The answer is..no. Well, actually, not yet. This is one thing I’ve learnt during my very first class at Ecole Centrale Paris:

- in 2000, the neural complexity of a CPU was close to the one of an insect;

- in 2010, the neural complexity of CPUs will most probably equal the brain power of mice;

- even more interesting, provided that Moore’s law remains valid and sustainable (as it has been for close to a century! – note that Moore’s statement is actually not a scientifically-proven law but an observation rather), one might be able to purchase a chip as powerful as a human brain no later than in 2030.

How do you feel about it: scared? enthusiast?

Nota Bene: for those not yet familiar with Gordon Moore’s law (by the name of the co-founder of Intel), here are a Wikipedia-extracted definition and chart:

“Moore’s Law is the empirical observation that the complexity of integrated circuits, with respect to minimum component cost, doubles every 24 months“. source: Wikipedia.org

source: Wikipedia.org

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Still no Internet in my on-campus room, but I found a way to keep posting.

This Monday, I’ve started classes at French top-tier engineering institution Ecole Centrale Paris, where I’ll be studying within the Master in Information Technology, with a minor in Project Management. Upon successful completion of the program, I should graduate from HEC Paris, my home university, with a Master in Management Science.

I’m very excited at the idea of at last getting a good grasp of computer science, telecommunications and information systems. This year will for sure be challenging, and I hope I can make of this blog a window on what I learn everyday.

So far, I’ve enjoyed a lot interacting with both the faculty and the students. The intake is pretty small (25 people), which allows for many interactions and encourages students to basically shape the program so that it fits their needs and aspirations best.

The class is quite an interesting melting-pot.

Alongside the “regular” French would-be Centrale Paris engineers you may find a telco engineer from Lebanon, an American software development bachelor having worked for a couple years at Intel, 3 Chinese State-owned railroad executives, a Spanish student in robotics engineering, 3 engineering students from Senegal, a Moroccan engineering student, another one from Tunisia, etc.

Here’s a chart, on the right-hand of this column, summarizing the courses I’ll be taking this year (excluding the Project Management minor, which hasn’t started yet).

PS: though it was extremely brief, I was glad to get to meet with blogger Olivier Ezratty, who will also teach us about innovation strategies and supervise a bunch of hands-on projects. Olivier Ezratty, who has been a student in this same Master about 20 years ago, in an preliminary speech, made a point in reminding all students that IT is not a limited field of engineering and that this year should be the starting point of a life-long learning process. Let’s just hope I’ll have the energy to keep “Tech IT Easy” alive for such a long time

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