OT: What do you do for a living & how did you get there?

Only if it's involved with embedded systems. What is your job, or what are your "duties", and what type of education did you get? Self-trained, college & your major, internships you may have taken along the way, etc...

I'm trying to see the different paths people have taken from their interest in embedded systems.

Lastly, are you happy? Do you regret anything & if so, why?

Reply to
infamis
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Every day, I regret that access to Usenet is uncontrolled.

Reply to
larwe

Ooh, interesting question.

I'm working for a company that does cryptomodules for secure packet processing and key exchange.

We sell chips and boards with APIs to drive them. I split my time between writing embedded code, writing test code, and supporting customers when problems crop up.

I went to school at CalTech and studied microprocessor-based systems and VLSI design, picking up a little software along the way. After my sophomore year microprocessor class series, which involved building microprocessor-based projects like calculators, car alarms, and the like, I applied to become a TA for the classes. When it came time to look for a job the next summer, I asked the instructor if he was aware of any former TAs who had started businesses in the area, and got a few good leads to sharp people well-placed in their companies, and I they appreciated what my background was.

I took a summer job with one of them and I'm still working there 18 years later having gone through assembly language programming, board design, chip design, bringup, chip test, firmware development, software test, windows software, customer support, project leadership, etc.

I think the biggest positive was getting some work experience early on. That job as a TA was a terrific springboard, and making connections through the instructor was incredibly helpful.

Somewhere along the way, I decided to switch from hardware to software. My first big chip design project took three years to get through and teh requirements changed about 9 times along the way, which was a little too much frustration for me. I decided I needed to work one something with a shorter time-scale or that was a more flexible medium.

At this point, I'm very happy with the whole thing except, perhaps, for two things: 1 - The field is pretty esoteric, such that I can't really talk about my day with my family, which can be kind of separating. 2 - Depending on the situation, the hours can be pretty heavy sometimes.

College taught me lots of great stuff about how to do the job, but nobody ever really talked about what the career was like at the time I was choosing a major, and I think that was a real shortcoming.

On the other hand, I've got an enjoyable job that pays well. I can take care of a family of 7 and own a big house in Southern California on it, so it's hard to complain.

Reply to
tbroberg

Yours, or other people's? ;^)

Reply to
tbroberg

Ask your ISP to revoke your newsgroup login, problem solved.

Reply to
JohnH

Your access, or other people's? ;^)

Reply to
tbroberg

I must have wasted 2-3 minutes trying to come up with a good reply to the parent. You captured my feelings exactly.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

Well, since you already wasted 2-3 minutes, why not post what you originally felt.

Reply to
infamis

What I felt was a loss of words to describe what I wanted to say. Lewin nailed it.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

What's wrong with my question? I'm curious.

Reply to
infamis

This is why I'm an author ;)

Reply to
larwe

Take a look at my headers.

Reply to
larwe

The simple answer to the first paragraph of questions is see my web-site. It is at least a good flavour of what I have been doing for the past 36 years and where my interests continue to be focused. If I had any regrets or wasn't enjoying any of it I would be doing something else.

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Paul E. Bennett ....................
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Reply to
Paul E. Bennett

There was nothing wrong with your question, and I am embarrassed by the response from this newsgroup.

I have been working in embedded systems for over 30 years. I did it the hard way, without finishing a degree. I worked my way from bench technician into hardware engineering and then into software/firmware. I left a perfectly good engineering position to go into consulting, and grew that into a consulting company. My hardware designs are/were in use at major medical manufacturers, news wire services, marine equipment, meterological systems and more. I have embedded software in all of those plus others.

Happy? Yes, but a job alone can not account for that. Happy with the job? You bet. I can't imagine anything to do that would be more fun, more exciting or more challenging.

Two caveats. One, I don't recommend taking the hard way into this field. Although I primarily hire engineers with a degree, I hire non-degreed engineers with proven experience, but they are a distinct minority. Get some good technical schooling and intern on the way into a career. Two, love what you do. If you don't, it's just another job.

Scott

Reply to
Not Really Me

I'm a consultant, pretty much for anything my clients think is worth what I charge but avoiding medical equipment and other high-liability areas. So far the business has primarily been in control systems and communications systems. I _can_ do hardware, but so far I've just been paid for algorithm development, pure consultation, and a bit of FPGA work.

Education is a Masters of Science degree, wherein I wrote a thesis but didn't defend it*. I concentrated on control systems in my undergraduate, then did a Master's thesis in communications systems.

I started out expecting to build analog circuits. This expectation started rotting as I was building the radio receiver for my Master's Thesis -- the demodulator time base was just too drifty, and the most convenient more-stable timebase I could come up with was the crystal oscillator in the microprocessor that _had_ been intended to just run the front panel. Several months of hard work and (as I see now) bad code later it was demodulating data at near-optimum levels, while using _only_ 98% of the available processing power (400 baud MSK with a Motorola 68HC11 with an 8MHz clock).

After that I entered the professional world somewhat obliquely -- I got hired by the brother of a friend, who gave me the title he wished he could afford to support. I was supposed to design hardware as my main job, and help with assembling PCs in my spare time. Somehow my "spare time" was 90%, and actual design work was only 10%. But that got me enough lines on my resume that I could get a better job a couple of years later, which in turn led to an embedded systems programming gig that lasted nearly 10 years.

The only two things that I regret are:

  1. Not setting my sights on a doctorate from day 1 -- I pissed away several years of extra, unrelated study getting my BS, and it never occurred to me that I could, or would want, a doctorate until it was too late. If any parents, teachers, or academic advisors are listening: it didn't occur to me _at all_ that a doctorate would be a good thing until it was pointed out during my Master's program -- and by then it was too late for me. If you get a smart one point out that PhD as a possibility.
  2. Not pursuing internships. Once I got toward the end of my too-long BS program I just wanted to get that dang sheepskin, so I didn't try to get one. I think I could have started rising earlier and faster if I'd had a chance to prove my competence before graduation.
  • There's quite a bit of latitude on this in the US -- I could have just done more coursework, but I figured writing the thesis would be good for me, and it has been. I could have chosen to sign up to defend my thesis, but by that point I was pretty burnt out and was horrified that something might come up to stretch the process out.
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Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
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Reply to
Tim Wescott

Ok, you could block port 80 traffic on your router then.

Reply to
JohnH

I live in Melbourne, Australia. I did a Bachelor in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at university, finishing around 20 years ago. My first job was mistake (they wanted somebody who could actually draw), but my second job involved electronics design for (mostly) whitegoods controllers. This naturally led into micros (the now venerable 8048 series).

I'm currently a Software Team Leader at an automotive electronics manufacturer (my ninth employer). My duties mostly involve project management for the software side, reiewing work, managing people, etc.

Yes, I think I'm happy. I seem to be good at my job - or, at least good at making others think I'm good at my job - I earn enough to keep my family quite comfortable, I currently work close enough to home so even I can ride my bicycle to work at least once a week, I can get home in time to spend time with my kids. My work is reasonably secure - my employer is a large multinational who seems to be routing increasing amounts of work our way.

Regrets? Nothing major. Possibly I could have taken the management stream a little earlier, but I'm not sure *I* was ready for it then.

Geoff

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Geoff Field
Professional Geek,
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Reply to
Geoff Field

Warning: A PhD _restricts_ your employability in industry. For example, at a large company, it is more or less stated policy to hire PhDs only into open-ended research positions, of which there are very few. Engineers and engineering managers working in actual product development are expected to have a BS or MS.

The perception is that PhDs are professional scholars, or at least that is how it as been explained to me.

Reply to
larwe

Yes, but had I obtained the PhD at a young enough age I would have pursued a university career, with (hopefully) a nice mix of basic research and teaching.

At this point I'd have to win the lottery. I've spent so many years doing actual (gasp) practical stuff I'm not sure I could stand a university research environment, particularly since my specialization is in control systems which can be pretty remote from the real world. The teaching part would still be fun, though.

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Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
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Reply to
Tim Wescott

So you WOULD have been a professional scholar :)

You know, it's a rather sad and evil thing that you say this (but I agree with the sentiment, by the way). Of all disciplines, one would expect engineering to be the one where university work and practical work come closest. Maybe the tertiary education system really is irreparable.

I've been musing somewhat about what Tauno said (in an earlier thread) about going into teaching. Not quite sure what the pros and cons are. One pro is that I love my field. I love expository writing in general, and public speaking too.

It's not something I can think about for probably at least another ten years. But it's not unheard-of for people to enter the teaching profession at >40.

The question beneath this, however, is one of metalevels - If I become a teacher in a field, does that field cease to be my field? Surely, TEACHING that field is now my field.

Ceci n'est pas un ing=E9nieur.

Reply to
larwe

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