Best degree for microprocessor architect

[Clanscorpia]

I want to become a microprocessor architect when I get older but I'm not sure what to start researching about and what to take in High School and Uni (Hopefully Waterloo or MIT). I'm proficient in coding and electronics and know the workings of a computer very well and I really feel this is what I want to do. Thanks!

[Alexzz_]

Microprocessor architect is extremely specific, if you lose or dont get the job you might not be able to get another one. you should start by studying some technical study since i dont think there are study's specific for this.

[cangath]

computer engineering

[DXMember]

Lisa Su studied electrical engineering at MIT then she got into semiconductors

https://youtu.be/bmrqPJigiVc?t=30s

[Clanscorpia]

1 minute ago, Alexzz_ said:

Microprocessor architect is extremely specific, if you lose or dont get the job you might not be able to get another one. you should start by studying some technical study since i dont think there are study's specific for this.

That would be my preferred job but things like developing motherboards and similar items are things I'd like as well. Anything related to electronics in it purest developmental form. 

[Sakkura]

Computer engineering, when the institution has that.

 

At MIT it would be Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

[Wasaven]

Any computer engeneering should do. Just be sure its about hardware and not just only software.

[TopDollar]

As a graduate of engineering school: Can confirm, either computer or electrical engineering is what you want. MIT is stupid hard to get into. There are plenty of excellent engineering schools that are a bit more practical. If you're in Ontario, take a look at Clarkson University in Northern NY. It's also a top engineering school in the US.

[ThomasD]

Rather than looking at what degrees the universities will want to sell you, you might want to do some research on actual microprocessor architects - find out what their names are, their professional backgrounds and such, and then ask them what sorts of educational/experience backgrounds they have. 

 

If I were doing this I'd contact each of them via a nicely personalized letter - on actual paper.  Keep it brief but let them know your purpose and give them the option of responding in whatever manner is convenient - be it a posted return addressed envelope, email, phone, whatever.

 

The key is to get their attention (which is why I would not advise email), get their interest, and then give them the chance to share their wisdom (everyone likes to talk about themselves to one extent or another.)  A little flattery (like if you happen to know of any actual successful projects they've been a part of) never hurts, just don't go over the top.
 

You might be surprised how positive some responses can be, and even one correspondence can become an edge (when you casually mention how helpful their prior communication was) when comes time to find internships and such.

 

Yes this will require a lot of time and effort, but you already knew that, right?

[Ryoutarou97]

4 hours ago, ThomasD said:

Rather than looking at what degrees the universities will want to sell you, you might want to do some research on actual microprocessor architects - find out what their names are, their professional backgrounds and such, and then ask them what sorts of educational/experience backgrounds they have. 

 

If I were doing this I'd contact each of them via a nicely personalized letter - on actual paper.  Keep it brief but let them know your purpose and give them the option of responding in whatever manner is convenient - be it a posted return addressed envelope, email, phone, whatever.

 

The key is to get their attention (which is why I would not advise email), get their interest, and then give them the chance to share their wisdom (everyone likes to talk about themselves to one extent or another.)  A little flattery (like if you happen to know of any actual successful projects they've been a part of) never hurts, just don't go over the top.
 

You might be surprised how positive some responses can be, and even one correspondence can become an edge (when you casually mention how helpful their prior communication was) when comes time to find internships and such.

 

Yes this will require a lot of time and effort, but you already knew that, right?

Op, if you do this, can you send me some info on what you find out?

[ThomasD]

1 hour ago, Ryoutarou97 said:

Op, if you do this, can you send me some info on what you find out?

LOL!  Want him to bring you breakfast in bed too?

 

[Tie Lightning]

On 3/8/2016 at 11:42 AM, Clanscorpia said:

That would be my preferred job but things like developing motherboards and similar items are things I'd like as well. Anything related to electronics in it purest developmental form. 

Have fun putting RGB LEDs on Motherboards!  

[Ryoutarou97]

1 hour ago, ThomasD said:

LOL!  Want him to bring you breakfast in bed too?

 

Hah! The joke's on you- I don't eat breakfast because I would have to get up too early to do so. And I meant just forwarding me what he could and such if he/she didn't mind.

[ThomasD]

5 minutes ago, Ryoutarou97 said:

Hah! The joke's on you- I don't eat breakfast because I would have to get up too early to do so. And I meant just forwarding me what he could and such if he/she didn't mind.

Oh I understood exactly what you meant.

 

Would that you could say the same.

[Rune]

Quantum theory/physics probably would be a good bet. By the time you've studied classical design silicon will be at its end and quantum computing or some other similar advancement will likely be taking over.

[ThomasD]

12 minutes ago, Rune said:

Quantum theory/physics probably would be a good bet. By the time you've studied classical design silicon will be at its end and quantum computing or some other similar advancement will likely be taking over.

Interesting.  What sort of substrate do you suppose will be used to perform this quantum computing?

[Rune]

Just now, ThomasD said:

Interesting.  What sort of substrate do you suppose will be used to perform this quantum computing?

No idea. Indium gallium (or gallium indium depending on which side you ask) arsenide will likely tide us over until 3nm, but after that I have no idea.

[ThomasD]

1 minute ago, Rune said:

No idea. Indium gallium (or gallium indium depending on which side you ask) arsenide will likely tide us over until 3nm, but after that I have no idea.

Those are dopants used to create the architecture, but they still need silicon as a substrate.

[Rune]

Just now, ThomasD said:

Those are dopants used to create the architecture, but they still need silicon as a substrate.

That's why I said I had no idea

[ThomasD]

1 minute ago, Rune said:

That's why I said I had no idea

Quantum computing would likely take place using light (photons) and not take place within any sort of chip as we know it.

 

But the problem is:  What sorts of devices would be needed to manipulate the photons and what sorts of processors would they use?  The answer to that is that they would still need chips of the sort we would recognize today.

 

Silicon based computing is going to be around for a very, very long time.

[Clanscorpia]

11 hours ago, Ryoutarou97 said:

Op, if you do this, can you send me some info on what you find out?

I probably won't do this until High School so 2-3 years. I'll try to remember

[LukeTim]

7 hours ago, Rune said:

Quantum theory/physics probably would be a good bet. By the time you've studied classical design silicon will be at its end and quantum computing or some other similar advancement will likely be taking over.

 

I think you're very optimistic about the pace of development in Quantum Computing, and the obsolescence of Silicon. Quantum computing is a very specific field with very specific applications. It's not going to replace Silicon for General Purpose computing. It won't ever be running your Desktop. Maybe you'll have an add-in card as an extra quantum co-processor... but that's about as far as we can expect I think.

Electronic computing, with transistors, is not going away for at least another 100-150 years.

 

@Clanscorpia Study Electronic/Electrical Engineering (in the UK - in fact almost everywhere outside North America - we differentiate between the two. Electronic is what you want). In fact, if a College/University offers a Computer Engineering course that's even better. My degree was Electronic and Computer Engineering.

You're going to want to study Microprocessor design and VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration - chips with > 100,000 transistors) design. Also, learn some Verilog/VHDL. I would get into Verilog and VHDL as soon as you can. See if you can get a cheap FPGA off Ebay and start playing around with it. You could code your own Microprocessors and burn them onto your FPGA. That would be a great learning exercise.

[Ryoutarou97]

20 minutes ago, Clanscorpia said:

I probably won't do this until High School so 2-3 years. I'll try to remember

Oh, I figured you were going into college. Well, looks like I'll graduate before you, but I'm going to go into software not hardware, I think.

[Sky Daddy]

one might also look into biology

[Clanscorpia]

4 hours ago, Sky Daddy said:

one might also look into biology

Why? I was thinking mostly about Physics in High School