JG36

UPIICSA

Since I was little, I always wanted to enter the IPN (Instituto Politécnico Nacional -= National Polytechnic Institute =-) because I heard that it was a very good university and that it was one of the best to learn many technological things, such as: manufacturing robots, or developing video games 😁.

The UPIICSA (Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria de Ingeniería y Ciencias Sociales y Administrativas -= Interdisciplinary Professional Unit of Engineering and Social and Administrative Sciences =-) is an Academic Unit belonging to the IPN which has several degrees, including Computer Engineering, which is where I entered.

When you take the acceptance exam for the IPN you must choose a minimum of 3 degrees, and it will depend on your score in the admission exam and the availability that there is, they will put you in one or the other.

Computer Engineering was actually my second choice. My first option was Mechatronics Engineering at the UPIITA (Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria en Ingeniería y Tecnologías Avanzadas -= Interdisciplinary Professional Unit in Engineering and Advanced Technologies =-), but because it was a highly demanded degree and there were few places, it was one of the only degrees that asked for a score of more than 120 correct answers in an exam of 128 questions.

Still, it went pretty well for me. I entered the UPIICSA with 93 hits.

C, C++ and Java

Since I had already taken C and a bit of C++ in high school, the first semester was much easier for me where we saw the fundamentals of programming with the C language.

For the second semester I took Fundamentals of Object Oriented Programming with C++.

In the third semester I took Object Oriented Programming with Java. At first this language was complicated for me, but as time went by I liked it more than C and C++, I feel like it is more intuitive and less complex than C and C++. However, I also feel that visually it is very ugly haha.

Java is a text-heavy language... but it makes a lot of sense.

For the first time I programmed a graphical interface. At last we saw something different from the command console that I had always used since high school (except when I took web programming).

Digital Systems

I took 2 subjects that dealt with digital systems or digital electronics.

Again I saw logic gates, truth tables, binary code, and basic electronics.

As I already mentioned in another high school article, these subjects were very easy for me, so I once again excelled at the University in these subjects.

Although I do admit that I learned many new things, such as: how to use Karnaugh Maps to make circuits more efficient, I learned how to make counters with Flip Flops and many other things.

Our final project was to make a message appear on a 7 segment display like the image below (photo not mine). Every half second a different letter had to appear on the display.

Other subjects related to Software

I saw many other subjects related to Software.

The one I liked the most is the one where they taught me trees, binary trees, stacks, queues, pointers, and sort types. The teacher explained very well, his class was dynamic and not boring at all, he made everyone participate and made everyone want to participate.

I took a course on logic and coding of texts and numbers, although the teacher almost never attended.

I took a course on microprocessors and microcontrollers. There I learned how a CPU works internally. In addition, I also learned how a RAM Memory works and how the computer communicates internally between its elements. None of this I had seen in my high school technical career 😅.

I also took a Linux subject. The subject focused mainly on the Linux Terminal. How to use it, how to program in it, etc. Even so, today I still use Windows mainly.

Although it is not a subject, and just as a curiosity: during my trips on public transport I learned many random things so as not to get bored, among them I learned morse code.

.. ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / ... . . / - .... .. ... / ... -.-- -- -... --- .-.. / --- -. / - .... . / .--. .- --. . :

-*-

.. - / -- . .- -. ... / - .... . .-. . / .. ... / .- -. / . .- ... - . .-. / . --. --. / -. . .- .-. -... -.--

Videogames

In my Computer Engineering career there were several elective specialties, which must be chosen from the fourth semester. They have a duration of 3 semesters and in each semester a specific topic is seen within the specialty.

There were many specialties. As, for example: Computer Security, Electronics, Operating Systems, Networks, Videogames, and others.

The specialty that I chose was Video Games, which had the subjects: Video Games, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality, for the fourth, fifth, and sixth semesters respectively.

I was taught by one of the best professors that UPIICSA had on the subject of Videogames at that time (from what I have been told), however, I was unable to take advantage of that knowledge due to many problems that were arising in my life at that time.

What I remember is that in the subject we worked in teams and each team had to create a video game before the end of the semester. The method that the teacher used made me very curious, she taught us many techniques for drawing and modeling characters (and 3D figures), she taught us photography, video and sound techniques, how to create a good story, etc. but we almost never programmed anything.

In the end I don't know what happened, I don't know how it all ended, I didn't go to her classes for the last 2 months. It would be rude to say that I helped my teammates a lot when I didn't, in fact, I didn't help at all 😭.

Our game was going to be called Azeri and the Rise of the Gods.

I don't even know who is the author of the drawing (all my classmates knew how to draw).

The Sad Reality

My stay at this university was very bittersweet, because although I learned many things and met many wonderful people, there were also many bad moments. Not because of the school itself, but because of many situations that happened in my life. Bad situations of all kinds: from economic, psychological and family, etc, to even geographical problems. Someday I will tell those stories in a Blog here on my page (For now I don't want to write such depressing things).

The problems were piling up more and more.

I came to have several failed subjects at the same time.

At a certain point, my situation was so complex that it was going to be very difficult for me to graduate in engineering, due to many reasons. In the end, something happened that stopped all that stress, but it also stopped my learning at UPIICSA. But hey, those are spoilers for the following articles.