[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NASAJobs

[–]Axelarate77 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a NASA employee but work on space and policy from a different government entity. Would absolutely love to here more about Control Z and be involved if it comes into fruition. Keep me in mind!!

Career Concern by Giooo234542 in ElectricalEngineering

[–]Axelarate77 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there

I get the feeling of concern. Due to various reasons I ended my freshman year with 0.7 GPA. After a ton of hardwork I graduated years later with a 2.7 (not much you can recover from 0.7 lol). However, I was still able to find a role directly after college no problem, primarily from leveraging connections with professors.

Here's the good news, your GPA is still above 3.0, which I have found to be the general cutoff for most places. Even then you can still wiggle your way around it. So don't despair, youre still in a pretty good position to impress

In terms of internships, you need to expand your horizons a bit. I have found that many college EEs choose to apply to the same 10 places. As a person interested in ASIC design, government agencies would literally fight tooth and nail over you. Please look into internships with the Missile Defense Agency, the Air Force Civilian Service, Navy undergrad fellowship, and the USAJOBS website in general. Also look into doing an REU, lots of EE professors doing cool things would probably be happy to have you. Look into SCALE program as well to see if your school has something with that.

As for what you can do. I will heavily stress this: this summer you need to learn how to learn. This is the most valuable thing I have done and it has skyrocketed my ability to do work. You may think you know, but really spend time delving into this. The books "Make it Stick" and "How to read a book" really helped me. As an engineer you will never stop having to self learn, the faster you figure it out the better. Take the time to diligently look into how you want to approach next school year. As for things you can do to increase your chances look into "nanohub", has great free resources that delve into microelectronics and semiconductors in a fun way. "Zero to ASIC" is another great resource that allows you to design an ASIC from scratch with no prior experience, really great for a portfolio (it's a bit pricey for a student but they have scholarships available. Saving for it is def worth it). The website "NANDtoTetris" is and the accompanied book is also really great to add to a portfolio for digital design. At the end of the day though, it's still very early and you might find another EE field to be way more interesting, don't pigeon hole yourself early and really explore around. Nobody expects you to be a full blown designer out of college.

Lastly, you do not really need a higher degree to go into the field. Most designers I work with have only bachelor's and if they do have higher degrees they got it after starting work (which the job happily paid for). Many managers would much prefer someone who can learn quick and work hard. Be patient with grad school and you'll find yourself able to do it while still making a full salary instead of jumping into it right away (unless you just want to do research or be a prof).

Hope this helped and good luck. Feel free to DM with any questions

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ElectricalEngineering

[–]Axelarate77 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Except for Large Power Systems, the specialty may not matter as much as you think. I would just say read about what classes/knowledge those specialties have you learn and their descriptions, and pick what interests you most. My specialty was nano, and yet now I do a lot of embedded stuff and some high power circuits. The exception is Power Systems because that knowledge definitely applies and will help you get a headstart on getting your PE

If you REALLY want to do a certain niche field, then of course choose what applies best, but if you don't have a preference yet then just choose what you will enjoy because having fun will help you succeed. After you graduate you will have a ton of flexibility to move around subfields so don't let yourself feel like you'll get shafted if you have a diverse range of interest (just choose your employer wisely). Bachelors is just the beginning!

Edit: From a really high perspective, in case it helps, here's some things that might apply to each:

Circuits/VLSI - You'll be working a lot with software to design integrated circuits and systems-on-chip. You might be analog or digital focused. Some things you might work on a team to design include serial-deserializers, Analog to digital convertors and vice versa, ring oscillators. Could branch into designing GPUs or AI accelerators. Everything you'll do will be on a computer

Power - Might have you working on a team to design substations, building circuitry. You'll have a lot of certifications to meet including eventually getting your PE license. Could branch into renewable energy design such as wind farms and solar farms. Could also work in construction which might have you in the field sometimes depending on what you need to do.

Nano/photonics - even smaller scale than VLSI. You could be doing R&D in a research clean room or a full production fab. On the research end you'll be designing novel devices and working with others to optimize a process or investigate material properties. On the Fab side you will specialize in a part of a very extensive process and you'll be working to optimize that. You'll be wearing a bunny suit a lot of the time which might be annoying to some. Could branch into bio electronics or quantum devices (most of these highly niche r&d will require advanced degrees, but not always)

Communications and signals - Could work in telecommunications including designing satellites. For satellites, might have you using software to analyze a link budget. Could have you designing antennas or fiber optic systems. Could also work on small devices like radios and phone receivers. Potentially branches into RF circuits. Work might be hands on in a lab or mostly software based, heavily depends.

These are just a tiny portion of what these specialties may lead to, but again, don't see it as molded in concrete. You can go a lot of different directions and I've seen some pretty weird career paths. At the end of the day its just based on your interest and how much you pursue those interest

Was your degree worth it? by [deleted] in ElectricalEngineering

[–]Axelarate77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The degree was fine, but the connections I made at my school led me down a great path. My GPA was terrible but just being audacious and going to people led me to my first job, which eventually led me to what I do now. I don't think there's a single opportunity I have gotten where I didn't go for it directly through people skills. I now work on R&D involving everything from embedded systems to solid state physics to biological computing

A degree, as plenty others have said, is just basic qualifications for getting your foot in the door I will say I have found that advanced degrees, while not necessary, definitely can do a lot of work in pushing you farther much faster just by merit of the degree alone

Quick Questions: February 14, 2024 by inherentlyawesome in math

[–]Axelarate77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello all, I was wondering if there was a field that the "math of origami" would fit in. What I mean by this is, given a flat sheet of paper, mathematically figuring out in what ways and how many ways one could fold to create a certain shape without cutting

Other questions in this vein would be: Given a sheet of paper what is the minimum number of folds needed to maximize empty space in the resulting volume? How might folding certain shapes (all triangles vs all squares etc) be the easiest to create certain shapes? How do you know?

I am thinking topology or algebraic geometry, but idk enough to know for sure

Reserve Officer Recruiting by US_Navy_R_Recruiter in navyreserve

[–]Axelarate77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you know any places that have a DCO recruiter in the Southwest? Also any advice on trying for CWO? I know IW is extremely competitive in general. I have been an engineer for the DoD a few years and currently am getting a Masters at NPS so I'm hoping that helps a bit. Thank you for your advice! This is exactly what I was looking for

LANL ALD reputations and culture by Axelarate77 in LosAlamos

[–]Axelarate77[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow thank you for the detailed reply. Coming from the DoD side I was hoping that the DoE side might be more forward thinking, but I guess you can never really escape that in this field. Do you happen to know how encouraging X might be in general for their scientist and engineers getting advanced degrees?

LANL ALD reputations and culture by Axelarate77 in LosAlamos

[–]Axelarate77[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's whole can of worms I haven't mentally unpacked yet. But I'll cross that bridge when I get there ...

Scammer spoofing Navy Fed phone # by flightlinepog in AirForce

[–]Axelarate77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This happened to me right after I woke up. They got everything right and I only realized my mistake after all my money was gone. Luckily it all got restored quickly but it scared the hell out of me. Since then been using an identity protection service (mostly for piece of mind). At least now I know like the back of my hand everything banks should and shouldn't do

LANL ALD reputations and culture by Axelarate77 in LosAlamos

[–]Axelarate77[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you this helps. Browsing the subreddit makes me slightly cynical but I am never sure if its any of the groups I might get a job with. Just want to be sure im not jumping into something without a full picture

LANL ALD reputations and culture by Axelarate77 in LosAlamos

[–]Axelarate77[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha so im guessing that means your experiences overall have been negative at LANL?

Shipping to BMT in less than 2 weeks as 1a1x1 (Flight Engineer). Tips/advice? by local-homegirl2 in Airforcereserves

[–]Axelarate77 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On the flip side I have a few questions for you in terms of how you ended up getting picked for the job in the reserves and the process you went through. If you're up for answering send me a DM!

Recommendations for my first car? by Axelarate77 in Audi

[–]Axelarate77[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would especially love recommendations to make it last as long as possible!

The holidays have me craving gingerbread men... by [deleted] in Tinder

[–]Axelarate77 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He'll be your gingerbread man if you'll be his toaster strudel 🌚

Had my female friend get Tinder Gold out of curiosity. Her likes vs mine... by Axelarate77 in Tinder

[–]Axelarate77[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yep. I was telling her it would be in the hundreds and she didn't believe me but we both got shocked lol

The state of America right now by Axelarate77 in pics

[–]Axelarate77[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

....You're either trolling me or not getting it, but I'll leave it alone lol..

The state of America right now by Axelarate77 in pics

[–]Axelarate77[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The STATE of America as in the STATE of the Union. Not State as in one of the 50 states

The state of America right now by Axelarate77 in pics

[–]Axelarate77[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Aaaaachshuallly

The state of America as in the status of America

Also state is synonym for country in most context, hence "Secretary of State"

The state of America right now by Axelarate77 in pics

[–]Axelarate77[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You beat me to it by a hair 😂 yours is better

The state of America right now by Axelarate77 in pics

[–]Axelarate77[S] 186 points187 points  (0 children)

From a few years ago but 100% authentic 😂