That’s an excellent and well-rounded set of courses, especially for someone like you who’s focused on computer engineering, AI, compilers, and system-level design. Let’s break it down into clusters and how each aligns with different specialization areas — both for your UCSB MS goals and for building a strong technical foundation.
Core Computer Science Foundations
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CS 40 – Foundations of Computer Science
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CS 130A/B – Data Structures and Algorithms I/II
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CS 138 – Automata and Formal Languages
These establish the theoretical base — algorithms, formal models, and complexity — critical for grad-level courses like compilers, OS, or AI theory.
Systems, Architecture, and Compilers
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ECE 154A – Introduction to Computer Architecture
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ECE 154B – Advanced Computer Architecture
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CS 160 – Translation of Programming Languages
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CS 170 – Operating Systems
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CS 140 – Parallel Scientific Computing
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ECE 189A/B/C – Senior Computer Systems Project
This track is perfect if you’re pursuing computer systems, architecture, or compilers.
Together, these build strong practical and theoretical understanding of how software interacts with hardware, and how to design efficient system software.
( Recommendation: pairing CS 160 + ECE 154B + CS 140 is ideal for high-performance computing or GPU architecture paths.)
Hardware and Digital Systems
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ECE 15A – Fundamentals of Logic Design
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ECE 152A – Digital Design Principles
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ECE 152B – Digital System Design
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ECE 153B – Sensor and Peripheral Interface Design
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ECE 122A – VLSI Principles
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ECE 10 A/B/C – Foundations of Analog and Digital Circuits
These are the core for embedded and chip-level design — great for students who want to work on ASICs, SoCs, DFT, or FPGA systems.
( 152B + 122A combination is often the gateway into advanced IC or system-on-chip design work.)
AI, ML, and Data Science
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ECE 180 – Introduction to Deep Learning
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CS 165B – Machine Learning
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ECE 181 – Introduction to Computer Vision
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ECE 594BB – Special Topics: Robustness in Machine Learning
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CS 178 – Introduction to Cryptography (mathematical + secure computation relevance)
These are AI-focused electives that complement your systems background.
Given your interest in AI for hardware and communities, you might later explore hardware acceleration for ML (e.g., AI chips, parallel ML training).
Software and Programming
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CS 24 – Problem Solving with Computers II
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CS 156 – Advanced Applications Programming
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CS 162 – Programming Languages
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CS 171 – Distributed Systems
These reinforce software engineering, language design, and large-scale distributed computation — useful for any system software or compiler toolchain development path.
Overall Analysis
Best for your interests (systems, AI, hardware):
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ECE 154B (Advanced Architecture)
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CS 160 (Compilers)
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CS 140 (Parallel Computing)
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ECE 152B + ECE 122A (Digital + VLSI Design)
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ECE 180 / CS 165B (AI/Deep Learning)
Together, these can form a “Computer Systems + Intelligent Hardware” specialization — very fitting for UCSB’s Computer Engineering BS/MS focus.
