Future Master's Degree in Electrical or Industrial Eng. !? 1

[johnaeus]

Hello,

I am a new commer on this forum and find it a very interesting one.

I would like to start a topic that may be very useful not only for me, but for many other engineers !

It's about which specialisation would you think or would you recommend a young Electrical Engineer to follow at a Master's Degree level, in order to have better chances on the present and future job market and of course reach a high salary !

I am a landed immigrant in Canada, Montreal comming from Romania . I am Electrical Engineer, graduate my University in '96, my Master's degree in Computer Aided Manufacturing in 97 and have got 4.5 yers of work experience as an electrical engineer from which the last 2 years I had worked even as a chief of a customer service department.

For a Master's degree that I want to follow I find it very difficult to take a decision :Electrical engineering or Industrial Engineering ???

I like very much the Electrical Engineering field (Electrotechnics, Power Electronics, Electrical machines) but I am also atracted of what it's called Industrial Engineering that represents a discipline mixing technical topics with economical and management ones and that prepares the engineer for working more not only with the equipment but also with people in the industrial environment.

Which of tese two domains would give me more chances on the Canadian / North American job market ?

Any answer would be welcomed !

Thank you very much for your opinion !

Johnaeus

 

[johnaeus]

Well fellows,

I should have titled this topic :

WHAT ARE THE TENDENCIES IN ELECTRICAL / INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS!

How do you imagine a switch between this 2 complementary fields?

Still waiting for your answers!

Thanks,
Johnaeus

 

[FaisalAli]

Hello Johnaeus,

I think this is a very valuable discussion and it is unfortunate that nobody has replied to it yet. I have a BS in EE and I am in Los Angeles. I feel that EE and IE markets will be relatively cold in Canada. I did a search on monster.ca and found very few EE jobs all around Canada. Please let me know if you think I may be mistaken here. It looks like certain disciplines in EE will remain in demand in the US however. I am trying to narrow them down. They are in Analog/Mixed Signal Circuits, ASIC/Digital design, Wireless and DSP. Let me know if you find/think otherwise.

I am not too sure about IE and need to research it a bit more. To answer your question, the interests that you mentioned in EE (Electrotechnics, Power Electronics, Electrical machines) definitely seem more promising in US than in Canada.

Since you are in Canada, you would know about Canadian demand for EE much better than I do.

Hope this will help a little bit and lets keep this going.

Regards,
Faisal.

 

[buzzp]

I never really knew (nor do I know now) what IE is all about. If its just economics and management, these courses can be had on their own. However, I am sure there is more to it than I realize. I imagine an IE is a guy who is running a production facility or something like that.
I can't speak concerning IE but the EE market holds a lot of promise. If I were to go back to college I would take a double major in software engineering and EE. The kind of EE work I like (product design not power stuff) requires a lot of code writing. I had a lot in college but not enough.
Given the state of the grid, power would be a good major to have, protective relaying is picking up speed as far as job opportunities. There are lots of fields but just depends on what you like. Sorry no comments on IE.

 

[FaisalAli]

Thanks buzzp,

There is no doubt that EE in combination with Software skills will put you ahead of the game. I was actually referring to core EE hardware skills. According to US Dept of Labor Statistics, SE is probably going to be one of the most rewarding fields for next 10 years. Check out the job outlook at
CS:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos267.htm

EE:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos031.htm

 

[knji]

The EE market is really cold up here in Canada.

 

[johnaeus]

Thank you all.

Finally I'm almost at the end of may Master's Degree in Electrical engineering in Montreal, option Electric Power Systems. I've decided to rest in my field (electrical) and to take a few courses of project management in order to combine the two of my interests.

Further comments are welcomed.

Johnaeus

 

[FaisalAli]

Johnaeus,

Congratulations upon completing your Masters Degree. I wish you all the best. Please keep us posted of your success as an EE in Canada. I was considering to immigrate to Canada but based on the responses posted here by fellow Engineers, I am no longer thinking about it.

Good luck,
Faisal