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damastas posted:Anyone have experience breaking into the Hardware Design / Embedded Design field? I did ~8 years in the USAF between a signals intel job and an aircrew job before going back to school for Computer Engineering. Before I even started my CpE degree I was doing silly custom boards for myself (mainly for quadcopter stuff), and to date the most complex board I've done is a 4 layer board with on board ethernet/stepper motor controllers. No formal training in schematic capture and layout, just what I've learned doing various projects over the last few years. I've also taught myself to be fairly competent using most of the peripherals on the STM32 line of micros. Honeywell does a lot of ASIC/FPGA design and board work in Phoenix, mostly commercial stuff but lately more of the Space and Defense as well. Just apply for the 0-3 year positions AND the 3-5's and go on interviews. If you can show them schematics you've done and talk about stepper motors intelligently and aren't a prat they'll make an offer. When they make the offer just say that you think your experience level should allow you to come in as an ENG-II instead of a I. If the people who interviewed you agree then there you go. HR will probably offer you the exact same starting salary anyway but you won't know that and you will feel good because you came in at ENG-II. e: To be clear, I served in the military, got out and got a degree in Computer Engineering, and got hired by Honeywell to do ASIC/FPGA design after working in software through college.
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Jun 22, 2017 13:13
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I started my career as a mechanical engineer and really enjoyed doing mechanical design with SolidWorks. I've since transitioned to doing software engineering and have a contact that expires in 3 months. In my free time I've done a lot with PCB design, Arduino, etc. I'm looking for my next step and I'm wondering what kind of positions out there combine all of these together in some way. During my previous job search I stumbled upon a few random positions for building physical prototypes. I also imagine robotics firms would desire these skills. Are there any specific job titles or keywords that would be worth searching for?
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Jun 28, 2017 14:44
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huhu posted:I started my career as a mechanical engineer and really enjoyed doing mechanical design with SolidWorks. I've since transitioned to doing software engineering and have a contact that expires in 3 months. In my free time I've done a lot with PCB design, Arduino, etc. I'm looking for my next step and I'm wondering what kind of positions out there combine all of these together in some way. I don't think Systems Engineering's description of cyber physical systems has caught on enough in industry to find it in job terms, and that you'll find that that description could be called an R&D ______ Engineer (electrical, mechanical), or just electrical and mechanical at a small company. Electro Mechanical may also have it. Software-centric company might call it a hardware engineer. You'll probably want to cast a wide net.
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Jun 28, 2017 15:02
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huhu posted:I started my career as a mechanical engineer and really enjoyed doing mechanical design with SolidWorks. I've since transitioned to doing software engineering and have a contact that expires in 3 months. In my free time I've done a lot with PCB design, Arduino, etc. I'm looking for my next step and I'm wondering what kind of positions out there combine all of these together in some way.
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Jun 28, 2017 21:29
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huhu posted:I started my career as a mechanical engineer and really enjoyed doing mechanical design with SolidWorks. I've since transitioned to doing software engineering and have a contact that expires in 3 months. In my free time I've done a lot with PCB design, Arduino, etc. I'm looking for my next step and I'm wondering what kind of positions out there combine all of these together in some way. Can I suggest working on positive train control systems being rolled out across the country? Siemens is big on this poo poo and it marries all the poo poo you're talking about.
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Jun 29, 2017 03:44
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Star War Sex Parrot posted:Got any friends/contacts/interest in doing biomedical engineering? Medical devices as an industry are only going to grow, and there are lots of neat problems to solve in that space using other engineering disciplines. I'm currently at Zimmer Biomet as a contractor. Unfortunately, it's as part of a remediation team made to fix poo poo after an FDA audit and our subsection is slated to work 54 hours/week because we're behind on flipping documents 
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Jun 30, 2017 12:16
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For those of you who have done the P.E., did you get the references from several locations over the years or at one company? I am debating about finding a new job, but I am a bit worried how difficult it will be to get ahold of people I need to, when I leave. I guess I could get the FE/EIT done in a few months and then just get the references I need churned out from the people I know. Then take the PE in the spring.... Your thoughts?
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Jul 10, 2017 03:29
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I wouldn't worry about references if you leave that company. I still get PE reference requests from Eits that worked under me from a few companies ago which I'm happy to give. The PE is a right of passage most engineers want to help you on. Unless you shat the bed, I'm betting you'll have no problems getting letters.
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Jul 11, 2017 15:27
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Senor P. posted:For those of you who have done the P.E., did you get the references from several locations over the years or at one company? Many states allow you to submit your experience for evaluation well before the requisite years of experience, so your application is incremental.
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Jul 16, 2017 16:58
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I've been out of the engineering sphere for 2 years (ugh, layoffs/mental health/etc  ) and I was thinking of going to take some cont ed courses or something so that I'll be able to build a portfolio/network/etc in a new city and I'm not totally sure what direction I want to go in. I got an EE degree in 2013 and I focused on more circuit-y things but my first jobs were kind of lovely and I don't want to go in that direction anymore (O&G EPC, then cable manufacturer compliance work). But I'm not sure if its because I didn't like the atmosphere, or what. I really did not like working solo, where I would go for almost two weeks without any guidance or teamwork. I was thinking of the kind of test engineering where you actually do write the automated tests and develop compliance procedures, but do those sort of jobs exist? Should I take a couple courses on Python/etc, LabVIEW, and a refresher on analog circuits?? Or is electronic manufacturing (inside Canada) a dying industry? I really have no idea how to network now that I'm not in school anymore, either. Do those ~*~informational interviews~*~ really work? I've been watching a few societies and their meetups, but I live pretty far away from most of the locations they choose.
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Jul 20, 2017 02:33
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Jyrraeth posted:1 - I was thinking of the kind of test engineering where you actually do write the automated tests and develop compliance procedures, but do those sort of jobs exist? 1- Yes, look for jobs titles: Systems Engineer, Systems Test Engineer, Avionics or electronics Engineer / Qualification Engineer / etc. 2- Find some job descriptions that sound good to you and study to be an expert on the keywords. For example if you find a Test Engineer description that says "Must know UNIX, MATLAB, and understand FAR compliance" you should know how to use Linux, MATLAB and study whatever FAR part they list in the description. 3- Get over to the resume/interviewing and Linkedin threads. I love Linkedin, it got me my first job out of college.
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Jul 20, 2017 03:44
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What do people feel like the future prospects are for a BS/MS in Computer Engineering with a focus in machine learning? Is there a specific industry this is sought after?
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Jul 20, 2017 15:03
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Robotics and vision/sensing would fit. Self driving car or UAV type stuff. Advanced manufacturing. Probably military stuff. Really, machine learning is hot now, I'm sure you can come up with something in most industries a computer engineering would be found in.
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Jul 20, 2017 16:08
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I'm scheduled to take the PE in Power this October. Anyone have experience with a study schedule/useful references to acquaint myself with? My company is paying for a School of PE course, but I'm concerned that it may not be enough. I've only just started studying, but I passed the FE last fall and finished my MS in power systems this Spring, so I'm not too concerned about being rusty. My boss gave me a bunch of reference material, but it's all 20+ years old, and the format of the exam has changed since then.
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Jul 20, 2017 21:18
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PRADA SLUT posted:What do people feel like the future prospects are for a BS/MS in Computer Engineering with a focus in machine learning? Is there a specific industry this is sought after? Machine learning will always be useful, but I'd be skeptical that it will still be the hot new tech in four years and that a BS will give you the depth of knowledge to matter that much. You should take classes during your BS to find what you enjoy and if that's ML then focus on that. CS in general is so well paid across the board that choosing a specific focus based on desirability isn't necessary I wouldn't get a MS in CS at all. It's generally less valued then time spent working and you give up 2 years of earning potential on top of that. I'd only get it if you love school, it's free, and you're ok with that the missed earning. Phds are potentially valued, but it's going to be very dependent on what area your research is in and how much the company values that.
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Jul 21, 2017 00:44
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PRADA SLUT posted:What do people feel like the future prospects are for a BS/MS in Computer Engineering with a focus in machine learning? Is there a specific industry this is sought after?
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Jul 21, 2017 00:49
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Not a Children posted:I'm scheduled to take the PE in Power this October. Anyone have experience with a study schedule/useful references to acquaint myself with? My company is paying for a School of PE course, but I'm concerned that it may not be enough. I took the Power exam 5 years ago, I don't know how much has changed since then. Based on a coworker's recommendation, I used the John Camara power manual, problems, and exam as well as the NCEES power practice exam. I was happy enough with them. I went through the manual and focused on chapters that I was on stuff I hadn't used in a while. Did the practice problems and one exam open book (working on a problem and then looking at the solution). The second exam I treated like a "real" exam. I closed myself in a room and did the morning session with a calculator and the reference material, and then did the afternoon session. When I finally graded the whole thing, I could focus on any problem areas. That approach worked well for me. My biggest issue was learning NEC motor protection, because my experience was in HV substation design. At the actual PE exam I had a few problems that were straight out of the NCEES practice exam, just different numbers.
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Jul 21, 2017 01:18
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Jumping on the October PE bandwagon! Taking mine (finally) for CSE even though NC doesn't have disciplines and my FE was ChemE. I guess a question for the thread, but are there any automation integrators that aren't comically bad and/or just a money press for magamement? All the RE Mason, Maverick (now AB I guess?), Feed Forward, et al all seem to have the same problem. DCS and especially PLC work doesn't seem to have the profitability to trickle down below management level. I say this, but then again my group that started at around 5 and now is about 15 people made >$2 million in profits (peanuts compared to real companies I know), corporate kept 70% and well the rest didn't make past the seive of management  I LOVE what I get to do on any given day...but I can't justify 35% travel and 300 hrs unpaid OT this year (so far...drat exempt status) compared to say riding a desk at a plant, making the same and not doing any actual work.
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Jul 23, 2017 17:45
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e: oops, wrong thread
OctaviusBeaver fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Jul 23, 2017 |
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Jul 23, 2017 19:12
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Wrong thread?
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Jul 23, 2017 20:03
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CarForumPoster posted:1- Yes, look for jobs titles: Systems Engineer, Systems Test Engineer, Avionics or electronics Engineer / Qualification Engineer / etc. 1. Thanks for the job titles, they'll be handy 3. I've been lurking those threads for a while, I've never really liked using LinkedIn and found it needlessly complicated. I guess I'll ask there if there's any new tips/tricks to using it.
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Jul 24, 2017 22:53
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Hey industrial Controls/Automation engineers: Should I still be in this industry? I still haven't figured out if this industry is considered to be closer to the awesome end of the computer/electrical spectrum, or closer to the rear end end of wondering where my career went wrong. If so, what part of it should I be in? I'm in the OEM side with a machine builder right now doing pretty cool and unique custom stuff, no copy/paste junk like previous jobs. I've been on that side since I started nearly 10 years ago. What about the plant/factory side? Are those decent gigs, or should I avoid them? Should I look in to manufacturer/distributor side (i.e. Rockwell or an automation/electrical distributor)? Or are those basically technical sales and/or high travel jobs? Are there any unicorn jobs I should be keeping an eye out for? A 40 hour/week job with 0% travel, decent pay and opportunity for advancement? There are a lot of Pharma plants in my area, but the things I hear about those jobs is that they're mountains of paperwork and very little engineering/problem solving. To be sure, I love the sort of work I do, I just don't like what's associated with it. I like designing equipment and programs that control real-world things that accomplish a task. But I don't like the hard hours at the end of projects, and the travel associated with commissioning/maintaining/fixing stuff. Not to mention the stress involved when the equipment goes down and the customer is screaming at you because it's costing them $5,000/minute. Really, what are my alternatives? I know computer/electrical engineering is in high demand right now in general. But I feel like if I jumped in to a different industry I'd have to start at the bottom again and learn/re-learn a different set of skills.
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Jul 26, 2017 16:20
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DaveSauce posted:Hey industrial Controls/Automation engineers: I also work as a controls engineer. If you like the work, I'd say keep with it. I currently work at a OEM that does more or less standardized machines with occasional changes/upgrades and have been pretty bored, but we have field service that takes care of the installation/fixing things. The trade off with more custom stuff is that while it's more interesting, you're the only one who really knows the machine so you end up being the one to install/fix it. I work 40 hour weeks with no travel, but am so bored at work. Maybe try to find a different company to work for? I previously worked for a small contract controls company, they didn't actually build machines, either did controls upgrades or worked with a company who would build machines occasionally, but didn't have a need for a full time controls engineer. They had pretty realistic deadlines most of the time and travel was in mostly within the local area. That was ideal, but I ended up getting laid off when business slowed down. I've been thinking about starting to look for a new job, controls engineers are very in demand in my area at least so it's not hard to find something. I just really hate the whole job search/interview process.
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Jul 26, 2017 17:11
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DaveSauce posted:Hey industrial Controls/Automation engineers: I'm in a similar boat but I can offer some perspective from both sides of the fence. From my perspective plant automation jobs are boring as sin. Rarely does any site maintain large automation groups from what I've seen. It either goes to contractors or to a capital project group with corporate. Usually you get stuck with minor scale upgrades or very small new equipment. The bulk of the time was just getting outdated documentation updated or hoping money landed on a project to actually DO something. Being a part of a capital project group for a company would be good but then you're stuck with travel and huge hours during startups. Absolutely avoid validated environments if you can....dear god....the paperwork and the refusal to make intelligent improvements because that would require revalidation. Unless you only care about ungodly pay, then I hear pharma is where its at. I'm with an independent systems integrator (DeltaV, PCS7, AB, Honeywell) so we get to see a lot of interesting work but installs always are hell. Maybe you can get lucky enough to find a group with enough depth that they have personnel and managers that cover installs that are a separate pool than the tenchical programmers. If you do please tell us where! Really though the work is great fun, and the industry pay is great. Work life balance not so much. If I could go back and do it all over I'd probably be a true programmer or embedded developer.
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Jul 26, 2017 17:32
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I work in an automation dept for a medical device mfg and I do machine design for 40hr/week. Pay and advancement are lower and slower than I'd like but the people and work are great. I had time for my masters and now teach some evenings. Our job openings are called automation engineer for machine design or automation controls engineer for schematics/programmers. I thought we had too much paperwork when I started but I came from a proof of concept prototype shop that didn't capture anything. Now my brother works in pharma and has 5-10x the paperwork I have. My dept is pretty insulated from the regulatory stuff that our process engineers face so we can focus on designing, building and debugging machines. I've seen project budgets up to $3mil and we use ROI to help get a green light from mgmt. Our programmers have more paperwork than I do to fully document their custom software. Another area to look for are application engineer positions for robots/vision vendors. May be more travel than you want though.
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Jul 26, 2017 20:52
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I just had an in person interview for one of those multidisciplinary positions I was talking about before. I'm completely lost if it should come to salary negotiations. The list of skills I have that they're looking for include SolidWorks, 3D printing, Arduino, PCB design, programming, web design, web dev both front end and back end, project management, and photography. I have about 6 years of experience between all the skills and I'd be working in a major US city. How could I even ballpark this?
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Jul 27, 2017 19:14
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huhu posted:I just had an in person interview for one of those multidisciplinary positions I was talking about before. I'm completely lost if it should come to salary negotiations. The list of skills I have that they're looking for include SolidWorks, 3D printing, Arduino, PCB design, programming, web design, web dev both front end and back end, project management, and photography. I have about 6 years of experience between all the skills and I'd be working in a major US city. How could I even ballpark this? I've got no advice on salary but wtf kind of job is this? If I saw a job description with that range I'd run screaming.
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Aug 17, 2017 03:15
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TacoHavoc posted:I've got no advice on salary but wtf kind of job is this? If I saw a job description with that range I'd run screaming.
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Aug 17, 2017 15:06
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huhu posted:I just had an in person interview for one of those multidisciplinary positions I was talking about before. I'm completely lost if it should come to salary negotiations. The list of skills I have that they're looking for include SolidWorks, 3D printing, Arduino, PCB design, programming, web design, web dev both front end and back end, project management, and photography. I have about 6 years of experience between all the skills and I'd be working in a major US city. How could I even ballpark this? https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/computer-hardware-engineers.htm is how I classify myself and the people I work with. We do board design, HDL, embedded programming, simulation and modeling, system level analysis, requirements definition and traceability, documentation, assist the ME with the chassis and connector design, thermal considerations, parts analysis and etc... From BLS you can probably use a cost of living calculator to adjust for your specific locale if they don't cover it directly. Murgos fucked around with this message at 15:40 on Aug 17, 2017 |
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Aug 17, 2017 15:26
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huhu posted:I love learning new skills and have gained a decent proficiency in all of them so it's more or less my dream job. I ended up learning in the negotiation process 1099 vs w2 contact, undersold myself because I thought I was negotiating w2 and decided to drop out of negotiations because they didn't want to bring me on as w2. Oh well. Waiting right now on a call for a final offer from another job. For 6 years experience I'd probably have set a range of 100k - 140k depending on location, workload expectations, and benefits, but that's just winging it. It seems like you're "more wide than deep" cause it seems hard to have solid experience beyond the fundamentals in that many disparate fields. I can't comprehend how a job would want that many completely unrelated skills from one employee, since you can't possibly work that many types of projects at once. Really weird. Good luck with the new job offer!
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Aug 17, 2017 17:57
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Pander posted:For 6 years experience I'd probably have set a range of 100k - 140k depending on location, workload expectations, and benefits, but that's just winging it. It seems like you're "more wide than deep" cause it seems hard to have solid experience beyond the fundamentals in that many disparate fields. I can't comprehend how a job would want that many completely unrelated skills from one employee, since you can't possibly work that many types of projects at once. Really weird. It's definitely a small set of people. They're pretty common in the maker community though.
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Aug 17, 2017 18:12
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huhu posted:I started my career as a mechanical engineer and really enjoyed doing mechanical design with SolidWorks. I've since transitioned to doing software engineering and have a contact that expires in 3 months. In my free time I've done a lot with PCB design, Arduino, etc. I'm looking for my next step and I'm wondering what kind of positions out there combine all of these together in some way.
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Aug 23, 2017 14:57
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I have a Job Knowledge Inventory test coming up in two weeks for a position as a Engineering Tech Journeyman/Apprentice. I don't really know what to expect / study for to prepare myself for this position that I really want. Is there anyone who could provide guidance or advice? It's a position with a Electrical Utility company. I studied electrical engineering but never finished my bachelor's degree. Please, help.
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Sep 2, 2017 02:33
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Taking my PE exam next month at the Raleigh area exam location. If anyone happens to be doing the same I'll buy a round after the damage is done!
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Sep 13, 2017 22:49
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Has anyone gone into engineering after getting a previous degree? I graduated in May with a BS in Psychology but the kinds of jobs that allows me to have aren't super appealing to me, nor or the options I have for grad school. The community college near me has an Associate's engineering program. Should I try to learn some of the math beforehand to see if I can handle it? Is an associates and then trying to transfer a good idea compared to a four-year program?
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Sep 25, 2017 22:43
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If you want to go from community college first, make sure you figure out where you would finish the degree and which classes they will accept from CC. Sometimes they work out deals with nearby schools and can tell you exactly what to take and what will transfer. If you're worried about the quality of education, I found that taking lower level math courses at CC were higher quality than my university courses, which were taught by grad students.
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Sep 25, 2017 22:57
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Grey Face posted:Has anyone gone into engineering after getting a previous degree? I graduated in May with a BS in Psychology but the kinds of jobs that allows me to have aren't super appealing to me, nor or the options I have for grad school. The community college near me has an Associate's engineering program. Should I try to learn some of the math beforehand to see if I can handle it? Is an associates and then trying to transfer a good idea compared to a four-year program? Kind of? I started off as a freshman in nuclear engineering when I was 18. Within about a year and a half I decided I didn't like the whole studying and math thing, so I transferred to history after finishing up some of the engineering gen eds (Physics, some math up through DiffEQ, intro to EE, intro to Mech Eng, fluid flow, heat transfer, etc) and got my degree in history about 3 years later (9 semesters total). Flash forward about 6 years or so and I'm wanting to go back and finish that nuclear engineering degree. I retook some of the math courses at the local community college, again up through diffEQ, as well as some of the stuff I skipped the first time through like statics and dynamics. Then I restarted in the 4 year university (same one I got the history degree from), transferring in the credits from the community college and still retaining credit for my past work at the university (all those gen-eds). From that point it was about 5 semesters to get my engineering bachelors in nuke eng. This was a weird path due to several conflicting poor life choices. I'd probably recommend against doing exactly what I did. I don't know if I'd get a full Associates degree, but I would see about learning math from them. If you can hack a couple semesters of calc I/II (limits, not-too-hard proofs, and derivation/integration up to diffEQ) you can probably handle the university. I'd just recommend the community college (if it's a decent one) for all the gen eds you haven't already gotten via your BS in Psych (dunno if you had to take physics, chemistry, statics, dynamics). Those are usually taught poorly at 4 year universities at a huge markup compared to the community college. Just, uh, make sure wherever you go has a good transfer agreement in place with the 4-year uni. Also reach out to admissions folks in engineering at the 4 year uni to try to get an easy-in back in. I got to take a pseudo-back-door because of my alumnus background. It helped a lot.
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Sep 25, 2017 22:58
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Sokani posted:If you want to go from community college first, make sure you figure out where you would finish the degree and which classes they will accept from CC. Sometimes they work out deals with nearby schools and can tell you exactly what to take and what will transfer. If you're worried about the quality of education, I found that taking lower level math courses at CC were higher quality than my university courses, which were taught by grad students. And your CC classes will be much smaller than the university equivalents, as well as less expensive. Take absolutely everything you can that will transfer to your university of choice while at community college.
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Sep 25, 2017 23:12
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Hello Sailor posted:And your CC classes will be much smaller than the university equivalents, as well as less expensive. Take absolutely everything you can that will transfer to your university of choice while at community college. ^--- this They're generally taught by people who aren't burnt-out overworked TAs or professors with tenure who think of it as a distraction from their projects/research. The books assigned by CC instructors are usually easy to find second-hand compared to some professors I've had who either demand the latest version of some $150+ tome or $40 for (and I'm not kidding here) printout copies of powerpoints they've made. Go as far as you can with transferable credits.
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Sep 25, 2017 23:48
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Community college courses are taught, not by bored researchers or terrified grad students, but by (get this) education majors. As in, people whose entire career has been learning how to teach good. I weep when I think of even my least favorite CC profs, compared to the sardine can dumpster fire that is any course at my university.
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Sep 26, 2017 00:16
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