The Way to A Successful Career: Graduate Degree Programs

CK ChengEECS Department

National Taiwan University

CSE DepartmentUC San Diego

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The way to a successful career

What is the most important ingredient to succeed in our career?A. Motivation

B. Knowledge

C. Innovation

D. Personal relation

Please note that most of the questions in this talk are open. There is no perfect answer.

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Graduate Degree Programs

1) Why I am here

2) Who wants to go to graduate school

3) What to expect from the graduate program

4) How to be successful in the program

5) Summary

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• 1976 BS, EE NTU• 1978 MS, EE NTU• 1980 Military Service• 1984 Ph.D., EECS UC Berkeley• 1986 Engineer, AMD• 1986+, Prof., CSE Dept., UC San Diego

– 38 Ph.D. graduates, 31 visiting scholars– Chair of admission, MS program

• Collaborator/Consultant: Altera, Ansys, Bellcore, Cadence, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Intel, Mentor, NEC, Qualcomm, Sun, Synopsys, Xilinx

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Why I am here

Why I am here: Ph.D. experience• Preliminary Exam: Oral exam with 1/2 rate

– I read Circuit Theory by E.S. Kuh n times, n≥ 3.• Advisor: E.S. Kuh

– Integrity and capacity– Lifelong relationship

• Creativity and practicality– Placement using circuit analogy: Strength of

UC Berkeley, Math experts, Bottlenecks– Internship

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Who wants to go to graduate school• Love to study

– Voracious appetite for knowledge• Wonder about the world with curiosity

– Motivation for innovation– Can we do better– Why not

• A. Einstein: The important thing is not to stop questioning.

• Strive for breakthroughs – No need to invent another wheel– Willing to take risks

• Jack Welch “Tipping points (are) learning experiences from complete failures.”

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From How Blowing up a Factory Changed Jack Welch

What do we learn from Jack Welch?

Which of the following is the most relevant to a successful career?

A. To risk with adventures;

B. To get failure experiences;

C. To be able to accept the failure; or

D. To be able to recover from the failure.

Which one is your choice?

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What to expect from graduate program

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What to expect from graduate programs• Broaden career path

– Academia, research institute, industrial research center, industry

• Find mentors for career– Adviser(s), committee members, lab mates

• Conversation skills– Presentations of conferences, seminars, defense– Sale your problems and solutions

• Learn the knacks of problem solving– Survey, implementation, testing, set backs, innovation– Dedication

• Make a dent in the technology

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What to expect from graduate programs

What is the most valuable experience in your graduate program?A. To take the graduate classesB. To create something newC. To present in publicD. To learn from the adviserE. To collaborate with lab mates

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How to be successful (Advising)• Find and keep an advisor

– Lifelong relationship– Chemistry of personality– Start as master and apprentice

• Understand the mechanism of advising– Mutual needs and commitments

• Both share time, energy and ideas• Advisor: Intellectual guidance, professional advocacy• Student: Research engine, source of novel ideas

• What turns on a professor– Excellent researchers vs bookworms– Research projects vs building another wheel

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How to be successful (Personality)• Aim high and start low (motivation)

– Be willing to take risks– Work with a senior student

• Leverage the strength of the team (be humble and confident)– Step on the strength of the group– Find your talents

• Keep research alive (self discipline)– Collaboration with advisor, mentors, colleagues– Take advantage of the program as your prime time– Keep reading, exploring, testing and writing– Observe the publication calendar

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Summary• Personality

–Motivation: strong enough to try and try and try …

• Creativity–Find your niche: understand and use

your talents

• Graduate Program–Get a personal trainer to succeed in

your career13

Thank You!

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Reference

• http://www.tsmc.com/english/aboutTSMC/values.htm

• How to get started on research in graduate school, L. Saul, UCSD, 2014

• How to have a good career in computer science, S. Savage, UCSD, 2014

• Books by D. Liu

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