Hello I'm jamie i'm 15 years old and i wan't to be an electric engineer. can any one tell what type of math or any other study i should be doing to make my self prepare?

 

Hello I'm jamie i'm 15 years old and i wan't to be an electric engineer. can any one tell what type of math or any other study i should be doing to make my self prepare?

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus mainly. You'll want to know about imaginary numbers and some physics as well.

 

And programming language, at lest c/c++, and some OS like windows and linnux wouldn't hurt either.

 

Hanging around here and soldering a few transistors and resistors together will do you a world of good, too. Book learning leaves a lot to be desired.

 

And programming language, at lest c/c++, and some OS like windows and linnux wouldn't hurt either.

I like what Bob Pease said,"My programming language is solder."

 

Don't forget about linear algebra, which is largely the study of matrices and vectors used to solve large and complex systems with lots of equations and variables.

 

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus mainly. You'll want to know about imaginary numbers and some physics as well.

don't forget advanced differential equations

 

I like what Bob Pease said,"My programming language is solder."

My favorite Pease quote always came whenever some dipstick accused him of "hating" computers:

BOB: "I do not hate computers, computers hate ME! And I LOATHE them!"

 

Jamie,

Why do you want to train to be an electrical engineer? What are your expectations?

 

The best EE's I know are the worst at math..
Hands on real world experience beats "book smarts" any day.
practice..practice..let out the magic smoke..practice again..

Its like he asked how to be a math teacher or something..

 

The best EE's I know are the worst at math..

That's the silliest thing I've heard in a long time.

Its like he asked how to be a math teacher or something..

His question is quite appropriate. Hands on practical experience is important for sure, but so is fundamentals in mathematics. Try and understand any basic physics without simple calculus. Try and understand EM theory without vector calculus. Try to understand systems theory without Fourier Analysis. Try and do classical control theory without Laplace transforms. Try and do modern control theory without state-space analysis. Try and do communications theory without probability and stochastic process theory. Try to do robotics without dynamical systems theory.

The EE field is quite broad and certainly there are many areas where one does not need much math, but I would hardly say that EEs that can't do the math, if they need to, the best EEs. Real cutting-edge design almost always requires mathematical analysis of some kind. And, even when we don't need any math, we should recognize that the learning process that brought us to the point of being able to solve a problem without math, did require extensive knowledge of math.

 

Jamie,

Why do you want to train to be an electrical engineer? What are your expectations?

well is just some thing that i found interesting and i love math.. the payment is good because i can't stand being a doctor

 

The best EE's I know are the worst at math..
Hands on real world experience beats "book smarts" any day.
practice..practice..let out the magic smoke..practice again..

Its like he asked how to be a math teacher or something..

ya but i hear that if you score good on your math you will most likely to get a job as an EE,
is that true?

 

Jamie,
Others have provided excellent tips, but do you know what you would want to do? For example would you want to be a Power engineer, or do computers pique your interest?

 

Hanging around here and soldering a few transistors and resistors together will do you a world of good, too. Book learning leaves a lot to be desired.

Book learning is a great start, and you can't do without it, but it is not the end of your education. Lab work is required if you want to learn the details of electronics. If you want to know more than your peers the lab and the gurus are where you get your advanced education.

The amount of advanced math required, beyond calculus, is determined on the specialty you choose; fields and waves take advanced math, but circuit design can be done with a just calculus.

 

That's the silliest thing I've heard in a long time.

Most of the EE's I know are older guys and really aren't math experts by any means but they can design circuits in their sleep. After a while the math goes out the window and practical experience takes over..

We've had EE's straight from college that could do all the math,etc.. but when it comes down to actual hands on design/troubleshooting,etc.. they were really lacking.

 

Most of the EE's I know are older guys and really aren't math experts by any means but they can design circuits in their sleep. After a while the math goes out the window and practical experience takes over..

We've had EE's straight from college that could do all the math,etc.. but when it comes down to actual hands on design/troubleshooting,etc.. they were really lacking.

OK, that is understandable, and not silly. I would still say that these experienced engineers are not the worst in math, however. They were probably pretty good once, and just got rusty from not needing to use it often. I guess the question is "worst compared to what?" Compared to the average guy on the street, or compared to a EE fresh out of college is two different things.

Thanks for the clarification. I just want to make sure we are not misleading a young person trying to decide on a career path and trying to figure out a way to improve, if EE is the path he chooses.

 

The best EE's are guys who are good enough at math to do simple calculations in their heads so they know "ball park" numbers in the lab without running to a computer or calculator.

The saddest thing of this generation is the EEs it is producing are computer cripples who have to run a simulation to do anything. The most important thing of all is understanding the numbers so you know immediately when a computer is lying to you.

 

The OP may want to read through some of these responses, also.
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=73119&highlight=good+engineer

and

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=69313&highlight=engineer

and

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=70647&highlight=engineer