Question for previous EE students

[Dexie123]

Hello all,

I am currently taking alot of college level math courses (as a mature student) and would like to maybe pursue and Electrical Engineering degree. I've taken Cal 1, Cal 2, and am now taking Cal 3. I find the subject matter very interesting, challenging, etc... and have gotten "A's" so far.

My question is this. Although I understand the subject matter, I don't feel like I"m going to retain alot of it when I'm done with the subject. I mean even though I'm passing there's still alot I don't completely understand. When you become an engineer how important is it that your retain the exact lessons learned here? Or is it more important to be able to learn the process beyond the lesson than the lesson itself? On the job do any of your actually use integration to solve a field problem?

Any insight on what to expect would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[skeshesh]

First let me say gratz for being on this forum and knowing to ask this question before you get into later courses - I surely did not when I was in school.

A good part of earing your degree is developing general skills in math/science as well as research. By the time you're in your later courses you will see familiar concepts coming up in math and engineering courses. So I think one important outcome is developing something like an engineering intuition.
The amount of material that will be absolutely relevant after college will vary, depending on your curicullum and what field you end up getting into. The school I went to, much like many other universities nowadays, are much more focused on signal processing, microelectronics and the like. While a lot of what I learned there doesnt quite come into play as a power engineer, I have found it quite useful to know the material to understand the operation of frequency drives, UPSs and phenomena such as harmonics in power system, etc.
The best advice I can give you is do yourself a favor and find an internship or part time position in a design firm when you're in junior/senior year. I unfortunately did not and stuck to my part time job as a tutor and I regret doing that (on that note, it was good times finding out that knowing what the skin effect is or understanding hysteresis curves doesnt make you look like less of a dummy when you haven't sized any conduits in your life...). But basically I think getting some real experience with some working engineers is the best way to know what material is REALLY important. Having said that though, you sound like you're on the right track and since you're already an electrician I can tell you that you will have an immediate advantage over a lot of kids (such as myself) who have to go through the process of learning the contractor side of things after graduating.
Best of luck and enjoy your courses

 

[mivey]

You will forget a lot of what you learn. It will come back to you when you need it and review your material. Until you start applying some of the stuff you learned on a regular basis, you will never have a good grasp on it. Don't worry about it. Just study hard and keep your grades up. If you feel you are struggling on a point, don't be afraid to ask the prof or assistant for help.

The more homework you do, the better it sinks in. But don't forget to have a life too.

 

[Dexie123]

Thanks guys for the awesome advice.

I'm not your typical student really. I'm an electrician by day and go home and study math at night. I love it really. But I also am old enough (not a kid here, unfortunately) to know that I can't grasp all the information and just can't remember all the formula's. The good thing I think is that I totally understand the "why" of what's being explained although I don't think I could turn around and explain it to someone else.

Skeshesh, intuition seems to be a word that is used alot with math so I totally get what you mean when you refer to that with engineering. So thanks. I think I'm on the right path.

Mivey, thanks for your encouragement. That's kind of the phrases I was looking for. I think I will forget alot but think if I can maintain comprehension and keep my grades as high as I can and keep at it, when I revisit it later it should come back.

Thanks so far. Any other advice is much appreciated.

 

[shamsdebout]

For me things didn't connect until I had some real life experience. What you will find is that you can't and are not expected to retain all that you will learn in your curriculum. You will be expected to retain the fundamentals which you will since you will revisit in more advanced courses. I assume you will be focusing on the power branch of EE. You will retain the basics of motors and generators (Electric Machines Course), Circuit Analysis. For me though what I did learn is how to learn, equipped with the fundamentals I could research a topic.

 

[Dexie123]

Ya Shams that's what I was kind of hoping for. After doing Cal I think I could figure just about anything out! hahaha. But sometimes I feel guilty when I research a subject, figure it out, get an A, and then go and revisit it awhile later and don't really really REALLY know it. Then I start saying to myself, "Do I really deserve to be an engineer if I can't retain all that I've learned?". I mean to become an engineer in my mind is an accomplishment and want to earn it 100%.

I think the branch power of systems is what I'm best suited for yes. What do you think? I'd love to do that aspect of the job if I could.

Thanks again....

E

 

[steve66]

EE grads wind up in such a wide variety of careers that it is hard to generalize. But I'm sure many EE grads probably never do an integral again after they finish college.

That said, if you take the engineering classes, you will have to use the calculus you have learned, and apply it to electrical problems. That will show you practical uses for calculus, and it will greatly increase your understanding of calculus.

I think the fact that you have finished 3 calculus classes is a very good sign. It shows that you would probably like studying engineering, and you would probably be pretty good at it.

Steve

 

[shamsdebout]

Ya Shams that's what I was kind of hoping for. After doing Cal I think I could figure just about anything out! hahaha. But sometimes I feel guilty when I research a subject, figure it out, get an A, and then go and revisit it awhile later and don't really really REALLY know it. Then I start saying to myself, "Do I really deserve to be an engineer if I can't retain all that I've learned?". I mean to become an engineer in my mind is an accomplishment and want to earn it 100%.

I think the branch power of systems is what I'm best suited for yes. What do you think? I'd love to do that aspect of the job if I could.

Thanks again....

E

I think that branch would suit you well. Your experience in the field will contribute to getting a better understanding of the theory. I guess the only thing to consider is down the line register for as many power courses for electives: power system analysis, power electronics, PLC's etc that you can.

 

[tshea]

EE grads wind up in such a wide variety of careers that it is hard to generalize. But I'm sure many EE grads probably never do an integral again after they finish college.

Steve

One of my EE friends is the Director of a Homelss Shelter.

The last time I used calculus was in high school...I do use a lot of algebra and trig...

 

[Dexie123]

Thanks all!

 

[gar]

100204-1315 EST

Dexie123:

You will not remember a lot of detail from various courses. Hopefully you will remember some basic concepts. For example: e = K*N*dP/dt --- the induced voltage in a coil is a constant times the number of turns times the rate of change of flux.

If I have a DC generator with a permanent magnet field, then the generated voltage is approximately proportional to the rotational speed of the armature. Same principle applies in a DC PM motor.

Some AC motors are quite different.

The concept of differentiation and integration will allow you to comprehend and solve many problems. You won't remember most equations. But how to determine the area under a curve. or the volume inside a boundary is a concept you will remember. Calculation may not always be the best method. Edison needed to know the volume of his light bulb and asked the mathematician to calculate it. They had trouble and he had a simple practical means. Fill the bulb with water and pour the water into a graduate.

How to calculate the RMS value of a stationary periodic waveform you should remember, but the specific equations probably not.

What does a Simpson 260 meter read in the AC position. How do the results differ for a sine wave vs a Gaussian distribution waveform? How do the probability density curves differ between a a sine wave and a Gaussian noise signal?

For transients you will find differential equations very useful.

What is the truth table for the logic equation
Out = ( ( A and B) or C ) and ( B or C) ).

.

 

[John Paul]

But sometimes I feel guilty when I research a subject, figure it out, get an A, and then go and revisit it awhile later and don't really really REALLY know it. Then I start saying to myself, "Do I really deserve to be an engineer if I can't retain all that I've learned?". I mean to become an engineer in my mind is an accomplishment and want to earn it 100%.

I think the branch power of systems is what I'm best suited for yes. What do you think? I'd love to do that aspect of the job if I could.

I know exactly how you feel. Unfortunately it will only be worse the further away from the books you get. I'm starting to review for the PE and am saddened over how much I've forgotten. Things I once was good at, like calc, I now struggle with. Too much information in my head and my focus is elsewhere, like family and philosophy (politics).

Some engineers I've met can retain what they learned and even better, they retain the jobs they've engineered or worked at. They are the gifted ones OR we aren't following something we're passionate about. Not sure which but I think it's the latter (for me).

However, an EE degree is an awesome accomplishment nobody can ever take away regardless of how little of it we apply.

 

[JoshL]

My experience was that the classes that used the more advanced calculus ended up having to review the related calculus concepts at the beginning of the semester. The professors would try to dive right into the real material, then look at all of the blank faces on the students, and finally say, "let's review" and go back to the calculus stuff. I found that I could get good grades in calc, but didn't really understand it until I got to the engineering classes where it could apply to more real-world situations.

And I have used a lot of trig and even some imaginary numbers since graduation, but no calculus since I have entered the real world.

 

[mivey]

But how to determine the area under a curve. or the volume inside a boundary is a concept you will remember. Calculation may not always be the best method.

We measured the area under a curve in chemistry by tracing the curve on paper and cutting it out. We then compared the weight of the cutout to the weight of a 1 cm square of the same paper. Close enough.

 

[skeshesh]

I found that I could get good grades in calc, but didn't really understand it until I got to the engineering classes where it could apply to more real-world situations.

And I have used a lot of trig and even some imaginary numbers since graduation, but no calculus since I have entered the real world.

I second both these statements. It's really impossible to "understand" math at that level, but, as Josh mentioned, you can still be very good in the course. There's a lot more than calculus coming your way though: linear algebra, differentials, probability, complex math and more to come soon. If the teacher is good you'll enjoy it. If the teacher is horrible, you may dislike the course and (this is the wrost part) they might end up teaching in such a crappy way you don't get important stuff you'll need later.
You don't really use calculus as a mathematical tool, but the understanding of the methods surely come in play. It's kind of like when you learn how to diffrentiate short-hand, you don't wanna go back and use Reimenn's sum, but that's the understanding that got you there.
I'm starting to miss school by the way it's perfect actually, this was my plan; I was getting tired of school and having no real experience so I figured I go work till I really feel like I can take full advantage of graduate level studies. Looking back is really strange as you will find out... I am certain graduate studies is going to be MUCH different than my undergrad experience in that I will be in a position to really know what I want to and am studying.

 

[weressl]

You will forget a lot of what you learn. It will come back to you when you need it and review your material. Until you start applying some of the stuff you learned on a regular basis, you will never have a good grasp on it. Don't worry about it. Just study hard and keep your grades up. If you feel you are struggling on a point, don't be afraid to ask the prof or assistant for help.

The more homework you do, the better it sinks in. But don't forget to have a life too.

They way my classes were structured the math course material was sceduled to run concurrently with power studies and physics where the actual math was used and applied.

 

[mivey]

They way my classes were structured the math course material was sceduled to run concurrently with power studies and physics where the actual math was used and applied.

Even so, I would not call that a regular basis. You might remember it right out of school, but it will soon fade if you don't use it. Now use it for 20 years and it has more sticking power.

 

[weressl]

Even so, I would not call that a regular basis. You might remember it right out of school, but it will soon fade if you don't use it. Now use it for 20 years and it has more sticking power.

You missed my point and attributed something to me that I did not say.

I presented a method that increases retention. That is; if you learn something that it is simultaneously demonstrated and used in a practical application you will retain more than just studying the subject without practical reference or application.

 

[mivey]

You missed my point and attributed something to me that I did not say.

I presented a method that increases retention. That is; if you learn something that it is simultaneously demonstrated and used in a practical application you will retain more than just studying the subject without practical reference or application.

Gotcha. Akin to doing extra homework helping with retention. Absorption by immersion.