The Tech elective I’ve chosen for the fourth year of my program are:

• EE 380: Microprocessors Microcomputer architecture, assembly language programming, sub-routine handling, memory and input/output system and interrupt concepts.
• EE 470: Waveguides Distributed circuits, propagation and radiation of energy. Transient and time harmonic signals in transmission lines, including impedance matching. Microwave and optical waveguides.
• PHYS 472: Quantum Mechanics B Review of the postulates of quantum mechanics; quantization of angular momentum; matrix representations, spin and parity; approximation methods; perturbation theory; variational and other methods; applications; scattering theory; systems of identical particles.
• EE 456: Nanoelectronics Fundamental concepts related to current flow in nanoelectronic devices. Energy level diagram and the Fermi function. Single-energy-level model for current flow and associated effects, such as the quantum of conductance, Coulomb blockade, and single electron charging. The Schroedinger equation and quantum mechanics for applications in nanoelectronics. Matrix-equation approach for numerical band structure calculations of transistor channel materials. k-space, Brillouin zones, and density of states. Subbands for quantum wells, wires, dots, and carbon nanotubes. Current flow in nanowires and ballistic nanotransistors, including minimum possible channel resistance, quantum capacitance, and the transistor equivalent circuit under ballistic operation.
• EE 351: Digital Electronics MOS digital circuits, logic gates, threshold voltages. MOS logic families: design and simulation. CMOS timing: propagation delay, rise and fall times. Storage elements, memory, I/O and interfacing.

I’m not choosing the easiest way to get through fourth year, Quantum is going to be a decent time investment, and picking EE351 and EE 470 require having labs when I could get away with choosing one of those courses to have no lab. I think it’s important to keep my feet wet in as many areas as I can so I’m pursuing a range of tech electives rather than aiming at taking all the photonics courses I can, or doing something like hitting all the courses in the IC design series. It’s also worth noting that I’m not registering for EE457, microfabrication. I have some experience on that topic and will get a bit more this coming summer, for that reason I’ll direct my focus elsewhere. If I want to pursue it in grad school I’m not getting all that far behind anyways.