I want to begin a career that leads me to research in electronics.

Since I am 40+ and studied Commerce and Business for my Graduation, I found that in India I cannot enrol for a regular course now. So I decided that I would take up the syllabus of the EE course of any University and complete it myself.

However there are two things I am worried about- Sustaining my motivation and the feasibility of doing research, privately:

Motivation:
Once thing that is associated with self-studying is the absence of peers and the challenge posed by peer-pressure, I think is very important to stay motivated, especially that I am a people-person.
On the other hand, since there are no tests to be written, I will also not have any short-run success/challenge. For me the final goal stands as the only milestone.

Private research:
While I am yet to ascertain the challenges of doing private research I am also not sure about the recognition and acceptance of it.

I must confess that my predicament is so high, that I am about to give it up and would be glad if members suggest me something.


Thanks.

 

I don't know if the UK Open University reaches India, but here's the link.

If you email them they may have some ideas.

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/index.htm?KWCAMPAIGN=zed_Brand_Exact&keywordid=ggluk_open_university

Also I believe some UK universities were going to replace the old London External, that you would have had access to in the past in India.

Good luck in your endeavours.

 

That is an interesting proposition and unique in my experience on this forum. Let me start by inserting comments.

I want to begin a career that leads me to research in electronics.

Since I am 40+ and studied Commerce and Business for my Graduation, I found that in India I cannot enrol for a regular course now.

In the USA, such students are often welcomed in our universities. I find it unfortunate that the advantages of that philosophy are not recognized in India.

So I decided that I would take up the syllabus of the EE course of any University and complete it myself.

However there are two things I am worried about- Sustaining my motivation and the feasibility of doing research, privately:

Motivation:
Once thing that is associated with self-studying is the absence of peers and the challenge posed by peer-pressure, I think is very important to stay motivated, especially that I am a people-person.

Participation in forums like this one should help. Try to find specific projects to complete, rather than studying the subject simply from the abstract. That works for me.

Second, once you get to a level where you can help someone else, like a much younger student, scout, etc., do so. The applicable adage is that if you want to learn a subject, try teaching it. Again, these forums are a great outlet for doing that as well as the schools and civic groups in community.

On the other hand, since there are no tests to be written, I will also not have any short-run success/challenge. For me the final goal stands as the only milestone.

Getting a project to work is testing enough.

Private research:
While I am yet to ascertain the challenges of doing private research I am also not sure about the recognition and acceptance of it.

Private research, I believe, is quite practical. However, if you mean to make money at it, that is a different story. Developing a product and selling it are the hard parts. Once you get to that level, it will be very helpful if you can form collaborations with others, particularly at universities. An alternative is to incorporate the electronic invention into another product. As an example of that approach, let's say you develop a new servo controller. If you incorporate that into a home CNC product, it might be easier to sell.

Good luck.

John