I am a student and lurking job postings to find ways to prep myself. I see maybe 2/10 jobs listing MATLAB as a requirement, but the profs say it is important. So professionals, do you use MATLAB at all or some kind of equivalent professional software? I'd to know before investing my time because it seems like a lot to learn.

I'm a Canadian engineer in my mid 30s with a total of 2.5 YOE since graduating. My last 4 months have been at a small consulting firm in the power systems industry working towards my P.Eng license, primarily doing substation design (P&C, physical, and some power systems studies work).

I make $70k per year as an EIT at my firm. I've been referred by an old coworker of mine to a material control position in a higher cost of living city that pays $120k per year at a multinational EPC firm, and I think there is a decent chance that I'll receive an offer. Costs to live will be higher, but each month I'll have around double the discretionary spending that I do now by my calculations.

The reason I'm unsure if I want to accept the role is that I haven't had much exposure to procurement or supply chain management, and I'm not sure what that career path is like (would it be step towards PM roles? How easy is it to find work if I had to move? How is the future demand for the industry looking with AI improving each day? etc).

On the other hand, I enjoy the technical work I do now and can see the big picture of career path I'm on now. I enjoy the flexibility of power and knowing that I will likely have a stable job in any city I live in. Obviously, being licensed also acts as an insulator against having your job automated away by AI.

I'd basically be trading a solid career for an unknown path with a large salary attached, which would boost my lagging retirement savings. Curious if there are people who have left the engineering side and gone to other roles like supply chain management, project management, etc. or know someone who has. Was worth it to switch, or do you/they wish you had stayed in EE?

I am only an Intern, and about 2-3 months into the job.

So far, I have designed my own custom PCB around the MSP430FR6043, and have confirmed working status!

However, another revision is required, which accounts for separate ground copper pours (analog/digital).

That first board however, made me want to get better at layouts, part selection, in-house manufacturability,

But also, designing independent systems (and not prebuilt/predetermined systems). I think my most original thought was to use a MC2200-E so that I could receive data over UART.

I want to start reading into textbooks, and more, because I am just eager to show my employer a willingness to learn, so they can trust me with more designing!

Something my boss told me after I learned more about common grounds : “The degree is just an excuse to get the experience”. It’s true! Undergrad is very much only basics, unless you take a 600 level course in your senior year (we get to design an analog IC).

So what are some of the most valuable things you have learned from books, coworkers, mistakes, failures, etc?

Sorry in advance for contributing yet another post about AI to this sub, but I had difficulty finding discussions about this specific question. For context, I'm currently an EE student that's 3 years from graduation, & I also have very strong ethical objections to the way genAI models are currently being developed, propagated, used, etc., & to the companies that develop these models. (Not what I want to get into here, just felt necessary to mention as an fyi.)

I hear & read from a LOT of people (or at least, I hope they are & not bots) with the sentiment that you absolutely NEED to integrate AI tools into your workflow otherwise companies won't hire you. For people in the industry: how true is that? And is it possible to develop a level of skill that makes you as productive as someone who does use AI tools? I get that for things like programming it can be a massive boost (for experienced engineers), but what about other tasks? Also, would it be fine to learn how to use these tools on the job?

I'm leaning towards PCB design as my field of choice, but I'd love to hear insights about other areas of EE too.

Disclaimer: I don't need any convincing about using or not using AI tools, nor do I want to discuss what these topics mean to me here--I would just like a solid basis for forming my own opinions & making my own decisions. TL;DR: I would only like technical insights into the above question.

Thanks!

hello, can anyone confirm if it's normal that LTspice takes 45 minutes to simulate 5 seconds of this rank 4 sound filter or if I'm missing anything ? Also I would appreciate if you have tips to speed up sim time. Thanks !

Hi, I'm entering my 4th year of EE in a Canadian university, in BC. I will be starting job hunting soon.

I think I have decent co-op experience relevant to the power industry and electrical utilities. A few shady recruiters have reached out to me but I know better than to fall for that.

What I am wondering is how to connect with some real power/electrical utility recruiters in Canada. I'd like to work in GTA/Metro Vancouver/Alberta in that order in power or oil and gas.

And if you are a recruiter, I have 16 months of experience in Distribution Planning at one of Canada's largest electrical utilities. Please feel free to reach out.

At Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant in Korea, equipment maintenance teams handle industrial robot teaching. I’m curious about how companies like Tesla, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, BMW, and General Motors handle this. Please let me know who performs this task at automotive companies in your country.

I am currently a senior EE student and I won’t graduate until next August. So when should I start applying?

When I measured the resistance of this resistor in this voltage divider circuit it measured less than the actual resistance even when there are no other parallel resistors that could lower the resistance? Any idea why?

CS grad, market really is not working out rn. I’m giving myself until December 31st to keep applying to jobs and by then maybe thinking about going back to school maybe for EE but very confused how to go about it. Any suggestions?

It's actulaly insane how fast AI is evolving. Everyone has probaly seen the new GPT Astra and its PCB design capabilities by now , and despite its current flaws, the progress is wild.

I remember just three years ago, during my freshman year, AI couldn't even solve basic circuit analisys or tell what was in series versus what was in pararel.
To be honest, I'm scared. AI is rapidly learning one of the hardest parts of Electrical Engineering: electronics design. It's handling high-level concepts like electromagnetism, heat dissipation, eletromagnetic waves, line impedance, heavy math, and circuit design.

Design has never been my strong suit anyway , I've always prefered hands-on learning, technical troubeshooting, and working directly with equipment over actual designing. Basicly,

I like the technical part more than designing. Because of that, once I finish my bachelor's degree, I plan to target roles like Comissioning Electrical Engineer or Field Service Engineer.

Given how fast AI is automating desk-based design work, sticking to physical, field-based engineering feels like one of the safest paths for this era. I AM SCARED...

Hi guys, I'm making many boards using ESP32 Wroom for controlling AC, and some of them are having a problem when powered up after a while.

The firmware does not run unless i press the reboot button on the board to restart it. I have tried both the main program and a blinky led to ensure that it's not caused by the firmware, and they all have the same behavior.

The led power on the board was dimmed when it's having the problem, and just brights normally after rebooting the board. This phenomenon appears on some, not all the produced boards so I'm not sure is it a hardware/firmware problem. Here are some images of the schematic, please have a look. Thanks all!

P/s: I've read somewhere that it's because of some capacitors are not charged enough to pull some pins on the ESP32 when it first powered up, and need a following reboot, can you verify it please?

Hello all, I am sure the question of EE and EET comes up across this thread and I understand a lot of the fundamental differences. For some context I am a US Navy veteran. I got out about 3 months ago and served as a Electronic Technician. I worked on and was in charge of all external communications and the majority of the surface search radars and navigational equipment, and test equipment. When I did my 2 years of schooling ATT was the mathematical and theory portion of it which covered a lot. Admittedly I struggled with it as it was very fast paced due to COVID delays but I still passed the course with like a 85%. I hated every second of it but I could do it. I am worried about doing all the extensive theory and math heavy side of EE. I am looking at going Penn State for EE or EET but I am now looking at EET more favorably. Where I actually live (I do not want to move) is very industrial with a lot of jobs centered on maintaining or improving industrial equipment and PLCs. For this reason and the less stressful math and theory courses I think I may go EET. I understand there is an inherent stigma some employers have in regards to an EET major vs a EE and that it is not impossible to become a licensed engineer and work as a EE with an EET degree, its just more difficult. I tend to enjoy working with my hands more and already have 6 years of experience as an Electronics Technician. That withstanding ik the EE degree although, way more difficult would be considered more valuable. I am just personally unsure if the math and theory will be worth the pain and struggle. Penn States EET course appears to be more focused on practical math and not as calculus heavy and is ABET accredited. No matter what I would have a bachelor's of science and I would be able to find good employment. I was wondering what your thoughts are and advice you may have. Thank you for reading through and if you respond, thank you.

I recently finished my 4-year bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and I am currently working full-time in the power systems field, primarily on substation design, grounding, transmission, physical package, and electrical drafting. I’m 3 month in the job and my work load is pretty manageable.
Long term, I’d like to become better at substation design and power engineering, so I’m considering getting a Master’s in Electrical Engineering with a focus on power systems. My employer offers about $5,250/year in tuition reimbursement, so I’m planning to take one class per semester and complete the degree over roughly 5 years.
I’m specifically looking for a fully online program so I can balance it with my full-time job. I’m fine with spending a bit out of pocket to cover whatever difference I’m missing.
For anyone who has done a similar program, what schools/programs would you recommend for power systems/substation engineering? I’d especially appreciate recommendations from people who have worked in the power industry and can speak to whether the degree was actually useful for their career.

Hey, I am trying to switch a submersible pump (40W) on and off with a relay (45s ON whenever water gets too high), and it seems like the relay can't be turned off once it is turned on.

It isn't welded, I checked continuity between NO and COM, and the relay is rated for 10A at 125VAC.

It turns on the relay, and switches it with a 3904 bjt on the GND side of the power to the relay, on a falling edge interrupt from a micro controller, the interrupt pin has a 10k pullup to Vcc when the float switch is open. This logic works perfectly without a load on the relay.

I can hear it try to click when my timer ends.

The relay is on a breakout board that promised me my controller is optoisolated from the relay.

I can switch a lamp on and off no problem.

From looking into this it seems my problem is an inductive load from the motor which means I need a RC snubber in parallel with my relay? What does this mean? Can I just get any RC snubber off amazon and it will fix my issue?

Any information is appreciated.

Guys, I’m a final-year electrical and electronic engineering student. I’m going to be writing my dissertation this year, but I just can’t make up my mind. What do you think will be the most in-demand niche in the market in 10 or 20 years’ time? Which niche do you think will be the most lucrative? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I'm a 28 year old mature student, I currently work full time in a non engineering job. Due to the way student finance works here, I don't have enough to do a full engineering degree in a traditional brick uni. I could probably do 3/4s of it but would have to pay for the last year out of pocket which is around 10k, depending on if I did MEng which seems to be more desirable or if I did a year in industry. I could probably do this with my savings but it would be very tight. 

I'm currently enrolled in the Open University and due to start my BEng in October, this course is fully accredited by the Engineering Council and IET as well as IMechE for the mechanical route. I've studied with them on a different course last year and thought the education was great, but as a distance learning course the practical element is obviously impacted. They send out home kits and they have virtual labs, and there is a group project in the third year, but I have looked at other brick uni EE courses and well, I just won't have the same access to high end equipment that they do nor have the networking and project opportunities and connections to companies and employers. I do have the ability to take a career break at work so would apply for internships and industry placement years like brick uni students do but I have no idea how competitive these are going to be. Once I've completed the first year or so I might also have some luck getting a technician job.

I really don't want to be out of work for 3/4 years, I would graduate at 32/33 and have absolutely nothing left and I have no support network to fall back on. But, if this would be more likely to get me into an engineering job once I graduate then the risk would be worth it. 

My general career goal is to work in renewable energy, but I also don't have any engineering work experience so who knows I might discover an interest in something else. I mostly just want to feel like the work I do is generally useful to the world, which my corporate job is absolutely not. 

My questions are: 

1. Would a distance learning degree significantly impact my ability to get into work? The Open University is well known as a distance learning provider so I don't think I would be able to hide it, a lot of employers seem to rate it quite highly but I'm not sure if the same would be true for engineering.
2. If I do stick with the OU, is there anything I should try to do to increase my skills and make myself more desirable as a candidate for internships and jobs? Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to join engineering clubs like I know others do, I've reached out to a couple people about voluntary electrical work but not sure if this will work out. 
3. If you were in this position, what would you choose?

Please, I am a second year engineering student offering Electrical/Electronic engineering, I am in search of a job in order to gain funds for tuition fees. I think I will be capable of any work as long as it's a long-distance job. I am very sure I can balance the studies with the job hours. Thank You.

Im writing this on my study break. No time. I have four- five past due worksheets for trigonometry because im focusing on a paper carrying 50 math questions for basics of electrical circuits after my lab (in which i had to redo because i put the wrong voltage in the circuit ._.). Im behind and im losing my mind. Its due in two days. I go to work at 4am. I dont understand trigonometry and i feel like i gotta put the same amount of work in both classes (about 6-7 hours a day). Chat, am i doing this right ? Is it supposed to feel like this ? Im working full time. Is it time to quit my job ? I cant sustain school without a job. Its just two damn classes, whats gonna happen when i hit 4-5 ? I admire each and every one of you that went through this. I wish i had more time to REALLY learn this topics. I dont.

Edit: its 9pm

What are your best guesses, based on your expertise, recent news, and developments in the field? What would electrical engineers and companies who hire them be like with global politics, AI, climate issues, geopolitics?

Hi everyone I'm 21 and I currently work for a telecommunications company working outdoors and running fiber to peoples houses and installing their services. I currently make $32 and top out at $52 in at most a year. My company however provides tuition if anyone seeks higher education, I've always been interested in EE but always been too scared to take the jump originally because of money and fear I wouldn't be good at it, but want to try it since my company would provide for it. I would most likely take night classes for it after work, and was just wondering if it was worth the effort to take the jump.

Hi, i just started college and I’m majoring in EE, something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but seeing tools like gpt 6 do these EE tasks when people said that ai wouldn’t be able to replace EE is kind of scaring me to be honest. I don’t wanna graduate in 4 years when these tools have gotten even better and suddenly be in a position struggling to find a job. Should i just study something else? The future seems grim for new grads, I’m honestly pretty unsure about studying EE now

So i wanna join the power electronics field and i want to practice building the converters, or any place where i could get some practical experience, i want to join the grid power electronics side, is there any place where i could get actual/practice problem statements??