Help this veteran figure out the degree best for him!

[NavyBOFH]

Greetings all,

I seem to have this internal debate with myself every so often, which is what made me change majors to begin with. My issue is that I came out of the US Navy after six years of electronics maintenance and repair, and most of it working on some vintage mainframe and display equipment - most of what I worked on would be in a retro museum by now! I loved getting my hands dirty and learning my equipment. I started going to a local college for Computer Engineering but thought "well, I won't ever be interested in VLSI or working on designing new microprocessors or the like... so I changed my degree to a Computer Technology associates so I can learn computer language and programming which I am seriously lacking in.

My Navy training was a condensed 15-month pipeline that reads like most Electrical Engineering AAS degrees - I went through the AC, DC, circuit fundamentals, troubleshooting, digital logic, microprocessors, radar, high voltage, etc... so going back to school to "re-learn" it all just seems BORING.

I have been debating once my AAS in Computer Technology is done to switch over to the EE AAS and just "bite the bullet", but also thought about just finishing my BS in Comp Sci or IT and having something new under my belt. After that, where can I go to take my foundation in EE and bring it to the next level?

My goal is that I want to learn more about PCB fabrication, dive further into circuit design and especially some RF circuit design. And eventually I want to take that all and design something new - even if it's just for myself. My DREAM would be to open my own small shop with some PCB production equipment to do some small-run contracts or the like.

I would love to hear some people's backgrounds and experiences, or educational options. I have always thought of myself as a "jack of all trades" but need to start expanding the portfolio!

[EEVblog]

Does any place give you exemptions for the existing study?
Some places also give some exemptions for industry experience.

[CatalinaWOW]

Other degrees to consider would be manufacturing engineering, physics and maybe even mechanical engineering.

My personal path involved not being able to decide between mechanical engineering and electrical engineering until my junior year at university.  Fortunately the school I went to allowed postponing the decision that long.  Even then I was torn between power engineering, RF and solid state physics.  Didn't ever really decide but got a degree.  It has all worked out for me, and late in my career I was doing as much mechanical engineering as electrical.

There are two purposes for a degree.  One is to check a box in human resources requirements.  The other is to learn all you can. A varied undergraduate program achieves the minimum HR box check, though it may not fill anal HR groups desire for specific curricula.  All knowledge is useful once you get into the field.  You will find your career and designs shaped by the knowledge you have.  Unless you are very specific about the job you want I wouldn't worry too much about getting a degree that will perfectly check an HR box. 

I do recommend taking all of the math you can stomach.  It applies broadly across all fields and ages well. 

[NavyBOFH]

Does any place give you exemptions for the existing study?
Some places also give some exemptions for industry experience.

Dave, I am still trying to shop around but it seems most universities here would rather take my money and make me sit through the 60+ credits I would be repeating than to let me even take half as industry experience. I am yet to find any university that has offered to even let me take the basics away - though I am still hoping someone might tell me somewhere I haven't thought of yet.

Other degrees to consider would be manufacturing engineering, physics and maybe even mechanical engineering.

My personal path involved not being able to decide between mechanical engineering and electrical engineering until my junior year at university.  Fortunately the school I went to allowed postponing the decision that long.  Even then I was torn between power engineering, RF and solid state physics.  Didn't ever really decide but got a degree.  It has all worked out for me, and late in my career I was doing as much mechanical engineering as electrical.

There are two purposes for a degree.  One is to check a box in human resources requirements.  The other is to learn all you can. A varied undergraduate program achieves the minimum HR box check, though it may not fill anal HR groups desire for specific curricula.  All knowledge is useful once you get into the field.  You will find your career and designs shaped by the knowledge you have.  Unless you are very specific about the job you want I wouldn't worry too much about getting a degree that will perfectly check an HR box. 

I do recommend taking all of the math you can stomach.  It applies broadly across all fields and ages well.

I am in the same situation right now. I was offered government jobs that loved my military experience but I ended up in Broadcast Engineering. Here it is a huge mix of EE and IT, with some mechanical engineering in-between. It also plays on my "jack of all trades" but feels a bit dead-ended.

I am hoping to continue with EE in some way or another. I have taken up to Trig in college but stopped since the AAS in Comp Sci didn't want anything further. I know once I go up to my BS I will get some more exposure.

My thought process for switching majors was "I know how to solder, I know how to assemble basic circuits and read/repair/troubleshoot complex ones... but I cannot program a microcontroller or user interface to save my life" so my thought was one day I would be designing my own boards with nothing to write TO the board...

[rstofer]

I am hoping to continue with EE in some way or another. I have taken up to Trig in college but stopped since the AAS in Comp Sci didn't want anything further. I know once I go up to my BS I will get some more exposure.

My thought process for switching majors was "I know how to solder, I know how to assemble basic circuits and read/repair/troubleshoot complex ones... but I cannot program a microcontroller or user interface to save my life" so my thought was one day I would be designing my own boards with nothing to write TO the board...

First of all, thank you for your service!

As I scanned (as opposed to diligently reading) this thread, I wasn't sure whether you were heading for more Associates level programs or if you were thinking about Bachelor level.  There is a HUGE difference.

If you want to learn to program microcontrollers, take a course in C.  Maybe augment it with C++ because behind the scenes, most of the Arduino code is really C++.  Embedded programming (programming chips to do things while buried in a product) will be done in C.  Once you have C under control (if that is even possible), build something.  Use timers, PWM, interrupts, ports, serial comm gadgets and whatever else the device has to offer.  If nothing else, you will get really good at reading the datasheet or user manual.  That is a valuable skill!

I guess I should point out that the military really likes Ada for their embedded systems.  There are good reasons for this.  I don't think I have ever seen a college class for Ada so I suspect you are on your own.

Computer Science is a very broad field from embedded programming, through web design, databases and all the way up to Artificial Intelligence.  Very broad!  Even in a Bachelor's program, they can only scratch the surface.  But that's true with EE as well.  There simply isn't time to specialize.  That's what grad school is for.

If you are thinking about Bachelor's level degrees, think about the math requirements.  Look at the curriculum for your institution.  I would expect it to include Calculus I, Calculus II and Differential Equations as a minimum.  The EEs will add Field Theory, Control Systems (definitely requires Laplace Transforms), Heat Transfer and Physics and all of these use a lot of math.  Field Theory has its own math.  Seriously, they had to invent the math to describe the fields.  "Some more exposure" doesn't begin to cover it!  Engineering IS math!

As to the sitting through the 60 units of nonsense, some of it really is nonsense.  English, Performing Arts, History, Psychology, etc.  Got to be well rounded...

Here's the trick:  Take these relatively easy classes along with the more difficult classes to meld the workload.  Do not just burn up all the easy courses and then have to take 12-15 units of hardcore stuff because that is all that is left.

For the hardcore courses like math, science and your chosen major, assume you will need to spend 3 hours/week per unit outside of the classroom.  So, for a 15 unit course load, assume 45 hours per week doing homework.  That's a bunch!  The total being about 60 (45 + 15) hours.  I have no idea how I made it through working 40-60 hours per week for 4 VERY long years.

Good luck with whatever program choose.  And, again, thanks!

[Dielectric]

If you're really into starting up a PCB line, that just screams "manufacturing degree" to me.  Process control, statistics, etc, all figure into that as well as a bunch of accounting-type stuff I imagine.  I'm not sure from the OP whether you want to be a contract designer or more of an assembler. 

I would look into the benefits of a veteran-owned company.  I'm not deep into it, but there are all kinds of programs and tax credits, and you can often score pretty lucrative contracts because you have a preferred status.  We do a lot of dumb stuff to our vets, but this is one area that I think is pretty awesome.

Also:  LOL @ BOFH.  That was some inspiring reading when I worked in the data center in college as a VAX babysitter.