(Engineering) Career advise from the Gurus

[Tina10]

I have been offered a place in the UNI where I can do one of the following :
------BEng EEE (Electrical & Electronics Engineering) (http://prospectus.lsbu.ac.uk/courses...SCode=H600%20-)
OR
------BEng TeCNE (Telecommunications and computer networks engineering) (http://prospectus.lsbu.ac.uk/courses...?UCASCode=H640)

I would like some insight into these two subjects from the people who've 'been there and done that'. Which Engineering requires more hands on work, building stuff that works and does something and money at the end. Which field provides more opportunity towards being self-employed? Which one is harder to study (comparatively among the two)? How has been your experience upto now if you are from one of the above field. Your inputs will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance

[Charlie]

I think EEE offers a wider range of job possibilities.
Having spent a long career in telecom and IT, I think the space is saturated with experienced people and will be for some time to come, making jobs for new grads few and highly competitive. If I was restarting my career today, I'd target medical electronics - medical sensors, instruments, monitors, prostetics, and similar. With an aging population bubble desperate to extend life and improve comfort and independence, the next 20 - 30 years will have this as it's biggest growth area, similar to telecom in the 80's and 90's.

[Tina10]

Thanks Charlie. It is very important for someone in my position to gather as much info as possible and I call upon all the experts here in these fields to comment here. I am sure there are many students looking for guidance which they cannot find at home or find it hard to get the correct information. I hope my post will help many in my position to take the right decision for future. Thanks again.

[Pista1]

I can second the opinion that the medical instrumentation field is a promising direction for brand new career seekers. Having spent over thirty years in the medical instrumentation field dealing with hundreds of different devices I still find it fascinating and challenging. Make no mistake, this is a huge and varied field where none of us can know everything. You may work on amplifiers where the input is only tens of micro Volts or X-ray machines where the 100KV is not uncommon. Of course everywhere are computers, software and microchips. You’d better also know IT networking, at least on a casual level. Medical physics and medical imaging are advanced fields that stand on their own.
Some knowledge of anatomy and biology is also a must. Presently in the US at least it is hard to recruit knowledgeable new job candidates.
Here is a link to the AAMI which is one of the professional associations dealing with medical instrumentation, new happenings, standards, jobs etc.
http://www.aami.org/

[Tina10]

Thanks Pista1. I am also more inclined to do EEE rather than Telecom. But every opinion counts for me. I can't see any medical field related modules but I guess I am just being naive as I shouldn't expect a module but all knowledge from EEE will count towards it. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Pista1]

Yes you are right: electrical engineering knowledge provides a base for the medical equipment field. I myself started off my career as such along with ninety percent of my colleagues.
There is a catch however. Newly graduated engineers sometimes cannot find jobs because of lack of experience.
I recommend that while you are studying try to find some company where they will let you do professionally related volunteer work to gain real life experience and get to know people and make contacts.
This and the previous posting are meant to be just general advice since I am not familiar with the situation in the UK.

[Tina10]

Thanks for the replies. But I am a little disappointed as not many people seem interested in sharing their knowledge and opinion.

[khoog]

You may be looking in the wrong place. Many people on this site are hobbyists. Others are self-taught and come to the field through their own curiosity, not through academia. Only a very few would be able to give you advice regarding the standard, official career path in engineering.

I've hired (and fired) engineers, and what I know about the field I gleaned from them. If you really want my opinion, I would say study Art, Music, and Poetry and divest yourself of limitations. Start dreaming, and then get into engineering. I'm sure that's not the sort of advice you are looking for, and it probably won't help you even a little bit, but you asked for it.

[Tina10]

Thanks Khoog. I will look into Art, Music and poetry courses or may be psychology

[Jumper]

Just ask yourself:
Do you prefer to pull away your hair when SW doesnt work or do you rather gaze into the ambient glow of a failed HW.

If you do not have a real interest for what you will be working with then you should in my oppinion do something else. Life is too short to get stuck going to work doing something that you do not love or/and work in a place where your contributions are not appreciated.

OR get any kind of well paied booooring job and find a nice expensive hobby!

Sure, I hate my job sometimes too but in general I think most days are great, and the few days that are not is usually just frustration from loosing too much hair.

[rsocor01]

Well, if I could go back in time instead of going for my EE degree I would have probably considered to be a medical doctor or even a surgeon. Many times the work of an engineer is not well appreciated, long hours of work, you don't get paid as well as in other careers, and you can get fired by Khoog (just kidding).

This is probably not what you wanted to hear, but it is my most sincere advice.

Robert

[Tina10]

Thanks Robert, Jumper for your replies. I am very much into electronics, even before I start my course, I have self-taught myself a good deal of basic electronics, PICs, programming etc. It started as a hobby few years back and has become a passion since then. I can't think of my future in anything else than to be in this field, so I have decided to formally get qualified in it. But since this field has has so many branches, I do not want to make a mistake. I don't know the ins and outs of specific branches so I have shortlisted two and hope to get more insight into them here. I don't like computers or programming computer softwares, but I do love programming micros, making hardware and building things. I also like building circuits and get very interested in different systems communicating with each other so I was not sure upto now which one to choose but now I am more inclined to go for EEE than Telecom Eng as it seem to have better prospects

[mackrackit]

You need to find an industry that needs something built. Then learn that field.

I too hire and fire engineers. Part of the hiring interview...
How are you in chemistry?
How are you in process flows?
What about thermo dynamics?
Long silence....
Well, when we have something completely designed and need someone who can solder we will call you.

Point is, just because you spent four years getting a piece of paper stating that you know OHM's law really does not mean much, if that is all you have.

One of the funnest clients I have builds automated punch presses. If I did not have some knowledge of hydraulics I would not be of much use when it comes to designing the control systems for the machines.

[pedja089]

So I just finish mechatronics..
I know little bit of every thing that you said, and little more
And I'm PIC BASIC user for eight years...

[boroko]

Hi Tina10,

If you are still listening, I have to agree with what you have been hearing. I have a love for electronics that started as a kid. I worked in industrial robotics and now have a biz that does industrial controls. Even though I wish I had a better programming background, I have spent many hours with those that do and I coundn't stand just cranking out code all day. If I don't get my hands into something, I don't quite feel that I've accomplished all that I could.

On the other hand, being someones bi-ch engineer is a bit of a pain too. Unatainable deadlines, miniscule budgets, and sales people that sell stuff before you figure out if it can be made.

Both are viable carreers, but for me, the real world experience and exposure to differing disciplines had allowed me a better chance to succeed in my own business where I can truely play with all of the ideas just screaming to be tried. My experience is that I can find dozens of IT types. Finding someone that can design and repair something seems almost impossible some days. Good luck either way.

PS... if you do the EE route, please be good at it. We don't need more short sighted designers.
Bo