Technologies designed to mimic the human ability to make decisions based on varying degrees of information are the basis of Intelligent Systems. Did you know that it is also a very impacted major at UCSD?

What this means is: there are more qualified applicants to the ECE program Intelligent Systems, Robotics, and Control than UCSD can accommodate. Thus, if you’re interested in applying to this major, you need to work hard to get in. I transferred into the program from Orange Coast College where honors classes, excellent grades, and being on the Dean’s Honor List helped me get into UCSD and then the impacted Intelligent Systems major. I was a happy student.

After getting in, things became truly difficult. It felt like I had to take all the required chemistry courses of a chem major, all the math requirements of a math major, and all the physics courses of a physics major. This was in addition to computer science, engineering, and circuitry studies. Only after completing these requirements could I then study my sought-after focus of Intelligent Systems.

Much of what I studied back then consisted of Control Systems Theory, Neural Networks, and the much-hyped technology called Fuzzy Logic. I spent my days in class or studying, my nights in the lab constructing circuits or coding in Matlab, and even had the occasional opportunity to use UCSD’s Supercomputer Center for such exciting senior projects as detecting whether a tennis ball was “in” or “out” based on pattern recognition and machine vision.

At the same time I worked full-time as a Night Auditor at the Marriott hotel chain, where I was able to put some of my mathematics and computer skills to good use. I barely slept back then, had no social life, and didn’t get to see much of San Diego until after I graduated.

When I finally graduated after what seemed like forever, it was difficult to find jobs in my area of interest. Hardly any companies were developing neural networks, AI, or even nanotechnology. I worked as a circuit board designer, a software engineer, a chip designer, and a consultant in any of those areas. Many of the applications of AI technology were happening in Japan, where I lived and worked before returning to San Diego.

AI-based applications have vastly increased in the past 15 years. Government, commercial, and academic use of AI is widespread. I’m happy to have the education and experience in this field and am excited to see what the future holds.