Choosing between these 2, 1 year long Co-ops. I think I would prefer Digital Design work, but I also enjoy physical debug, and have been told Design is more prestigous as a role. However, AMD is the bigger company, and the work is on HBM which is really hot right now. The Arm role is working on their new Data Center SoC. Any thoughts?

I recently earned my PE in Power, and I am trying to understand the real-world value chain behind what I learned.

I do not mean, “What jobs can a PE get?” I mean: where does the material on the PE Power exam turn into a client problem that someone will pay an engineer to solve?

My background is in a niche area of electrical engineering, so I have not spent years doing commercial power design, utility work, industrial power systems, or MEP consulting. I know the technical material: NEC concepts, transformers, synchronous and induction machines, per-unit systems, fault calculations, symmetrical components, three-phase faults, line-to-ground and line-to-line faults, protection concepts, basic ladder logic, load calculations, and so on.

The issue is that I understand these as engineering topics and calculations, but not yet as products or services.

I also do not fully understand what people mean when they say they “design” an electrical system.

When I look at a real set of electrical drawings, floor plans, one-line diagrams, panel schedules, equipment schedules, wiring diagrams, and specifications, it looks very different from anything I saw on the PE exam. I do not yet understand how an engineer goes from a client saying, “I need power for this building/facility/equipment,” to a completed design package that a contractor can build from.

What is the actual workflow? What is it that I know (PE Power exam knowledge) that they need from me is my biggest question?

• What information does the client provide at the beginning?
• What does the engineer need to determine, select, calculate, or coordinate?
• What industry software is typically used?
• What does the final deliverable look like?
• Is it drawings, a one-line, equipment schedules, load calculations, a short-circuit study, protective-device coordination study, arc-flash labels/report, relay settings, construction specifications, or some combination?
• What is stamped, and what is the engineer actually taking responsibility for?
• What makes the result valuable enough that a client will pay professional consulting rates for it?

For example:

• When does a client actually need a three-phase, line-to-ground, or double-line-to-ground fault calculation?
• What decision does that calculation support?
• When are per-unit calculations used in real work versus buried inside software?
• Where do transformer, motor, protection, and NEC knowledge show up in an actual project?
• Which types of clients buy this work: industrial facilities, commercial buildings, utilities, data centers, manufacturers, contractors, renewable-energy developers, etc.?

I see experienced EE Power PEs on reddit charging high hourly rates, and I assume clients are not paying because someone can solve a per-unit problem or merely provide a stamp. They are paying for a defensible answer to an expensive problem: safety, equipment ratings, code compliance, reliability, utility requirements, construction documents, liability, or avoiding downtime.

That is the connection I am trying to understand and I honestly, even after receiving my license, don't know what it is.

I am frustrated because I worked hard to learn this material and can apply it in an exam setting, but I do not yet see the bridge between that knowledge and a real consulting deliverable. I want to build that bridge the right way, not rent out a stamp or take work outside my competence.

If you work in power consulting, industrial power, utility engineering, MEP, protection and controls, or forensic/electrical consulting, I would really appreciate a concrete example of a normal project that actually uses the material which NCEES tested you on:

1. What was the client’s problem?
2. What did the engineer actually design or analyze?
3. What inputs, calculations, and software were used?
4. What did the final deliverable look like?
5. What decision, risk, or cost did it address for the client?
6. What experience would a newer PE need before taking on that type of work independently?

I would especially appreciate examples of the first types of projects a newer PE can responsibly grow into.

I want to learn PCB design, and I am planning to build a custom FPGA board as part of my graduation project

My problem is that, as a computer engineer, my department didn't give that many electronics courses, and each time I try to do something in KiCad, i git lost until I find someone on the internet who has built something similar

Will this book actually solve my problem? It's 1200 pages and will need a lot of effort

Most people say it's not a cover-to-cover read, but I find it useful to read some chapters fully

I have a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and a CS minor. I’m interested in an online ECE master’s that I can complete while continuing to work.

I’ve worked as an electric vehicle hardware product engineer for a large OEM, and I’m now starting a position in embedded systems integration and test for defense avionics.

My undergraduate GPA is below 3.0, and finding three strong recommenders has been difficult. Most people I could ask know me through mechanical or electrical work rather than software or computer engineering. Also didn't make any meaninful connections with professors so that option is gone. This makes applying to programs like Georgia tech or Purdue feel challenging. I'm taking the GRE soon as a last resort to boost my application but not sure if the effort is futile.

I’m considering CU Boulder’s online MS ECE focusing on embedded systems and computer engineering. The performance based admission appeals to me given my situation. I don’t want to delay starting my master’s just to spend enough time in my new role for colleagues or supervisors to become recommenders.

So given all this, my questions are:

• Will studying online without campus lab courses or equipment leave gaps in my skills?
• For online ECE grad school graduates (non thesis), how useful would you say the coursework been in your actual engineering work?
• Do other online ECE programs offer specific advantages worth waiting or switching for?

Hello,

I’m a first year ee student and I want to do a custom pcb project to gain some more experience (plus I wanna make something cool lol). I would say I have a decent amount of experience actually working with pcb design programs (KiCad and Altium), but I’ve never ordered a board.

Most other project ideas I’ve seen either seem really easy or too hard. I was thinking of making like a bench supply, but then I saw a lot of people say that its too complicated and not worth the effort.

I was wondering if someone could just nudge me in the right direction. I mainly just want ideas and I’m willing to do the research myself. I just don’t know what level would be appropriate to start.

Thanks

I have a hirevue online assessment due soon and wanted any advice going into this. What to expect, content, style of questions etc. any help will be massively appreciated.

I am not asking for help with an assignment I just need this explained to me.

Ive been trying to understand how Thevenin's theorem works, I Know how to solve the problems but I want to know "why" we are doing what were doing.

My understanding so far is that the theorem basically states that we can take a complicated linear circuit and turn it into a simple circuit with a voltage source in series with a resistor, as long as the behavior at the terminals is the same. The way I've been trying to understand it so far is that in the Thevenin circuit if we apply KVL we get the voltage at terminals a and b to be Vab = Vth - IRth.

Then our goal is to find Vth and Rth to mimic the same voltage current relationship as the original circuit. Finding Vth is simple as in if we remove the external load our equation becomes Vab = Vth, therefore to find Vth from our original circuit we remove our load and calculate the voltage at the resulting terminals.

What I do not get is why the process of finding Rth is the way it is. (I think) Rth represents the equivalent resistance that the original circuit experiences at the terminals but why do we have to turn voltage sources into short circuits and current sources into open circuits? Furthermore when we have a dependent source why do we have to keep them if we are only worried about resistance?

this was my last resort thankyou to anyone who responds.

Hello, I'm looking for a free program to simulate short circuits in a power grid. What I need is functionality similar to ETAP where I can draw a single-line diagram, enter parameters for transformers, lines, etc., and calculate short circuit currents.

I started looking into this because many open source tools have emerged recently, and I wondered if there's anything available that fits this description

Quick one. Working on a small offline flyback, around 30W. Every reference design I look at still uses a TL431 plus an opto for feedback. I get why, it’s cheap and it works. But I keep reading that CTR drifts with temp and age so you have to design with a lot of margin. Looked at digital isolators for this and they don’t really fit an analog feedback loop the same way, plus they need power on both sides which the secondary doesn’t always have at startup.

On the same board there’s an isolated SPI link to a sensor and there I went with a capacitive isolator no question. The optos I used for the feedback samples were from Utsource, and the isolator I ended up using for the SPI came from Mouser. I saw TI has some opto emulator parts but I’ve never seen one in an actual product. I don’t get why they haven’t caught on more for this.

​

I am working on a project regarding the impact of integrating solar energy systems into medium-scale collective power grids. I specialize in

telecommunications, while the other members of my group specialize in power systems. We are looking for ways to incorporate telecommunications into the project, but we are not sure how to go about it.

If anyone has any information or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate your help.

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to pursue a Master's in the USA and am looking for universities with a strong focus on Digital VLSI, RTL Design, ASIC Design Verification, and Computer Architecture.

A little about my background:

• Bachelor's in Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) from India
• CGPA: 7.93/10
• Interested in RTL design, SystemVerilog, UVM, Computer Architecture, and digital IC design

I'm specifically interested in the digital side of VLSI rather than analog or RF design. My goal is to build a career in the semiconductor industry, preferably in RTL Design or Design Verification roles.

I'm a third-year Electrical Engineering student, and I just got offered a co-op position from an MEP consulting services company. I truly want to try out what different industries are like because I interned as a design engineer at an aerospace company last summer, and I learnt a lot about analog design and stuff. However, I kinda want to get the full experience of what it feels like when working in different industries before I graduate so I don't regret when just going all in for just one specific industry. That being said, my boss from the company I interned at last summer also offered me a spring part-time job (circuit design intern at an aerospace company). What would your advice be to me if I am just dumb for burning the bridge with the previous employer, or is it ok to try out different industries?

Hi, I am a systems engineering junior and I just got an interview request at Arm. I made it past the hirevue process but couldn't find anything about the role online. I don't have a lot of ECE experience so I wanted to know if anyone else has interviewed for this role/is also giving this round. Thanks!

Hi, I'm a freshman EE undergrad student. I've never had any work experience at all, I have no experience and know nothing about engineering. The only tech related skills I have is programming with a few languages like Python. I don't know what the best way is to gain experience in engineering. I am just applying for retail jobs, nothing to do with my major. Should I start working on projects, or do I learn with a job or unpaid internship or something similar? I know I should probably just start doing something to create a portfolio, but I'm pretty confused. I don't even know if I enjoy engineering because I've never tried.

Hellos guys. I have started learning calculus to try and apply for an ece degree. The syllabus is roughly translated from my native language. If I aim for 4-5 hours of studying + revision every day how long do you think it should take me to cover all this on a competent level.
My book of choice is “Calculus: A Complete Course”. Is it a good one or are other better ones out there.
I learnt linear algebra and calculus in my uni but it was very basic stuff and nowhere near on the ece level of depth. So don’t assume I am a complete beginner but not an expert either.

Hey everyone, I just started my freshman year of college, so forgive me if this sounds a bit too ambitious. I recently landed a Software Engineering (Application Development) internship in government. It’s an incredible opportunity, especially as a freshman, and I definitely want to take it.

However, I'm afraid this might 'lock' me into a purely software career path. I'm majoring in Electrical Engineering and want to explore hardware as well, not just software. Right now, looking at my resume, most of my high school and college coursework and my extracurriculars are software and CS-focused, which is likely how I landed this internship.

I feel a bit lost on what to do next. I’m taking my first hardware related class next semester (Digital Logic) and want to eventually become a hardware engineer. I feel like I need to start right now, pick a single path, and stick with it, but I'm not sure how to balance everything.

She was in mechanical and changed universities and majors and went into control and automation.

It’s a better university and I know it’s a good department that’s not too over saturated like other programs.

recently she started her second year and she got to a few classes that freaked her out a bit bc the professor isn’t really great at getting the message across and it’s making her feel behind and panic and now she’s having trouble going to class or even studying. One of the classes is signals.

I told her it’s not an easy department and it just needs adjustment and she herself said lots of other students and even some professors have mentioned that lots of students go through this panicked state bc the classes aren’t easy.

She doesn’t know if she should stick with it or change majors or what. She tends to jump the gun and I’m telling her to slow down and gather info, make a list of options and think it through.

I asked her if the classes were easy would she be panicking and she said no. So I feel like it’s pretty simple and she’s just too in her own head about it.

What are the ways she can test herself to see if she should continue with this program or consider something else?

I told her she just needs to find a different motivation to continue and readjust her classes for the year for some breathing room so it isn’t so packed. She’s worried that if she takes a break she’ll drop out and never pick it up again which is ridiculous bc she doesn’t have to jump to that conclusion at all but for some reason she has herself convinced it’s a final decision she could come to.

Any advice? Preferably form other control and automation engineers.

Hi everyone! I have an interview coming up soon and would really appreciate some advice and guidance on how to prepare. If anyone has recently gone through a similar experience, I’d love to hear about your preparation strategy, important things to focus on, and any tips that helped you perform well.

Any suggestions or resources would be really helpful. Thanks in advance for your support!

Hi everyone,

I am simulating a power supply circuit using the LTC4417 power-path controller and LTC3111 buck-boost converter in LTspice. The output voltages appear to be correct, but I am observing a large negative input current spike when the power source switches.

Circuit details

• Power source V2: 7.4 V
• LTC4417 output (V(4417_o/p)): Approximately 7.4 V
• LTC3111 output (V(3111_o/p)): Approximately 5 V
• Output load: 1 A constant-current load
• Simulation command: .tran 10m

What I observe

When the power-path switches around 3.646 ms, the simulated input current through V2, measured as I(V2), briefly drops to approximately −10.63 A. After the transient, the current settles to a much lower value, depending on the operating conditions.

The current spike occurs over a very short interval, while the output voltage eventually settles to the expected value.

My questions

1. What could cause this large negative current spike in LTspice?
2. Are there any recommended LTspice settings or modelling techniques for accurately simulating the LTC4417 and LTC3111?

The output voltages look correct after the transition, but I want to understand the cause of the current spike before proceeding with hardware testing.

I have attached the schematic and simulation waveforms for reference. Any suggestions or explanations would be appreciated.

Thanks!

So I'm a freshman electrical engineering student, going the AA transfer pathway through community college. I'm not one of those people who knew their whole life that I wanted to be an engineer, and my transcript reflects that - I'm on track to finish the degree in four years, but I have to hustle.

I know usually freshman don't get the opportunity to get an internship because they're usually not far enough into their coursework to actually be helpful. A lot of people here are recommending to get in the door through being electrician techs or a lot of personal projects, but I live in Florida and i'm not seeing any options like that here for people with no experience. There are pretty much no college fairs at my community college either.

Even for a lot of the internships I've looked at that accept sophomores, they require knowledge that I won't yet have in a year from now either unless I get it from outside the classroom. I guess my question is how do people get started with getting practical hands-on experience? How do people learn programming and circuit boards on their own? I started a project but I'm heavily relying on the Internet and AI for help with coding and not really getting the confidence to do it on my own

I have upcoming Superday for this position. Anyone got advice on what to study or has experience with this proc?

Hello everyone I'm in my 3rd semester of Computer Engineering and honestly I'm struggling with understanding the electric circuit 2 course... We just finished the chapter about sinusoidal steady state analysis but I feel like I'm so over the place no idea how to study...

Other thing that affects it is last semester when I had my circuit 1 course which is the fundamentals I went through a rough few months I barely passed my courses which caused me to have shaky fundamentals. How should I go from here?

I'm probably overthinking it I should study bit by bit 😅 I hope your responses would be of help thank you in advance.