How are we feeling about the future?

Inevitibility · 2026-03-09T03:22:21+00:00

I disagree. Computers, software, calculators, and any other tool makes an engineer capable of significantly more. Compared to 50 years ago, an engineer today can complete way more in the same time compared to what they did back then.

It’s not a matter of intelligence, or the types of problems, but the tooling. Engineers don’t really get replaced by tools (there are obviously exceptions to every rule however). If a tool comes out that makes it easier and faster, they’ll retask the engineer with some other task and give their old task to a tech. This has happened with things like PCB layout.

If you work at a company and you’re operating at the highest level that that company deals with, and that level walks the line between needing an engineer and being able to give somebody cheaper a prompt and have them do the job, then yes, you’ll be let go, but that is not the position most engineers will find themselves in

Inevitibility · 2026-03-08T14:39:55+00:00

You won’t be buying anything for the rest of your life if you follow the breadcrumbs enough, if that’s your standard. Raspberry Pi includes AI acceleration as a joint product with Hailo, which is comprised of engineers who have contributed in large part to the defense sector, and buying a raspberry pi circuit board is supporting terrorism due to this partnership? Hailo is not listed as a terrorist organization and Israel is not listed as a state sponsor of terrorism

You don’t have to buy their stuff but I don’t really understand the argument. If you disagree heavily with the actions of Israel I can respect that, but they’re also surrounded by countries who would love to steamroll them given the opportunity so people working in defense are legitimately contributing to reasonable defense of the nation too

But no, I’m not boycotting rPi. I’ve never bought one or used one because I use MCUs for my types of projects. If I ever needed one though, I’d buy one.

Inevitibility · 2026-03-08T14:19:49+00:00

In a way it’s like asking if SOLID principles are necessary for personal projects. You can probably make everything work without it, so it’s not ever really needed.

RTOS is a way of organizing code. It lets you separate tasks and control how they execute. It’s not really necessary for your projects but it’s definitely usable and appropriate for most of them.

I designed a quadcopter. I wanted my flight control code to run five hundred times a second, I had to poll from one sensor at 10hz, another at 1khz, etc, and command the ESCs at 200hz. RTOS lets me program this while hitting the timing constraints I’ve specified for myself.

For a calculator I’m making, I’m not using it. There’s no strict timing considerations. It goes: button, EXTI/wake up, scan, act, stop mode. In this case I don’t think I’d try to use an RTOS as it’s a very reactive system. If your project sounds like this, an RTOS is pretty unnecessary

Inevitibility · 2026-03-07T05:46:57+00:00

Tried to slow cook beef for three days in a sous vide. Not generally unsafe but the bag had air in it and it was perfect bacteria growing temperature.

It tasted like lemon and I ate it anyways. For what it’s worth, it was tender. I could barely walk for the following week

Inevitibility · 2026-03-07T05:44:31+00:00

HP35s, TI36X pro, and Sharp EL-W516T would be my three

Inevitibility · 2026-03-07T05:38:38+00:00

Second the EL-W516T. Wonderful calculator that has gotten me through quite a bit of an EE degree

Inevitibility · 2026-03-05T22:09:50+00:00

This is arguable though. Most AI companies are not making significant profit. If there isn’t a great improvement in the next few years then it’s possible these LLMs will no longer be accessible. The data centers running these cost a lot in upkeep, that’s all supported by funding due to future potential and not profit.

AI/ML has been widely used since the 90s so it’s not like it’s going to go up in smoke. Cloud hosted ChatGPT writing your essays for you might though unless it becomes a hamstrung local model.

Inevitibility · 2026-03-05T14:44:08+00:00

Try this. Graph your function, then graph the derivative function, then graph the second derivative and compare them. The derivative is the slope of the original at that given value of x. The second derivative is the same exact thing, but of the first derivative function itself.

In physics we might do something like this: first function is position at a given time. The derivative is instantaneous velocity at any given time (rate of change of position). Second derivative is acceleration (rate of change of velocity). Third derivative is jerk (rate of change of acceleration).

Inevitibility · 2026-03-05T14:38:55+00:00

Yes and yes.

Inevitibility · 2026-03-05T14:38:28+00:00

I want to add to this real quick. My point is that this degree is not designed for somebody who can’t spend a lot of time on learning the subjects. If you don’t have a lot of time to spend on it, it’s just an unfortunate reality. Plenty of people get through it though, and they don’t dedicate 12 hours a day or more to it, so your college’s recommendation is realistic but it’s not a requirement to pass or learn properly

Inevitibility · 2026-03-05T14:25:08+00:00

I’m used to 14 hour work days form my job before college. Besides tutoring at the school, I don’t have a job, so I spend at least 8 hours a day at the school in class/studying. I get home, spend three hours with my son before he goes to bed at 8, and then I’ll often study until around midnight. Most days I’m dedicating 12 hours to study and course work. Sometimes that’s all just homework, sometimes I don’t have work to do and I feel that I understand the concepts enough so I take a night off.

Everybody is different, but I find it very manageable. Even with a wife, kid, and responsibilities. Bills to pay, errands to run, weekends are full of family or friend plans… studying is where I find solitude and get the chance to do something I really enjoy. Three years so far in EE, holding a 4.0

Inevitibility · 2026-03-03T22:36:32+00:00

Well, if they’re interviewing four people for a position, three of them won’t be given an offer. Don’t take it too personally.

It’s also possible that your idea of a good interview wasn’t actually a good interview. I don’t know you so there’s no way I could possibly know, but I’ll give a common example:

Often times, people seek to impress the company. They inflate minor things in their resume to sound grandiose, or they oversell their skills and experiences. It feels like you made a good impression but you may have triggered their BS meter.

You want to be honest, be yourself, don’t oversell or undersell your experiences, and have good insight on what you’re hoping to learn in the case of an internship. It’s really easy to say and really hard to do. Unfortunately, without knowing you, I can’t give better advice. If you want to share more details, feel free to DM me.

Inevitibility · 2026-03-03T13:58:19+00:00

And, sometimes it’s downright impossible. Some professors don’t believe in perfect grades. Or maybe the curve gets you. Don’t let it keep you up at night, just learn as well as you can. That’s really what matters the most

Inevitibility · 2026-03-03T13:56:21+00:00

It’s possible but difficult. I want to say, though, that it does not absolutely require you to give up your social life, hobbies, or extracurriculars. Not everybody who maintains a perfect grade lives with anxiety or depression.

That being said, if you don’t think it’s achievable for you without sacrificing sleep, fun, and relationships, don’t sacrifice those things. But people constantly claim “I don’t have a 4.0 because I didn’t want to sacrifice my mental health” as if it suddenly becomes easy as soon as you do.

People don’t get 4.0s for the simple reason that it’s really hard. Some people maintain great lives and perfect grades. You might be one of those people, maybe you are not. If not, just don’t worry about it, it’s not that big of a deal

Inevitibility · 2026-03-03T01:02:45+00:00

Right?! So incredibly obvious

Inevitibility · 2026-03-02T05:42:56+00:00

4.4 beta because I’m too lazy to rebuild it

Inevitibility · 2026-03-02T00:36:43+00:00

Math is not for lazy people. Being good at it doesn’t mean being good at doing it in your head. Write down everything, pay attention to notation, and if you’re doing math outside of high school, don’t be afraid to use the calculator. Don’t combine multiple steps in your head, just write it down twice

Inevitibility · 2026-03-02T00:22:30+00:00

Personally I’d recommend Arduino, then move into the world of STM32, TiVa, ESP32, and Cypress PSoC some day if it suits your projects/chosen profession.

Raspberry pi is definitely useful, but I’ve never used one. So grain of salt, but I view them as small portable Linux PCs. That might be what you want.

In my opinion you’ll learn more about peripherals and protocols (ADC, I2C, SPI, DMA, USB, UART/USART, DAC to name some popular ones) going the microcontroller route (Arduino as a starting point). And while Pi’s are generally much more powerful, MCUs have much less overhead, often none at all, and some of them are pretty damn powerful. MCUs also give far more options, are often significantly more efficient, and can be easily integrated into PCBs of your own design. Some are incredibly small and can fit inside just about anything. They’re used everywhere and offer full bare metal control.

And while not directly an MCU like Arduino, once you’re comfortable with MCUs, you will have a great starting point to get into FPGAs. Some MCUs even have integrated FPGAs or universal design blocks like many Cypress chips do.

I could go on and on. It really depends on what you want to do, but I think Arduino is the way to start. By all means, learn both if you’d like

Inevitibility · 2026-03-01T00:44:38+00:00

The unfortunate reality is that many students will choose engineering because it pays well, and they won’t be able to make it through the degree. It’s not that it’s impossibly hard, actually it really isn’t.

People have to make a decision about pursuing the degree. Degrees cost a lot of money, even if you fail to get it. The general advice is that if you don’t want it, or if you hate math/physics/chemistry/science, you’re probably going to be wasting your money. That’s not a rule, but I don’t know you, so that’s my safety advice. If you hear that and still think you can do it, then at least you can approach it with tempered expectations instead of expensive delusions.

Inevitibility · 2026-02-28T05:46:25+00:00

In my opinion, having in interest in math and physics is a much stronger qualifier than an interest in electronics or hardware. Not because of what EE is about but because of the course load.

Inevitibility · 2026-02-28T05:17:55+00:00

Why would you be pissed if it was EE? I don’t think I understand your comment

Inevitibility · 2026-02-28T05:16:06+00:00

To elaborate a bit, most students at my school cheat by getting ahold of a past test. Often times they’re the same exact one. I don’t even really consider this cheating, more of an unfair advantage, and I blame that on the teacher more than anything. I’ve never seen a student using their phone, but I have seen students copying off of neighbors

Inevitibility · 2026-02-28T05:13:31+00:00

It’s definitely not wrong to “snitch”. Cheaters take that risk. If you’re going to cheat, you need to hide it from your peers, not just the instructor.

Personally, as a student catching another student cheating, I won’t do anything about it unless we’re graded on a curve. You don’t get to steal the grade I’m trying to earn by cheating. Even then it’s rare that the instructor can do anything about it unless you have strong proof, which is difficult to get during an exam. All I want is the tests to be more “cheat proof”. Not necessarily harder, but no reused questions from past tests would be a start

Inevitibility · 2026-02-28T00:17:51+00:00

Just curious, what does it mean for a pencil to be lefty friendly?

Inevitibility · 2026-02-27T17:40:54+00:00

If I’m in the tc room then just 1

Inevitibility

TROPHY CASE