I am seeking an electrical engineering position that has a heavy emphasis on microcontroller-based circuits. I believe these positions are usually called "firmware engineer" or "embedded engineer".
I don't have formal experience in firmware/embedded engineering, but I do have informal experience. I have designed and built an SWR/ wattmeter that uses a PIC16F72 microcontroller to control the output indicator LEDs. I also studied control systems theory in graduate school.
My report on the SWR/wattmeter is at:
For those of you who work as firmware/embedded engineers, what industries do you work in? Medical devices? Railroad system control/ communication equipment? Fuel cells? GPS equipment? Electronic instrumentation? Factory automation? Others? I'd like to hear from you.
Are there any organizations dedicated to firmware/embedded/ microcontroller engineering?
Which companies are hiring or likely to be hiring in the near future? The major job listing sites (Hotjobs, Monster, Dice, etc.) tend to be skewed towards large California companies and miss wide swaths of the firmware/embedded engineering job market.
What books should I buy? I'm thinking of buying the following books:
- _So You Wanna Be an Embedded Engineer: The Guide to Embedded Engineering, From Consultancy to the Corporate Ladder_ by Lewin Edwards, because it discusses the specific career advice that applies for embedded engineers. Most career books out there try to hard to be one-size-fits-all and also tend to repeat the same old talking points that even the dimmest bulbs know cold.
- _Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems_ by Tim Wescott: This book is dedicated to using microcontrollers to apply control theory, something I've never seen before. When I took courses on control theory, I didn't hear a peep about microcontrollers. I recall when researching graduate schIf I Only Changed the Software, Why is the Phone on Fire?: Embedded Debugging Methods Revealed: Technical Mysteries for Engineersools that very few electrical engineering departments have a control laboratory.
- _The Art of Designing Embedded Systems_ by Jack Ganssle: This book uses examples to illustrate the embedded engineering process.
- _If I Only Changed the Software, Why is the Phone on Fire?: Embedded Debugging Methods Revealed: Technical Mysteries for Engineers_ by Lisa Simone: This book illustrates the embedded engineering process but is packaged as a mystery novel.
- _Embedded Systems Design: An Introduction to Processes, Tools and Techniques_ by Arnold Berger: This book describes the embedded engineering process.
- _Real-Time Concepts for Embedded Systems_ by Qing Li and Caroline Yao
What do you think of these books? I'm leaning towards #1 (for the career advice), #2 (for combining microcontrollers and control theory, and #4 (for the unique approach to explaining the embedded engineering process). Are there others I should consider?
Jason Hsu, AA0II