Advice to BSEE juniors and seniors...
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From: Charlie E. on 21 Apr 2010 17:15 On Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:40:30 -0400, ehsjr <ehsjr(a)nospamverizon.net> wrote: >Joel Koltner wrote: > ><snip> > >> >> P.S. -- There's some well-heeled amateur radio club where, when a kid >> passes his novice license exam, they'll buy him or her whichever >> handheld radio they'd like. Whaddaya think -- too much reward for the >> amount of effort required? Or no? > >Terrible. FAR better would be a soldering iron. >And even that would be too much reward, but at least there's >the hope it would help the kid learn. > >Ed Or, a soldering iron and a kit to build the radio he chose... ;-) Charlie
From: Michael A. Terrell on 21 Apr 2010 20:50 "Charlie E." wrote: > > On Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:20:33 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell" > <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > >Joel Koltner wrote: > >> > >> "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell(a)earthlink.net> wrote in message > >> news:4BCE4E3B.D388FBBA(a)earthlink.net... > >> > Actually, it was 38911 bytes, without using slivers of unused memory. > >> > >> Good point... "64K of RAM in the machine, of which you can use... mmm... a > >> skosh more than half before things become challenging..." > >> > >> > Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to > >> > have a DD214, and a honorable discharge. > >> > >> Going for a Heinlein "Starship Troopers"-style policy there? :-) (And I mean > >> the book version, not the movie version where they largely ripped out any of > >> the social/political commentary Heinlein was exploring in favor of making an > >> "action" movie.) > > > > > > Think about it. How many lawyers would be willing to go through > >basic training, and active duty for a chance to run for office? > > Michael, > Shouldn't really be a requirement, although it should help. I know I > don't have one. I was in ROTC in '75, but needed to change schools. > New school advertised ROTC in its catalog. When I arrived, found that > they had dropped out of the program that year! Nearest program was > about 70 miles away, and I didn't have a car, so they 'discharged' me. > They didn't mind. With Vietnam ending, they had more than enough > butter bars coming out... My point is, most politicans don't serve their country. They never have, and never will. They have no idea what it takes to do what's right, and they don't care as long as they can be elected over and over. -- Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.
From: JosephKK on 24 Apr 2010 05:17 On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:29:24 -0700, Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >miso(a)sushi.com wrote: >> On Apr 19, 12:40 pm, Joerg <inva...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >>> Nico Coesel wrote: >>>> Joerg <inva...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >>>>> Nico Coesel wrote: >>>>>> chris w <ch...(a)smartjack.com> wrote: >>>>>>> I've been interviewing a few new BSEE graduates for a junior engineer >>>>>>> position, and based strictly on what we're looking for, here is some >>>>>>> random advice to juniors/seniors: >>>>>>> Get some experience with current microcontrollers. I have a >>>>>>> preference for Microchip, but Atmel or an ARM variant would also be >>>>>>> good. I know teaching the 68HC11 still has value, but knowing parts >>>>>> Most of the basics are still the same. >>>>>>> Networking is important. Lots of new products these day have some >>>>>>> connection to the Internet. Understand TCP/IP and ethernet. MAC >>>>>>> addresses, netmasks, ARP, default routes, NAT... Even getting into >>>>>>> the upper layers might be good, especially HTTP. >>>>>>> Linux would be nice to know. Embedded Linux continues to grow. >>>>>>> Knowing how to compile a linux kernel, build a file system, or >>>>>>> whatever would be a useful skill. >>>>>> Engineers who know about analog design, programming, digital circuitry >>>>>> (programmabe logic / FPGA perhaps), Linux and networking are very very >>>>>> scarse. Usually an engineer masters a few areas. The biggest challenge >>>>>> is to put a good team together. >>>>> I never had a problem putting teams together. BUT, the average age of >>>>> such teams was usually well over 40. Companies that think that everyone >>>>> over 35 is past prime are going to face one project failure after another. >>>> I agree altough its nice to have some youngsters around. We have some >>>> interns working at my employer at the moment. They usually come up >>>> with interesting ideas and new methods. One of them brought quite a >>>> handy logic analyzer: >>>> http://www.zeroplus.com.tw/logic-analyzer_en/products.php?pdn=1&produ.... >>> Oh yeah, young people have fresh ideas and we also have an obligation to >>> groom the next generation. It makes no sense if we design cool stuff, >>> some day end up in a nursing home and then ... poof ... it's all gone. >>> >>> What frustrates me at times is how quickly young folks give up when they >>> don't immediately understand a circuit. Once I had an intern sit in on >>> one of my design reviews. From the facial expressions it became clear >>> that the other guys (none of them being from the analog world) >>> understood the stuff but the intern absolutely didn't. So afterwards I >>> offered to explain in detail, and that I wouldn't bill the client for >>> the time that would take. The answer was "no thanks, this stuff is way >>> over my head" :-( >>> >>> -- >>> Regards, Joerg >>> >>> http://www.analogconsultants.com/ >>> >>> "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. >>> Use another domain or send PM. >> >> Now that is sad, but you have to realize they don't teach much analog >> these days. Even classic control theory is glossed over for digital >> control. The problem is some systems (amplifiers for instance) need a >> knowledge of classical control theory. >> > >This was a switcher. A bit unorthodox but not complicated, in essence >regular PWM stuff. > >I know universities are letting people down these days when it comes to >analog know-how. However, back when I was a kid at around 15, a TV >technician in our ham radio club offered to teach a crash course on how >a color TV works. About two dozen signed up, half of them under 20. We >sat there with wide open eyes, gobbling up all the info, asking >questions, and so on. He was an excellent teacher, I understood the >stuff, and from then on felt comfortable repairing color TV sets. > >What I find sad is not the lack of knowledge since that can be fixed. >What is sad is the lack of interest to invest the effort, in getting to >know complicated stuff. Spot on. That is exactly what made me itch about recent graduates.
From: JosephKK on 24 Apr 2010 05:33 On Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:50:13 -0700, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgroups(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >"Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message >news:834fliFo3bU1(a)mid.individual.net... >> Much more dangerous: Entitlements and pampering to the hilt. When I needed >> anything fancy in electronics I had to work my butt off to be able to buy >> it. Meat factory and similar pleasant jobs. Today's kids get cell phones, >> TVs, gadgets, even whole cars with doing anything. So often they just don't >> do anything. > >You certainly have a point there (and I agree with and like Phil's quote), but >to an extent as technology progresses everyone is going to have more just >"handed" to them. Didn't your bicycle come from your parents rather than your >having to walk everywhere? Didn't you have more time to experiment with >electronics because you weren't chopping wood for a fireplaces for an hour >every night after school? Didn't you have electric lights rather than >candles? Hence, while I wouldn't go around just buying a kid today a fancy >ham radio or a car, I think you're doing a kid more harm than good if you >don't at least hand them an old computer to play with (and I mean one running >Windows, not a Commodore 64! :-) -- Although that'd be cool to hand them that >too: "See what you could do in 64K? Today 'Hello world!' takes over a >megabyte!") > >Heck, I doubt Jim Thompson would be any better of a designer today if his dad >*didn't* have the TV repair shop and hence he had easy access to all the >discrete components. Indeed, maybe he would have ended up an archtect after >all if that were the case... :-) > >> In hindsight I am thankful to my dad that he did not simply plunk down $400 >> so I could buy a used ham radio transceiver. > >My first big purchase like that was a Taiwanese 35MHz oscilloscope, $500 from >JDR Microdevices... earned working at McDonalds for $3.35/hour. > >---Joel > >P.S. -- There's some well-heeled amateur radio club where, when a kid passes >his novice license exam, they'll buy him or her whichever handheld radio >they'd like. Whaddaya think -- too much reward for the amount of effort >required? Or no? A bit too much. Should have given him someone's hand me down.
From: DaveC on 27 Apr 2010 14:07
> PS: READ THIS! > http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Class-Soulcraft-Inquiry- Value/dp/0143117467/ref=sr_ > 1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271665771&sr=8-1 I enjoyed this author's article in the New York Times last year: < http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?_r=3&ref=magazine> Dave |