Electronic Design Magazine: DIY Electronics Kits Turn Hobbyists Into Engineers

[Andre Kesteloot]

Phil,
you are the voice of reason  :-)
73
André N4ICK
*********************************************************
On 3/2/2012 6:22 AM, Phil wrote:
> Dear André
>
> There you go again, living in the past. Didn't you know that nowadays, it's everybody's right to be want they want to be, just by wanting it ? Wanna be an engineer? Build a kit, call yourself an engineer! Who needs qualifications, especially those difficult ones that need maths? Wanna be an astronaut? Everyone can! - except that, if you understand probability, you'll see that the odds are against you about twenty million to one. Never mind, just win the lottery instead - you're bound to, one day!
>
> [I hope you can read between my lines of sarcasm. I'm with you 100%. Maybe even 110%.]
>
> Phil M1GWZ
>
>
>
> On 2 Mar 2012, at 01:14, Andre Kesteloot wrote:
>
>> Phil,
>>
>> What motivated my posting was the rather simplistic tone of the tile of the article.
>> Kit building may attract youngsters in the right direction, but does not an engineer make .
>>
>> One may or may not learn to think like an engineer by attending college.
>> And I also know of many "engineers" who got their diplomas by writing code and / or using simulation software, and could not draw a circuit diagram.
>> I used to interview engineers who had attended college here, and had a EE  diploma. One of the questions I woud ask them was, " having access to any electric or electronic part you may want, please draw now on the white-board how you would design  a ground-fault interrupter. Just think, then show me how you would go about solving this problem".
>>
>> The majority of candidates not only did not know how  to go about designing one, but also could not come up with a  general solution.
>> The next day, I would ask them again, and maybe one in ten had bothered to go visit the local hardware store, buy of of these devices and open it up.
>> Although they had a diploma, I would not call these people engineers either.
>> IMO, it takes much more than either kit-building or attending college to make an engineer.
>>
>> 73
>> André
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