EECS 16A

EECS 16A is very much a math course as much as it was a circuits course. The first half of the course was primarily focused on teaching students the basics of linear algebra. Topics included Gaussian Elimination, solving systems of linear equations using matrices, matrix inverses, etc. Unfortunately, this first half of the course was not terribly interesting to me. In no part was this due to the poorly designed curriculum or lack of teaching aptitude. Rather, I had learned these topics already, twice.

My first exposure to Linear Algebra was in the latter half of my senior year of high school. I would consider this course a “crash and burn” course as I was suffering from a mild case of senioritis and frankly did not care to understand or retain the information nearly as much as I was usually motivated to. For that reason, I would say 16A’s Lin Alg unit would have been more valuable had I only come in with high-school level experience.

The kicker is actually this: I was taking Math 54 at Berkeley CONCURRENTLY. Math 54, taught by Nikhil Srivastava, is also Linear Algebra course, except it is taught much more in depth. Very much more. Additionally, Prof. Srivastava’s class was consistently one lesson or one topic ahead of 16A’s curriculum. On Tuesday, I would be learning multiple methods of finding the inverse of a matrix as well as how each method ties in as a means of defining a linear transformation between vector spaces. Then on Wednesday, I would be re-told how to find the inverse of a matrix, via a formula written up on the board. Of course, 16A is an Engineering class, 54 is a Math class. The two have different instructional goals in mind. By convention, the engineering class was more concerned with enabling their students while the math class was more concerned with laying a bedrock of understanding.

Eventually, 16A transitioned into a circuits course. For context, I rather like circuitry . I also had decent background in circuitry through high school science competitions. Circuit design embodied the spirit of engineering, just in an electrical context. Instead of screws, there are resistors. Instead of wheels, there are batteries. (I realize these analogies are not so logically correlated but I am simply trying to point out a distinction). In fact, the lack of visual confirmation in electrical engineering made circuit design less intuitive, more challenging, and somehow more fun. The number of device configurations are endless, and specific configurations could lead to marvelously useful things.

“Finally!”, I thought to myself, “it’s time to build”. I was so eager to finally start working with resistors, capacitors, oscilloscopes, and a mysterious new device called an operational amplifier. So excited to start soldering and perhaps burning my fingertips in the process as souvenirs.

That’s when COVID happened.

This was disappointing, especially for this particular class. 16A is prized for having 3 hours of weekly lab sessions where students can apply classroom knowledge to projects under the guidance of GSIs. COVID took that away. To me that was turning out to be the most valuable aspect of the class. If this engineering course was going to enable us, then lab was where I could practice.

Nonetheless, the course moved on remotely, and I am glad to say it actually did not lose most of it’s value. Labs such as the resistor or capacitor touchscreen labs still managed to stun me in their creative brilliance and ingenuity. I also had the luxury of breadboards, resistors, and capacitors at home so I decided to follow along regardless.

The op amp unit was also very rich in new information for me. I had glossed over op amps in high school but never really understood them through simple google searches. 16A’s most useful topic to me was op amp circuit analysis via Kirchoff’s loop and junction rules. This approach laid the bedrock of my understanding of op amps and allowed me to confidently use formulas that were not build upon a bubble of empty knowledge.

In closing, EECS 16A is what I would expect from a soft introduction to electrical engineering for first year students. It encompasses the necessary topics while being challenging enough for students of all calibers to have to scratch their heads and think every once in a while. By no means was this an easy course, even with the background that I had.