Tech companies cutting costs and staff is the new trend now. They become slimmer and if they hire, then at a cheap price. Microsoft as the big guy in software is barely hiring. But chip design does not look better. With the layoffs of the giant Intel whole teams got dissolved and experienced engineers and chip designers are flooding the market. Also outsourcing is a thing in chip industry. Not to mention AI. What fields are still prospering and have a future?

On the bottom floor of my building I have people from facilities throwing away furniture, boxes, bins, "ewaste", that we currently could use but "can't afford" to purchase right now. Some of this makes no fucking sense. IT will rip the computer out of a product for data/security/because its not supported by them if that product is being tossed out - but the group who designed it can't have the computer because its not supported by IT.

The choicest "ewaste" is resold and its all recycled, but we are talking full working laptops because they are not supported by IT. My whole teams job is working on embedded computer systems for our products and corporate IT is not involved is any way shape or form. So it doesn't make any sense - we are buying our own computers already!

They could get so much value out of letting my team look over what they are tossing out vs whatever cash they might get for a particular computer. Not to mention the decision to retire or recycle something comes independent of those receiving it so there's not that conflict of interest, plus we are the only ones who are doing this work so its pretty easy for them to tell any other employee who asks for a second laptop, "no were sorry you're not qualified to have this due to security risks and IT not working on these anymore; but we have a loaner laptop you can borrow for a while if you'd like."

Things also get damaged when they get e-wasted, perfectly working monitors that are just one gen behind get destroyed, other things like that. It's just so wasteful.

Hi I want to get laptop for ece. I will be joining my college in some time. I want to know if macbook are good for ece. I have heard they do not support many software and some circuit simulators and all that. Please guide

I am from tier 3 college in India. I am worried about core placements in my college, apart from that I have doubt that what do most ECE students do after b.tech. I will mention various career options, select one and share your opinion why?

1. Writing gate and goto IIT or NIT ?

2. With gate settled in PSU or govt bodies

3. Shifting to software by learning languages and DSA

4. Social media development like yt channel and stuff

5. Ui ux ( it is my choice ☺️ because I want to do)

6. Do internships like embedded systems and vlsi and cracking core jobs in on or off campus placements.

I decided to study electrical and computer engineering. I'm in the middle of obtaining my master's degree, but I want to take this time before I graduate to really reflect on my values as it pertains to my career.

I've been to many career fairs and it isn't lost on me how much of the industry are defense contractors and the like. As someone who has recently become more of a leftist, I'd rather not work for the government, military, or affiliated contractors at all. I won't go too deep into the politics and I understand this isn't everyone's thinking but it's mine and I'd like to build my career around it.

So I guess my question is, are there really strong career aspects for an aspiring electrical engineer with those ideals in mind? If not, I'd probably end up working on coding/software, but I'd rather see my options for electrical and computer engineering first. Can anyone resonate with this?

I never learn.

Edit: Happy Monday!

a cool story happened on askelectronics.

Hello, I am a electronics engineering student looking for some interesting topics for my graduate thesis, from the field of embedded systems . After 4 long years of doing projects like parking sensor and lie detectors, I would like my last one to be a little bit more girly.

So could my female colleagues recommend something? Currently I am working with MSP430 microcontroller, but am open to any ideas! My initial thought was to design system that helps you keep track on how are you taking care of your plants by measuring moisture levels in the soil, but I think that it is a bit too easy.

Thanks in advance!!!

maximally flat!

Would anyone be interested in taking a 10 week online FPGA course?

The first half of the course is learning to use Verilog. It covers basic data types, digital design, state machines, creating test benches and how to model your design.

The second half of the class is using the material from the first half to implement designs on a Digilent Basys 3 board using Xilinx Vivado. This will include using the cells inside the FPGA (BRAM, DSP, clocking....), IP Cores and even a Picoblaze microprocessor!

Each week has video lectures with examples, a discussion forum and a lab assignment.

If this sounds interesting to you, you are in luck! The course is offered at UCLA Extension and is now open for enrollment!

This is part of the Embedded Software Certificate from UCLA Extension.

Just wondering, why are companies still hiring analog IC designers. Like once a circuit is designed say an op-amp or a bandgap voltage reference whats the need for more engineers. How many new types of analog IC designs are there? Isn't it just a matter of varying the parameters on the resistors capacitors etc. to match new specs? I can understand why companies hire software designers there are always new features to be added, but it seems to me that in analog IC design you are just using the same basic circuits patterns and tweaking parameters.

EDIT: Thanks for all the replies, I am actually really interested in analog IC design and hope to pursue it as a career after graduation. I was just worried because at least in school we work with a lot of already designed circuits and I was left wondering where is the designer actually needed. Additionally, it seems more and more that everything is going digital except of course ADC's ,RFIC and maybe some Power Management circuits, is the scope and demand of what analog engineers tackle diminishing? As process nodes shrink and complexity increases will the job of an analog IC designer be only for PhD holders?

A friend of mine brought this up, asking about why the next step from 32-bit was 64-bit processors, and not any other multiple of 8 (why even 8?). His arguments were that we won't be needing the maximum addressing capability of 64-bit for quite some time. A 64-bit architecture would also demand compatible components (MUXes, buses etc) which, considering the future, would not work to their full extent and range. By limiting the number of bits to 40, we'd save space on processor dies and thus have more components instead.

My reasoning was that a 64-bit machine's half-words could be thought of as 32-bit registers, thus maintaining compatibility with older code, as well as providing room for optimisation.

But it got me thinking, do we really need 64-bit architecture over the hypothetical 40-bit machine?

I got this heating bedsheet that turns off every 3 hour, but if I turn it off for 5 seconds I get 3 new hours, the manual says I'm allowed to do that, so I'm wondering if I could bypass that timer somehow? http://imgur.com/a/nSsyOtP

Not trying to sound smart or selfish... I'm 22 years old, and work as an electrical engineer at a small startup. I'm nowhere near a professional level, and when I don't know something about a certain subject, I'll always say so, nothing to be ashamed about! I don't want to talk nonsense.

However, you guys might also know these particular types of people that have little knowledge, but they talk like they know everything, and they talk to you like you're the idiot. We recently got a new coworker here, who works as an intern, and he literally tries to disagree with me on EVERYTHING. All the things he says are so mixed up, and he uses over-complicated words that make no sense at all. The other day he even spoke about building our own 'linear capacitor'. Whatever that might be.

I also regularly met people like this in college, but most of them dropped out after 6 months or so... For instance, there was a guy that LITERALLY claimed he built a generator out of magnets that can power itself indefinitely and generate 50 watt-hours continuously (yes, not watts, watt-hours) because FUCK the laws of thermodynamics!

I'm curious on your stories though! Share some of the frustration :) I know you guys have experienced these kinds of people...

**Sorry if this is a bit lengthy. It might be helpful for other Engineering Students in the future as well.

Hello everyone,

I’m a second-year Electrical Engineering student at the University of Waterloo, one of Canada’s leading engineering programs, known for its rigorous academics and co-op internship system. I’ve already completed two engineering internships and will be starting my second year, first semester, this coming January 2026.

I’m posting here because after a recent trip to visit family in Florida, I’ve become very interested in the possibility of living and working in the United States, preferably in Florida, after graduation. To be clear, I love Canada and I’m proud to be from here, but given my personal goals and ambitions, as well as the current challenges I see facing many Canadians (including my own parents), I feel the U.S. may offer a stronger path to building the life I want.

The main factors driving my interest are:

• A stronger and more diverse job market for engineers.

• Better Weather (Ik this could be a downside sometimes in Florida, but it's better than 8 months of Canadian Winter)

• Florida is one of the United States' strongest growing economies, and still has lots of potential for the future.

I will give some quick facts about myself and my interests in Engineering and the field I would like to pursue once I graduate:

• Canadian Citizen (Male)

• In Electrical Engineering, I like and prefer to work and study in the field of Hardware. (PCB Design, Aerospace/Defence, Automation, Robotics, AI, etc)

• Grades are in the mid-70s to below 80s. I will try to get my overall average higher so I can have a better chance of getting accepted into a Master's Program. Waterloo's Academic curriculum is much more challenging compared to other Universities in Canada. But that is no excuse, because there is always room for improvement.

• I’ve completed multiple hardware projects in circuits, embedded programming, and PCB design, both through school and personal work. So I am actually interested in this field.

Once I graduate from Waterloo with a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering, which journey will give me a better chance of starting a new life in the United States and working here?

1. Getting accepted into a Master's Program in the United States for Electrical Engineering, with a focus on Hardware -> Getting a job in the United States

or

2. Graduate -> Get a job offer in the United States from either a return offer from one of my internships, a referral, or getting lucky and getting accepted after spamming +1000 job applications.

While the Master’s path seems safer on paper, I’d like to know if it’s truly the better option in practice. Some questions I have:

Is getting a Master's good for job opportunities and a strong base for starting a life in the United States as a Canadian Citizen?

• Does a Master’s degree significantly improve job opportunities and long-term prospects in the U.S.?

• What are the possible downsides of this route?

• How competitive is admission into U.S. Master’s programs, and would a GPA in the 3.0–3.3 range still make it possible?

• If I were admitted into a mediocre U.S. program, would it still help me achieve my goal of working in hardware engineering in the U.S.?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I would be truly grateful for any insights, advice, or suggestions you can share.

Edit: FYI I want to make it clear, any state in the US works fine for me, but the reason I mentioned Florida is because I want to be closer to family. I also have other States like Texas, Illinois, and Massachusetts in mind.

The skills recruiters are looking for are locked up in some senior engineer’s head - the trick is finding those people and have them be willing to teach you.

If you are only learning from courses and textbooks, you’re replaceable and not getting an entry-level job.