I’m planning to start university in 2027 and am deciding between Computer Engineering and Software Engineering.
I’m interested in programming, electronics, and hardware, which is why Computer Engineering appeals to me. However, I’m also concerned about job opportunities, salaries, job security, and how AI might affect both fields over the next 5–10 years.
I’d appreciate honest advice from current students, graduates, and people working in either field.
A few things I’d like to know:

Employment: Which degree offers better opportunities for fresh graduates?
Future demand: Which field has stronger long-term prospects?

AI impact: Will AI reduce entry-level jobs in either field?

Salary: How do starting salaries and long-term earning potential compare?

Flexibility: Does Computer Engineering genuinely offer opportunities in both hardware and software, or is it better to specialize?

Competition: Which field is more saturated, and what skills help graduates stand out?

International students: For those working in the US, how difficult is it to find internships and full-time jobs after graduation?

I’m not choosing based on hype or salary figures alone. I want a degree that offers good career prospects, job security, and flexibility over the long term.
If you were starting university in 2027, which would you choose, and why? Please share the downsides of both fields as well.

LOCATION: North America

Trying to figure out which hardware internship offer to take for both short and long term ROI:

1: ASIC Digital Design internship at a well known company (focus on low power, clocking, and analog mixed signal integration). Team is small so i can still probably learn a lot/get my hands dirty. Paying $35/hr.

1: ASIC Verification internship (focus on PCIe verif) at a startup (billion+ dollar valuation though), paying $55/hr. startup culture might help me learn more(fast paced environment)/get more ownership.

Which one sets you up better for the long run. How in demand is each skillset rn and how in demand will it be in the future? Would appreciate any thoughts or feedback from people in the industry. Out of all possible ASIC Digital Design/Verif roles where do these rank (power/clocking/ams vs pcie vs every other major "focus area").

Good day! 😁

I am a first-year Computer Engineering student at Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) Manila.

As part of our academic activity, I am looking for a Computer Engineer with 1 year minimum of professional experience in the industry, is able to speak English, and would be willing to participate in a short online interview.

The interview will start with an introduce yourself before the questions proceeds.

These will be the provided questions:

1.) What inspired you to pursue Computer Engineering, and what experiences helped you prepare for your current profession?

2.) Based on your experience in the field, how do you see the role of Computer Engineers evolving over the next five to ten years, and what emerging technologies should students prepare for?

3.) From your professional experience, what gaps have you observed between what students learn in university and what the industry actually expects from fresh graduates? How can students prepare for these expectations?

4.) As AI tools become more capable of performing technical tasks, what qualities or abilities do you believe will distinguish an excellent Computer Engineer from an average one?

5.) With the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence in the industry, what skills, knowledge, or experiences do you believe Computer Engineering students should prioritize to stand out in an increasingly competitive job market?

If you are interested or willing to participate, please feel free to reply in the comments.
I am flexible with the schedule you could pick for the interview!

(Philippine Standard Time, UTC+8)

Your time and insights would be greatly appreciated as a student Computer Engineer.

I'm a 1st-year Computer Engineering student currently preparing for my final course requirement. I am looking to conduct a brief, formal interview with a Computer Engineering graduate who's currently working in the industry.

Overview of the Interview:
Questions: Only 5 Questions (Estimated time: 10–15 minutes)
Format: Online via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet (scheduled at your convenience)
Purpose: Strictly for academic evaluation (a transcript and recording will be submitted for course assessment)

Please feel free to send me a direct message or leave a comment below if you are interested or have someone to refer.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration!

Hi everyone! I'm a Year 12 student in Australia working on my HSC Design and Technology major project. I'm designing a small, quiet home server built from reused computer parts that anyone could use to run things like game servers, file backups or AI tools from home.

I'd really appreciate your input, even if you've never heard of a home server. Beginners are exactly who I'm designing for.

- 10 questions, about 2 minutes
- Anonymous, no email needed
- Results only used for my school project

Survey: https://forms.gle/6w8WRU6bz8vzcuaz9

Thanks so much, and happy to answer any questions in the comments!

Hi everyone,

I’m studying Computer Engineering and need help deciding between a desktop PC and a laptop.

My main uses:

* Programming and software development

* Electronics simulation and FPGA development (Quartus/Vivado)

* Gaming

* game development using Unreal Engine and Unity

* Potentially running virtual machines and other demanding applications

My priorities:

* Best performance for the money

* Good performance over the next 6-8 years

* Upgradeability and long-term reliability

* sustained performance

* Enough RAM/VRAM and storage for demanding projects

I already have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

For a desktop, I’m considering something along these lines:

* Ryzen 5 7700 or a comparable CPU

* RTX 5070 12GB or a similar GPU

* 16GB DDR5 RAM

* 1TB NVMe SSD

For a laptop, I’d consider a model with an RTX 5060 Laptop GPU or similar, preferably with 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD.

My questions:

1. How important is having a laptop for Computer Engineering labs, FPGA development, and university projects?

2. Is 16GB RAM sufficient for Quartus/Vivado, programming, virtual machines, and game development.

3. Which option would provide better performance and reliability over 6-8 years?

4. How much more practical is a laptop for university compared with using a desktop at home?

5. If you were in my position and rarely needed portability, which would you choose, and why?

I’d particularly appreciate advice from current Computer Engineering students and graduates, as well as people who have used both laptops and desktops for these workloads.

Hi everyone,

I'm a 4th-year computer engineering student and I haven't chosen a specialization yet. I'm thinking of working through Nand2Tetris (building a computer from logic gates up to a simple OS and high-level programs) to explore both hardware and software and decide which direction I like.

What do you think of this project? Would it be a good use of my time at this stage, and would it look valuable on a CV? Also, would you recommend something else, or anything to add alongside it (like LeetCode or other projects)?

Any advice from your own experience would be really appreciated. Thanks!

The one thing that I kind of dont like is how vague TM4C123 Embedded Systems Projects sounds, but there are too many to put on, should I just select one instead?

I’m going into my Junior year of college I’ve been working at small medical company for 2 years as Automation engineer and as a data engineer, although the company is very laid back I was basically babysit on my first projects so didn’t develop independently on the Python automation we were working on and I would just use SSMS and query SQL databases copy them and paste them into our docs software for run books. I learned some but realized exposure is not competence, I now am working on startup while being electrical engineering student and working at the internship remotely. But the startup is in robotics and a lot of embedded systems which my coursework is about to go there but I want to self teach and of course start building projects to build my skills, I’d love to create and solve problems on the hardware and develop a software and have it all come together and work, not I know with programming it’s weird, I use to be computer science and left because software is getting to easy to replicate, no foundations are important in promoting ai properly but you being a coding guru I feel does not matter when Ai generated code so fast, not it’s not always the most optimized and is usually kind of poo, but learning computer science is more about babysitting ai then really building something aside from maybe the design and architecture standpoint which is awesome but still boring because now u don’t really debug and build this software on your own. Now with embedded systems ROS, Gazebo, UART, and all things robotics how would y’all go along learning these things and building , PCB, anything really in engineering without being reliant or dependent on ai how do you get to a point where you Independently can just build something. For example do you watch YouTube videos replicate then try something slightly different, read docs, read GitHub repos? Do you talk to ai and let it explain it to you because that’s fine but I just know sur

Don't know which field or career I should join.

Frontend, backend, AI engineer, data engineer, data analyst, Cloud, cyber security......

Blah blah blah.....

Don't know which one is effective with evolving and advancement of AI

Hi! I'm currently a 3rd yr CpE student and we have this course requirement to interview a CpE professional. I don't know anyone around me so I'm trying my luck here T.T

interview can be done through:

- chat

- google form

- or whatever your preference is, just tell me

the only requirement is you must have at least 3 years experience relevant to the field.

and my professor needs credibility that we're interviewing a real person so i'm gonna need your Diploma, Company ID, or any proof that you are a real person on the field.

I understand that the requirements sounds a bit demanding that's why I'm not forcing anyone. Not to mention that I have nothing to give back but my sincerest gratefulness if you let me interview you T. T thanks a lot everyone, just a broke college student here