Reviews for ENEE303

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Agisilaos Iliadis ENEE303 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/15/2023	Train wreck of a course, just avoid. His lectures make no sense, his exams are weird and he offers little resources to study. Just avoid!! You have to memorize equations for exams too, and each exam has like 20 different equations that all have different applications! On exams, you also have to derive formulas. Just avoid!!
Agisilaos Iliadis ENEE303 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/29/2023	Iliadis is terrible. He does not post when exams are until a few weeks until they happen. Does not have an official syllabus, rather just an "outline" that has no dates on it and is very vague. During lecture he asks/yells at us to ask questions and when we do, he cuts us off or changes the subject. He does not return exams. If you want to see your work, you have to make time in your day to make an appointment and see him in his office. The worst part is that during the exam he talks 90% of the time. Some of the remarks he makes are quite rude also. "Guys, this is easy. What's taking so long?" or "How are you guys not done yet?"
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/20/2023	The class is taught in a flipped lecture style, where we are made to watch lecture videos and complete a short MC lecture quiz before each lecture. And the actual lecture time is spent reviewing the concepts from the video and doing some practice problems together. I would say this would be great if you're actually interested in learning the content. But if you're just taking the course because its required, like me, it was not bad at all either. We had 2 exams 35% each, and we got to bring in a cheat sheet front and back for both exams. Exams were easier than what was taught in class, and the preparation material Horiuchi provides is plenty enough to do well. I had no clue what was being taught 90 percent of the time and was able to pull off an A because the exams :). That said Horiuchi is great for 303.
Danilo Romero ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/16/2023	Romero is a decent lecturer, and even better if you take the time to ask questions in class. The class was curved from the beginning, so only a 50% was a C. We had three exams, then homework assignments due about every two weeks. The workload was very manageable. In addition to the curve, there were optional online quizzes that could add up to 10% on to your grade. They were mainly to help study for the exams. Exams were very fair, and sometimes there would be a question exactly like a discussion or homework problem. Our TA even graded everything very leniently. Romero was very kind and understanding throughout the whole semester. The textbook can be found online, but personally I did not feel the need to use it (at times it was a bit hard to understand). Romero also likes to go into some device physics if you're interested in that. I would strongly recommend this professor. Not only did I learn a lot, but the grading is too nice to pass up.
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Expecting a W Anonymous 03/02/2023	Was not a fan of the class structure, which was a flipped classroom where you had to watch the approximately hour long set of videos prior to class, and take a quiz on said videos before class. The classes themselves were like large discussion sections, which I did not understand the reasoning behind since there was already a discussion time built into the class. The homeworks took fairly long, but seemed manageable given you were up to date with the material. The class moves fairly fast and the material is somewhat difficult, so it is quite easy to fall behind and difficult to catch up with, which is what happened to me. Decent lecturer within the videos, although is very theory heavy when most of the homeworks and exams are based on the concepts in practice. Don't recommend unless you have a light workload for the semester or genuinely care about learning the material and don't mind the work that comes with it. I'm guessing all the positive reviews for this professor come from these kinds of students, which I feel do not represent most of the students that take this course. I will give him credit for the curve, though, which has a 50% as a C-.
Danilo Romero ENEE303 Anonymous 02/15/2023	Challenging class, but fair. I feel confident with A/D circuits and enee303 material moving forward. Exams similar to homework and practice exams. sometimes a trick question... do not doubt.
Sahil Shah ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/09/2023	AMAZING PROFESSOR. His lectures were easy to follow, and his course structure was very understanding of the student's time. Lectures were helpful and were all recorded (which admittedly made it very easy to fall behind in the class, which is not Shah's fault). There were weekly homeworks which had the potential to be challenging, but had unlimited attempts so they were very helpful, and there were short quizzes at the beginning of each lecture. There were two exams in this course, including the final, which seems daunting, but they were not only open note, but open internet as well so you could use the textbook as well as any online resource (although you definitely still have to study). Even after all of this, he curved the course very generously. Overall, if you can force yourself to go to class or are good about watching lectures on your own time, 100% take Shah.
Sahil Shah ENEE303 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/23/2022	Dr. Shah is a relatively new professor, which might raise a few questions about whether or not to take him. His classes would typically start with a quiz (pretty much every class); they were either quick calculations or multiple choice, so they weren't that bad. He would then teach his lecture and sometimes have an in-class exercise that would be due the following night. His lecturing was fine; he had a balance of providing information to write down and working through problems. Homework would be due once a week on ELMS, and while they could be tedious sometimes, there was unlimited submissions with no penalties. He had two exams with no final; each exam had 5 questions that were pretty fair and also open-book and open-resource. Dr. Shah definitely cares about his students, so if you are willing to put in the effort, this will be a manageable class.
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Anonymous 01/23/2022	He's really nice and gave relatively easy exams (never tested on the harder parts of the material). Lectures were recorded online and a bit dry in my opinion but that's probably just me not being interested in the material. I did think watching the recorded lectures in advance before each class took a lot of time, but it helped me learn.
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Anonymous 12/26/2021	This professor cares about his students and wants them to succeed. His flipped lecture style can be difficult at times since you have to watch recorded lecture videos and take a quiz before attending that lecture in person, but they helped me retain course content a lot better. He does a lot of examples in class and in the recorded videos, so pay attentionand do plenty of practice before exams. He wants to set up his students for success, so I recommend taking a course from this professor!
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/26/2021	Great professor who really cares about his students. Online teaching is hard to do but his Livescribe PDFs made it a lot more bearable. I would recommend him for any ENEE course.
Sahil Shah ENEE303 Expecting an A- Anonymous 03/31/2021	Dr. Shah is a really great professor, and this was his first semester teaching here at UMD. You can tell he really cares about his students. Short quizzes at the beginning of every class, but they are not too difficult. Midterm was definitely fair. Overall, I've learned a lot and I'm happy I took him
Danilo Romero ENEE303 Anonymous 12/25/2020	Dr. Romero is a really nice, easygoing guy, but he's not a good lecturer at all. His exams/assignments are somewhat difficult, but fair. However, he takes forever to grade exams, so you won't know your grade until way after the semester.
Danilo Romero ENEE303 Anonymous 05/07/2020	Romero is very kind and compassionate, but he honestly doesn't teach the material very well. The homeworks are basically impossible to do without consulting internet resources. The tests are open note and graded fairly leniently however.
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2019	Not much workload, and exams are fair. Grading scheme is very easy as well, with a 50+% being a C. Didn't really like the teaching method, which was a reverse classroom structure, but the class was easy enough.
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2019	Good professor. Has videos of lectures online so easy to keep up but also easy to fall behind. Exams weren't bad just do as much practice as possible.
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Anonymous 12/19/2019	An excellent professor. He had well-written lecture notes, that would supplement his teaching (note supplement, not replace, go to class!) and was clear in teaching, and very helpful.
Danilo Romero ENEE303 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/10/2019	Avoid Romero if possible. Doesn't explain material well, frequent mistakes in lecture and in solutions. Tests were mostly fair. However, large curve and almost impossible to fail.
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/17/2019	Great Professor! Very clear lecture notes and really made me enjoy circuits. Exams aren't too bad and there's a nice curve at the end. Highly recommend.
Agisilaos Iliadis ENEE303 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/23/2019	Not a good professor. The class relied on memorizing formulas instead of using formula sheets which is not a good way to really learn the material, as the focus should be on learning how to solve circuit problems rather than plugging numbers into equations. The exams were very difficult to prepare for, as the HW that he gives is not what you would see on the exam, neither are the problems in the book. On top of that, he doesn't solve proper examples in class involving quantities, he just presents the formula and how he got there. Avoid if you can.
Robert Newcomb ENEE303 Expecting a D Anonymous 01/03/2018	I would not recommend this professor for any course. He does not teach anything during lectures and does not communicate when asked simple questions about grading. Avoid this professor at all costs unless u want a D.
Robert Newcomb ENEE303 Anonymous 12/16/2017	Newcomb is clearly knowledgeable and experienced when it comes to the subject, but he definitely should not be teaching anymore, at least this course (we'll see how the lab goes.) The entire course was taught before the midterm, and the midterm and final are pretty much the same because there is no material taught during the second half of the semester. You spend the second half doing research project/s and presentations, which is cool but it doesn't help the fact that it is basically impossible to learn everything in a little more than a month. Also, there's no ELMS or any other communication whatsoever, so you have no idea how you're doing in the course. I even asked him but he doesn't even know, and he probably won't respond to your emails, citing something about how the cloud takes several days to send him things (yes, really). Fortunately, the tests aren't actually worth much, so even if you do poorly a good research paper/presentation can still save you. If you already know about transistors/diodes I'm sure this class is great, but if you don't, you will only learn on your own time. DO NOT TAKE UNLESS YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT LEARNING THE MATERIAL.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 soulelite 09/30/2016	His lectures are clear, and his handwriting is amazing. Only reason I did not give him 5 stars is because he doesn't give out any homework assignments, so its hard to get any practice if you don't understand the examples he does in class.
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Expecting an A scable 12/16/2014	Horiuchi is a fairly good professor for 303. He goes into a lot of detail about device physics, which didn't interest me too much personally, but it does make the derivations of the equations a bit easier to follow. We spent a lot of time discussing different designs that can be made with transistors, which was nice, but it felt like the second half of the semester was just a million ways to use the MOSFET, with little actual "new" content. Regarding the work, homeworks were fairly straightforward, if sometimes long. They come about once a week, and cover mostly whatever you do in discussion that week. Also, GO TO DISCUSSION. This is where you will get most practice with application of concepts. On exams, the midterm and final were weighted equally and designed with the same expected time and difficulty. You get one cheat sheet, and there are no numbers, which is a godsend for people like myself who tend to think 9 + 2 = 13, or other similar math errors. Overall, a good professor to take this course with.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/21/2014	Franklin is an extremely organized lecturer, which is super ironic considering he doesn't bring notes to class and his canvas is as unorganized as I've ever seen. He speaks in a clear and concise manner, answers questions effectively, and doesn't go too fast. He appears to care about students, and is reasonable. Unlike other reviewers have said, he never showed up to class late this semester, his accent is non-existent, and he is very organized. The nature of the course is very difficult, and to compensate he removed homework from the class. This is nice, obviously, because there's no homework, but quizzes and exams count for more, which is scary. Quizzes are graded extremely easily, and exams are harsh-- half of the points are multiple choice, and even if you select the correct answer you could get less than half credit if you don't explain yourself well enough. It helps my note-taking that his handwriting is so neat, and I really appreciate that he doesn't vomit information onto the board, like so many math professors I've had. I think that overall Franklin is an excellent professor. He only got 4 stars from me because his canvas is unorganized and he doesn't respond to emails.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Expecting an A+ koffe55 01/13/2014	Excellent professor. Incredibly neat and organized on the board. Lectures are somewhat slow but are very easy to follow. As long as you don't mind starting lectures ten minutes late, you'll have a great time in this class.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/06/2013	Dr. Franklin was a great professor for 303. What I like about him is that he explains everything in a clear and understandable way. This was one of the few classes where I was able to understand nearly everything he says in lecture, unlike other professors who fail to communicate those material clearly. He always shows up 10 minutes late and goes through material slowly, but I felt I learned a lot from his lectures. His teaching style just "works." Exam questions appear to be variations of examples he did in class. The key to doing well on the dams is to understand the material intuitively by practicing a lot of problems. Averages tend to be in the high 60's, but it is possible to do very well if you take advantage of test bank problems. He is pretty generous on partial credit though.
Robert Newcomb ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/31/2012	First and foremost, this guy cannot lecture for his life. I only went to the first 4 lectures before i stopped going. His lecture notes are basically him writing down nonsense on his computer that no one really understands anything. The best way to learn the material through this course is through discussion section, and just pray you have a good TA. He assigns a presentation and paper due towards the end of the semester. Make sure you pick a paper with an easy circuit, otherwise you'll just be presenting nonsense, which alot of the students end up doing. His exams are completely absurd, the average is always around the 40s. You are guaranteed to never have seen anything on the tests beforehand. It's open book, open notes and be prepared to guess on half the tests. Write down alot of relevant equations if you don't know the answer, at least you'll get some credit. Overall, the class wasn't too bad, i got an A and put very little effort into it. Don't be discouraged if you fail the first exam because there's still hope in the paper and final! Good luck if you're taking this course!
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Expecting an A UMDstudent2011 12/20/2012	Professor Franklin is an excellent professor for ENEE303. He's been teaching the class for well over 10 years, so as a student, you quickly realize he's the best the university has to offer when learning about Transistors. By no means is this class an easy A. You need to understand the material or else you will find yourself struggling come exam time. I found the class to be rather easy to learn. Make sure you understand Small-Signal Analysis for BJTs, MOSFETs, & Difference Amplifiers because they will be on the exam. Understanding these concepts helped separate me from other students. The class is curved initially by 3%, but as the semester goes on, you'll notice the class is curved off of where you stand against your classmates. He follows OURUMD grading distribution to the T, so use that to determine where you stand.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Expecting an A engr 10/03/2012	Best professor ever !!! I recommend taking 303 with him and any other classes available with him cuz he goes by every detail and his exams are pretty much from the homework and class notes (you can do hwk if u have ur class notes) I got a B in this class but if i wudve put in an extra effort, I wud've definately gotten an A
Timothy Horiuchi ENEE303 Expecting a B Anonymous 02/26/2012	Lectures were fairly straightforward, assignments were a bit difficult but not unmanageable, and there were only 2 exams, including the final which was designed to be the length of a normal exam. However, my one complaint is that Horiuchi spent a lot of time discussing device physics, topics which never appeared on the homeworks or exams.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/27/2011	Thorough lectures, although it can be difficult to pay attention as he speaks very softly and mentions some important concepts in passing. He can be very meticulous in writing out diagrams, which makes note-copying (and catching up) much easier. He did not give pop quizzes as in previous semesters, which was a bonus. His tests were relatively straightforward and he's pretty generous with partial credit. My biggest complaint with the class was with the difficulty of the homework, which often stressed concepts we were not expected to know (and often did not cover) in lecture/exams. Still, overall, this was a pretty easy class, and Franklin was pretty great. As always, look at practice exams (helps immensely).
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Anonymous 01/28/2011	Franklin is pretty good. His lectures are extremely clear as he draws everything to quantum precision. He's pretty good at explaining stuff too. I actually wish he had given us more homework because I felt like we never really got to practice the problems enough. And I wish he wouldn't do his pop quizzes because they were pointless and tested memorization more than understanding of the concepts. But his tests are fair and they count for most of the grade, so it's pretty easy to get an A in the class.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Expecting an A whynot 01/28/2011	His lectures are awesome - if you are taking 303 with Newcomb you should try to sit in on Franklin's lectures if you can. His notes are very neat and clear. His lectures can become somewhat disorganized, but it's just because he always asks students questions and tries to pick apart what they don't know. Whether you think this is good or not is up to you. He also has pop quizzes in his lectures. They are multiple choice and count for a substantial portion of your grade. I think quiz were like 20%, HW like 10% and the rest was midterm + final. His exams are extremely hard. Prepare well, do EVERY homework, and study like mad. Show ALL your work, even on multiple choice questions, as he gives lots of partial credit if your reasoning is good.
Martin Peckerar ENEE303 vbury 12/18/2009	Listen to the reviewers before me, because they're all correct. He is a very intelligent man. He definitely knows what he's talking about, but he can't teach for crap. I've never seen anyone with a low-volume, high-pitched mumble like he has. It was kind of like having Milton from Office Space teach you electronics. Sound like fun? Yeah, I didn't think so. It's a real pity that a large group of the ECE professors can't even teach to save their lives. The man's handwriting is indecipherable. Like one of the reviewers said, most times I couldn't tell if that little squiggle is supposed to be a resistor or a ground. As a result, I barely paid any attention in lecture and learned everything from the book. Which sucks, because half of the stuff in the book he doesn't even test you on. That being said, if I didn't have the book I would have already failed the class. Now, I will say that this class is tough in itself, and there wasn't the best choice of professors teaching it this semester. However, I know that there are ECE professors who can teach. Bottom line is do what you can, and if you can, avoid Peckerar.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/23/2009	AWESOME professor! For all EE students: u'll be better off taking this prof for whatever class he teaches. He has an awesome curve. First of, you have to pay attention in class for the multiple choice lecture quizzes. And you have to note that these are almost the same questions on the exams. Also, you have to go over and solve the practice exam questions since the exam questions are similar to those. Also he is a little difficult to catch for office hours. So in case you need help you have to talk to him after class. Because he takes some time before replying to emails.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 swieneck 09/09/2009	I took professor Franklin for both ENEE303 and ENEE313 and can honestly say that he has been one of the best professors I've ever had. What I like most about him is that he explains things in a very clear and understandable way. Also he is a really fair grader, and the problems you get on the test are usually the same or very similar problems to what was in the homework or in examples from the book.
Manoj Franklin ENEE303 Anonymous 08/27/2009	He is very organized on the board. He is very helpful at office hours. His exams are similar to homework and exams from last year. Overall, a great guy.
Martin Peckerar ENEE303 Anonymous 05/21/2009	Avoid this douchebag at all costs just like the other reviewer said. He comes to class without any preparation and scribbles some circuits on the board. He assigns homework that does not relate to his lectures nor his exams. Half the time, im trying to figure out if the part of the circuit is a resistor or a ground. If you can read the book, learn on your own go a head and take him. If you need a little lecture to serve as an introduction to the material, this guy is not for you. you will fail.
Robert Newcomb ENEE303 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/25/2008	Cannot teach worth a damn, however, he is INCREDIBLY easy and a complete genius despite being 80 something years old. His tests are impossible, but no one does well. Like the guy before me said, his class ends halfway through the semester, then he expects you to do a research project. Pretty much it's like this: If you want to actually learn something, and have a good knowledge of what you're doing/talking about then this professor is NOT for you. If you want an easy A, and minimum work, then this is your man. If you do decide to take him, make sure you choose an EASY topic for your research paper. He kind of hits the ground running with regards to this; a topic is expected to be chosen in something like 2 weeks after classes begin.
Martin Peckerar ENEE303 haxxor 03/20/2008	Avoid this douchebag at all costs. His lectures are extremely boring and not approachable, he threatened to fail anyone who leaves early, he gives pop-quizzes just to force people to show up, and its hard to get an A. The other reviewer is right, you need to do "something extra" to earn an A, but you have to decide what the "extra" will be on your own, Peckerar doesnt make suggestions. Bottom line, do not take this class with Peckerar.
Robert Newcomb ENEE303 Expecting an A gtwy2theftr 10/29/2007	Prof. Newcomb is a very nice guy; however, he is not the best at teaching. He is rather boring and monotone. The key to this class is to do hw with other people. Do not do it by yourself...it will take much longer than needed. He gives a project (12 pages or so) that needs to be turned in at the end of the semester. He finishes teaching at halfway through the semester (which is kind of nice) because he goes extremely fast. Exams are extremely hard but there is a nice curve.