Is there a huge gap between a guy who studied thoroughly the book electronics for dummies all in one and the guy who graduated from engineering college ? Apart from the maths and physics part what can the engineer do that the other cannot ?

 

Impossible to generalize, there are those that learn by study and engaging in either practicle examples or actually on-the-job experience and self study, and the Colledge graduate.
I have often come across engineers in technical management positions who have no clue when it comes to performing many of the tasks carried out by thier staff who fall into the first category.
Max.

 

The engineer may be more aware of what end of the soldering iron is to handle; the erudite made the engineer out of a student, but never used that book...

 

Is there a huge gap between a guy who studied thoroughly the book electronics for dummies all in one and the guy who graduated from engineering college ?

Yes.

In fact, that gap is not just huge, but enormous. Electronics for Dummies All in One gives only a cursory, very shallow, overview of a few very simple selected topics in electronics. About the only thing you will be able to do, even after studying it thoroughly, is build circuits which other people have designed. You will not be able to design even the simplest of circuits on your own.

Apart from the maths and physics part what can the engineer do that the other cannot ?

It's not a matter of what the engineer can do that the other cannot; it's that the other can do almost nothing at all. At least, nothing very useful-- or even entertaining.

 

Hello, There.
As a electrical engineer I am required to create elegant solutions while working within various limitations, such as the laws of Nature, the desires of consumers, or local statutes. Every potential answer an engineer devises for a problem must be weighed against the realities of the physical world and other concerns such as public safety, a client’s requirements, regulations, available materials, and a finite budget. It takes creativity to get successfully from problem to solution, all while navigating a tangle of constraints, that become a real pain in the back side!!

 

A lot of my work was engineering, but I don't have a plaque on the wall.
I worked with engineers and carried out the same duties and received the same pay.
As my per my Einstein quote, Imagination is something you cannot get from a College degree!
The list of many of those that left their mark in many engineering fields had no formal training.
Max.
,

 

As my per my Einstein quote, Imagination is something you cannot get from a College degree!

Yup. It won't give you experience, either. I think if I had not been a hobbyist, and then a technician, prior to going for my EE degree I wouldn't have learned nearly as much in school.

 

Sure, but to quote Edison, invention is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. While vision is a part of it, there's a lot of work to do. Great sounding ideas are a dime a dozen. University training and math give you the tools for the perspiration part.

 

Yes.

In fact, that gap is not just huge, but enormous. Electronics for Dummies All in One gives only a cursory, very shallow, overview of a few very simple selected topics in electronics. About the only thing you will be able to do, even after studying it thoroughly, is build circuits which other people have designed. You will not be able to design even the simplest of circuits on your own.


It's not a matter of what the engineer can do that the other cannot; it's that the other can do almost nothing at all. At least, nothing very useful-- or even entertaining.

Dude. you discouraged me big time. So you're saying if I devoted all my free time trying to build the perfect copy of the nanosuit from crysis 3 i wouldnt get very far. No im kidding
I just want to build an AI robot that make cakes from preprogrammed recipes (AI because its supposed to teach itself when something during the preparation is not going that well). With only one task required from humans it is to provide the ingredients. You think if i spend as least 2 years on it I cant do it ?

 

I just want to build an AI robot that make cakes from preprogrammed recipes (AI because its supposed to teach itself when something during the preparation is not going that well). With only one task required from humans it is to provide the ingredients. You think if i spend as least 2 years on it I cant do it ?

How do you think Betty Crocker makes its cake mixes. Just add water.

 

You think if i spend as least 2 years on it I cant do it ?

The reality of the situation is that these days, you won't even get a phone screen if you don't have a degree.

Forty years ago, that wasn't the case, but it is now. To make things even worse for you, there has been constant degree creep. Twenty five years ago, we never interviewed anyone who didn't have a BSEE. Then it crept up to MSEE. With so many people applying for positions, the company could afford to be picky and only hire the cream of the crop. In my last job before retiring, everyone in my department had a PhD or equivalent experience.

 

The reality of the situation is that these days, you won't even get a phone screen if you don't have a degree.

I guess I've been lucky!
In my day, if you could prove you could do the job, you got the job!
Max.

 

@dl324
PhD = piled higher and deeper. Quantity matters to the personnel department. Anything it can do legally to make their lives easier will be done.

 

Dude. you discouraged me big time. So you're saying if I devoted all my free time trying to build the perfect copy of the nanosuit from crysis 3 i wouldnt get very far. No im kidding
I just want to build an AI robot that make cakes from preprogrammed recipes (AI because its supposed to teach itself when something during the preparation is not going that well). With only one task required from humans it is to provide the ingredients. You think if i spend as least 2 years on it I cant do it ?

Hi,

Dont get discouraged, many people do this stuff as just a hobby and get pretty far.

However, taking your question at face value, there is no way in ayche-eee-double-ell that a study based on one single book is going to equal a study based on a whole slew of carefully written books selected by people who have studied for years and usually know what they are talking about, and plenty of lab experience to go with that for intense hands on exposure.

That said, there is no reason why you cant try to do whatever it is you intend to do you just have to keep at it and never give up. If it takes a little longer, so what. You probably dont need it right away.
That could be your starting book, then once you begin to figure out exactly what you want to learn you can go out and look for some good books or search on line to start as there is a lot (not everything though) online you can get for free.

 

You can get to your desired goal by working constantly toward it. If you can, study electronics is some college, but graduation, at least in the United States, is not necessarily a prerequisite for success. In some other counties, especially Europe and certainly is many companies in the U.S. the lack of a degree would be a stumbling block in an engineering career.

You wrote:
Apart from the maths and physics part what can the engineer do that the other cannot ?

You should appreciate that math is a critical part of engineering. If you cannot do the math you cannot do the job. Learn as much as you can! Physics is also important but in many electronics engineering jobs physics is not the most important knowledge set, beyond understanding specifications.











pre·req·ui·site

 

PhD = piled higher and deeper. Quantity matters to the personnel department. Anything it can do legally to make their lives easier will be done.

It's been said that Engineers learn more and more about less and less until they know absolutely nothing, and Managers learn less and less about more and more until they also know absolutely nothing.
When they get together, they build things that explode that were not intended to do that.

 

Dude. you discouraged me big time.

I don't care whether you're encouraged or discouraged; I'm just telling you how it is.

Go build your AI cake-making robot.

 

I guess I've been lucky!
In my day, if you could prove you could do the job, you got the job!

Same here. I started at a time when BSEE or advanced degrees weren't mandatory. Many companies were willing to take a chance, and once you got your foot in the door and showed you could do the work, not having an advanced degree didn't hold you back (much). Now so many people have advanced degrees, you can't even get your foot in most doors without the degree.