[marccenter]

I use Matlab/Simulink to help program the next generation of Hybrid Powertrain Controllers in my day job for General Motors. Other automotive
companies have announced that they are doing the same.
I have used Excel for spreadsheet operations and consider it to be
a "killer application", a software program that makes you buy a computer
just because of what it does by itself.
Comparing Matlab and Excel in my opinion is like comparing two kinds
of apples.
If you limit Matlab to just Matlab you are only operating "on the tip
the iceberg" as to it's true power. Simulink is a Matlab based program that
allows the user to program embedded controllers using another Matlab
based program, the Real-Time-Workshop. In high school and undergraduate college, most of your mathematics do not involve matrix math. In graduate school, Matrix Math is used to describe control systems and Matlab is the
tool of choice to help solve those problems.

In 2004, FIRST upgraded the controllers from P-basic to C-based
controllers. At GM, we began using higher-level programming languages
like C in 1996, almost 10 years ago. My predicition is that in about
2010, FIRST will introduce Matlab/Simulink/RTW toolset to allow FIRST
teams to program the next generation of robots.
If you go on to engineering school, you will most likely be exposed
to Excel and Matlab/Simulink.