ASK DR. ROBOT - Common questions

James M. Conrad, Ph.D., PMP
Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UNC Charlotte

Associate Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering Department University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University City Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 Phone: 704-687-8597, Fax: 704-687-4762 UNCC email:  jmconrad@uncc.edu Home email:  jconrad@stiquito.com James M. Conrad received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and his master’s and doctorate degrees in computer engineering from North Carolina State University.   He is currently an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has served as an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas and as an instructor at North Carolina State University. He has also worked at IBM in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and Houston, Texas; at Ericsson/Sony Ericsson in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; and at BPM Technology in Greenville, South Carolina.  Dr. Conrad is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP).  He is also a member of Eta Kappa Nu, the Project Management Institute, and the IEEE Computer Society.  He is the author of numerous book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers in the areas of robotics, parallel processing, artificial intelligence, and engineering education.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• Why are you Dr. Robot?
• What exactly is the difference from a degree from here (UNC Charlotte) as compared to on at a technical college such as ECPI? 
• What is the list of courses I need to take if I major in Computer Engineer?

Q:  Why are you Dr. Robot?
A:  I have published three books on the robot Stiquito.  I also have a Ph.D. (so students call me Dr. Conrad).  Back in 1999, when I signed up for eBay, I used the name "drrobot" as my ID.  Unfortunately, I do not own that web name :-(

Q:  What exactly is the difference from a degree from here (UNC Charlotte) as compared to on at a technical college such as ECPI?  It seems that here we mostly focus on designing hardware and circuits while at a technical college, they focus on things such as web building, network security, etc.
A:  The UNC Charlotte William States Lee College of Engineering is an accredited Engineering college in one of the 100 largest universities in the US (out of about 4600 in the US).  As an accredited program, you are taught design skills which help you solve a wide array of problems that engineers encounter.  An engineering degree is respected by companies that hire employees to design and develop products and services.  These skills should last a lifetime even though the technology will changes rapidly.  This is a reason why you should continue personal development after you graduate by pursuing an advanced degree, attending conferences, reading technical journals, and/or taking short courses.

A technical college (and a community college) will concentrate on specific technical skills, not the broad topic of problem solving.  These degrees are respected by employers that have specific immediate needs of employees trained in specific software/hardware environments.  Their useful skills decay faster that those with an engineering degree, so these degree holders have a more urgent need to continue technical personal development after they graduate.

Q:  What is the list of courses I need to take if I major in Computer Engineer? Also, what courses I need to take in high school?
A: For a "Plan of Study", a list of courses a student should take for a Computer Engineering degree at UNC Charlotte, visit: http://www.ece.uncc.edu/cmpgr/curriculum_outline.htm.  In high school, it is helpful to have 4 years of science, math, and English (each of these subject each semester in high school).