Am I going into the right major?

[jrz126]

I'm currently going to college for EE, and I'm going into my 3rd year (I'm alittle behind though). I'm not sure if I want EE or Comp Eng. For awhile I thought comp eng's were just computer programmers, but I just found out that this is not the case. Could someone explain exactly what a comp eng. does?

I'm very interested in digital circuits, (I took a digital systems course a couple semesters back, and I loved it). all of this power electronics I'm learning about now doesnt seem all that interesting either. I know I'll need it for the future, but I'm looking to get into Control Systems, like CNC machines ect. I like stuff that involves both electronics and moving parts.

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Johnson777717]

It sounds like you're geared for Industrial Automation or Electro-Mechanical engineering. My best point of advice would be to see your school counselor, who should be able to tell you the specifics of each of the job descriptions of your degree programs. If that doesn't satisfy you, I would suggest talking with your instructors, ask them what they majored in, what kind of work they ended up doing and what they would suggest for you. Since your instructors have probably been envolved in the electronics workforce for the last few years, they should be able to let you know what employers are looking for.

If all else fails, check out some job postings in the electronics field, and see what the requirements are. You might even be able to contact some employers human resources offices, and they might be able to steer you in a direction as to the types of jobs they have at the facility, and what their requirements are.

 

[crust]

i posted recently about the EE/CE difference as did some other members. Try searching and you might find the thread.

 

[samcheetah]

i agree with Johnson777717, you look more interested in electromechanical or mechatronics engineering. choosing between EE and CE depends on the courses that are offered in EE and CE at your institution. you probably have the course description for both EE and CE. well then just look at the courses and see what interests you. then you should talk to a counsellor about what u think.

 

[JimB]

JRZ126, I think your main problem is that you dont yet know how the real world works.
This is not a criticism of you, just how I see the situation.

If in your future career you want to apply your electronic knowledge to things which move and "do stuff", if you were in the UK (ok I think you are in the USA) I would suggest that you look to do a Mechatronics course. These courses apply electronics and computers to things which move.

Also, I dont think that you should get too hung up on the idea that if you want to do such and such job then you MUST have some exact qualifications. In the "real world", not the world through the eyes of some college councellor or teacher, you will often find that people working next to each other, doing very similar work, have totally different qualifications and experience.

At times when I have had to interview someone for a job, I have been more impressed by someone with enthusiasm and interest in the subject, may be does it for a hobby, than the guy with all the shiny qualifications who cannot do the simplest practical task.

Example of a real dumbo:

The guy with a degree in electronics, I handed him a circuit diagram and asked "what is this circuit?". He did not even have the wit to look at the bottom right hand corner of the drawing and read "Power Supply Unit".
He did not get the job.

JimB

 

[jrz126]

If in your future career you want to apply your electronic knowledge to things which move and "do stuff", if you were in the UK (ok I think you are in the USA) I would suggest that you look to do a Mechatronics course. These courses apply electronics and computers to things which move.

Right now I have an internship at General Electric Transportation systems.
We build locomotives. Most of the guys here are working on power electronics stuff which isn't all that interesting to me. I'd rather be working on designing the computer that controls the engine and traction motors.

Also, I dont think that you should get too hung up on the idea that if you want to do such and such job then you MUST have some exact qualifications. In the "real world", not the world through the eyes of some college councellor or teacher, you will often find that people working next to each other, doing very similar work, have totally different qualifications and experience.

Thats what I was thinking, but I didnt want to find out that i was wrong after I got my EE degree. I just wasnt sure if it would have been better to go for Comp eng instead of EE. I'm probably going to minor in comp eng.

At times when I have had to interview someone for a job, I have been more impressed by someone with enthusiasm and interest in the subject, may be does it for a hobby, than the guy with all the shiny qualifications who cannot do the simplest practical task.

JimB

Yeah, these people bother me, they are great at taking tests and memorizing the book, but ask them to design a simple circuit, say to control a bunch of leds that you put in the roof of your car, and they dont know how to do it. :wink:

 

[bmcculla]

If you want to get into control make sure you take your school's signal processing courses. These classes will be really useful for any control class you take. If you can get away with it I'd just take the classes you want to and ignore the labels given to the various paths.

Like JimB i'd really recommend a mechatronics class; one of my favorite (and most useful) classes was a mechatronics class.

The "Real World" has a fairly steep learning curve - it takes a fair amount of time to learn enough about how to apply all the theory you learned. I think most good companies recognize this and look for people with an ability to learn quickly rather than just people who took certain classes.

I'd recommend getting a free subscription to a couple trade magazines just to get some idea of the kinds of jobs that people do. I'd recommend EETimes, EDN, Electronics design, and Embedded Systems Programming.

Brent