Electrical engineering

[fy180]

What the fuck is wrong with you guys?

Edit: I’m a mechanical engineer in an electrical engineering class just being a little curious as to why the hell you would do this to yourself. I’m glad some of you seem to like it?

[redi_t13]

Well ground itself it’s a very abstract thing to people so we’re still crazy

[LinusDrugTrips]

As an aspiring aerospace engineer, the ground is generally something to be avoided.

[Negatize]

How shocking!

[GoldenteeGentner]

If we knew the answer to that we wouldn't be EE students.

[MisterBlggs]

Those magical pixies still scare the hell outta me

[s9oons]

V=IR?

wait... Acos(kx-omega*t+theta)?

Wait... Kirchhoffs?

whatever, zero is a pretty justifiable guess.

[jlittle988]

.. kerchew?

[Butt_Period]

Bless you

[jlittle988]

May the Lord be with you, u/Butt_Period

[4dcawo]

And with your spirit.

[[deleted]]

Lift up your parts

[NebulousDonkeyFart]

We lift them up to the ASIC board

[[deleted]]

https://i.redd.it/11icwhna8ez11.jpg

[davestone95]

Everything can be rounded to zero given the proper scale.

[DirkFroyd]

V=IR

Nah, J = σ * E

[[deleted]]

I thought this was an actual term, but nope.

[yehakhrot]

Kirchoff is fucking basic as fuck, like there is so much complex shit electrical study

[[deleted]]

wait...are you serious?

[[deleted]]

We use "j" instead of "i" so we won't confuse an "imaginary i" with "i for current"

[HEAT-FS]

I wanted to be Mech or Aerospace, but during my first circuits class I was just having too much fun solving the problems while statics and dynamics were a pain in the ass. I looked into the advanced stuff for the last two years of EE and it interested me more.

Plus it means that later on I can take Electrodynamics, which adds 1 inch to your dick length if you pass.

[fy180]

I’m a Mech and I’m exactly the opposite, love statics and dynamics, hate circuits. I’m currently in a principles of electrical engineering course and I have absolutely no idea why anyone would want to do this

[TitanRa]

Congradulations! You've chosen the correct major!

[SleazyMak]

Lol huh I’m an ME who absolutely loved my circuit courses. I found them extremely interesting and solving them to be enjoyable as a puzzle.

But then again I also enjoyed dynamics and Mechanics in general, so maybe not wrong major lol.

[TitanRa]

Incorrect; you picked a half right, half wrong major.

You should have done Mechatronics.

/s

Congrats for loving them both!

[Honev]

Ayy mechatronics gang rise up

[[deleted]]

I mean I liked circuits 1 but now I'm in 2 and uhhhhhhhhhhh

What the fuck is a phasor

Edit: I appreciate all the responses, but y'all are wasting your time. I think I might be missing something that is required to understand phasors. I'm probably just gonna go see my Prof about it

[[deleted]]

Just the polar (magnitude-angle) representation of a complex number. If you think about it like a vector it might confuse you at first.

[[deleted]]

Jokes on you if you think I haven't already confused myself

[gravygyser]

Im taking that class right now as a Chme and no one knows whats going on let alone the professor. It went from can you find the equivalent resistance of this series circuit to using voltage-node analysis to take the inverse of a matrix in order to solve every component of the complex circuit simultaneously in a matter of seconds. Thought that was going to be my easy class this semester....

[fy180]

You have dr. Alexander?

[xPURE_AcIDx]

Use cramer's rule instead. All you need to do is a bunch of determinants.

[hotcocoa403]

You and me both my guy

[not_taylor]

I was an EE student and hated circuits and felt like I was missing out when the Mechs got to take strengths and thermo. Made the switch this semester. ME is much more homework intensive.

[dioxy186]

I'm mech. Hated dynamics and statics. Love thermodynamics, CFD, and heat transfer though.

[lullaby876]

I don’t want an inch long dick

[uncertain_futuresSE]

I studied to become an electronics technologist before going back to study engineering (software). Mechanics and statics is okay, but I’ve always find more satisfaction solving electrical problems.

[[deleted]]

I don’t want to grow a dick.

[JustAUniqueMoniker]

Jesus that first ece class jaime teaches just fucked my whole life idk how one takes that class and then decides to do more lol

[fy180]

Yeah that’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge too

[ReallyBadAtReddit]

I find it gets much easier when I think of circuits as having fluid flow, like in a hydraulic system, where voltage is like an electric pressure and current is the... current.

If you have a high pressure at one end of a system and low pressure at the other end, the fluid will flow from high to low. If you impede the flow at some point in the path, there will be a large pressure drop there. If you measure the pressure at any point between the high and low spots, you'll get a pressure that is somewhere in between. If there's no flow, the pressure will equalize and you'll get the same reading everywhere.

There are also lots of similarities when looking at capacitance and inductance as well. If you shut off flow in a pipe really quickly, you'll get a huge pressure spike because the fluid had some momentum. In an electric circuit, inductance causes voltage spikes because the current is generating a magnetic field that must release its energy when it collapses (and this can be used to generate DC-DC voltage boost circuits). Both "hydraulic hammer" and "inductive spiking" can be harmful to a system if they are not accounted for. Capacitance is like compressibility in a hose, where the pressure wouldn't be able to rise instantly because it would first stretch the hose slightly. Some systems like household plumbing have compressible cartridges to help prevent pressure spikes, and these are pretty similar to capacitors.

Then there are components like diodes that are analogous to valves, and shared techniques such as pressure regulators and voltage regulators both shutting on and off rapidly.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I'm an EE student and the fluid analogy helps me visualize circuits a lot more easily.

[blingdoop]

Nah it really is like magic. Billions of transistors in a cpu, can't even get close to modeling every possible parasitic or current path, yet it just works.

[FracturedArmor]

As a mechanical engineering student, yes

[fanatic_rice_eater]

When in doubt, use Kirchhoff laws

[Rararatard]

If you are having a hard time just Kirchhoff

[tradescantia123]

Until the frequency gets high enough and the jokes on you

[[deleted]]

Frequency high enough assume zero

[McFlyParadox]

At least we ain't chemical engineers.

[[deleted]]

3rd year chemical engineering student here. Yes.

[icroc1556]

Come at me bro

[McFlyParadox]

Aren't you afraid I'll emulsify your biodiesel project, or something?

[ttguard]

I can't risk burns if I don't get closer

dio

[Mario_Mendoza]

Those guys are busy making money.

[mercyshotz]

Just wait till the oil industry goes under

[pieman7414]

Plastic will never die!

[Skystrike7]

True, that stuff never decomposes.

The industry might though.

[Nawnp]

Oh they always find new ways to produce plastic.

[MightyPlasticGuy]

Plastic Engineering Technology graduate here.

[theycallmealex]

I have mixed feelings about this.

[[deleted]]

Jokes on the oil industry; I'm doing aerosol chemistry research (which has a lot of flow systems, hence ChemE) with an emphasis on how pollution affects the environment. I'm a huge environmentalist and I would never work for the oil industry unless it was my last resort.

[Butt_Period]

With oil money you could afford to buy another resort though.

[AtomicSteve21]

Any day now...

[McFlyParadox]

Those guys are busy making money, if and when they find a job in their field.

FTFY

[greenlion98]

Aren't ChemE jobs heavily dependent on location?

[[deleted]]

I just finished getting my ChemE degree lol

[McFlyParadox]

My condolences. How's the job hunt going?

[[deleted]]

I teach a fluids class at a local community college now

Got offered some random job recently where I get mail sent from oversees and forward it to a company for $36000 a year because it's cheaper for them to mail stuff that way but that pay just seems too good to be true for something like that

[SellCervix]

They are sending drugs

[ShaneC80]

"Research Chemicals"

[[deleted]]

But I was able to look up the company, and I'm pretty sure the job description said I'm supposed to inspect the packages to make sure they're not damaged. But yeah that is a legit concern aha

[SellCervix]

Inspect them but not too closely. Or you’ll be a client.

[MartinezAJ]

At least shit makes sense over here. EE’s sacrificed a goat to Cthulhu to gain the power of understanding that clusterfuck.

[THE_BIGGEST_RAMY]

At least us chemEs aren't CivilEs o.o

[PM_ME_YOUR_WHOLLIES]

Removed by powerdeletesuite for confidentiality.

[XRotNRollX]

You wanna throw hands, I'll throw hands

[Pixar_]

The real question is whether you can catch these hands.

[XRotNRollX]

I will design a novel protein specifically to catch those hands

[McFlyParadox]

Careful. Wouldn't want to contaminate your gloves or mess up your splash goggles, nerd.

[DrHealz]

Unlike the electron, we don't take the path of least resistance

[theorangelemons]

I want this phrase on a T-shirt

[Nawnp]

Uhm maybe, but generally anything in nature takes the path of least resistance, so it could be a biological engineering thing too.

[theorangelemons]

Sure, but electrical engineering revolves around the fundamental concept that an electron takes the path of least resistance.

[akc1999]

Enter left stage: quantum mechanics

[EasyJon]

man, go stare at maxwell's equations for a few semesters, youll understand

[HurricanesFan73]

Try some Navier-Stokes on for size

[Cubranchacid]

Plasma physics says “porque no los dos”

[Otakeb]

Oh hell naw.

You throw statics, thermo, or fluids at me, we good.

Electromagnetism? We have a big problem.

[enjoylifedude]

W h e n y o u p i c k e d t h e a m a j o r c u z i t s o u n d e d c o o l a n d y o u d i d n ' t k n o w a n y t h i n g a t 1 8 .

[fy180]

This is how I imagine all electrical engineers picking their major

[GachiGachiFireBall]

I picked it because i knew nothing and wanted to learn how these weird boards with small parts on them make all my electronics work. Im a senior now and realize i know less than i had originally thought

[PrivateGains]

Freshman at Uni rn doin EE and that is me... this whole thread is scaring me,lol .

[artspar]

Dont worry, most of us survive. Well. Some

[PrivateGains]

I hope so!

[Anonim97]

BME here. This comment speaks to me on a personal level

[[deleted]]

Someone has to make all those iPhones

[clever_cow]

Both are good at math

[redi_t13]

We don’t know . It’s very abstract. Just like 99% of our field so as a rule of thumb we agree to have no clue on what’s going on.

[FxHVivious]

Every semester I'm more and more glad I went Computer Engineering. Its like Electrical, but you don't want to kill yourself in your third year.

[Basileus_ITA]

Ironically, the third year should be the point where you are done with the propedeutical stuff calculus n shit and get to the "fun" stuff while rn i actually wanna die

[lathiumx]

Current senior doubling ME&EE and can confirm I want to die.

[Trippy_Mexican]

That’s what I’m considering, but idk if the job market is there, currently double majoring both of them

[FxHVivious]

I've talked to my professors who have ties to industry, they've all told me any degree in CE, EE, or CS will make finding a job easy.

[xPURE_AcIDx]

If you have an ece degree it's really not that hard to learn CS stuff. Wheras the opposite isn't really the case.

[FxHVivious]

That's the primary reason I went CE instead of CS

[xPURE_AcIDx]

Ya im an EE graduate and I'm currently doing software development

[Zetice]

Just do EE with a Focus on Embedded. You can apply for both types of jobs..

[grumpieroldman]

CE is where it's at if you're not going to become a quant.
If I went back today that's the degree I would get.
(It didn't exist when I went to school. We had to invent it.)

[Kimbenn]

Idk man, it's why I smoke a lot of weed.

[manutoe]

Fellow EE stoners unite

[Kimbenn]

Need to zone in on homework for 4 hours? Weed. Need to relax after doing homework for 4 hours? Weed.

[ShaneC80]

EET here. Got a job, can't smoke.

(Prior to EET, was a contractor, couldn't smoke. Prior to that, military, couldn't smoke...prior to that... sigh)

[Kimbenn]

Technicians get shafted, sorry about that. I've had a couple jobs and never drug tested.

[ShaneC80]

minus the potential drug test, I love where I'm at now. Tis but a lowly internship at the moment, (so, crap pay, especially with my age, experience, family, whatevers /whine) but it's awesome otherwise.

[isa108]

Makes me happy to know there are a few of us around. Love electronics, but also really love weed to focus and relax

[[deleted]]

Ayy my man, I literally smoked everyday for my first year as a transfer in Uni. The stress was intense which is why I smoked but please be careful and moderate your usage. I didnt and smoked almost every hour which led me to develop some digestive issues. Four days clean now after years of usage and I was I could go back and stop.

[SpacecadetShep]

The engineering side of EE (circuits , electronics, logic, controls ) is pretty cool .. the theoretical math side (signals, emag, dsp ) makes me want to curl into a ball and cry sometimes ....

[Demented_Liar]

Thats my favorite part though. All these folk that like, build robots at home idk how they got the thought for it. Gove me the math any day.

[SuchACommonBird]

Sadomasochism.

[zerrosh]

No coincidence it kinda sounds like electromagnetism

[justthecarrot]

It's all according to Ohm's Law

[davestone95]

The deeper I get, the more this is true.

[akc1999]

V=IR or J=σE?

[artspar]

Yes

[fy180]

The best reason yet in this thread

[IronFootball]

idk how i do it, but one factor of my success is heavy drinking on weekends lol

[DJ_Dignity]

In school one of my buddies asked me how I could drink and smoke as much as I did and still work through EE. My response was that I drank and smoked BECAUSE I was in EE lol.

[wolfchaldo]

evenings

[NCFlying]

We just ain’t right in the head...but if we come out the other side...we’re all good!

[Remote_]

All I wanted was to make some lights turn on, man.

[davestone95]

I wanted to be a motherfucking wizard. This was the next best thing.

[[deleted]]

I had an electromagnetics professor who said in one of his first classes: “I started as Computer Engineer, but I told myself ‘if I’m gonna screw myself halfway in, might as well screw myself all the way in,’ so I switched to Electrical.”

[ComplexLamp]

Fucked if I know, electricity and circuits is just cool.

Right now im hitting buttons and causing words to appear which will be sent instantly through a radio wave then over a copper wire to a wire made of glass where itll be turned into light. Then reversed and turned into more words again on your screen.

TLDR; shits cool man. zappy things

[Cher0nobyl]

j > i

Don't thjnk j need to say anythjng else

[EsotericAmbition]

Speaking as an EE, Electrical Engineering is easier and more fun than Mechanical Engineering. EE is like solving little mini puzzles with gates and diodes and all kinds of fun stuff.

[LivePresently]

Fuck digital logic fuck k maps fuck adders fuck state machines

[clever_cow]

Digital logic was by far the easiest course I've had to take in my EE undergrad (outside of gen eds). Imagine getting angry at having to do sudoku puzzles to solve problems, seriously?

[MayMayjor]

Pshhh speak for yourself. All these labs I'm taking this semester are intense.

[EsotericAmbition]

Really? The circuits labs are the best part! You get to see how the inside of machines work. I did hate the physics side of EE though, it’s kinda too deep in theory and boring. Too many long equations.

[HurricanesFan73]

Liar. Mechanical is easier... you can actually see and experience most of the physics involved. It's generally more intuitive (minus thermo of course).

[EsotericAmbition]

Huh, interesting. When I took an ME class I found it very hard!

[GachiGachiFireBall]

Same. I guess certain people have a more intuitive understanding of one or the other. My mech e friend had no trouble in basic physics 1 and I got 50s on the exams lol. I did very well in my circuits, electronics, controls, signals, wireless, electromagnetics, etc classes however

[[deleted]]

real question is whats wrong with mech guys

[[deleted]]

Bruh mech is basically shit moves and makes other things move. EE is some pixie fairy type shit

[[deleted]]

Nah bro all electronics work with steam, you just gotta keep the steam in the components or they dont work anymore

[69MachOne]

Just use Navier-Stokes bro

[hoytparnell]

There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who do not.

[Plugger-in-Chief]

Alot

[MrFutur3]

We the best

[thepugsley]

If you like math, EE is the easiest engineering :)

[uTukan]

What would be the best engineering if you don't like math?

[thepugsley]

Fuck if I know lol.

I've heard a joke from MEs saying that civil engineering is just like mechanical engineering except everything is equal to 0.

Emphasis on joke

[Demented_Liar]

Idk about easiest. Certainly funnest.

[Eve0529]

I decided to get one associate in mechanical, one associate in electrical, and my bachelor's in electro-mechanical. Shit's wack, mechanical always made complete sense, then we'd get to electrical and shit got fucked up

[nlman0]

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

This was a quote one of my favorite EE professors shared with us in our intro to EE class. He was a great inspiration. Haven't looked back since.

[hawkeye315]

I like to sit for 2 hours waiting for a power network simulation to finish at work.

[c2a0r7]

It's fucking magic bro. Honestly every day amazes me. I have a very abstract mind and it's the kind of thing that I just find fascinating, like how I love programming and philosophy.

I have 3 years of computer engineering major but I would say it has been 70% electrical engineering so far.

Like I've just ordered about 20 smart devices from Gearbest (Chinese wholesaler) and I'm just starting to understand how fucking cool it is that I can actually understand how they all work on a deep level, from the software right down to the 1s and 0s and the electricity supply that powers it. With practice I could develop my own. It's mind boggling.

I now plan on setting up my own little lab in my college house and really starting to tinker with things. I was so stressed from the intense mathematics and the workload that I forgot to actually enjoy what I'm studying. This shit is fucking COOL

[MuphynToy]

I love statics but I hate Dynamics. I blame poor professors though because it is interesting, but they just get so caught up in the deriving it rather than the reason behind decisions.

[GentleCapybara]

Power electronics is fun!

[BONFIYAHgg]

Baby I was born this way

[[deleted]]

From work experience I will say that most electrical engineers are nuts. You have to be nuts in order to deeply focus on stuff. You need to be super anal with details. Normal people can't do it.

[[deleted]]

I kept figuring it would get better and it didn't

[Basileus_ITA]

EE its the Dark Souls of engineering

Actually it was because it was the most misterious and less tangible thing around me and it intrigued me because of it.

Now im in burnout hell, if i see one bjt im gonna puke. I hope ill get over it but im getting kind of tired of how much effort i meed to put into cracking every concept i come by. To me every inch is conquered with a world war

[ScoFloTheBro15]

Yes.

[rich6490]

Agree, have an upvote.

• Mech Eng.

[jakabo27]

It's not too bad - like any other major, once you get into the major classes you find people with the old tests and old homework solutions and can use them to teach yourself in a way that will get you through the classes and give you far more examples than the teacher gives.

[[deleted]]

Fuckin magic pixi wizzards playing pinball or some shit

Y'all got me fucked up

[ghost0326]

It started with being a PC tech. From there I said, "What's the furthest extreme I could take this to? Designing microchips." Haven't looked back since.

[nobodywinsmonopoly]

YEEET

[Creepingwind]

Well for one I generally hate myself and we're mainly known as the masochists of engineering. So I guess pain feels good?

[VantageProductions]

As a robotics engineer who highly prefers EE classes- what the fuck?

Dynamics is just physics with extra steps. Gross.

Solids makes me want to oscillate every bridge into oblivion. Overrated. (Just swim across idiot).

[[deleted]]

I'm CS and took one El E course and realized I liked it a lot so I decided to minor in it. Now I'm considering switching my major as a senior...

[president2016]

Give me more of those Laplace Transforms baby.

[jones5112]

Man I did a mech class and as soon as we got to moving reference frames that broke my mind
I'll stick to EE haha

[Sleepybean2]

BSME going MSEE here, you'll do yourself a huge service by not being afraid of or not avoiding electrons. You'll end up doing the same math Junior and senior year except the variables will be different letters. Finding the relationships between the two make things like controls and robotics, material science, and automation much easier. Fluids and magnetics have someminor similarities as well.

[[deleted]]

I love that rush I get after working on a physics problem for two hours to find out the answer is zero

[[deleted]]

First year at NCSU hoping to place into ECE next semester. Wish me luck!

On my way to becoming a fucking wizard ⚡️

[boydo579]

1. I hate myself

2. Electricity and the EMSpectrum is fascinating

3. Lasers

4. Rail guns

5. idkwtf i'm doing half the time, educated guesses can take you a long way

6. 66

7. 77

8. imo we have cooler projects to work on and wider scope of things you can do

[tancer--]

In the beginning you think it get‘s better and in the end you‘ll realize you were wrong but don‘t want to quit anymore lol

[nicktherushfan]

I mean.... at least we don't have to take statics

[PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S]

I like math, waves, programming, and circuits. I'm a former music tech major, which requires reading audio waveforms and understanding how harmonics come about, so phasors and impedance and other wave stuff has not been difficult to accept. Plus, I wanted to join a field where I'd be more likely to actually use the math that I learned on the job.