Bruce Raymond wrote:
Jason,

Congratulations on your choice of career direction. I wish you well.
I'm not sure whether or not homebrewing makes you a good
engineer, or if being a good engineer triggers something that makes
you homebrew. Bob Pease (I think) once said something to the
effect that the really good engineers he'd hired were the ones who
continued to do engineering things even when they weren't at work.
(My apologies to Bob if I've misstated his intent.) The idea is that
doing technical things is a passion for some of us. We'd do these
things even if we don't get paid. Homebrewing is a passion.

A general observation - many young engineers (and far too many
older engineers) have little or no hands-on experience. They can
model something and run great simulations, but are stopped cold
when it comes to actually troubleshooting hardware. Knowing
how real hardware works will give you an edge. Homebrewing
is a great education.

My father, one of the great mechanical design engineers, used to
tell the know-it-all recent graduates that an engineer was just
a technician with no practical experience. It holds true in most
fields. He was very strong on getting his EITs and co-op students
into the machine shop to make things and to work with the people
who had to use them.

He turned out some awfully good engineers by using those methods.

--
"I think when people get on the Internet their common sense may be
weakened if not suspended."
- Charles Harwood, regional director of the Federal
Trade Commission's Seattle office.

Hello, Jason!

Having had electronics as a hobby / passion since I was given a Knight Kit
21-in-1 electronics 'lab' while 10 years old, I ended up choosing a
college (IIT), major (EE), and career accordingly. While some career
fields can lead to burnout, the terrific diversity of electrical
engineering has always left me learning and enjoying more. Modern field
programmable logic, high performance CPUs, signal conversion, and more
open avenues that were undreamed of just recently. And homebrewing lets
you get your learning and experience with portions of the field that you
may not be using at work but can pay great dividends in future projects.

Most jobs that have hired me - and the resulting seniority there - have
been due to my range of proven capabilities (analog, RF, digital, FPGAs,
embedded processors; software and hardware; telecom, test and measurement
systems, semiconductor production, motion control; etc.). Amateur radio
has helped a lot (since building my own transmitter when 16) as has
involvement with the Experimental Aircraft Association and other active
groups which give you a chance to jump into projects and learn.

Back in school I was amazed at some engineering students who wouldn't know
which end of a soldering iron to grab. Homebrew projects can make a world
of difference in practical knowledge.

Best to you and your career - the world always needs more engineers with
passion, skill, and knowledge!

Jim Horn, WB9SYN/6 (Love what I do - and get paid, too!)

Hello, Jason!

Having had electronics as a hobby / passion since I was given a Knight Kit
21-in-1 electronics 'lab' while 10 years old, I ended up choosing a
college (IIT), major (EE), and career accordingly. While some career
fields can lead to burnout, the terrific diversity of electrical
engineering has always left me learning and enjoying more. Modern field
programmable logic, high performance CPUs, signal conversion, and more
open avenues that were undreamed of just recently. And homebrewing lets
you get your learning and experience with portions of the field that you
may not be using at work but can pay great dividends in future projects.

Most jobs that have hired me - and the resulting seniority there - have
been due to my range of proven capabilities (analog, RF, digital, FPGAs,
embedded processors; software and hardware; telecom, test and measurement
systems, semiconductor production, motion control; etc.). Amateur radio
has helped a lot (since building my own transmitter when 16) as has
involvement with the Experimental Aircraft Association and other active
groups which give you a chance to jump into projects and learn.

Back in school I was amazed at some engineering students who wouldn't know
which end of a soldering iron to grab. Homebrew projects can make a world
of difference in practical knowledge.

Best to you and your career - the world always needs more engineers with
passion, skill, and knowledge!

Jim Horn, WB9SYN/6 (Love what I do - and get paid, too!)

"Jack Bennett" wrote in message ...

Take my advise, graduate first then look for a job!

Try telling that to the people who graduate with 5 or more job offers.
Do you really think these individuals waited until graduation day
before seriously conducting their job search? Of course, if you know
of a silver bullet for figuring out which specific companies are
actually hiring at any given moment, let me know. (Such silver
bullets from everyone else on this newsgroup are welcome.)

You could finish up with a job going belly up and have no MSEE.
Play it safe, get the ticket first. I see this happen all the time.

It sounds like you think the credentials are the most important thing.
The problem with this thinking is that many with this attitude end up
becoming the engineer who looks good on paper but can't engineer
his/her way out of a paper bag. What I learn and accomplish are the
most important things. You could argue that the BSEE is essential,
but I already have that.

The irony of my graduate school experience is that I feel like I have
accomplished more in one year than I did in 4 years as an
undergraduate despite the fact that UIUC (my undergraduate school) is
vastly superior to GMU (my graduate school) at hardware and controls.

If I felt that my MSEE and GPA were the #1 thing, I would not have
been able to take control systems or signal processing classes. I had
NO control systems background as an undergrad, and my signal
processing background was nothing more than earning a C in the
3-credit-hour introductory signal processing class. GMU, like all but
a handful of schools, is weak in control systems, and my graduation
date may be delayed by insufficient control systems course offerings.
Then there's the most important thing: If I defined myself by
credentials, then I would NOT have been able to do last semester's
independent study project, as it was very time-consuming and
difficult. If you think that one can become competent in an
engineering topic simply by plowing through the class, then I have
some Enron stock to sell you.

Bottom line: Because my MSEE is not that critical, I can afford to
take some calculated risks. Isn't that something every engineer needs
to be able to do?

Jason Hsu, AG4DG

"Jack Bennett" wrote in message ...

Take my advise, graduate first then look for a job!

Try telling that to the people who graduate with 5 or more job offers.
Do you really think these individuals waited until graduation day
before seriously conducting their job search? Of course, if you know
of a silver bullet for figuring out which specific companies are
actually hiring at any given moment, let me know. (Such silver
bullets from everyone else on this newsgroup are welcome.)

You could finish up with a job going belly up and have no MSEE.
Play it safe, get the ticket first. I see this happen all the time.

It sounds like you think the credentials are the most important thing.
The problem with this thinking is that many with this attitude end up
becoming the engineer who looks good on paper but can't engineer
his/her way out of a paper bag. What I learn and accomplish are the
most important things. You could argue that the BSEE is essential,
but I already have that.

The irony of my graduate school experience is that I feel like I have
accomplished more in one year than I did in 4 years as an
undergraduate despite the fact that UIUC (my undergraduate school) is
vastly superior to GMU (my graduate school) at hardware and controls.

If I felt that my MSEE and GPA were the #1 thing, I would not have
been able to take control systems or signal processing classes. I had
NO control systems background as an undergrad, and my signal
processing background was nothing more than earning a C in the
3-credit-hour introductory signal processing class. GMU, like all but
a handful of schools, is weak in control systems, and my graduation
date may be delayed by insufficient control systems course offerings.
Then there's the most important thing: If I defined myself by
credentials, then I would NOT have been able to do last semester's
independent study project, as it was very time-consuming and
difficult. If you think that one can become competent in an
engineering topic simply by plowing through the class, then I have
some Enron stock to sell you.

Bottom line: Because my MSEE is not that critical, I can afford to
take some calculated risks. Isn't that something every engineer needs
to be able to do?

Jason Hsu, AG4DG

Troglodite wrote:

Back in school I was amazed at some engineering students who wouldn't know
which end of a soldering iron to grab.

One mistake will permanently imbed this information.

I used to have a bad habit of sniffing the end of the iron to see if it
was heated yet. The obvious happened eventually ... I don't recommend a
blistered nose to anyone.

Rob

Troglodite wrote:

Back in school I was amazed at some engineering students who wouldn't know
which end of a soldering iron to grab.

One mistake will permanently imbed this information.

I used to have a bad habit of sniffing the end of the iron to see if it
was heated yet. The obvious happened eventually ... I don't recommend a
blistered nose to anyone.

Rob