I really need some advice 1

[nrhoades]

I have a BS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University. When I graduated in 2006, I left the school with $80k in loans. I took a job with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in RI, and have been working there for the past 5+ years. The reason I took the job was because of loans, and because the Navy pays for 100% of graduate tuition. I am due to graduate with a Masters of EE in Solid State Design in the spring, and my loans are down to $55k.

I've wanted to be a EE since I was 7. I always used to have my parents drive me to RadioShack and I'd buy those nostalgic protoboards and make all of the projects in the book. I've always dreamed of being a designer, of some sort.

I haven't done any engineering at NUWC. They don't design at all. In fact, they only act as middlemen for the program office to direct contractors to build parts for subs. I have been able to do some C and Python programming for testing radio receivers, but I figured it all out by myself. There is no mentorship, and zero EE.

When I get my Masters degree, I want to move on. But there are absolutely no jobs in Rhode Island, so Massachusetts seems like the closest option. The problem is, will I have to start over? How do I start over with no transportable experience? What options do I really have, and have I ruined the beginning of my career?

I do have a girlfriend that lives with me with a BS in Chemistry, and she can't find a decent job either.

And my most important question is: is my dream of being a successful circuit designer in America futile? The only design experience I've ever gotten are projects I make up my self in my own time, like induction heaters, tesla coils, and RF amplifiers. I have my own RF lab at home with a VNA, etc., but is a "hobby" as far as I can go? I have the ambition, but absolutely no professional outlet.

This has been putting me into a state of depression.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Things are tough all over, but you may be in a better position than you realize. What's important is that there's a money flow nearby, and it hasn't dried up.

Expand your home lab.
Make some test equipment for yourself; stuff you'd buy if you could afford it. Add features that are not available in commercial units.

Make some electronic toys for your desk. They can be silly things, or they can do something useful, but should demonstrate your skill and creativity.
The important thing is, make sure they're out on your desk, with lights flashing and buttons beckoning, when the contractors wander by. They have subcontractors.

Stupid ideas:

Remote controlled paper clip dispenser. Push a button on the near edge of your desk, and a little box on the far corner with no apparent connection launches a paper clip up and in your direction.

Automatic pencil sharpener. An accessory for a regular electric pencil sharpener. Dump a pile of dull or unsharpened pencils in a hopper, and watch the machine extract each one in turn, measure its length, run it into the sharpener, extract it when done, and release it to a tray of sharpened pencils.

Follow-me robot. Add to one of those folding wheeled box carts, a battery powered front wheel that can steer itself, and follow a small box clipped to your belt. You could actually sell a bunch of these to teachers if you could get the price below $100 exclusive of the cart.

Granted, these have a lot of mechanical elements. Surely there's also a talented young ME bored out of his skull at NUWC; work together as an ad-hoc project team. That's also a skill that will be valuable in your future.

I.e., make lemonade.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[SteveMartin]

I can't speak to your girlfriend's degree, but I know that the company I work (north of Boston) for has had a very hard time filling EE positions in the last year or so. Whether your background is appropriate to what we've looked for I couldn't say, but I know there is at least *some* work for EEs in the area. The only thing I know about EEs at my company is that they're the source of 90% of my (mechanical) challenges!

For what it's worth in terms of what kind of EE work I'm talking about, we design control systems for hybrid/electric vehicles.

http://www.azuredynamics.com/

 

[cvg]

we are hiring E,I & C guys like crazy. you just need to look harder

 

[controlnovice]

Look further than RI and MA.....
If you want a job, be prepared to move for one...

______________________________________________________________________________
This is normally the space where people post something insightful.

 

[MadMango]

The solid state lighting industry is always looking for good circuit designers.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."


Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[owg]

The best advice so far: Be prepared to move a thousand miles or more to where the work you want to do is being done.

HAZOP at

http://www.curryhydrocarbons.ca

 

[graybeach]

Mikehalloran's advice is nice. Here is one more: A cat door with a sensor that can open and close the door when the cat needs to pass through.

Meanwhile, try to make the most of where you are. Scoping out work for consultants and contractors is a really important skill. There are all sorts of nuances and details to this. Overseeing their work and extracting quality from them is very important too and very challenging. Try to turn this into a project and design the best way to do it.

I've been doing these things working for a public utility for the last 7 years and still have much room for improvement. Luckily, my job has a large technical component as well. The EEs I work with have a similar balance of tasks, but many of them are not so good at scoping and overseeing consultants. You would have a real leg up on them.

 

[lacajun]

Look for what you have learned in the last five years rather than what you have not. And, you have gained an MSEE on their dime.

Every branch of engineering has multiple paths to pursue so all is not lost. You can plan your life but that plan will change over time. Decades ago, companies made longer range plans than they do today. I don't think as individuals we can accurately or rigidly make long range plans. The world changes too quickly today. Flexibility in life is a good trait to possess.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC

 

[drawoh]

Mikehalloran's advice is nice. Here is one more: A cat door with a sensor that can open and close the door when the cat needs to pass through.

Done!

JHG

 

[nrhoades]

I don't believe I can leave New England.

What will happen if I have to sit in a job that does no engineering while looking for a job that does? I could be here for years waiting and looking.

 

[SAITAETGrad]

Can't leave NE? If you GF has resisted this, you may have to sell her on a lifestyle upgrade. If you both get into good paying jobs, you could always fly back a couple times a year to visit family, etc.

You won't find greater demand for EEs and BSc Chem than in Calgary. Suggest you consider becoming "Alberta Bound".

 

[nrhoades]

She has a BS in chemistry, not engineering. Everybody make that mistake. It's tough to find a good chemistry job around here... or anywhere.

 

[SAITAETGrad]

I did say BSc. Chem...which meant a Science Bachelors. There are a lot of companies in Alberta that hire Chemists to fill roles that are not being filled by Chemical Engineers. They do make a lot less money than the engineers that work beside them...but it is all relative.

She could also consider becoming a P.Eng. through APEGGA by challenging the technical examinations. She would get credit for her degree in so much as it relates to a Chemical Engineering degree. You can read about it here:

http://www.apegga.com/Applicants/Examinations/technical.html

 

[nrhoades]

I loved it when I was in Alaska, so Alberta would work for me. But for her it might be way too cold.

 

[KENAT]

How are you looking for jobs? If you're only looking on online job sites and maybe the career sections of large companies websites then you may be missing a lot of potential jobs.

Start looking instead for companies that look interesting and apply to them, whether they have open positions posted or not.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[ischgl99]

Rhode Island is pretty much a wasteland for most engineering work. Take a look in CT, many military contractors here doing high level design work. You have General Dynamics, Sikorsky, Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sunstrand, DRS Defense Solutions, Goodrich...Goodrich in Danbury CT is looking for EEs, or at least was last time I looked. In addition to that, you have many other industries, and smaller equipment manufacturers, that need design engineers. Check out Trumpf in Farmington, they make machine tools and might need someone with your interests for control systems.

For your girlfriend, there are drug companies here that need chemists. Check out Boehringer Ingelheim in Ridgefield (near Danbury).

Start making a list of all the companies you come across along with what they manufacture. As you create the list, you will see there are tons of companies in the area that need someone with your skills. Manta.com is a good place to start, it is similar to Dun and Bradstreet with listings of companies by their type of industry classification. Once you find one company, list out all of the companies in that group and research.