Professor
Asad Abidi
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - I am writing this review only because I think this page does injustice to Prof. Abidi's EE 10 section. Most people seem to agree that he is a fantastic lecturer, but they bury this under reels of complaint about how terrible his tests are. Fact is, they just aren't that bad. Maybe his upper-div tests are draconian (I don't know), but for 10 they are absolutely fair. You should definitely take him for 10 if you can. In fact, unless it puts you back by too much, I'd recommend waiting to take 10 with him.
Fall 2019 - I am writing this review only because I think this page does injustice to Prof. Abidi's EE 10 section. Most people seem to agree that he is a fantastic lecturer, but they bury this under reels of complaint about how terrible his tests are. Fact is, they just aren't that bad. Maybe his upper-div tests are draconian (I don't know), but for 10 they are absolutely fair. You should definitely take him for 10 if you can. In fact, unless it puts you back by too much, I'd recommend waiting to take 10 with him.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - Very engaging lectures. Prof. Abidi explains the material with tons of passion and got me excited about circuits. He emphasizes approaching the problem and thinking about circuits correctly. His midterm had a very high average, but the test definitely makes you think and teaches you. Since some of his work is in coupled inductors, he emphasizes ideal/nonideal transformers, which I don't think you will get in any other class. Though he can seem a bit intimidating, he bears a wealth of knowledge that he is willing to share. His 11L lab section lectures are also amazing. The final is pretty difficult, since he probes deeper to see what you know. He grades everything by himself, and grades based upon what your thinking is.
Fall 2019 - Very engaging lectures. Prof. Abidi explains the material with tons of passion and got me excited about circuits. He emphasizes approaching the problem and thinking about circuits correctly. His midterm had a very high average, but the test definitely makes you think and teaches you. Since some of his work is in coupled inductors, he emphasizes ideal/nonideal transformers, which I don't think you will get in any other class. Though he can seem a bit intimidating, he bears a wealth of knowledge that he is willing to share. His 11L lab section lectures are also amazing. The final is pretty difficult, since he probes deeper to see what you know. He grades everything by himself, and grades based upon what your thinking is.
Most Helpful Review
I think I've figured this guy out. I started with three options. A. He's a sadistic sociopath who knows he's a master in his field and thus see's no reason to exercise anything more than a baseline level of civility to those he deems as insignificant. B. He's a sadistic sociopath who wishes to greatly reduce the potential for new ideas and advancement of technology by discouraging would be engineers by imposing impossible standards that only 0.01% of his students can meet. C. He's actually not a bad guy and has just realized the concept of grades has become greatly distorted and once reputable institutions of higher education have become profit driven diploma mills, and he has decided to tackle this by making it so impossible to get a good grade that grades become irrelevant and students actually stop worrying about grades and take the time to truly invest in understanding the material. I've decided it is option C. However this forced me to assume certain conditions. Primarily that this man, who admittedly is a brilliant, gifted lecturer, has intellectual weaknesses, in that though he might very well have good intentions, the manner in which he chooses to implement them is sacrificial and effectively results in the scenario of option B with respect to the students. Students who lost funding due to the grades he bestowed upon them, students who lost a chance at graduate school, students who lost jobs or internships they received on a conditional basis, and most importantly, students who, while they may have met his standards for a good grade, were by and far better than the majority of students who received better grades in the same course taught by another professor. And also sacrificial with respect to contributions to technology and humankind. I do not think he could have discouraged any of his EE115B students from being engineers but what of his EE10 students? How many will switch majors and will the world have lost a potential giant because of it? The world almost did not receive the wonderful gifts bestowed upon it by Albert Einstein because he could not write eloquently. He was imperfect. He had an abnormal brain and could not meet the standards of academia. He pleaded for acceptance and someone saw past his weaknesses to his strengths. So I have chosen option C. Like Albert Einstein, Professor Abidi has weaknesses, and like Albert Einstein, he has some phenomenal strengths. But he also must realize the same of his students. They have weaknesses, and they have strengths, and what a tragedy if he should inhibit them from making potentially monumental contributions to society. Professor Abidi, you are an intelligent, influential man. I fail to believe you can't find a way to further your cause in a constructive rather than destructive manner.
I think I've figured this guy out. I started with three options. A. He's a sadistic sociopath who knows he's a master in his field and thus see's no reason to exercise anything more than a baseline level of civility to those he deems as insignificant. B. He's a sadistic sociopath who wishes to greatly reduce the potential for new ideas and advancement of technology by discouraging would be engineers by imposing impossible standards that only 0.01% of his students can meet. C. He's actually not a bad guy and has just realized the concept of grades has become greatly distorted and once reputable institutions of higher education have become profit driven diploma mills, and he has decided to tackle this by making it so impossible to get a good grade that grades become irrelevant and students actually stop worrying about grades and take the time to truly invest in understanding the material. I've decided it is option C. However this forced me to assume certain conditions. Primarily that this man, who admittedly is a brilliant, gifted lecturer, has intellectual weaknesses, in that though he might very well have good intentions, the manner in which he chooses to implement them is sacrificial and effectively results in the scenario of option B with respect to the students. Students who lost funding due to the grades he bestowed upon them, students who lost a chance at graduate school, students who lost jobs or internships they received on a conditional basis, and most importantly, students who, while they may have met his standards for a good grade, were by and far better than the majority of students who received better grades in the same course taught by another professor. And also sacrificial with respect to contributions to technology and humankind. I do not think he could have discouraged any of his EE115B students from being engineers but what of his EE10 students? How many will switch majors and will the world have lost a potential giant because of it? The world almost did not receive the wonderful gifts bestowed upon it by Albert Einstein because he could not write eloquently. He was imperfect. He had an abnormal brain and could not meet the standards of academia. He pleaded for acceptance and someone saw past his weaknesses to his strengths. So I have chosen option C. Like Albert Einstein, Professor Abidi has weaknesses, and like Albert Einstein, he has some phenomenal strengths. But he also must realize the same of his students. They have weaknesses, and they have strengths, and what a tragedy if he should inhibit them from making potentially monumental contributions to society. Professor Abidi, you are an intelligent, influential man. I fail to believe you can't find a way to further your cause in a constructive rather than destructive manner.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - Professor Abidi gives great intuition about circuit analysis. He follows a very rigorous proof based approach to develop the theory and gives very clever intuition which made the class very interesting and fun. He was taking his job very seriously which made me take the class seriously and give my best effort. Homeworks were okay with 1 or 2 hard questions on each homework. His midterm and final were relatively hard but you can get a 100% on both if you thoroughly review your lecture notes and make sure you understand the homeworks. A lot of people told me not to take 110H with him because he is insanely hard and condescending. This was not the case for 110H. If anything he welcomed people to ask questions during his office hours and explained the intuition behind concepts I was confused about. His exams and homeworks were fair. Would recommend this class if you really want to develop a rigorous and intuitive understanding about circuits which you wouldn't otherwise.
Winter 2023 - Professor Abidi gives great intuition about circuit analysis. He follows a very rigorous proof based approach to develop the theory and gives very clever intuition which made the class very interesting and fun. He was taking his job very seriously which made me take the class seriously and give my best effort. Homeworks were okay with 1 or 2 hard questions on each homework. His midterm and final were relatively hard but you can get a 100% on both if you thoroughly review your lecture notes and make sure you understand the homeworks. A lot of people told me not to take 110H with him because he is insanely hard and condescending. This was not the case for 110H. If anything he welcomed people to ask questions during his office hours and explained the intuition behind concepts I was confused about. His exams and homeworks were fair. Would recommend this class if you really want to develop a rigorous and intuitive understanding about circuits which you wouldn't otherwise.
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