new work as a EE desing engineer is not a delight - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Tranan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2015, 07:57:13 pm
content: I'm nervous, on Monday, the first electronic circuit I designed into production. it is a relay box with 100 inputs at 110 V which goes to a digital processor and alerting on any of the 100 signals an alarm. This monitors the electrical system in a city of 12,000 persons and a hospital. I hope I have not done anything wrong. Power electronics is not thins you do lightly.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2015, 09:25:39 pm
content: Don't be so nervous. Although my productions that went mass rollout "live" were in my software career, I never worried. I love that kind of stress and don't mind working 60 hour weeks etc at the run up to get a job done (Being paid hourly on contract of course!). Unfortunately some of my many project managers found it very stressful, so much that they would somehow have holidays booked just before rollout, etc. One of them even had a heart attack he blamed on the stress of work and got an early retirement.Nothing ever went wrong. Not on my watch anyway

author: dom0
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2015, 10:02:34 pm
content: Quote from: Macbeth on September 12, 2015, 09:25:39 pmNo one ever said your name? ;-)

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2015, 10:09:21 pm
content: Thankfully tis my dogs name. Lady Macbeth (SWMBO at the time) named the cur. And I am assuredly not a thespian,"Hot potato, orf his drawers, Puck will make amends!"Edit: orchestra bit in wiki is wrong

author: sarepairman2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2015, 10:14:24 pm
content: you can always go the facilities engineer route, that way you can move shelves/bang on things/"borrow" tools from assembly line workers and use your electronics engineering degree @ home as a hobby. its like being an advanced handymanpeople are shitting their pants about sales, finalizing a design etc, when for similar pay I get to measure tables and fix broke test equipment/etc without 3 sales guys and the company owner hounding me. the work is a little dirtier and more physical but at least you don't have tons of responsibility... just keep the factory running.. you can probobly be a better designer doing a low stress job because you have more brain power to do R&D... elegance and beauty never came from working stress fully 40 hours a week imo+ you get to walk around alot, use hand tools, talk to pretty much everyone in your work place, actually change things (maybe lol), work on tons of different projects..

author: Tranan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2015, 10:45:07 pm
content: oh I wish that I cud be a handy man, but they hired me based on my academic work and calculation ability. and I am useless with tools.

author: fivefish
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2015, 11:42:54 pm
content: There's always Rev1.2

author: sarepairman2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 12, 2015, 11:58:15 pm
content: Quote from: Tranan on September 12, 2015, 10:45:07 pmI kinda do those two things in an unofficial capacity.. consigliere handyman.. but I can't be yelled at for my technical adviceeasier in a smaller company when you have a desk next to the ownerI feel like everyone working as an official design engineer just gets thrown MAD bullshit at them.

author: Tranan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 12:12:23 am
content: Quote from: fivefish on September 12, 2015, 11:42:54 pmtrue!

author: Tranan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 12:13:47 am
content: Quote from: sarepairman2 on September 12, 2015, 11:58:15 pmyes and lets not forget last minute changes.

author: JoeN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 01:21:01 am
content: Well was it at least reviewed by a senior engineer? That is what I would do. If I was the manufacturer, I would do it myself before investing any money into a design.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 03:38:12 am
content: Yep, it should be company policy to get all released products signed off.Once your finished a design someone else who has at least as much as knowledge/experience as you should review your work and sign it as having been checked.It's common to require 3 signatures on a product release document.The author of the documentThe person who checked it overThe department head who authorized it for release.This means any mistakes have to get missed by 3 people, which picks up 95% of the silly mistakes and is quite good at picking up things that were never considered.

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 06:11:52 am
content: Quote from: Psi on September 13, 2015, 03:38:12 amPeer review. It is the foundation of good science, and should always be part of a solid engineering organization. Sadly, it doesn't always happen.Did you not get enough time to do thorough testing? Is that why you're nervous?

author: sarepairman2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 06:13:02 am
content: Quote from: Tranan on September 13, 2015, 12:13:47 ami got a fortune cookie that said the only thing standard about standards is that they always change

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 06:19:15 am
content: You should always hope that there is a trivial error on release. The business will blow it up beyond all proportion, and then you get to step in and save the day. It's annoying, but if you get 100% right then nobody recognises you. It's only when the shit hits the fan they do.

author: John Coloccia
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 09:21:24 am
content: Quote from: LabSpokane on September 13, 2015, 06:11:52 amThat's what I was thinking too. If you've already ordered a prototype run, tested it and are happy, what's to worry about? Hell, even I do a small prototype run before I go live with a production run, and I'm a tiny tiny operation. It would be crazy not to. Once I'm through that, I sleep very well at night.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 09:45:38 am
content: When it goes wrong you can always blame an inadequate specification - particularly if the customer provided the specification and approved the design.

author: Tranan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 12:13:12 pm
content: Quote from: LabSpokane on September 13, 2015, 06:11:52 amIt dos not exist yet. it is slated fore tomorrow.

author: Tranan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 12:15:36 pm
content: Quote from: John Coloccia on September 13, 2015, 09:21:24 amIt so hard to test thing that don´t exist yet.

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 03:19:16 pm
content: Quote from: Tranan on September 13, 2015, 12:13:12 pmIf you are being forced to ship a brand new design/assembly without proper testing, you have an irresponsible employer. There could be issues that are no fault of your own.

author: ignator
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 04:37:55 pm
content: Quote from: LabSpokane onTodayat 10:19:16 AM>Quote from: Tranan onTodayat 07:13:12 AM>Quote from: LabSpokane onTodayat 01:11:52 AM>Quote from: Psi onYesterdayat 10:38:12 PMPeer review. It is the foundation of good science, and should always be part of a solid engineering organization. Sadly, it doesn't always happen.Did you not get enough time to do thorough testing? Is that why you're nervous?It dos not exist yet. it is slated fore tomorrow.If you are being forced to ship a brand new design/assembly without proper testing, you have an irresponsible employer. There could be issues that are no fault of your own.---------------------------------------------------------Reading this, I don't understand how you can ship any product in the EU or elsewhere without CE testing and any other regulatory agency requirements (quality testing).If a fault can cause a fire (or injuries), your company has liability.I worked on avionics for 30 years, there was always a small engineering build for development, long before flight test deliveries. You don't build 100s or 1000s of something with design errors that must be corrected, unless your profit can sustain 100% replacement of fielded units.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 05:49:04 pm
content: Quote from: ignator on September 13, 2015, 04:37:55 pmI've known it happen too often. Once a director asked me how the testing was going on a new board and I told him it was going ok. I'd only just started testing the first one.On the back of that, he ordered 700 units, then blamed me because we needed to change an IC and a dozen passives to make them work.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2015, 08:06:51 pm
content: Quote from: Tranan on September 12, 2015, 10:45:07 pmQuote from: Tranan on September 13, 2015, 12:13:12 pmand where is your PE? or the appointed/hired PE? you let lose a production design that risk the life of thousands of people and you dont get a PE signed? you should not be nervous, you should kill yourself!but no worry, if your dont have a PE/Ir hat on your head, your company will take the hit if anything happen, but if you do? you should kill yourself for being nervous

author: Pjotr
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2015, 11:35:03 am
content: Engineering in the end is all about this:

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2015, 10:44:26 pm
content: Tranan, are you an "emerging power" engineer , or emerging "power engineer" ?