Well the real question is, is there a demand for people with those skills?
I honestly don't know, you guys are the ones working in the electronics industry.<p> Any advice will be greatly appreciated,
James
career in electronics
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unknown_entity
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career in electronics
Hi I am 18yrs old, a senior in highschool, and i am considering going to college for electronics. I already checked out the community college and they have a pretty good program going on. The one i am interested in is a 2yr associates degree in applied electronics. But it seems to me that electronics really isn't that big of a thing anymore. Because the electronics program at my highschool and the vocational school both were shut down. And if i get that degree what type of jobs can i get, working in a TV repair shop is the only one i can think of?
Well the real question is, is there a demand for people with those skills?
I honestly don't know, you guys are the ones working in the electronics industry.<p> Any advice will be greatly appreciated,
James
Well the real question is, is there a demand for people with those skills?
I honestly don't know, you guys are the ones working in the electronics industry.<p> Any advice will be greatly appreciated,
James
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Chris Smith
- Posts: 4325
- Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2001 1:01 am
- Location: Bieber Ca.
Re: career in electronics
I would aim a little higher. Opto Electronics and communication will always be around, and there is a shortage in this field. Not Just communications but optics, lasers, and opto electronics. The next generation of computer processors will be light driven, not electrons. Everything will eventually get rid of the electron for the photon. Its a bigger coarse, but in the long run dont be a technician, be a engineer.
Re: career in electronics
James, you're asking most of the right questions.<p>In my opinion, a 2-year associates degree in electronics is a good path, for a few different reasons: (1) You really get into electronics quickly; a good program will have you immersed in
circuits soon, and you will design and build and debug real stuff. So, you'll find out soon if you REALLY like this stuff. (2) You get to decide pretty soon if this is your field, without 2 years of undergrad courses, and finally some EE before you realize you really want to be an outdoor person. (3) A real good place to start a serious get-a-lot-out-of-it EE degree is 2 to 4 years of serious study AND work in real electronics, including something serious in the optoelectronics area, medical instrumentation, and RF communications. <p>I am enraged (do I mean that? Yes!) at the stupid dumb clueless bureaucrats and education researchers who took all the TOOLS out of our high schools, and all the electricity/electronics too! Their STUPID IDEA? Smart kids should concentrate on their studies and graduate from high school and go to Engineering school for 4 to 6 years, and THEN they can design stuff for OTHER people to build, while being professional and clueless about how to Solder, what's a 6-32 or 4-40 screw, what hardware holds good electronics together mechanically, what's the difference between aluminum, brass and Maple, and how do you cut and join and finish those materials, anyway? Grrr..!<p>I have been an Engineer at IBM, and taught Electronics in a 2-year Electronics Technology program in New York. Now I'm mostly trying to teach 4th to 8th grade kids about electronics and robotics and photography and materials, all in the usual school where all the tools were disposed of 5 to 8 years ago. These kids will go on to the high school of their choice, with the Vermont ones being tool-less unless they happen to go to one with a "Tech Center". And then , if they're smart and get good grades, they will be forcefully discouraged from taking any shop courses Over There with those dummies. If they're lucky they'll get into Hanover High School, next to Dartmouth college, like my stepson, where they actually still have machine tools and courses in Design where kids build machines and vehicles and actually cut stuff with things that are sharp. <p>James, do some real electronics. Build some stuff. Find out what companies in your area use electronics or design with them, including industries with process controls, machine shops with CAD/CAM systems, hospital electronics labs, wind energy companies. Everything of any complexity today has microcomputers and software, and electronics/interfacing stuff in it.<p>My 4 kids all have good jobs designing stuff, from instruments, to custom microprocessors, to financial data systems, to antibiotic precursor molecules. The jobs are out there. The fact that your high school guidance counsellors don't know about them is good, because you'll learn more looking around yourself. <p>Go for it. Do it. And if you find you really don't like it, if you decide that you can't take a non-working electronics circuit as an interesting challenge instead of a frustration that pisses you off, then I hope you get a good job as a Forest Ranger and are happy.
circuits soon, and you will design and build and debug real stuff. So, you'll find out soon if you REALLY like this stuff. (2) You get to decide pretty soon if this is your field, without 2 years of undergrad courses, and finally some EE before you realize you really want to be an outdoor person. (3) A real good place to start a serious get-a-lot-out-of-it EE degree is 2 to 4 years of serious study AND work in real electronics, including something serious in the optoelectronics area, medical instrumentation, and RF communications. <p>I am enraged (do I mean that? Yes!) at the stupid dumb clueless bureaucrats and education researchers who took all the TOOLS out of our high schools, and all the electricity/electronics too! Their STUPID IDEA? Smart kids should concentrate on their studies and graduate from high school and go to Engineering school for 4 to 6 years, and THEN they can design stuff for OTHER people to build, while being professional and clueless about how to Solder, what's a 6-32 or 4-40 screw, what hardware holds good electronics together mechanically, what's the difference between aluminum, brass and Maple, and how do you cut and join and finish those materials, anyway? Grrr..!<p>I have been an Engineer at IBM, and taught Electronics in a 2-year Electronics Technology program in New York. Now I'm mostly trying to teach 4th to 8th grade kids about electronics and robotics and photography and materials, all in the usual school where all the tools were disposed of 5 to 8 years ago. These kids will go on to the high school of their choice, with the Vermont ones being tool-less unless they happen to go to one with a "Tech Center". And then , if they're smart and get good grades, they will be forcefully discouraged from taking any shop courses Over There with those dummies. If they're lucky they'll get into Hanover High School, next to Dartmouth college, like my stepson, where they actually still have machine tools and courses in Design where kids build machines and vehicles and actually cut stuff with things that are sharp. <p>James, do some real electronics. Build some stuff. Find out what companies in your area use electronics or design with them, including industries with process controls, machine shops with CAD/CAM systems, hospital electronics labs, wind energy companies. Everything of any complexity today has microcomputers and software, and electronics/interfacing stuff in it.<p>My 4 kids all have good jobs designing stuff, from instruments, to custom microprocessors, to financial data systems, to antibiotic precursor molecules. The jobs are out there. The fact that your high school guidance counsellors don't know about them is good, because you'll learn more looking around yourself. <p>Go for it. Do it. And if you find you really don't like it, if you decide that you can't take a non-working electronics circuit as an interesting challenge instead of a frustration that pisses you off, then I hope you get a good job as a Forest Ranger and are happy.
Re: career in electronics
James, you're asking most of the right questions.<p>In my opinion, a 2-year associates degree in electronics is a good path, for a few different reasons: (1) You really get into electronics quickly; a good program will have you immersed in
circuits soon, and you will design and build and debug real stuff. So, you'll find out soon if you REALLY like this stuff. (2) You get to decide pretty soon if this is your field, without 2 years of undergrad courses, and finally some EE before you realize you really want to be an outdoor person. (3) A real good place to start a serious get-a-lot-out-of-it EE degree is 2 to 4 years of serious study AND work in real electronics, including something serious in the optoelectronics area, medical instrumentation, and RF communications. <p>I am enraged (do I mean that? Yes!) at the stupid dumb clueless bureaucrats and education researchers who took all the TOOLS out of our high schools, and all the electricity/electronics too! Their STUPID IDEA? Smart kids should concentrate on their studies and graduate from high school and go to Engineering school for 4 to 6 years, and THEN they can design stuff for OTHER people to build, while being professional and clueless about how to Solder, what's a 6-32 or 4-40 screw, what hardware holds good electronics together mechanically, what's the difference between aluminum, brass and Maple, and how do you cut and join and finish those materials, anyway? Grrr..!<p>I have been an Engineer at IBM, and taught Electronics in a 2-year Electronics Technology program in New York. Now I'm mostly trying to teach 4th to 8th grade kids about electronics and robotics and photography and materials, all in the usual school where all the tools were disposed of 5 to 8 years ago. These kids will go on to the high school of their choice, with the Vermont ones being tool-less unless they happen to go to one with a "Tech Center". And then , if they're smart and get good grades, they will be forcefully discouraged from taking any shop courses Over There with those dummies. If they're lucky they'll get into Hanover High School, next to Dartmouth college, like my stepson, where they actually still have machine tools and courses in Design where kids build machines and vehicles and actually cut stuff with things that are sharp. <p>James, do some real electronics. Build some stuff. Find out what companies in your area use electronics or design with them, including industries with process controls, machine shops with CAD/CAM systems, hospital electronics labs, wind energy companies. Everything of any complexity today has microcomputers and software, and electronics/interfacing stuff in it.<p>My 4 kids all have good jobs designing stuff, from instruments, to custom microprocessors, to financial data systems, to antibiotic precursor molecules. The jobs are out there. The fact that your high school guidance counsellors don't know about them is good, because you'll learn more looking around yourself. <p>Go for it. Do it. And if you find you really don't like it, if you decide that you can't take a non-working electronics circuit as an interesting challenge instead of a frustration that pisses you off, then I hope you get a good job as a Forest Ranger and are happy.
circuits soon, and you will design and build and debug real stuff. So, you'll find out soon if you REALLY like this stuff. (2) You get to decide pretty soon if this is your field, without 2 years of undergrad courses, and finally some EE before you realize you really want to be an outdoor person. (3) A real good place to start a serious get-a-lot-out-of-it EE degree is 2 to 4 years of serious study AND work in real electronics, including something serious in the optoelectronics area, medical instrumentation, and RF communications. <p>I am enraged (do I mean that? Yes!) at the stupid dumb clueless bureaucrats and education researchers who took all the TOOLS out of our high schools, and all the electricity/electronics too! Their STUPID IDEA? Smart kids should concentrate on their studies and graduate from high school and go to Engineering school for 4 to 6 years, and THEN they can design stuff for OTHER people to build, while being professional and clueless about how to Solder, what's a 6-32 or 4-40 screw, what hardware holds good electronics together mechanically, what's the difference between aluminum, brass and Maple, and how do you cut and join and finish those materials, anyway? Grrr..!<p>I have been an Engineer at IBM, and taught Electronics in a 2-year Electronics Technology program in New York. Now I'm mostly trying to teach 4th to 8th grade kids about electronics and robotics and photography and materials, all in the usual school where all the tools were disposed of 5 to 8 years ago. These kids will go on to the high school of their choice, with the Vermont ones being tool-less unless they happen to go to one with a "Tech Center". And then , if they're smart and get good grades, they will be forcefully discouraged from taking any shop courses Over There with those dummies. If they're lucky they'll get into Hanover High School, next to Dartmouth college, like my stepson, where they actually still have machine tools and courses in Design where kids build machines and vehicles and actually cut stuff with things that are sharp. <p>James, do some real electronics. Build some stuff. Find out what companies in your area use electronics or design with them, including industries with process controls, machine shops with CAD/CAM systems, hospital electronics labs, wind energy companies. Everything of any complexity today has microcomputers and software, and electronics/interfacing stuff in it.<p>My 4 kids all have good jobs designing stuff, from instruments, to custom microprocessors, to financial data systems, to antibiotic precursor molecules. The jobs are out there. The fact that your high school guidance counsellors don't know about them is good, because you'll learn more looking around yourself. <p>Go for it. Do it. And if you find you really don't like it, if you decide that you can't take a non-working electronics circuit as an interesting challenge instead of a frustration that pisses you off, then I hope you get a good job as a Forest Ranger and are happy.
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Chris Smith
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Re: career in electronics
How true Terry, we used to call them Apprentiships, way back when. Full rounded education including the machine shop. And you dont have to stay in that field after its over because they taught you so many other skills as well.
To Entity: I have several periodicals that have companies that you can write to and ask the presidents and ceo's what they need in a entry level candidate also, and perhaps there is a company or two in your area? I agree, do your own foot work and you will leap over some of the Bureaucracy and BS. A lot of the companies I mentioned want entry students that have done the basics and are still doing the EE or higher when they take you in, that way they get to groom you for their needs.
To Entity: I have several periodicals that have companies that you can write to and ask the presidents and ceo's what they need in a entry level candidate also, and perhaps there is a company or two in your area? I agree, do your own foot work and you will leap over some of the Bureaucracy and BS. A lot of the companies I mentioned want entry students that have done the basics and are still doing the EE or higher when they take you in, that way they get to groom you for their needs.
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unknown_entity
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Re: career in electronics
Well about the electronics stuff it's pretty much like a hobby for me right now. Not anything too complicated like microcontrollers, just some simple stuff using 555's, op-amps and a little bit of high voltage stuff.
As for the vocational school the only thing that i dont like is that the electronics program is gone. Other than that they have pretty much everything (automotive,machining,building trades,electrical). But you have to pick one and you are stuck with it for the next 2 years.
I signed up for electrical hoping it would be kind of like electronics. I was so stupid, they spent most of the first year teaching us how to drill holes and pull wires. Well this year is at least Semi-educational we are doing motor controls and we are supposed to start PLC's.<p>Chris, could you e mail me some of those periodicals with the company names. Is there any need for people with skills like this in north-east Ohio I was also told that Cleveland OH is going to be a big center for biomedical stuff.
<p> Thanks for all your advice,
James Truskot
As for the vocational school the only thing that i dont like is that the electronics program is gone. Other than that they have pretty much everything (automotive,machining,building trades,electrical). But you have to pick one and you are stuck with it for the next 2 years.
I signed up for electrical hoping it would be kind of like electronics. I was so stupid, they spent most of the first year teaching us how to drill holes and pull wires. Well this year is at least Semi-educational we are doing motor controls and we are supposed to start PLC's.<p>Chris, could you e mail me some of those periodicals with the company names. Is there any need for people with skills like this in north-east Ohio I was also told that Cleveland OH is going to be a big center for biomedical stuff.
<p> Thanks for all your advice,
James Truskot
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Chris Smith
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Re: career in electronics
James, Biomed is a good field, I hear that people get sick, since the beginning of time? You wont be out a job any time in your life time, that's for sure. <p>I could mail you a complete [older/already read] book or two and you could page through them. Its over a hundred pages per copy, times 12 months normally, but the cost to buy even one copy is around $15. I don't buy them! I'll send a couple of each. Contact me at [email protected] for a address I can mail to.
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sonofcheap
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Re: career in electronics
I also am in the same position. I am in my last year of High School. I admit I am no Harvard or MIT material (I wish) but I have been accepted into the University of New Hampshire and the University of Rhode Island. I enjoy the field of programming, C++ is what I know best, but don’t want to sit in front of a computer screen all day. I know I hope to do something in this field of electronics, and Im guessing it will one way or another involve computers. I was wondering where all you intelligent people went to school after high school and what EEE courses you took, were you in any advance placement or honors classes? What specific jobs did your education lead you to today, how stressful or demanding are they, and for the big question are they finicaly rewarding. I am very interested in your experience and knowledge. There are so many choices in the field of electronics and I can use all the guidance I can get.
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unknown_entity
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Re: career in electronics
Chris did u get that email i sent you with my info in it?
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Chris Smith
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Re: career in electronics
No I didnt ? When did you send it? I'll drop you one now to bounce back.
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Randy Fromm
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Re: career in electronics
It saddens me to hear that you have the mistaken impression that electronics is not a worthy field to enter. I am in the gaming business and we have a great shortage of electronics technicians nationwide. With all of the casinos popping up everywhere, we need slot machine technicians. <p>I hope you will consider this field as a career. For more information,see http://slot-techs.com where there is a job shop board and technical information about slot machines.<p>Regards,<p>Randy Fromm
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Randy Fromm
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Re: career in electronics
It saddens me to hear that you have the mistaken impression that electronics is not a worthy field to enter. I am in the gaming business and we have a great shortage of electronics technicians nationwide. With all of the casinos popping up everywhere, we need slot machine technicians. <p>I hope you will consider this field as a career. For more information,see http://slot-techs.com where there is a job shop board and technical information about slot machines.<p>Regards,<p>Randy Fromm
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unknown_entity
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Re: career in electronics
not too long after you posted your e mail address
i sent it to [email protected]
maybe i saved it as a draft by mistake or something. Or do u want me to send it to a different e mail?
i sent it to [email protected]
maybe i saved it as a draft by mistake or something. Or do u want me to send it to a different e mail?
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unknown_entity
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Re: career in electronics
i checked my mail and replied to your message.
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Chris Smith
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Re: career in electronics
I got it, everything is fine, will send it out asap.
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