Why did I choose The

Faculty of Automatic Control and

Computer Science?
First of all, I will introduce myself. My name is Popa Shimon-Petru, I am an
exchange Master student(Erasmus) at the TUM(Technische Universitt
Mnchen), Fakultt fr Elecktrotechnick und Informationstechnick . I am from
Bucharest, the capital of Romania, a country from Eastern-Europe. In my
country I am a second year Masters student at the The Faculty of Electronics,
Telecommunications and Information Technology, University Politehnica of
Bucharest. Ive made my bachelor studies at The Faculty of Automatic
Control and Computer Science, which is also at the same university,
University Politehnica of Bucharest. Now I will explain why I took this
decision, to choose this faculty.
When I was at the high school (Mihai Eminescu National Collage), I was one
of the best in my class, especially at mathematics and also at physics. These
subjects were some of my favorites, along with sport and German language.
If I remember correctly, in the 10th grade I took part at a local contest at
physics (Local Olympiad in Physics) and I won a pretty good place (place 7).
In addition, I must say that in my country, Romania, the high school lasts 4
years(9th grade till the 12th grade), and then we have Baccalaureate
examination(Abitur). The Baccalaureate consists of 6 exams ,2 oral exams,
Romanian language and a foreign language(I chose German language
because I studied for 12 years), an Informatics exam on the computer , and 3
written exams in the summer(Romanian language, Mathematics and
Physics). For the first 3 exams that I mentioned, only the presence was
mandatory. On the other hand, to pass the last 3 exams, the passing average
grade you must obtain is 6(maximum is 10 and minimum is 1). The
mathematics exam was split in two parts: Algebra and Analysis, and the
physics exam was split also in two parts, but you have to choose between 4
domains, like Electricity, Thermodynamics, Mechanics and Optics (Ive chose
Electricity and Thermodynamics).
Fortunately, I had good grades, and I had no problems for the admission of
the faculty, considering that the Baccalaureate worth 50% of the faculty
admission exam. The other 50% consists of 2 exams, Mathematics and
Physics. Like in the Baccalaureate, the mathematics exam contained the two
parts that I mentioned above, Algebra and Analysis, but the physics exam
contained three parts: Electricity, Thermodynamics and also Mechanics. I can

say that the physics exam was difficult than the mathematics, but taken
together, these two exams are much easier than the Baccalaureate exam.
I must say that I wasnt sure what to choose at the beginning. I mean, I was
sure that I want to follow University Politehnica of Bucharest, but I didnt
know for sure what to choose. I oscillated between The Faculty of Automatic
Control and Computer Science, and The Faculty of Electronics,
Telecommunications and Information Technology, but in the end, I decided to
choose the first one, also because of my parents advice.
The main reason I chose The Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer
Science is that is one of the best faculties from the University Politehnica of
Bucharest, where all the graduates are highly sought-after. When I chose this
faculty, I was thinking that it would make me more attractive in the eyes of
future employers.
I thought at the Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science because
I wanted to learn some programming languages that are the most wanted in
the market job and also work with the latest new technologies.
This faculty is divided in Computer Science and System Engineering. I chose
the second one, System Engineering, because I thought this faculty will be
more complete, I mean software (programming languages) and also
hardware (working with the latest technologies, robots, Arduino boards). I
also chose the second domain, because it is easier than the first one. The
Computer Science domain is based on programming languages, and you
cannot pass the exams, or even the labs, because its very difficult, and you
must have very good programming skills. This domain is divided in two more
departments. The name of the department I have studied is Automation and
applied informatics- Automatic Control and Systems Engineering.
In the first two years I studied subjects like in the high school, e.g.
Mathematics, Computer programming, Physics, Chemistry, Sport, German
language, Analog and Digital Electronics, but more advance. Also the second
year was more based on programming languages than the first one. In the
third and the fourth year we studied the subjects, that were most important
for our domain, like Programmable Controllers and microprogrammingladder diagram, Signals and systems, Control System Theory , Modelling and
Simulation, System Identification , Data basis-Microsoft SQL, Computer
architecture, Data transmission , Automatic Control Engineering,
Microcontrollers Architecture and Programming. There I learned a lot of
programming languages, like C, C++, C#, java, assembly language, Matlab,
Verilog. I also learned how to program an Arduino and a FPGA board, how to
program robots with a simulator (V-REP). My bachelors project- -

Environmental Parameters Monitoring System for a server room- was also

developed using the Arduino board.
The problem was that there was a gap between what I expected and what I
encountered. I mean, we had at each subject seminars or laboratories, but
the problem was, especially, at the programming disciplines. For instance, in
the first semester of the first year I had a programing course, and at the
laboratory the only thing that the teacher made it was giving us some
exercises, without giving us any explain or any example. And this is how the
whole laboratory carried on. Fortunately, I have learned and understand what
I have to do, it would have been better to have more support from the
teacher. Before the admission I thought that in the collage the teachers will
give us as many explanations as in the high school, but then I saw that I
must learn how to learn, how to search for answers. Lets say that in the
faculty, at least I have learned how to do this, how to learn and how to
handle many other things.
As a conclusion, there are good points and bad points about the faculty I
chose and I finished, but there are more positive aspects than the negative
ones. So, finally, I can say that it was a good choice that I have made,
choosing The Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science.