Red pill me on the different EE specializations before I choose. The main options I'm thinking about right now are: >RF >Analog/Mixed signal design >Antennas >Photonics/optoelectronics/optics >Power electronics
Which ones are on the rise and which are on the way out? I've heard power electronics and photonics are big but not sure. Which might be best if I want to get an MS and PhD into industry?
Christopher Taylor
RF engineers are in pretty high demand. You can work at places like Qualcomm, designing modems, or avionics.
Mason Moore
Oh yeah? I was looking more into space systems for RF, but I guess avionics would be similar to that. It is definitely my top 2 with photonics.
James Martin
Bump, I'm also very interested.
Justin Perez
I'd rather kill myself than do analog/mixed but you can make cash RF is a bretty cool guy Antennas are for rillniggas only Photonics seems interesting but idk how viable it is. Most definitely need a PhD Power electronics: see description for mixed/analog Also: leaving out signals and control systems ISHYGDDT
Andrew Nelson
Bump
Jordan Rivera
Analog/mixed signal and electronics are at the bottom of my already cut-down list t b h. I fucken hate VHDL, verilog, pcb layout..., but I think the applications of it is what kept it on the bottom.
When I first started my EE undergrad I thought image processing, DSP, or control systems would be neat, but then i got a signals/systems professor that ruined that so off the list.
After thinking more on this, I'm just going to focus on more RF and photonics classes and pick one for grad school eventually.
Sebastian Rodriguez
>muh entire career path ruined by one sperg professor All of my professors are fucking shit but I'm still sticking with EE lol RF is profitable and interesting so that's what I'm majoring in personally, although I hate circuits (yes I realize the irony I thought EE would be more fields based) antennas are still a part of it Ultimately I plan on going into photonics for grad but again I'm not sure how viable this field is. Seems like a bit of a niche
Sebastian Rivera
Lots of cool jobs in optics and photonics for people with either Physics, EE or Eng phys degrees in my area lately (Vancouver Canada, mostly medical device stuff in that field)
Cooper Clark
currently doing MSEE in antennas it aint easy bein cheesy nigga
Levi Cooper
Cool I specifically wanted to do medical imaging with photonics. What actually is the field? I can't find anything about actually "doing" photonics, only on what the field is all about. Do you design circuits? Is it chemistry based (I.e. what materials emit/receive light and how) is it fabrication based, signal based, antenna based, I mean wtf is it lol
Josiah Thomas
>He isn't doing optics and photonics >he actually wants to enter a mature field like RF/Analog/Power where engineering is a mundane task >b-but I wanna get a job with the minimum education possible! >b-but I don't wanna think for a living!
BRB zapping shit with lasers I developed for the military
Camden Murphy
c u l8r when you commit suicide via 2 laser zaps to the back of the head
Daniel Gonzalez
Serious question thought how is optics any different from antennas? You're essentially transmitting/receiving a focused EM beam
Angel Clark
dont do me like that mane I was saying I wanted to get a PhD anyways.
Brandon Perry
>banter made by a poster who's not painfully obviously still in elementary school
Felt like old Veeky Forums there for a second.
Chase Brown
While he was doing the common "le uneducated engineer" meme, I suspect he may be right in regards to the fact that those fields are incredibly mature and software aided, though I'm sure since it's a PhD there's still some interesting research during your program, but once you get out you get thrown back into the wolf pit in industry But what the fuck do I know t. last year BSEE applying for grad apps and have no clue what to apply for (thinking optics or fabrication but fabrication seems like shit in the US)
Bentley Hill
Which one should i choose: Robotics Control Signal processing I like all of them, but i have no idea which one would be "best" regarding future need
Liam Williams
It's an easy analogy to make and partly true. Many of the new technologies in optics and photonics are borrowing concepts from radar (e.g. coherent beam combining, LIDAR). However the technologies are completely different when you're working with micron scale wavelengths vs meter-scale wavelengths. The difficulty in developing technologies in the optical spectrum is why these technologies are behind RF. Also there are many different applications and fields where RF is not applicable or not optimal like microscopy and imaging, quantum computing, directed energy, industrial apps like welding and cutting, solid state lighting and fiber telecoms.
Granted it is a field with a lot of volatility as new technologies are constantly being replaced or made redundant. But this is true for any high tech field. Just avoid "startups" and other high-risk employment
You don't need a PhD necessarily. It depends on what you want to do and what you're educational path is like. If you went through a bachelors and or master's in an optics program like Rochester, UCF, or Arizona you can work at defense contractors, govt labs, or less scientific places. I know a guy with an MS in Optics who does optical engineering for a company that makes rifle scopes/tactical optics.
Luke Reed
im currently doing a lot of microwave circuit shit, and if what you're implying about RF and optics being different holds, wouldn't microwave be in the same boat as optics? I.e. voltage waves, distributed circuit elements, scattering parameters and refraction, etc It seems like it's just microwave at higher frequency, or does the game change once more in upgrading from RF to microwave to optical? also i'm (not OP) trying to get into solid state lighting. Know anything about this field? I'm this guy btw
Oliver Collins
The same comparison can be made for microwave. Every part of the EM spectrum is going to have it's applications and technologies and most engineers/scientists will spend their career in one area with some deviation. In my career (4 years since completing master's) I've worked with visible, near-infrared, and mid-IR. Even those areas (especially mid-IR) have their own unique technologies and require a baseline knowledge of the materials and devices commonly used. For instance, if you're working in mid-IR, the optics are all going to made with ZnSe, the emitters are almost always going to be Quantum Cascade lasers, and the detectors are going to be PbSe, HgCdTe, etc. Then in the visible and NIR there's a whole world of glasses, crystals, semiconductors detectors, fiber optics etc. that are used to engineer optical systems.
I don't know a great deal about SSL. That requires a great deal of physical chemistry/solid state chemistry knowledge. That's an area that requires a lot of knowledge of deposition schemes, substrates, material combinations, emitter design, etc. Usually the guys who know about optics or applied optics don't know much about solid state systems and vice versa, so a lot of collaboration goes on. SSL is rapidly maturing and becoming industry-centered. There's still room for research of new materials, but the new generations of materials will likely be discovered through AI/supercomputing systems as the technology is progressing beyond basic physical chemistry concepts and the details that can be conferred with bandgap diagrams.