Ok, my bias is towards hardware design, but I have data to support my position. This is my advice to you...

How do you create the most value for yourself out of an NCSU education?

The off-shoring trend is making it more challenging to have a good hardware career in the United States. Ways to address this include the following:

• Work in building defense systems, either for the Government or for a Military contractor. This requires US citizenship.
• Develop system level skills. Working at the specification and planning level is likely to remain within the US because it must be done in close conjunction with marketing and strategic planning. We are introducing a course in Electronic System Level (ESL) design. HOWEVER, the most important thing you can do is get detailed knowledge at the application layer (e.g. DSP, communications, networking, RF). You must also develop good software skills.

Consider the areas that tend to lead to the most return (in terms of creative satisfaction and renumeration). In rough order, in my opinion, these are IC design (with analog and RF circuit design being closely followed by digital design), followed by support for IC design, followed by embedded SW, with a solid system support, followed by generic SW and board level design.

Develop a specialized skill that is not taught at most Universities. Examples include detailed (beyond class) knowledge of CAD tools, excellence at circuit design, being able to do design across several disciplines (e.g. DSP and circuits, circuits and interconnect) simultaneously. Right now, verification engineers are in high demand..

Make sure to do depth and breadth. The depth courses in IC design include 511 (Analog Circuits), 520 (ASIC design), 546 (VLSI), 741 (SoC design), Verification (745), 733 (Digital Circuits), 591X (RF IC design). 544 (interconnect design). Breadth courses include DSP, Datacom, Wireless coms, CPU design (ECE 521), embedded systems, and algorithms (CSC 505). Make sure to build up your SW skills (e.g. via ECE 517 or some other course with large software projects [ECE 521 satisfies this too]). We intend to have a "CAD for Designers" course soon that will lead to especially valuable skills.

In today's job market, graduates get jobs because they find a match between their unique skills and a specific job requirement.  Generic designers are not in high demand.  Obviously, it is hard for me to advise you on what are "unique" skills, but some examples include the following:

• Combination of excellent IC design skills and a good understanding of DSP for wired and wireless communications
• Ability to grapple with large projects, including determining good engineering tradeoffs, and getting things done in a team environment (ECE 520 and 591E give you opportunities to develop these skills).
• Ability to get things done in today's complex tool environment.  (e.g. Contribute to our Cadence Design Kit).

Should I consider a Ph.D.?

Deciding to do a Ph.D. is a very personal experience. Frankly, I would advise any of you with a 3.7 or better GPA to seriously consider it. Why? 1. It proves something to yourselves and others. 2. It buys you, your freedom. Ph.D.'s get treated different than others, even in Industry. Trust me - you'll value this freedom one day. 3. Its fun. You get to do something very technical without the hassle of customers, etc. 4. You can be a Professor one day. OK, you hate us now, but seriously its a fun job.
What is the downside? You spend 3 years on a low salary after finsihing your MS. You eventually make this loss back but it takes a few years. It is also a serious challenge. Good people rise to it though.

Feel free to question any of my students on my web page if you have any questions about the PhD.