Electronic Design Magazine: DIY Electronics Kits Turn Hobbyists Into Engineers

[Chip Fetrow]

This was not my experience in school.  We had practical labs where we  
had to both design and build things.

We even had a senior project where you designed something, then build  
it.

I was really good at building stuff, and helped out many classmates.

--chip

On Mar 3, 2012, at 8:35 AM, tacos-request at amrad.org wrote:

> Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:42:57 -0700
> From: Joseph Bento <joseph at kirtland.com>
> To: andre.kesteloot at ieee.org
> Cc: tacos at amrad.org
> Subject: Re: Electronic Design Magazine: DIY Electronics Kits Turn  
> Hobbyists Into Engineers
>
> Andre,
>
> I am not an engineer. I do have over 30 years experience as an
> electronics technician, however.
>
> What has amazed me is what today's new engineering graduates don't
> know.  In school, they apparently do not handle any physical  
> components
> nor do they breadboard any circuits to observe electrical laws in the
> real world.  They do not handle a soldering iron, and it seems that  
> they
> can scarcely read a schematic, nor understand the use of common test
> equipment.  Old-school engineers were completely different.  They  
> could
> wear both hats as a technician and engineer.
>
> I enjoyed a previous job where I got to build the engineering  
> prototypes
> and helped to troubleshoot when something didn't work as expected.   
> They
> could design on paper, and I got to prove their concepts with  
> prototypes.
>
> Joe, N6DGY