Author Topic: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight  (Read 7414 times)

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Offline TrananTopic starter

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new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« on: September 12, 2015, 07:57:13 pm »
I'm nervous, on Monday, the first electronic circuit I designed into production. it is a relay box with 100 inputs at 110 V which goes to a digital processor and alerting on any of the 100 signals an alarm. This monitors the electrical system in a city of 12,000 persons and a hospital. I hope I have not done anything wrong. Power electronics is not thins you do lightly. 
 

Offline Macbeth

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2015, 09:25:39 pm »
Don't be so nervous. Although my productions that went mass rollout "live" were in my software career, I never worried. I love that kind of stress and don't mind working 60 hour weeks etc at the run up to get a job done (Being paid hourly on contract of course!). Unfortunately some of my many project managers found it very stressful, so much that they would somehow have holidays booked just before rollout, etc. One of them even had a heart attack he blamed on the stress of work and got an early retirement.

Nothing ever went wrong. Not on my watch anyway  :-+
 

Offline dom0

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2015, 10:02:34 pm »
Nothing ever went wrong. Not on my watch anyway  :-+

No one ever said your name? ;-)
,
 

Offline Macbeth

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2015, 10:09:21 pm »
Thankfully tis my dogs name. Lady Macbeth (SWMBO at the time) named the cur. And I am assuredly not a thespian,  "Hot potato, orf his drawers, Puck will make amends!"

Edit: orchestra bit in wiki is wrong
« Last Edit: September 12, 2015, 10:17:24 pm by Macbeth »
 

Offline sarepairman2

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2015, 10:14:24 pm »
you can always go the facilities engineer route, that way you can move shelves/bang on things/"borrow" tools from assembly line workers and use your electronics engineering degree @ home as a hobby. its like being an advanced handyman

people are shitting their pants about sales, finalizing a design etc, when for similar pay I get to measure tables and fix broke test equipment/etc without 3 sales guys and the company owner hounding me. the work is a little dirtier and more physical but at least you don't have tons of responsibility... just keep the factory running.. you can probobly be a better designer doing a low stress job because you have more brain power to do R&D... elegance and beauty never came from working stress fully 40 hours a week imo

+ you get to walk around alot, use hand tools, talk to pretty much everyone in your work place, actually change things (maybe lol), work on tons of different projects..
« Last Edit: September 12, 2015, 10:22:20 pm by sarepairman2 »
 

Offline TrananTopic starter

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #5 on: September 12, 2015, 10:45:07 pm »
oh I wish that I cud be a handy man, but they hired me based on my academic work and calculation ability. and I am useless with tools.   
 

Offline fivefish

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #6 on: September 12, 2015, 11:42:54 pm »
There's always Rev1.2 :)
 

Offline sarepairman2

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #7 on: September 12, 2015, 11:58:15 pm »
oh I wish that I cud be a handy man, but they hired me based on my academic work and calculation ability. and I am useless with tools.

I kinda do those two things in an unofficial capacity.. consigliere handyman.. but I can't be yelled at for my technical advice  :-+ easier in a smaller company when you have a desk next to the owner

I feel like everyone working as an official design engineer just gets thrown MAD bullshit at them.  :palm:
« Last Edit: September 13, 2015, 12:01:09 am by sarepairman2 »
 

Offline TrananTopic starter

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #8 on: September 13, 2015, 12:12:23 am »
 

Offline TrananTopic starter

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #9 on: September 13, 2015, 12:13:47 am »
oh I wish that I cud be a handy man, but they hired me based on my academic work and calculation ability. and I am useless with tools.

I kinda do those two things in an unofficial capacity.. consigliere handyman.. but I can't be yelled at for my technical advice  :-+ easier in a smaller company when you have a desk next to the owner

I feel like everyone working as an official design engineer just gets thrown MAD bullshit at them.  :palm:

yes and lets not forget last minute changes. 
 

Offline JoeN

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #10 on: September 13, 2015, 01:21:01 am »
Well was it at least reviewed by a senior engineer?  That is what I would do.  If I was the manufacturer, I would do it myself before investing any money into a design.
Have You Been Triggered Today?
 

Online Psi

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #11 on: September 13, 2015, 03:38:12 am »
Yep, it should be company policy to get all released products signed off.

Once your finished a design someone else who has at least as much as knowledge/experience as you should review your work and sign it as having been checked.

It's common to require 3 signatures on a product release document.
The author of the document
The person who checked it over
The department head who authorized it for release.

This means any mistakes have to get missed by 3 people, which picks up 95% of the silly mistakes and is quite good at picking up things that were never considered.

 
« Last Edit: September 13, 2015, 03:40:31 am by Psi »
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Offline LabSpokane

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #12 on: September 13, 2015, 06:11:52 am »
Yep, it should be company policy to get all released products signed off.

Once your finished a design someone else who has at least as much as knowledge/experience as you should review your work and sign it as having been checked.

It's common to require 3 signatures on a product release document.
The author of the document
The person who checked it over
The department head who authorized it for release.

This means any mistakes have to get missed by 3 people, which picks up 95% of the silly mistakes and is quite good at picking up things that were never considered.

Peer review. It is the foundation of good science, and should always be part of a solid engineering organization. Sadly, it doesn't always happen.

Did you not get enough time to do thorough testing?  Is that why you're nervous?
 

Offline sarepairman2

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #13 on: September 13, 2015, 06:13:02 am »
oh I wish that I cud be a handy man, but they hired me based on my academic work and calculation ability. and I am useless with tools.

I kinda do those two things in an unofficial capacity.. consigliere handyman.. but I can't be yelled at for my technical advice  :-+ easier in a smaller company when you have a desk next to the owner

I feel like everyone working as an official design engineer just gets thrown MAD bullshit at them.  :palm:

yes and lets not forget last minute changes.

i got a fortune cookie that said the only thing standard about standards is that they always change
 

Offline Macbeth

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #14 on: September 13, 2015, 06:19:15 am »
You should always hope that there is a trivial error on release. The business will blow it up beyond all proportion, and then you get to step in and save the day. It's annoying, but if you get 100% right then nobody recognises you. It's only when the shit hits the fan they do. :palm:
 

Offline John Coloccia

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #15 on: September 13, 2015, 09:21:24 am »
Did you not get enough time to do thorough testing?  Is that why you're nervous?

That's what I was thinking too.  If you've already ordered a prototype run, tested it and are happy, what's to worry about? Hell, even I do a small prototype run before I go live with a production run, and I'm a tiny tiny operation. It would be crazy not to.  Once I'm through that, I sleep very well at night.  :)
 

Offline tggzzz

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #16 on: September 13, 2015, 09:45:38 am »
When it goes wrong you can always blame an inadequate specification - particularly if the customer provided the specification and approved the design.
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
Glider pilot's aphorism: "there is no substitute for span". Retort: "There is a substitute: skill+imagination. But you can buy span".
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Offline TrananTopic starter

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #17 on: September 13, 2015, 12:13:12 pm »
Yep, it should be company policy to get all released products signed off.

Once your finished a design someone else who has at least as much as knowledge/experience as you should review your work and sign it as having been checked.

It's common to require 3 signatures on a product release document.
The author of the document
The person who checked it over
The department head who authorized it for release.

This means any mistakes have to get missed by 3 people, which picks up 95% of the silly mistakes and is quite good at picking up things that were never considered.

Peer review. It is the foundation of good science, and should always be part of a solid engineering organization. Sadly, it doesn't always happen.

Did you not get enough time to do thorough testing?  Is that why you're nervous?

It dos not exist yet. it is slated fore tomorrow.
 

Offline TrananTopic starter

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #18 on: September 13, 2015, 12:15:36 pm »
Did you not get enough time to do thorough testing?  Is that why you're nervous?

That's what I was thinking too.  If you've already ordered a prototype run, tested it and are happy, what's to worry about? Hell, even I do a small prototype run before I go live with a production run, and I'm a tiny tiny operation. It would be crazy not to.  Once I'm through that, I sleep very well at night.  :)

It so hard to test thing that don´t exist yet.
 

Offline LabSpokane

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #19 on: September 13, 2015, 03:19:16 pm »
Yep, it should be company policy to get all released products signed off.

Once your finished a design someone else who has at least as much as knowledge/experience as you should review your work and sign it as having been checked.

It's common to require 3 signatures on a product release document.
The author of the document
The person who checked it over
The department head who authorized it for release.

This means any mistakes have to get missed by 3 people, which picks up 95% of the silly mistakes and is quite good at picking up things that were never considered.

Peer review. It is the foundation of good science, and should always be part of a solid engineering organization. Sadly, it doesn't always happen.

Did you not get enough time to do thorough testing?  Is that why you're nervous?

It dos not exist yet. it is slated fore tomorrow.

If you are being forced to ship a brand new design/assembly without proper testing, you have an irresponsible employer. There could be issues that are no fault of your own.
 

Offline ignator

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #20 on: September 13, 2015, 04:37:55 pm »
Quote from: LabSpokane on Today at 10:19:16 AM>Quote from: Tranan on Today at 07:13:12 AM>Quote from: LabSpokane on Today at 01:11:52 AM>Quote from: Psi on Yesterday at 10:38:12 PM
Yep, it should be company policy to get all released products signed off.

Once your finished a design someone else who has at least as much as knowledge/experience as you should review your work and sign it as having been checked.

It's common to require 3 signatures on a product release document.
The author of the document
The person who checked it over
The department head who authorized it for release.

This means any mistakes have to get missed by 3 people, which picks up 95% of the silly mistakes and is quite good at picking up things that were never considered.

Peer review. It is the foundation of good science, and should always be part of a solid engineering organization. Sadly, it doesn't always happen.

Did you not get enough time to do thorough testing?  Is that why you're nervous?

It dos not exist yet. it is slated fore tomorrow.

If you are being forced to ship a brand new design/assembly without proper testing, you have an irresponsible employer. There could be issues that are no fault of your own.

---------------------------------------------------------



Reading this, I don't understand how you can ship any product in the EU or elsewhere without CE testing and any other regulatory agency requirements (quality testing).
If a fault can cause a fire (or injuries), your company has liability.
I worked on avionics for 30 years, there was always a small engineering build for development, long before flight test deliveries. You don't build 100s or 1000s of something with design errors that must be corrected, unless your profit can sustain 100% replacement of fielded units.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2015, 04:39:28 pm by ignator »
 

Offline KJDS

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #21 on: September 13, 2015, 05:49:04 pm »
hp?topic=55043.msg753855#msg753855]
Reading this, I don't understand how you can ship any product in the EU or elsewhere without CE testing and any other regulatory agency requirements (quality testing).
If a fault can cause a fire (or injuries), your company has liability.
I worked on avionics for 30 years, there was always a small engineering build for development, long before flight test deliveries. You don't build 100s or 1000s of something with design errors that must be corrected, unless your profit can sustain 100% replacement of fielded units.

I've known it happen too often. Once a director asked me how the testing was going on a new board and I told him it was going ok. I'd only just started testing the first one.

On the back of that, he ordered 700 units, then blamed me because we needed to change an IC and a dozen passives to make them work.

Offline Mechatrommer

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #22 on: September 13, 2015, 08:06:51 pm »
oh I wish that I cud be a handy man, but they hired me based on my academic work and calculation ability. and I am useless with tools.   

Yep, it should be company policy to get all released products signed off.
Peer review. It is the foundation of good science, and should always be part of a solid engineering organization. Sadly, it doesn't always happen.
It dos not exist yet. it is slated fore tomorrow.

and where is your PE? or the appointed/hired PE? you let lose a production design that risk the life of thousands of people and you dont get a PE signed? you should not be nervous, you should kill yourself! :P but no worry, if your dont have a PE/Ir hat on your head, your company will take the hit if anything happen, but if you do? you should kill yourself for being nervous :P
Nature: Evolution and the Illusion of Randomness (Stephen L. Talbott): Its now indisputable that... organisms “expertise” contextualizes its genome, and its nonsense to say that these powers are under the control of the genome being contextualized - Barbara McClintock
 

Offline Pjotr

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #23 on: September 14, 2015, 11:35:03 am »
Engineering in the end is all about this:

 

Online Bud

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Re: new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight
« Reply #24 on: September 14, 2015, 10:44:26 pm »
Tranan, are you an "emerging power" engineer , or emerging "power engineer" ?
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