Hi,

I’m an engineer in its late 30s and I sometime go to high-school talking about my job, my scholar background, etc… I remember being very stressed about my future at that time, so I try to tell them what I wish someone had told me 20 years ago.

If any teens are reading this (or people in contact with teens), what topics or advice would you want to hear from some random dude like me ?

Thanks for your help

ps: I know most of lemmy users are middle age, but there is no way I create account on shitktok, Insta or stuff.

    • FLD@retrolemmy.com
      5·
      3 days ago

      I’m interested in electronics engineering, I would like to contribute or maybe just assemble or repair electronic products

      • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
        5·
        2 days ago

        Cool. I do both high power electronics and structural engineering, a lot of my stuff lives in harsh environments and has to run for months without anyone around to check on it.

        There’s a lot of cool work related to moving energy around without losing it as heat too. Most of that’s in the University labs right now, but some interesting stuff has already made its way into the real world too.

        All to say, there’s electronics stuff you can do in an office, in a lab, or in the middle of forests. Whatever you pick won’t be a bad choice, you’ll evolve over the years to find the thing you’re both good at and actually like doing. Good luck to you!

          • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
            2·
            2 days ago

            Get experience in weird and uncommon areas of electrical engineering. The greybeard technicians, the almost bland engineer who gets put in charge of a critical project… there’s a lot of actual art to our techniques, hidden to all but those in the know. AI will never reveal these secrets as working with those guys and gals directly will.

            Build projects, make a portfolio like a graphic designer might, talk is cheap but seeing is believing. Talk about your mistakes almost as much as successes, bit keep everything succinct.

      • belathus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        5·
        2 days ago

        Oh, hey, this is what I do for a living.

        There’s a lot of math and formulas to learn if you’re designing electronics, but just doing assembly requires a lot less math. There’s a lot of tools to help with the math, though, so it usually isn’t too daunting. When actually doing the work, you’ll need to read through a lot of documentation, like spec sheets, to design your stuff to work with their stuff. When it comes to assembly, you’ll need to know a lot of rules and be able to follow drawings. You’ll need to learn about electromagnetic interference and how to limit it, how to use anti-static equipment, multimeters, hipot testers, how to solder, and so on. Its a lot, but you don’t usually have to do everything at once, so it is managable. Many things, like soldering, takes practice and a steady hand.

        Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions!

        • FLD@retrolemmy.com
          1·
          1 day ago

          I’m not that good at math, but I know some basic electronics like soldering and designing a circuit or read a circuit diagram. I guess I still have a lot to study about electronics

          • belathus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            1·
            18 hours ago

            Don’t let math deter you. Especially if you’re more interested in assembly. Most of the math I’ve done is related to Ohm’s Law (which is just basic algebra) and its 3 phase variations. Only occasionally is it more complicated than that. And when it is more complicated, you’ll have access to tools that help out.