Advice to BSEE juniors and seniors...
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From: Jim Thompson on 19 Apr 2010 15:57 On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:21:36 -0700, "Joel Koltner" <zapwireDASHgroups(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >"Jim Thompson" <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon(a)On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote in >message news:hr8ps5t1uog0l4gpnj7gc83cl302jgv47j(a)4ax.com... >> In the past I've had companies assign a junior engineer to look over >> my shoulder and "learn" from me. >> >> Utterly clueless, "Why'd ja do dat?", etc... never EVER done any >> creative thought on their own, no useful math background... :-( > >I would think a better approach would be... hand the junior engineer some >completed and documented design, have him study it, and then ask him if >there's anything he didn't understand? > They didn't pay me to teach, just answer questions as met a two-week deadline :-) ...Jim Thompson -- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy
From: RST Engineering on 20 Apr 2010 15:16 >be valuable. Create the parts in the library, capture the schematic, >layout the board, generate the gerbers and send them thru freedfm.com I would venture to say knowing the difference between a board layout and how to lay out a board would be important. The point being, technical knowledge is a good thing. Coupling technical competence with an ability to communicate that knowledge with grammar and style is a combination that is rare and valuable. Jim
From: Joerg on 19 Apr 2010 16:29 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. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joerg on 19 Apr 2010 16:31 miso(a)sushi.com wrote: > On Apr 19, 9:10 am, Joerg <inva...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >> Joel Koltner wrote: >>> Good stuff, Chris, although I'll make a few comments... >>> "chris w" <ch...(a)smartjack.com> wrote in message >>> news:a841c586-06cc-4829-be64-3db1227ae18f(a)11g2000yqr.googlegroups.com... >>>> I >>>> think you're much more likely to use something like Altium than Spice >>>> or Matlab (which are also good to know). >>> This depends largely on just what kind of engineer you think you want to >>> be. For many digital guys, yeah, SPICE and Matlab don't get much use... >>> but for analog guys, SPICE is obviously quite common. Matlab is more >>> for, e.g., DSP guys, although I think the analog guys can also save time >>> at least using, e.g., MathCAD. >> It always amazes me how many companies run huge simulations on <gasp> >> Excel. And it works. Many have built up such a large arsenal of models >> and routines that they will most likely never switch to anything more fancy. >> [...] > The optimizer in Excel is quite clever. You can set up the target to > be dynamic, i.e. a function of the last optimized solution. I used > this once to create an arithmetically symmetric bandpass filter. I > would force one half of the bandpass to match the other half, i.e. > make the target for one side be the result for the other side. > Obviously this was a multi-stage design since a 2nd order bandpass has > to be geometrically symmetric. > > Note the optimizer isn't part of the standard Excel installation. It > is the only thing I miss in open office. It has another shortcoming and that one is way more serious: No VBA. That means a lot of files from other simply won't work in OpenOffice. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joel Koltner on 19 Apr 2010 16:38
"Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:833su1Fk0eU2(a)mid.individual.net... > It has another shortcoming and that one is way more serious: No VBA. http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/58348 ??? |