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.

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.

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'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?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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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.