Funny guy and great at what he does. One of the best in ECE

genuinely such a kind and funny professor. if you have the opportunity to take hoffman in any class do it, you will not regret hearing his dry and witty comments that actually make topics fun to learn. put in the effort and he will reciprocate your energy by giving you his time to answer all of your questions. cannot recommend him enough :)

He is super nice and caring.

Best Professor I have seen at UW-Madison ever.

Taking 551 this semester was one of the best decisions I've made. This might be Prof. Hoffman's last time teaching it, and it was an incredible experience. His phenomenal knowledge and clear explanations made the class amazing. He was always approachable and extremely supportive, even during the busy final project week- Workin' on our night moves.

he is great

YAHOO!! test passed!

Hoffman is a gem. He brings his experience from the field into the classroom, and all the work you do for the course feels meaningful as it leads up to the final project. If you stay on top of things and thoroughly test your code, you will do great. Effort = Results and he will help you if you are stuck. Funny, caring, and a brutally honest Prof.

Hoffman is a great professor, and these reviews are super accurate. He's funny, cares about the students, and just wants everybody to enter the industry with a good amount of knowledge. During project time he works a ton and stays late, and its clear he wants you to succeed.

551 is a lot of work, but Eric is a great guy! If you put in the work, your grade will reflect it, even if you struggle a bit with the content.

One of if not the best professors I had at UW Madison. Eric cares a lot about the students, he knew my name almost immediately and regularly stayed late (especially at the end of the group project) to help and answer questions. Clearly very knowledgable, and also funny!

This guy is a phenomenal and very entertaining professor! I had a ton of fun in this class and it is well structured and paced to prepare you for the final design project. My only complaints would be that the weekly lecture videos are very long and you don't get the correct answers for their associated quizzes, making it hard to learn from them.

One of my favorite professors I've ever had at Madison after 4 years. He took care to refer to everyone by name. The pacing of the class was excellent and it was very clear that he wanted to make sure we all understood the content of the class. Grading was fair as well and exams were reasonable as well. Some lectures are old towards the end though.

Awesome professor! Knows his stuff, and actually has industry experience unlike most professors. One of the best in ECE at Madison.

Many students regard Hoffman as one of the best in ECE. Taking 352 with him was challenging, but fair. Hoffman is always available to answer any questions you have. Labs were annoying, but that's handled more by TA's. He did send a controversial email for our final, but I assure you he is a good prof and wants the best for the students.

Final went online because people wanted to be home for Christmas: "If you do not like the new terms of this final take it up with the whiny crybabies in your class who probably should have chosen ASU instead of UW. If you want to rip me a new one you can do that on AEIFIS...I am well beyond giving a rat's ass what students think of me. -Eric"

Explains everything really well in optional lectures and is funny whilst doing so. During class while working on activities he is more than willing to answer questions and make sure you understand why the answer is correct. Labs for this class are a bit bogus, but he replies to emails speedily regarding of what you're stuck on.

Awesome professor who gives an insight into how things get done in the industry - follows best practices, has a ton of knowledge and genuinely loves what he does. Super helpful during office hours, gives credit where it is due, highly recommend extracting as much as possible from him!

Eric and ECE551 are legit awesome. He's been doing this work and teaching this class so long, he's an expert and can break things down super clearly. No more fumbling through ECE352 AHWs. Eric teaches Verilog as it was meant to be and is a gem of a human while doing it. Lecture videos are actually helpful (and funny). One of the best profs in ECE.

Humorous and really helpful during office hours and even over email. Has a really good background knowledge of the material (and industry experience). While the class is flipped classroom, where you have to watch prerecorded lecture videos ahead of time, take advantage of instructor support during in-class exercises. Professor is very helpful!

Professor Hoffman is very helpful and very humorous

One of the best Professors in all of the ECE Department. Incredibly knowledgable and helpful. 551 is a class with a fairly large workload, but Hoffman is willing to help you whenever you're stuck. He also has a great sense of humor and is really easy to talk to. 10/10 recommended

He is often degrading to students or mocks you for wanting to review the exam questions. Beware of the exams, as they only have 45 minutes for 38 questions. Some of the exams have programming questions too. He is not helpful in class, either.

I took ECE 352 with Prof. Hoffman this past semester, the semester of COVID. So there were a lot of difficulties suddenly pivoting this course online for the first time. Prof. Hoffman handled it well and made sure we had plenty of resources to succeed. Of course there were small hiccups (like our final had tech problems) but it was handled well.

Great instructor. He is very caring and wants to help students understand the material and succeed. Go to his office hours if you need help!! 551 has a fair workload - don't skip class though. Also, the final project is a big one, and relies on many pieces created earlier in the course (so don't slack in the beginning).

Eric is great. I had him for both 353 and 551. He's a really good professor. I learned a lot about how everything taught applied to industry. Eric seems tough, but he's a really great guy -- willing to take the time to help you if you get stuck (our 551 project needed some help the day of and he was more than willing to help us).

He really goes out of his way to help you understand the concepts and materials covered in this class. He is one of the best professors in the ECE department. He puts a lot of effort into teaching and tests and grades very fairly. I would highly recommend taking him for this class!

Easily one of the best at UW. My only knock is that his videos are old and slow, but he knows that and compensates. He does his best to help and answer questions (even if they're stupid). You get extra credit on the project if your design area is smaller than his, but don't put it off or you'll spend 12+ hours in B555 the day before like I had to.

The project really gets you, I'll tell ya. The class is well-designed, though, with each piece leading up to the final project.

Great professor: Excellent teacher, offers practical knowledge from the industry, and is very willing to help students learn. Word to the wise: Don't put off that final project till the last minute unless you take sick pleasure in seeing the sunrise from college library and chugging gallons of caffine. You have been warned.

Really knows the material, and uses his real-world experience to tie it together. In class exercises and homeworks work towards a fun end of the year project. Lots of work, and exams aren't always straightforward, but is overall a great instructor.

Eric is a great instructor. He is very experienced in digital design and are willing to answer questions. You can learn a lot from his instruction.

Eric knows the content from the most practical point of view - experience in working with Intel and other companies. His lectures may not be very clearcut as some people would want, but go to his lectures and listen to what he has to say. Project depends largely on your team, and other design courses, so save some time. Tests were usual - bit long.

Great teacher. 552 isn't his normal course and it was taught as a flipped class this semester so you had to do a little bit more work outside of class (reading the text and watching video lectures). If you did the readings and watched the lectures this class was very manageable. Knows what he is talking about and is very helpful if you talk to him.

Have almost learnt nothing from him, just a self-taught course

The course design is not well organized, it's expected to be a self-taught class but for most time, due to the lack of instructions people have no clue about what to do. He is very nice anyway

Eric is a great person, he'd love to help you in the office hour. Though the material is tough, you will learn a lot after the semester.

Good prof. You will learn a lot from him. He brings his experience from industry to the clasroom. If you ever have any questions, do not hesistate to ask him. He will take the time to sit down with you and exlain things thoroughly.

Mr. Hoffman comes from many years doing digital design in industry, and brings his experience to class. This means you get to learn a lot in this very skills- and project-heavy class from somebody who does it in the same kinds of settings you will when you graduate. He knows his stuff, is fun, and very helpful. Highly recommended!