RF/Microwave circuits. Transistor, transmission-line, and passive element characteristics. Transmission-line theory and impedance matching. Amplifier design for maximum available gain. Amplifier stability. Gain compression and power limits. Introduction to noise figure, and to intermodulation distortion.
5
UnitsLetter
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeUndergraduate students only
Level LimitEngineering
CollegeCourse content is great. Nice introduction to high speed circuits. Exams resemble homeworks. On the personal level, I can easily say most stressful, intimidating person I have ever seen, with many trash talking and gossips.
flying over the course material in class. Homeworks are good to understand the topics. Though, he is tough, intimidating and hard to communicate with.
Rodwell is quite an eccentric man, nevertheless quite an engaging lecturer. Just like his courses he moves at high speeds and talks at high frequencies, so expect to pour in a lot of hours to fully understand transistor topologies. Understanding 137-level electronics is a must for all EE's, and 145a does good work introducing RF design.
he's so passionate it's infectious. fun lectures, he'll jump up on tables and dance around to explain differential vs common mode. he goes fast and seems intimidating in OH, but he's really sweet and truly cares about his students. idk why other reviews are bad, i think he's misinterpreted. labs are lots of work but v fun if you truly like circuits
Rodwell is the worst professor I have had in my entire life. HWs do not reflect on class material. Notes are full of useless information and do not reflect on the exam stuff. I can't stress enough how awful lectures are. He covers stuff fast, illegible handwriting with no references to look up. Absolute worst. He is impossible to talk to.
I would say Rodwell is definitely an acquired taste- you either enjoy his teaching style, or not at all. Although his homeworks, tests, and projects are extremely time consuming and difficult, he definitely cares about his students, atleast from my experience. I'm glad I'm done taking the 137 series but it was a worthwhile class nonetheless.