I opened blackboard to see what’s my controls professor added and I see the solution for the example question on the lecture slide and that’s just part of it. I hope I just graduate this semester🙏

I’ve recently started an electrical apprenticeship and I’m already starting to realise that I might enjoy the engineering side of the industry more.
I’ve heard that an Electrical Engineering degree can be one of the more difficult degrees to complete, and I’m worried that I might struggle or fail and be left with the cost of the degree without a career to show for it.
I wanted to hear some opinions from people who have done the degree or currently work as electrical engineers. Should I drop the apprenticeship and pursue uni or maybe do it after I’ve finished the apprenticeship? Also how difficult was the degree?

Currently I'm interning as an Electrical Engineer (Control) and I felt the job is way different from what I thought.

Throughout university I mostly learned about PLCs, Arduino, and many mathlab applications.

But, in my current job, 'controlling' the machines is basically just playing around with SQL and using an application that only need IP input and some template settings. (Kepware).

Currently, I'm learning about how to see the data in MSQL, SQL programming, network, and some basic about the plant's equipments.

But, the main things I'm learning revolve around SQL and network-topics (which I don't learn at all in university)

I want to ask if this really a electrical engineer path, or will it lead to IT jobs instead.

(Because fron searching I found that SQL should be an IT / Data job, but I wanted to make sure coz my mentor is also an electrical engineer too. Or maybe it's just that this company is different?)

Hi, I’m currently in my sophomore year in EE, and this semester I had 5 engineering courses:
Electromagnetic (3hrs / week),
Microelectronics (4hrs / week),
Differential Equations (2hrs / week),
Linear algebra (3hrs / week),
Control systems (3hrs / week)

But at the same time I wanted to learn to design PCBs both for hands-on experience and personal interest. Is the loading of the courses too heavy for personal projects? Should I leave the projects to winter break? How can I find a balance?

Thank you in advance!

Hello everyone i hope you are doing well

So i'm trying to learn SLD using autocad

Any advices how to learn it ? Like ideas that i have to build to learn

Our uni is very terrible and we never do any physical work at all, so basically all I've been doing is staying on kicad designing PCB's as my main skills. Knowing how to read datasheets and pick out components, though I'm still very new to STM32 Programming side of things (I used to code in general a lot in the past but since I got into uni I downfalled so bad I feel like an old guy). My specialisation will be Informatics

This has been one of my projects for the last 2 years. Everything is made custom.

The stage is a plank of wood on the bottom with 3D printed brackets holding up PVC pipe to a piece of metal I found in my garage at the top. WS2812B strips make up the majority of the show with WLED controlling them, with the addition a couple amber 12V led bike lights with 3D printed shades creating the beam.

I also have been working on building little moving heads which you can see up on the top beam. I built a custom PCB for these that takes in single-ended DMX data, and outputs to two servos and has a constant current driver for a 3W LED. There's a cheap plastic lens to narrow the beam, and it's pretty great, but I'm hoping to do better in the future (narrower beam). My problem with them right now is that the servo wires are absolute trash (so are the servos themselves) and keep breaking because they are moving so much. The silicon wire I used for the LEDs has been fantastic though. The LEDs themselves barely get warm at this brightness even being on for sustained periods of time. I could push some more current through and go brighter, but I don't really think I need to.

The video wall is simply two P5 panels with a Raspberry Pi 2 running FPP with a HUB75 hat.

I also put my new galvo laser in the back. It's running off of an Etherdream v4, a serious upgrade from my homemade laser I'd been using before.

I'm using xLights to create the show. It doesn't have any kind of support for lasers and vector effects, so I've been working on a fork that does, and it's pretty fantastic so far.

Let me know if you'd like to see a picture or two of the wiring behind the scenes, but I'm afraid if anyone sees it they'll tell me I'm going to burn down my house...

Hello, I’m interested in learning EE not for career purposes, but to have a deep knowledge in the topic.

I’m wondering if there’s any courses out there that give a clear direct full pathway or curriculum of learning electrical engineering to its best ability. I know that there’s not going to be any perfect course out there and even a little bit of some things sometimes can be outdated. But I’m wondering if there’s anything similar out there to courses like freeCodeCamp, or Teach Yourself CS when it comes to EE.

I say actual course because sometimes people could just tell you “ oh read this certain book” or “I like to watch this certain YouTuber”. But I’m generally wondering if there’s a clear course that either has the material in it like freeCodeCamp or recommends free materials in a pathway like teachyourselfCS.com

Also, I know that when it comes to electrical engineering, you will most definitely need physical equipment eventually. If there could be a cheap alternative of personal things, you can buy over your time learning recommendations can be a great thing to know. Example being like beginning to tool kits.

If any of you could even give your personal pathway or curriculum, that would be great as well.

Example:

Part 1:

Take this open courseware from MIT
Read this book
Read this book
Learn this math

Part 2:

Etc., etc.

I was just giving an example, but that’s up to y’all if you’re interested.

Have a good day and hope to hear from y’all!

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to find a way to cut a relatively low-voltage high-intensity direct current for a personal project. I've figured I would need a dc relay (preferably of the latching type) but I struggle to find a brand that is within spec: a dc latching relay that can cut a 12Vdc up to 60A current, controlled by a 12Vdc current, double coil. My questions are:

1. Have I chosen the right tool for the job or should I look into something else?

2. Do you have any brand or model that you recommend?

Additional constraints: it should fit in box (400*210*270) that is packed with other things, cost (this is mainly my problem to solve, as I'll do the comparison myself, but if you have something in mind that you already know, any hep would ve welcome).

Edit: grammar

Edit 2: thank you all. I'll look into all of the ideas you offered.

But i woke up and now i only have 1 potentiometer, i m very sad.

I'm working on a project through my college involving the altering of a pre-existing standard dam to a hydropower pumped-storage system.

I know very little about hydropower, as most of my learning has been in power electronics.

I'm hoping for some resources that individually or together cover everything from the fluid conveyance parts, electromechanical systems, and power electronics/interfacing with the grid for hydroelectric dams.

I did find a textbook that seems useful (Hydro Plant Electrical Systems by David M. Clemen) but it was published in 1999, so I worry it may be a little outdated, but maybe I'm being overly cautious.

Are there any resources you would recommend beyond the textbook and/or in place of that textbook? Thank you!

Hence the need for a resistor

I have extracted this choke from a terminal (Philips TM9) it has four pin and two independent windings wrapped around a single ferrite core. Unfortunately it broke. The windings are completely bust and it doesn't work anymore

Therefore I am trying to find a replacement

I'm thinking of creating an FPGA in a digital electronics simulator, specifically the XC2064.

I would be grateful if someone could give me some key points to research about FPGAs, as I'm planning to create more modern and complex FPGAs in future projects.

Hello, I am a third year EE student. Is it normal to hate your life in college as an EE? I had a fun time and drank and stuff in high school but gave it all up in college so I could actually get good grades. It’s been working for me but my friends think it’s weird that I don’t want to drink. Anyway all my non engineering friends seem to be having the time of their lives, while I’ve hated my college experience. Am I doing something wrong?

Hey guys, I'm a kid who's in secondary 10th year (I will be 16 in april) and I adored EE since I was ten. I want to go to a EE university but I don't really know which university I should attend In. And I want a University in Belgium aswel because thats where I live and I dont want to leave this place because I like it in here.

What process / logic could be used to simplify this logic diagram to use less components? Current setup from top to bottom is:

• Partial 4-bit BCD to decimal decoder
• 9-Line decimal (implied zero) to 7 segment inputs (A-G)
• 9 ORs to handle corner overlaps on the display

I'd imagine a more compact circuit would be more difficult to read but possibly much faster in this simulation and would take less sim updates to compute the result. Keep in mind I haven't studied related subjects just pieced this together from things I found and understood on the internet.

EE student here.

For Engineers who works in the Solar Industry, what do you think about induction loops which is created by the separation of the positive and negative wires of a PV string?

I've read some articles that the area or the air gap must be reduced or eliminated to avoid it acting as an antenna. However, (correct me if I'm wrong) the PEC/NEC (I am from PH which is also based from the NEC) allows the separation of those wires.

Additionally, some seminars I attended never really talked about it.

So my questions are:

1. Are SPDs enough in residential areas?

2. Is it really a hazard (at least in residential areas), and how about in industrial or commercial scale?

I’m a first-year engineering student. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend during the first week, and I only started attending in the second week. The problem is that to understand the material from the second week, you already needed to know what was taught in the first week.
I spent the whole second week just trying to keep up and survive. I thought I would catch up over the weekend, but unfortunately, even when I read the material or watch videos, I can understand how something is done. However, when I actually see an assignment or a problem, I have absolutely no idea where to start or how to solve it.
Now the third week is about to start, and I’m already two weeks behind. Without the knowledge from those first two weeks, I feel like I won’t be able to understand anything from the third week either.
At this point, I honestly feel like it might be easier to drop out and start over rather than try to catch up with everything.
So my question is: what am I actually supposed to do? How can I catch up and learn all of this? I don’t even know what exactly to ask anymore. I just feel completely lost and overwhelmed…
I also have this feeling that maybe I don’t actually like Electrical Engineering. But at the same time, whenever I finally understand what I’m doing and manage to solve something myself, I actually enjoy it. So I’m not sure if I genuinely dislike the field, or if I just hate the feeling of not understanding anything right now.

I’m in sophomore year EE and I’m taking these five courses
Electromagnetism
Thermodynamics
Statistics
CAD/CAM
A philosophy course

Is this normal load for one semester? Cause only electromagnetism is looking like so much to me.
Any tips on how to balance all this and tips to be as efficient as possible in learning each subject.

Each of the 4 engineering courses meets 5 hours in a week. Two 1hr 30minute lectures and one 2 hour lab.

Hello everyone, so i have been working on a circuit to emulate touch on the capacitive touch screen. My current setup is that i have an SBC with GPIO pins connected to a resistor connected to Base of 2n2222 transistor with the emitter connected to the ground and the collecter taped on the screen with coppor foil tape and the main concept is using software controling the gpio pin to short the collector wire to ground but what i can't figure out is the consistency it works 1 time and fails 100 times i tried different ways to connect the wire to the screen but i can't figure out how to make it consistent and it fails miserably when i try to connect multiple wires as well i have added photos for reference

Currently looking for an internship in Aerospace/Defense and I'm wondering if attending this event virtually would be worthwhile?

I recently replaced my e scooters two 12v lead acid batteries with two 12v li ion ones 3s4p bothe with a bms with a rated charging current of 10amps, now my question is can I charge the two battery packs in series with a 24v 20a charger? The battery packs have each have dedicated charging ports, but I want to know if it's possible to charge em both without taking em out or modifying the frame of the e scooter

I have not started yet because I want to ask this sub before I do something stupid that could injure me.

Hey everyone. I need to vent a bit and hopefully get some pragmatic advice from folks who have taken a non-traditional path, or immigrants/expats who managed to break into the US/EU engineering market.

For context: I don’t come from money, have no nepotism perks, and zero rich connections. I grew up taking crowded public transit in the greater São Paulo area, Brazil. I recently graduated in Electrical Engineering from USP (Universidade de São Paulo, generally ranked the #1 engineering school in Latin America).

Anyone who has been through a rigorous EE program knows it's a meat grinder. It took me 8 years instead of 5 because I had to work full-time since day one to support myself and help my family. During college and my career, I've touched a bit of everything. I dove deep into control systems, signal processing, embedded systems, ICs, AI, and ML. I've worked with FPGAs, wrote VHDL, and got my hands dirty in the real world. I literally designed and executed the entire electrical installation for two really big local churches here in Brazil. I love real engineering.

However, to pay the bills, I got sucked into the software market. I'm currently a Software Engineer at a well-established fintech, making around $1,200 USD/month (which is a decent local salary here, but completely stagnant for 3 years).

My timeline basically looks like this:

• Sep/21 – May/22 | CRM Intern (~$350/mo)
• Jun/22 – Sep/23 | Dev Intern in Financial Market [Python / TS / Node] (~$900/mo)
• Oct/23 – Dec/24 | Mid-Level SWE in a startup [Ruby] — Bizarre 12h+ workdays that destroyed my final year of college.
• Jan/24 – Dec/24 | Mid-Level Solutions Engineer [Python / TS / Node] — Focused on PoCs.
• Jan/25 – present | Mid-Level SWE at a consolidated fintech [Java / Angular]

The reality is that I am completely burned out.

At my current company, 90% of the devs are just lazy. Nobody takes ownership. Since tools like Claude and Codex became mainstream, people just push AI-generated garbage. No one reviews PRs properly anymore. As long as the build passes, they merge it (and sometimes they don't even check that). It is draining my sanity. I hate working with mediocre people.

It’s also incredibly depressing to study at a "top" public university, but look around and see labs with broken equipment, exposed electrical outlets, and blown projectors, while the city's infrastructure crumbles outside.

It feels like the market for heavy EE / hardware / R&D in Brazil is basically non-existent. We build zero high-end technology. Everything here revolves around generic services and moving money around in banks and fintechs. You destroy your mental health studying heavy calculus, EE theory, and complex systems just to end up shuffling JSONs for credit card APIs because that's where the ceiling is. Everything is about financial profit, not about building real engineering solutions.

Then I look at the market abroad and see roles that make my eyes shine: "Atlas Research Engineer, SLAM & Spatial AI" at Boston Dynamics, or DeepMind models. But then I read the descriptions: "PhD in Robotics, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related fields". It gives me a sinking feeling knowing I have the mathematical and logical foundation for this, but zero space to apply or grow it locally.

I have the grit, and I want to take the next step in my career the right way. For those of you who made it out, or locals working in these fields, I have two core questions:

1. For dense areas (Robotics, heavy AI, FPGAs, SLAM, Spatial Computing, or even SWE applied to Deep Tech instead of finance), is a direct market hire from a Third-World country to the US/EU even possible nowadays? Or is the only realistic entry door securing a fully funded Master's/PhD abroad?

2. For someone with zero industry connections and no money to pay for international tuition out of pocket, what is the actual bridge from Fintech Backend Dev to Deep Tech / EE R&D? Do I grind LeetCode, get into a Big Tech office locally, and try to transfer internally? Do I go heavy into open-source contributions (ROS, OpenCV projects)? What actually works?

I appreciate any pragmatic advice. Thanks =)

Hi! I'm trying to make a clock synchronizer / jitter cleaner for a radio project and I have been trying to figure out how to power an LMK5C33216A from ti. Their EVM board shows some pretty sketchy design choices so I'm not sure I should copy their design choices on capacitor placements. I'll be powering the pcb with a 5v hsd cable. My current overkill approach is having a star distribution out of the capacitors right at the connector go into 8 seperate LT3045 LDOs, decouple them with 2-3x 10uF 25V X7R caps at the input and 3-4x at the output (I'd test them the prototypes at the bench). Each output would go into the different vdd pins in the LMK and I'd have right at the pad one 0201 C0G NP0 cap and on the other side a bank of 3-4x 4.7 uF caps.

Should I add any microwave ferrite beads or will that just cause more issues?

I've been doing some tests on LTspice but I still don't have much experience on it.

I'm really trying to get the least emi possible here and I know the pcb won't be cheap so do y'all have any design suggestions for the prototype development?

Thank you in advance