What does an EE do?

[backslashback]

I know that in EE electronic is for small scale devices and electrical is for more large scale, but what sort of jobs are you likely to be doing as an Electrical engineer? I had a talk with my counselor but she was useless. Can anyone help?

 

[Special K]

Do a search on here, this question has been asked MANY times. I've posted replies in several of them.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Bob Slydel: "What-- What would you say you do here?"
Smykowski: "Well, look, I already told you. I deal with the bleepdamn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?!"

 

[Demon-Xanth]

See all those electronics that you use?

...EEs design them.

 

[NaOH]

They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

 

[MaxDepth]

If they are an EE student, I've heard they do not slEEp.

 

[NaOH]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

 

[JohnCU]

i have a BSEE. i'm a systems engineer for a power plant. i basically do about 3 hours of real work a day unless there is an emergency. otherwise i do a lot of paperwork. once in a while i will go by and write one of maxwell's equations in differential and integral form on someone's white board so i can remember them.

watch office space and read dilbert. that's what i do.

 

[imported_weadjust]

My sister is an EE. She works for NASA

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

It's the most boring industry. Consulting is not fun.

you'd think that it would be fun b/c I get to work on projects for big global companies, but it really is not. yeah, the site visits are great, but then you get into the actual work. It turns into Autocad all day. When it is not autocad, its mind numbing work like going through P&IDs and one line diagrams to look for changes that no one has told you about.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

It's the most boring industry. Consulting is not fun.

you'd think that it would be fun b/c I get to work on projects for big global companies, but it really is not. yeah, the site visits are great, but then you get into the actual work. It turns into Autocad all day. When it is not autocad, its mind numbing work like going through P&IDs and one line diagrams to look for changes that no one has told you about.

the job im on right now didnt label any of the PLC hardware tags at the top for a whole section. they expect us to "fill in the blanks". some EEs are boneheads. well, most ive met so far. im no EE or any kind of E but i do the same damn job without the stamp.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

It's the most boring industry. Consulting is not fun.

you'd think that it would be fun b/c I get to work on projects for big global companies, but it really is not. yeah, the site visits are great, but then you get into the actual work. It turns into Autocad all day. When it is not autocad, its mind numbing work like going through P&IDs and one line diagrams to look for changes that no one has told you about.

the job im on right now didnt label any of the PLC hardware tags at the top for a whole section. they expect us to "fill in the blanks". some EEs are boneheads. well, most ive met so far. im no EE or any kind of E but i do the same damn job without the stamp.

Anyone can do this job, really. When you get mcc's, then you really need the EE degree, bit the I&C stuff.....you do not need it at all. At my job, the main I&C engineer was a chem E.

 

[Stojakapimp]

I'm an EE and work for NOAA as an acoustic engineer. Pretty sweet job...great view of the ocean, flexible hours, get to spend time out on a boat.

 

[esun]

Well I technically haven't worked as a EE yet (though I have my BS in EE, but I'm going to graduate school in the fall), but from what I've seen, the field is extremely diverse. For example:

Signal Processing: You might design some DSP algorithm for something.
Digital Circuits: You might design and layout some logic for a processor. You might design an ASIC in Verilog or VHDL.
Analog Circuits: You might design an amplifier for a cell phone.
Devices: You might work for a fab company designing a new MOSFET process.

There's also optoeletronics, which I'm less familiar with in terms of jobs.

Unless you've taken some EE courses at the college level, you probably have no idea what the above actually entails. Basically, every electronic thing you use had to be designed by some EE, and every sub-part also had to be designed (e.g., you might design a chip, or you might use a chip to design something bigger, or you might design the components used in the chip).

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Analog is the shizzle. Too many people are jumping to digital, but it's a plain and simple fact you still need analog circuit designers. Think iPhone power management =]

 

[NaOH]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

It's the most boring industry. Consulting is not fun.

you'd think that it would be fun b/c I get to work on projects for big global companies, but it really is not. yeah, the site visits are great, but then you get into the actual work. It turns into Autocad all day. When it is not autocad, its mind numbing work like going through P&IDs and one line diagrams to look for changes that no one has told you about.

the job im on right now didnt label any of the PLC hardware tags at the top for a whole section. they expect us to "fill in the blanks". some EEs are boneheads. well, most ive met so far. im no EE or any kind of E but i do the same damn job without the stamp.

Anyone can do this job, really. When you get mcc's, then you really need the EE degree, bit the I&C stuff.....you do not need it at all. At my job, the main I&C engineer was a chem E.

That may be true, but you can say that about a lot of professions . I do more of the I&C stuff. Where do you guys work?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

It's the most boring industry. Consulting is not fun.

you'd think that it would be fun b/c I get to work on projects for big global companies, but it really is not. yeah, the site visits are great, but then you get into the actual work. It turns into Autocad all day. When it is not autocad, its mind numbing work like going through P&IDs and one line diagrams to look for changes that no one has told you about.

the job im on right now didnt label any of the PLC hardware tags at the top for a whole section. they expect us to "fill in the blanks". some EEs are boneheads. well, most ive met so far. im no EE or any kind of E but i do the same damn job without the stamp.

Anyone can do this job, really. When you get mcc's, then you really need the EE degree, bit the I&C stuff.....you do not need it at all. At my job, the main I&C engineer was a chem E.

That may be true, but you can say that about a lot of professions . I do more of the I&C stuff. Where do you guys work?

I do the I&C, but i want to do more Electrical. When I was hired, my boss told me that I could dip on both ends. Because of that, I turned down CDM (they said I&C and only I&C). 5 months in...the closest thing I have done is a riser (sp?) diagram. Needless to say...I am pissed.

 

[NaOH]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

It's the most boring industry. Consulting is not fun.

you'd think that it would be fun b/c I get to work on projects for big global companies, but it really is not. yeah, the site visits are great, but then you get into the actual work. It turns into Autocad all day. When it is not autocad, its mind numbing work like going through P&IDs and one line diagrams to look for changes that no one has told you about.

the job im on right now didnt label any of the PLC hardware tags at the top for a whole section. they expect us to "fill in the blanks". some EEs are boneheads. well, most ive met so far. im no EE or any kind of E but i do the same damn job without the stamp.

Anyone can do this job, really. When you get mcc's, then you really need the EE degree, bit the I&C stuff.....you do not need it at all. At my job, the main I&C engineer was a chem E.

That may be true, but you can say that about a lot of professions . I do more of the I&C stuff. Where do you guys work?

I do the I&C, but i want to do more Electrical. When I was hired, my boss told me that I could dip on both ends. Because of that, I turned down CDM (they said I&C and only I&C). 5 months in...the closest thing I have done is a riser (sp?) diagram. Needless to say...I am pissed.

Interesting, I was promised to do more programming but ended up doing lots of electrical work when i started.....I'm at CDM, irvine btw

 

[RabidMongoose]

An EE usually sits in a cubicle.

 

[Engineer]

This.....

<---- Some of us, anyway.

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

It's the most boring industry. Consulting is not fun.

you'd think that it would be fun b/c I get to work on projects for big global companies, but it really is not. yeah, the site visits are great, but then you get into the actual work. It turns into Autocad all day. When it is not autocad, its mind numbing work like going through P&IDs and one line diagrams to look for changes that no one has told you about.

the job im on right now didnt label any of the PLC hardware tags at the top for a whole section. they expect us to "fill in the blanks". some EEs are boneheads. well, most ive met so far. im no EE or any kind of E but i do the same damn job without the stamp.

Anyone can do this job, really. When you get mcc's, then you really need the EE degree, bit the I&C stuff.....you do not need it at all. At my job, the main I&C engineer was a chem E.

That may be true, but you can say that about a lot of professions . I do more of the I&C stuff. Where do you guys work?

I do the I&C, but i want to do more Electrical. When I was hired, my boss told me that I could dip on both ends. Because of that, I turned down CDM (they said I&C and only I&C). 5 months in...the closest thing I have done is a riser (sp?) diagram. Needless to say...I am pissed.

Interesting, I was promised to do more programming but ended up doing lots of electrical work when i started.....I'm at CDM, irvine btw

i do I&C but also have variable frequency drives so, a little of everything

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: NaOH
They also do a lot of industrial work (design power distribution systems and automation for plants)
<---------------------------------------

I do that too....


I hate it

why?

It's the most boring industry. Consulting is not fun.

you'd think that it would be fun b/c I get to work on projects for big global companies, but it really is not. yeah, the site visits are great, but then you get into the actual work. It turns into Autocad all day. When it is not autocad, its mind numbing work like going through P&IDs and one line diagrams to look for changes that no one has told you about.

the job im on right now didnt label any of the PLC hardware tags at the top for a whole section. they expect us to "fill in the blanks". some EEs are boneheads. well, most ive met so far. im no EE or any kind of E but i do the same damn job without the stamp.

Anyone can do this job, really. When you get mcc's, then you really need the EE degree, bit the I&C stuff.....you do not need it at all. At my job, the main I&C engineer was a chem E.

That may be true, but you can say that about a lot of professions . I do more of the I&C stuff. Where do you guys work?

i work for an elec contractor doing custom controls and SCADA design for mainly water/ wastewater in arizona.

 

[BrownTown]

Well as for "what does an EE do", I', not sure how simple it can get, they engineer stuff that invovles electricty. So pretty much everything around you that uses electricity, an EE had something to do with.

As for What I do as an EE, I prepare work packages for the construction of a new nuclear plant (Watts Bar 2) each of which involves about 5 hours of real engineering and about 200 hours of paperwork (not even remotely exaggerating).

 

[RESmonkey]

What about designing HDTVs or game consoles? Apple hires EEs for their Cinema displays.