: Help with orientations & outreach plus tutoring.
Professional Activities: Become a club officer, EE, IEEE or SWE clubs.
Real-World Experience & Activities: Improve Your Resume. Participate in a hackathon/conference/IEEE competition, etc. Find a summer internship.
Plan for a Minor or Grad School: Take CS Courses. Take GE Courses during Summer.

Year 4

Engineering Courses: Take technical EE electives.
Hands-On Courses: Take the Senior Design Project.
Skill Building Activities: Take 1-Unit Skill Building Labs.
Community/Department Service: Mentor and tutor for first-year students.
Professional Activities: Become a club officer IEEE/SWE Club.
Real-World Experience & Activities: Show Your Resume to a Professional. Look for a Full-Time Job/Internship. Present at a Conference: CSUPERB, IEEE, etc.
Plan for a Minor or Grad School: Take CS or Grad. Courses.<

For more information, please contact your EE advisor.

Skills Acquired While Studying in the EE Program at SSU

Software Skills

Advanced Software Packages

  • Cadence/Synopsis
  • Altera / Xilinx (HDL)
  • ADS / CTS (Antenna Design)
  • TensorFlow
  • Azura / AWS / IBM BlueMix / Thingspeak / etc.

Operating Systems 

  • Linux / Windows

Web Development

  • HTML/CSS
  • JavaScript
  • PHP
  • dBase (SQL/MySQL/etc.)

Internet 

  • Wireshark

Utilities 

  • GitHub / Slack / Zoom

 

Programming Languages

  • Python/Numby/Qt/ SciKit (for machine learning), etc.
  • C/C++
  • Assembly

Software Packages

  • Visio / draw.io / InkScape
  • LabView
  • OpenCV
  • Matlab
  • Fusion 360 / Solidworks / AutoCAD /etc.
  • Keil MDK / Eclipse / MPLAB
  • Eagle PCB/ Altium / KitCad EDA
  • Spice / Multisim
  • App Inventor / Android Development
  • Visual Studio Code / Atom / PyCharm

Hardware Skills

  • Arduino / PIC
  • Raspberry Pi / Beaglebone
  • Oscilloscope
  • Power supply
  • Function generator
  • Circuit debugging
  • Spectrum analyzer
  • Network analyzer
  • Soldering
  • 3-D printer & Laser cutters

Soft Skills

  • Presentation skills
  • Communication skills (oral and written)
  • Teamwork skills
  • Leadership skills
  • Organization & Project Management skills
  • Community involvement
  • Critical/system thinking
  • Problem solving

Internship, Research and Scholarship Opportunities

Frequently Asked Questions

You may want to review the 10 Habits of Highly Effective Students.

Your sophomore year! Ask your advisor and talk to the MSECE graduate coordinator or contact the department chair.

Attend IEEE Club workshops. You can always contact your advisor for help. See The Career Center's Resumes page.

Consider attending workshops on resume building, soldering, CAD tools, 3D printing, PCB design, LabVIEW, etc. See Skill Building Workshops page.

Ask the club president or the Department Chair. See News & Events page.

There are many tutoring opportunities available contact the Department Chair for more information. See Resources page.