VLSI and Digital Systems (VLSI)
- VLSI students, with their advisor’s approval, may request to take the Quals exam at any time during week 7 or later of Autumn or Spring quarter.
- The student and their advisor are responsible for forming a 3-member quals committee for this student. These can include any EE VLSI/Embedded faculty that are members of the graduate school. Faculty from other disciplines or departments may be allowed at the discretion of the VLSI/Embedded group chair, though at least 2 faculty must be EE VLSI/Embedded faculty. A student’s advisor cannot be a member of this committee.
- About three weeks prior to the QE, and after consultation with the Candidate and her/his research advisor, the QE Committee will select a recent research journal paper. The candidate is expected to prepare and present a 20-minute talk on it addressing typical questions such as what problem it addresses, what are the prior-art solutions, what are its strengths and weaknesses, what future work does it stimulate, etc. The QE Committee will also identify three cited references from the paper for which the Candidate should also be knowledgeable and responsible. The presentation is open. The 20-minute time limit will be strictly enforced.
- The Candidate will be responsible for the fundamentals and required course materials that underpin the chosen paper.
- Following the presentation, there will be questions, comments, and suggestions from the audience and QE Committee Members. This period is also open, but will last at most 10 minutes.
- The final 30-45 minutes will be closed. The QE Committee Members will ask additional questions related to the presentation, the assigned papers, and the course materials that underpin that chosen paper.
