Senior Spotlight: Eduardo Bortolomiol Passos Explored the Breadth of ECE at Duke

Eduardo Bartolomiol Passos is graduating with a major in ECE and will remain at Duke for his master’s degree through Duke Engineering’s 4+1 program. A native of Porto Alegre, Brazil, Bartolomiol Passos has explored several sides of ECE through research, extensive TA work and a growing focus on digital design and computer architecture. This summer, he will intern at Nvidia in hardware verification before returning to campus for his master’s in ECE (computer hardware study track). Read on to learn how Bartolomiol Passos found his path within ECE, why he’s pursuing a master’s degree and what he’s taken away from his undergraduate experience.

Why did you major in ECE?

ECE is a very diverse major in my opinion. It covers a lot of different topics, from more physics-based areas all the way to software engineering. I switched majors a couple times, but after I landed on ECE, it took me a while to figure out exactly what part of ECE I wanted to do. At first, I thought I wanted to study the physics-related topics, like wave propagation and antennas. Then I realized that what I really liked was more of the digital design and circuitry side of ECE, especially processor design.

What interested you in pursuing a master’s degree?

There are a couple of factors. One is that I’m an international student coming from the Brazilian school system, where we don’t really have anything like APs. Because of that, I had to take a lot of introductory courses. I wanted more time to explore advanced topics in ECE, which I think is really valuable for my major. I want to take advanced classes in computer architecture and digital design and also have more time to develop projects in college. I think the additional year is going to provide me with a lot of opportunities for that.

What was one of the highlights from your classes?

I think a lot of people in ECE are going to agree with me on ECE 350 (Digital Systems). It’s a tough class, not because the concepts are too tough, but because you do a lot of work, especially toward the very end. There’s a final project where you basically have to build something cool. In the first half of the class, we build a CPU, and then for the final project you build something interesting from that. I thought that was a very interesting project. I learned a lot. I also didn’t sleep for about three nights in a row, but it was worth it. That was probably by far the most interesting class.

You’ve done a lot of TA work. What has that experience been like?

I started TAing in my sophomore spring. Since then, every single semester I have TAed for ECE. I started TAing the lab component of ECE 110 (Fundamentals of ECE) and then the lab component of ECE 280 (Signals and Systems). Then I went back to 110, then back to 280 again, and now I’m basically working as a supervisor for 110.

In the meantime, I also TAed for the lecture component of ECE 270 (Fundamentals of Information Propagation), four math classes and also four physics classes. I’ve done a lot of classes.

I think I’m more likely to go into industry after college, but I’m still considering a PhD later on so that I could go into teaching. I really like teaching. I’m just not very confident about doing a PhD right now because I’m not sure exactly what I would want to do it in. I hope that in a couple of years I’ll have a better idea of what I really want to do.

What have you liked most about being a Duke student?

I think that, at least within ECE, there is a lot of collaboration between students, and that’s something I’ve always enjoyed. There have been classes where people were struggling and people would work together to try to understand what was going on. I’m not sure how much that happens at other schools, but I think at least here within Pratt it’s pretty strong.

What’s next for you?

This summer I’ll be at Nvidia in California doing an internship in hardware verification. Hopefully I’ll be able to go back there after I complete my master’s.

So far, everything is pointing toward me going more into the computer design side, like processor design. I hope I can spend a couple of years working in industry and get a better understanding of whether that’s really what I want to do.

What are your biggest takeaways from your time at Duke?

Looking back at myself, it’s incredible how much I learned. Not necessarily only class material, but also in terms of life and just figuring things out.

I made a lot of mistakes during this time. I tried paths that, after a while, I became very confident were not what I wanted to do. But I don’t regret doing that. They taught me important things about what I don’t want for my life.