good career path

[andynerd]

so some day i hope to have a job in engineering of some sort like computer and or circuitry. so anyone have any career options i can consider (just started high school)??

 

[dknguyen]

Just that you take the calculus level math and all the 3 physics courses...not much else you can do in high school that you won't have to do already. It may also help to take some programming courses if your school offers them (but you will have to take them again in university anyways, so you don't have to take a course as much as you just have to be familiar with it so you slaughter the course).

 

[andynerd]

thanks and yes i am planing on taking science physics math bio and tech classes
for grade 11 and 12

but what i really wanted was just some ideas people always ask me what i want to do and i never have an answer.

 

[dknguyen]

Well, there are product engineers, applications engineers, test engineers, product development engineers, product advancement engineers, VLSI engineers, AC power engineers, DC power engineers, MEMs engineers, a whole whackload.

If I crudely boil it down there is:

-microfab engineers (I'm not sure the exact word)- design the transistors on the silicon- not how they are arranged but the transistors themselves and the processes to manufacture chips
-VLSI/microelectronics engineers (design the transistors arrangements to make up ICs, microprocessors, RAM and all that).
-computer engineer (like the VLSI engineer except focuses on processors, RAM, buses and everything that makes them up)
-power engineers (power distribution systems and grids, generators, transmission lines, power plants)
-power engineer 2 (AC/DC motors, rectifiers, DC-DC converters, motor drives)
-control engineers (makes the stuff algorithms and hardware to control other things)
-electromagnetics engineer (lasers, magnetic fields, and atoms and crazy stuff like that)
-RF engineer (high frequency circuits like wireless and radio)
-communications engineer (I have no idea, but I know they exist I've not taken many courses in those)

And many more...

*chicks dig power engineers but my opinion is biased, but I found one that digs AI so...

 

[43617373]

thanks and yes i am planing on taking science physics math bio and tech classes
for grade 11 and 12

but what i really wanted was just some ideas people always ask me what i want to do and i never have an answer.

MY advice to you, unless you really like it for some reason, drop bio for more tech/auto mechanics. At my school at least in my auto class we learn a lot of fabrication. When people ask you what you want to do and you don't know what to say just tell them engineering, most people I have been asked that from accept that.

on a side note, hopefully without taking focus away from andy at all, does anyone know what university in western Canada is the best for electrical engineering, I have been looking into Uvic, but have been told conflicting things about it being good and it being no where near as good as UBC or Waterloo...

 

[dknguyen]

University of Alberta yo. We have NINT. I have also been told things about UVIC (or was it UBC) about engineering).

I took all the bio courses in high school, hell I don't see how you couldn't. THere's so few useful courses and so many time slots.

 

[andynerd]

but it seems so hard to get a good engineering job in electronics

 

[jpanhalt]

but it seems so hard to get a good engineering job in electronics

That's why I second taking biology. Our existence is biology, and in a sense, everything we do worth getting paid for is related to biology. Moreover, you are approximately 14 or 15 years old. You have plenty of time to narrow your options. I suggest you just say you want to go into science and technology.

Oh, don't forget history and literature too. Those were tough subjects for me, but very useful later in life. In particular, you may not get much of a chance to take them when you go to a university in a technical discipline. John

 

[HiTech]

If your H.S. has an electronics shop, I would suggest that you get in good with the instructor. Spend more time around him/her (polly him since most "hers" are more interested in gardening or marketing). If that teacher is dedicated, they can really boost and steer you in the proper direction for your career. Seek out your school's guidance counselor. Show them your sincere interest in your future and that you're not just another teenage-face showing up in their office.

 

[dknguyen]

Oh, don't forget history and literature too. Those were tough subjects for me, but very useful later in life.

I call BS.

In particular, you may not get much of a chance to take them when you go to a university in a technical discipline. John

Isn't that the great thing? Don't mistake me for someone who sucked at English and literature, I ended up taking all the accelerated literature courses in high school (somehow...I'm not sure how) and although I found them to be fairly easy, I found them to be particularily useless. I found the technical writing courses far more useful than those involving literature and poetry.

 

[jpanhalt]

I call BS.

It would be interesting to get your perspective after you have been in senior management a few years. John

 

[dknguyen]

It would be interesting to get your perspective after you have been in senior management a few years. John

Read the quote again, and didn't see you say history. I'm not referring to the history part, just the literature part. WHich part are you referring to? I can see how history can come in handy, but...literature...ehhhh.

 

[jpanhalt]

I thought you were referring to both history and literature. I feel both are important. History for all sorts of reasons. I particularly like reading about the history of science.

Literature is important also, as it teaches writing and organizational skills. When you are in management, it is not so much what you know, but are you able to convince others. Often, as in budget decisions and grant requests, the others are from different, competing areas. That is where writing and communication skills come in handy. Frankly, I believe it is better to learn those skills in high school and leave some of the science courses until college, if necessary. That belief is only reinforced from what I have seen of the level of science teaching in our local schools. John

 

[andynerd]

I myself hate English because i have no reason to like it and i have no motivation to do well in it. Only time i got an A was when i liked a book a lot and the essay i wrote was 8 pages double spaced for my English teacher. Got the highest mark in the class wOO!

 

[dknguyen]

I just found English really easy, despite my not liking it. There was no pickle I couldn't explain away in English which I think was the reason. It seems you can always do well in English as long as you can explain yourself, and if you're good at that, it doesn't matter how bogus your interpretations or explanations are.

 

[quixotron]

I myself hate English because i have no reason to like it and i have no motivation to do well in it. Only time i got an A was when i liked a book a lot and the essay i wrote was 8 pages double spaced for my English teacher. Got the highest mark in the class wOO!

yeah...hamlett sucked. I dreaded those classes,looking at the clock and hoping it would speed up. no state should should require them, I have found them the least helpful of everything else. They should be extracurricular activities.

I suggest you take every math and science course you can. ay esecially attention to the electromagnetics and optics sections in physics classes. they will come in much handy later on. Know especially your vector coordinate system, matrix algebra and integral calculus.

I'd go with electrical its the coolest science. I have worked on radar systems, RFID, cellphone communications(embedded software design and network planning).

 

[pitronix]

Well, I'm not a native english speaker but I couldn't dissagree more about literature courses. Knowlege of any kinde comes uselles if you can't tallk and write properly, that way you can express your ideas in more acceptable forme. I have a lot problems writing in english because it is hard for me to remember how every word spells but I understand it fine! So I think it is very inapropriate to tell someone to discard literature course!!!

 

[dknguyen]

Well, I'm not a native english speaker but I couldn't dissagree more about literature courses. Knowlege of any kinde comes uselles if you can't tallk and write properly, that way you can express your ideas in more acceptable forme. I have a lot problems writing in english because it is hard for me to remember how every word spells but I understand it fine! So I think it is very inapropriate to tell someone to discard literature course!!!

Aren't you talking about a technical writing course rather than a literature course? Being able to read Shakespeare fluently and understand it flawlessly doesn't exactly help you understand what a regular person is saying or how to express your thoughts in a coherent way to other people, or how to write for that matter.

 

[andynerd]

Speaking of languages i have French coming up and i was wondering do you think i should keep on going with French after i get my required credit or should i take the time to learn another language like Japanese or Chinese ( big anime fan so i already find it easy once i get started learning it i tried once but i got caught up in school work so i stopped i only knew the basics but know i lost it all )

 

[jpanhalt]

My generation in graduate school had to pass proficiency exams in two non-English languages. I hated it, but have never for an instant regretted it.

My languages were German and French. Today, you would probably swap one of those for Russian, Chinese, or Japanese. A good frined of mine's son did Japanese, and it was clearly the right choice (he's now an immigration attorney). Think about it. If you are in Japan wanting to do business in the USA, would your your best choice be someone from Japan who spoke English or someone from the USA who spoke Japanese? Hence the success of the aforementioned immigration attorney. Good luck. John