Making Robots for the Community

My Favorite Course in Computer Engineering

Name: Ken Iiyoshi
Country: Japan and United States
Year: Class of 2020
Major: Computer engineering
Course: Computer Organization and Architecture

Computer Organization and Architecture, along with Advanced Digital Logic, are foundational courses in computer engineering. Through the course, I learned about how key components in computers, namely processor and memory, have evolved over the last few decades.

Why This Course

Nowadays, many people take digital technology for granted and perceived it to be magic that can do anything. This course really taught me that it isn’t the case. Digital technology has been a slow culmination of ingenious ideas that progressed over significant challenges. 

A Typical Day in This Class

The lecture is packed with content. Paying attention to it is like drinking from a fire hose! During lab sessions, I simulated various components of a computer to get an intuitive understanding.

What I Loved About The Class

Learning from a textbook is important, but seeing real examples is breathtaking. For example, I loved looking at real time visual simulation of Central Processing Units (CPU) and Graphics Processing Units (GPU) and how they worked differently under different sample programs.

Tips on Navigating What Major or Course to Take

Ever since seeing the Asimo Robot during my childhood, I have always wanted to make robots that can contribute to communities in innovative ways.

I wanted to specialize in making their brains, particularly through Artificial Intelligence (AI), but also cover the hardware aspects of robotics. For me, this meant choosing computer engineering, which is a mix of computer science and electrical engineering.

For those interested in pursuing robotics, computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering are all good choices. What to choose really depends on what kind of robotics you want to pursue.

Don’t worry about getting too technical during the undergraduate years, as you would most likely have to pursue a master’s degree for robotics. Liberal arts is important in robotics since it is a deceptively large and interdisciplinary field.

Ken Iiyoshi, Class of 2020

Why NYU Abu Dhabi?

I chose NYUAD because of its unparalleled diversity, small class size, and academic rigor. I am one hundred percent happy with my choice.