Why join my group?
I will boast here. My group consists of a collection of excellent students who will end up succeeding at the highest levels. I am very proud of them. I focus on developing a skill set that will be in very high demand after you graduate. The culture in my group is very cross-supportive, so you will never be on your own. I also put a very high priority on providing support, financial and otherwise, for the students within my group.

What am I looking for in Research Assistants?
As well as stong indicators of potential for success, I prefer to have students who have built at least some of the skills they will need in their work. Relevant courses include the following: ECE 746 VLSI Design, ECE 591B MEMS Design, ECE 520 ASIC Design, ECE 744 Interconenct and Packaging, ECE 738/739 IC Tech and Fab, ECE 733 Digital Circuits, ECE 711 Analog Circuits. Note, I am not suggesting that you have to take all of these before you join my group, but my projects tend to rely on one or more of these. 746 is kind of the "core" course in all of this. Most of my projects requires some of the skills taught in that course.

For US Residents
If you are a US Citizen or Permament Resident, we will give you preference. Sometimes, we will pay for you to visit here so you can decide on NCSU as a grad school. Feel free to contact me for details. Foreign students might consider this "bias" unfair, but we are supported mainly by US taxpayer funds. Please note the FAQ below "How do you get a Research Assistantship from me?"

For Foreign Residents (though parts of this apply to everyone)
For good reason, a US graduate degree is very valuable. Unfortunately, that means that we get over 2,000 foreign applicants a year. I get at least 5 emails a day from foreign applicants. I will always reply to such letters but the generic "Dear Professor, I am interested in your area" letters get a curt reply. A thoughtful letter gets a more specific (but not a long) reply. Of those 2000+ applicants, the Department admits maybe 200 students, and offers financial aid to maybe 50. I accept around 5 new research assistants per year. Don't be discouraged. The good still get admitted.

Please note that in total, I get over 100 emails a day, so can rarely answer questions requiring detailed answers.

How do you get admitted? Generally, we are looking for quality, as measured by current school, current grades, GREs, supporting letters, etc. There is some preference to students who show a genuine interest to getting a Ph.D. You can express that interest by irrevocably applying for the Ph.D. program and clearly expressing why you want to do a PhD.

How do you get a Teaching Assistantship? Be the cream of the crop of the above plus get the attention of a Professor who is very interested in you.

How do you get a Research Assistantship from me? Frankly, I prefer to recruit RAs from students who are already here. but occassionly I recruit from outside. The basic reason relates to the mechanisms whereby I obtain research funding. Research funding works like this. I write a proposal to a Federal Agency or a company. They decide to fund me. I have to start work within a month or two of hearing a response. Thus, I commence this work with students who are here. This system does not lend well to long term recruiting.

How do you get me to recommend you for a TA? You have to really spark my interest as a potential RA. There is no formula. Contact me. If I recommond you, you will get a high priority for an RA in my group later.

Should you consider coming without support? Until recently (2000/2001) my answer was that it was worth the risk - there are Coops and so on available a-plenty that you could use for financial support (at least once the INS let you). But now, I advise caution. The US is in a recession and high tech hiring has slowed down dramatically. Jobs and co-op positions are not plentiful (there are some but about one-tenth that of 2000). Things are predicted to pick up in "about 12 months" but we would not expect the employment levels of 1999-2000 to return for a few years. If you come without support, you should be able to support yourself for your degree.