if anyone study hard,hong long can be a specialist?

[david-electrical]

i study software in university,now interested in hardware,such as FPGA,pcb design,now here is my confusion,if i study hard i one field,how long will i be a specialist?

[AntiProtonBoy]

Studying alone is not good enough. I mean, knowing theory is useful, but all you're doing is boring memorising exercise.

If you want to specialise in something and become good at it, start practising. You want to get involved with circuits? Build some. Roll up yours sleeves and built kits. You don't have to understand everything at once first, just enough to solder, using test equipment, and so forth. Or get a breadboard build simple logic circuits out of discrete gates. That sort of thing. Start with something simple, then move onto something more complex once you're confident.

[jpanhalt]

As soon as you stop studying, you will cease being a specialist when Google updates.

John 

[nctnico]

i study software in university,now interested in hardware,such as FPGA,pcb design,now here is my confusion,if i study hard i one field,how long will i be a specialist?

Count on at least 10 years. Some say it takes long to become a doctor but in fact every job requiring skill takes 10 years or more to master.

[david-electrical]

i study software in university,now interested in hardware,such as FPGA,pcb design,now here is my confusion,if i study hard i one field,how long will i be a specialist?

Count on at least 10 years. Some say it takes long to become a doctor but in fact every job requiring skill takes 10 years or more to master.

Seems so long,but i will work hard.How Dave become like this?so great

[david-electrical]

Studying alone is not good enough. I mean, knowing theory is useful, but all you're doing is boring memorising exercise.

If you want to specialise in something and become good at it, start practising. You want to get involved with circuits? Build some. Roll up yours sleeves and built kits. You don't have to understand everything at once first, just enough to solder, using test equipment, and so forth. Or get a breadboard build simple logic circuits out of discrete gates. That sort of thing. Start with something simple, then move onto something more complex once you're confident.

yes,it is,practice can help you improve.Just like i learn front-end language

[david-electrical]

PCB, FPGA, ARM, DSP are NOT the goal of learning or engineering, they are the carrier of your idea. The underlying wisdom lies in circuit topology and algorithm.
I taught my classmates and teammates in college how to do PCB designing and embedded programing, and I can teach one from zero to entry-mid level in 3 months, from first solder joint to a completed embedded system with custom made 4 layer PCB and fully functional firmware.
However, learning and understanding the design techniques and philosophy as well as math beneath the implementation takes years of systematic college education.

For a hobbyist, being able to implement a simple idea grabbed from hack a day, or for an entry level of product engineer, being able to clone a competitor's idea and re-engineer your own implementation, knowing how to implement is enough.
However, if you want to be an innovative designer that is willing to roll out your own solution to solve an unsolved problem or improve the best known solution, you need the systematic understanding of what exactly happened in your design, hence higher education with proper major is required.

Personally I am a very broad spectrum engineer, I am interested in almost all ECE topics. My major research topic is power electronics packaging, but I also have projects in some other topics, such as signal processing algorithm, power semiconductor application, finite element analysis, compiler design, audio and precision analog and more. I spent more than 15 years on learning the knowledge I have, and I am willing to devote my entire life in ECE related fields.
Therefore, if you want to be an EE, and want to excel at a number of ECE topics, you need a lifetime to learn and polish your skill.

Thanks so much,maybe i am a little fickleness

[Kjelt]

The rule of thumb is that if you do have the required stuff (brains, commitment, interest and time) it takes 10000 hours to become a master in any field through self study and indeed practicing, preferably with guidance now and then to correct the things of which you at that time do not know that you do not know them yet  .
My own experience (besides electronics and software ) with other domains like woodworking and cooking has learned that even around 1000 hours with the right books/videos and other relevant resources, you can reasonably copy what masters achieve, but there is a lack of the finishing touch and especially of creating it yourself, what I mean is that masters know every bit in and out and knowing this will give them the opportunity to think of new ways to do new things, at least the great masters could and can do this.

[CatalinaWOW]

No hard and fast rules, but there seems to be something like a logarithmic relationship going on.  Someone will seem like a master to you if they know 10 times as much as you.  There is probably room in a human lifetime for three or maybe four levels of mastery.  This is reflected in the traditional arts which have apprentice, journeyman and master levels of expertise, with some recognition of profession wide status - a grand master.

All of your time in school plus the first couple of years afterwards are your apprentice years.  Most people stay at the journeyman for at least decade or two.  A relatively small number develop the skills enough to be a master.  A few people (Jim Williams for example) achieve grand master status.

[Alexei.Polkhanov]

Unfortunately for many people in industry answer is - NEVER

I think only 5-10% of all graduates achieve "specialist" level of proficiency and spending more time doing it won't help. If you have not achieved high proficiency in your chosen career path in 5 years you will never be very good at it, also it means it is time to make adjustments before it is too late.

[hans]

I personally think there is no golden rule, just a share of other people experiences.

Assume that anyone can acquire any given knowledge, but a differentiation can be made on the speed of acquiring said knowledge. I think the major parts of this capacity is talent and perseverance (hard work). You need both in exceptional quantities to become "one of the greats" like Jim Williams, etc.

However, probably just like an RC filter the 5*Tau time can be in the order of 10 years. Once you finished main education, got promoted from junior to senior engineer, you will know what level you acquired. But IMHO it doesn't may much about the amplitude or level.

I think that greatly depends on the environment you work in. I personally don't believe working as the smartest guy in the office will do you much good. It's like trying to get help with differential equations at vocational school.. I don't think that will end well.
"if you are the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room"

[IanB]

Count on at least 10 years. Some say it takes long to become a doctor but in fact every job requiring skill takes 10 years or more to master.

Note that this is 10 years of actual practice (i.e. practical training and hands-on experience), not book learning.

So in an industrial field you must be employed or engaged doing actual work of customer value, putting your learning into practice and continuing to learn as you progress.

[Rick Law]

i study software in university,now interested in hardware,such as FPGA,pcb design,now here is my confusion,if i study hard i one field,how long will i be a specialist?

David, sounds like you are starting out, so at the risk of sounding arrogant, allow me to point out something...

From your question, you are already aware of that knowledge itself lasts forever, but the value of that knowledge is perishable.  So, don't seek something that will merely lasts a long time.  Instead, seek something that will give you a good return and can a be good platform for the next.  Expect that the value of your knowledge will decline, and is declining.  Prepare for that.

To be prepared means you are always looking at what the next platform may be.  While you are still relying on the one you are standing, you can pack in a moments notice and move to the next one.  To the extend you can do it, don't wait to be trained on upcoming technology, but train yourself whenever you can.  When your company train you, they will train others.  When you go get the training/knowledge of that next thing before your boss or colleague knew it even exists, you have a leg up against your competitors (in or outside your company).

Not often is a Hall-of-Fame Hockey Player quoted in business books.  Wayne Gretzky, a Hall of Fame hockey player, was asked why did he do so well.  His reply was: "I don't go where the puck is.  I go where the puck is going to be."

Good luck,
Rick