6.331 Advanced Circuit Techniques

Lecturer: J. Roberge Lecturer's Rating: J. Roberge 6.6/7.0 Prerequisites: 6.003, 6.301, 6.302, circuit design interest, time

Response rate: 13 out of 15 Difficulty: 6.3/7.0 Overall Rating: 6.5/7.0 Term Evaluated: Spring 2000

Lecturer's Comments:

This subject covers the design of analog circuits and feedback systems. The main message is to try to anticipate all the problems that will occur in an actual design and avoid them the first time rather than doing a fast, fluffy design and then try to force it to work in the laboratory.

This is the 'ultimate' circuits class, full of analog design and applications of circuit techniques. Graduate students usually take this subject. There is a good balance between theory and application since the mathematics and real-world problems are presented.

This is the class to learn all about circuits and how to become a true analog circuit designer. The subject teaches plenty of practical analog circuit design issues and offers much design experience. Anyone who is very interested in circuits should take this. One strong point is that you learn quite a bit of material, though one weak point is that you are flooded with all this material over one semester.

Lecturer J. Roberge was generally regarded as an excellent lecturer by his students. He has many stories to tell, which makes the lectures more interesting. Some students wanted some lecture notes to be handed out.

Recitation Instructor K. Lundberg generally received favorable reviews from his students. He gave good lectures, though he sometimes went too fast and did too much math. However, he was quite knowledgeable and thorough in his presentation of the material.

TA T. Denison was generally praised by his students. He was approachable, knowledgeable, and available for help. He was also very helpful, though he tended to make his students figure out things for themselves.

The problem sets were considered to be long but they are well-designed and quite helpful in learning the material. One major complaint was that no solutions were passed out for the sets.

Laboratory exercises were where students learned about the design process. The labs, however, were usually long and work-intensive.

The textbooks served as references and were not used in lectures often. The books were helpful to some students, while others wished there were class notes.

Grades in 6.331 are based on 6 problem sets (25%), labs (25%), and design problems (50%).

Some suggestions include reducing the workload, and breaking up the class over two semesters.