Supplemental Education Towards EE Degree

[Super Sparky]

----Long Post, Worth The Read...Help A Greenhorn out...----

I'm a Second year Apprentice looking for additional education that will supplement my career in the electrical industry.

I've been able to find answers to most of my questions by reading through this particular forum from page 1 all the way to the last, but i still have some questions regarding education. This is my first post.


1)
I've noticed Mike Holt has got a grip of textbooks on subjects ranging from business management to exam preparation. They're pretty damn pricey, but after having checked out this website and having already learned a lot from that alone, I'm just about convinced they're worth the money.
I was curious if any of you guys out there could give me your two cents on the quality of these books, and whether or not you think they're the best route for me to go. I'm looking to learn as much as i can about Electrical Theory first, and after i tackle that i plan on looking into business management, estimating, and all that other voodoo. The way I figure I'll Be Ahead of the Game if i master that as best i can now.


2)
I'd Like to learn motor controls. I Spent pretty much the entirety of my first year working an underground job up in riverside county. Seeing as how i was the youngest guy on the crew with the strongest back, even after the bulk of that project was through and our journeyman were doing work inside on all that fancy stuff, i was still running around the site digging for stub ups our journeyman lost and repairing all that stuff we'd finished that the site's landscapers ripped up and buried without letting us know.
I didn't complain. That's what apprentices are for. I wasn't bitter about it until after that job ran the company under and i was laid off, totally robbed of an education. I managed to talk my way into another apprenticeship with a better company, but I'm a 2nd year apprentice and i can BARELY hold my own bending pipe...
I've read in other posts that a lot of you guys recommend buying the materials for basic motor controls on my own and tinkering with that jazz in my garage, looking online for references & questions. Any of you guys got any recommendations as to where i could find that stuff used, cheap? any free websites/downloads? I'd like to get a hold of some scrap pipe also. Could any of you recommend any Trade schools or junior colleges that offer any good programs as far as motor controls are concerned ( I'm currently enrolled in SOCAL ABC )? If it helps, I live in Orange County. I'll drive as far as i have too, within reason.


3)
I've started chipping away at a college degree while working full time towards my journeyman's/contractor's license, but I'm still not exactly sure which one will benefit me most in this industry. Ideally I would like to get my electrical engineering degree, but I've got no desire to work with little electronic gizmos, and I've read here that that's what most colleges are teaching (if I'm wrong, put me in my place). I want to master power distribution/generation and capitalize on the industry's transition to greener energy. Do any of you know of any colleges that offer programs that can give me what I'm looking for? Recommend any colleges that offer reputable BSEE degrees? What jobs would an electrical engineering degree (outside of being an electrical engineer) qualify me to do? Contractor? Project Manager?
I've also heard that that an engineering degree's going to confine me to an office and keep me out of the field and away from construction. I love working outside and i love working with my hands. I'm sure that's liable to change as i get older and i start to pay the price for trying to prove how tough i am ON A DAILY BASIS at 20 yrs old (I got real bad short man syndrome. Real Bad. not that 5'8" short or anything...), but if that's true i would like to hear some of your thoughts on that. Would a Construction Management & Estimating Degree be better for me? Is there another college route i don't know about that you guys can recommend?


4)
Finally, I know earning that degree while working full time construction is gonna be one hell of a committment as far as time and money is concerned, but I'm not at all intimidated by that. I'm prepared to make those sacrifices because I'm convinced that the rewards i will reap later in life will more than compensate (If I'm wrong about that one, do me a favor and lemme hear it now).
Are there any of you guys out there now that are currently working full time construction while working for a BSEE ( or any other degree ) now? How many credits would you recommend taking on a semester? what's the most you've done for one semester? What's it like balancing a social life/marriage? How long do you expect it to take before you earn a degree? How Far Along are you now? Any other Advice? I'll take anything you got on the subject.


Alright if you actually read all those questions I'd like to thank you for your patience first of all, and for those of you with the wisdom and experience to actually tackle them and point me in the right direction, I'd like to thank you in advance.
I'm not the type to take up a lot of forum space, nine times outta ten i can find every answer I'm looking for provided i actually take the time to look for the guys post who asked it before me, but considering how much money I'm about to spend... i figured taking the time to ask specifics was a worthy investment.

Thanks Again,
Keith The Man Montgomery

 

[JohnJ0906]

Welcome to the forum Keith

To comment on #1, I have several of Mike's books, ('05 and '08 NEC changes, Grounding vs bonding, and Basic electrical theory) and I think that they are all quite good.
(His seminars are excellent, IMO)

 

[Super Sparky]

Thanks John. I'll look into those seminars.

 

[Karl H]

I have every book and DVD Mike Holt sold based on the 2005 NEC cycle.

I have read and watched all of them. I have learned more by reading those

books from Mike Holt than the experience I gained from 25 years in the field.

I'm now in school, just to see if I'm dedicated,and smart enough to pass

the PE exam. I'm here to tell you, it is not easy to do with a family to support.

Then I have CAD and Revit MEP classes. Which, leaves me very little time

to misinterpret the intent of the NEC and post them on a NEC forum.

Since you have "Little-mans" complex. I would suggest Anger Management,

before Business Management. Your young and eager, stay focused

and you will do well.

 

[charlie b]

Ideally I would like to get my electrical engineering degree, but I've got no desire to work with little electronic gizmos, and I've read here that that's what most colleges are teaching (if I'm wrong, put me in my place).

The academic discipline of electrical engineering includes many and varied sub-specialties. Electronics and Computer Engineering are but two of them. Others include Power Systems, Machines, Communications, Electro-magnetics, Networks, and a bunch of others that I do not remember.

I want to master power distribution/generation and capitalize on the industry's transition to greener energy. Do any of you know of any colleges that offer programs that can give me what I'm looking for? Recommend any colleges that offer reputable BSEE degrees?

I suggest talking with the Reference Librarian at your local public library.

What jobs would an electrical engineering degree (outside of being an electrical engineer) qualify me to do? Contractor? Project Manager?

Either of those, and many others. Again, the Reference Librarian will have access to many of these answers.

I've also heard that that an engineering degree's going to confine me to an office and keep me out of the field and away from construction.

Not true at all. I spend much of my time in an office, but that is by choice. Other engineers prefer to be out in the field, and that is what they are doing.

Are there any of you guys out there now that are currently working full time construction while working for a BSEE ( or any other degree ) now? How many credits would you recommend taking on a semester? what's the most you've done for one semester? What's it like balancing a social life/marriage? How long do you expect it to take before you earn a degree?

I completed my Masters Degree in EE while working full time. I took two classes at a time, so that took up two evenings a week (plus study time). The program required 11 courses, so it took me two and a half years to complete. A BS degree would take two to four times as long, unless you have some transferable credits that can reduce the remaining work. It was a bit tough on family life. But I finished 20 years ago, and we are approaching our 27th anniversary, and our two girls have families of their own, so I would say we survived.

 

[rt66electric]

Be patient your on the right track

Be patient your on the right track

wow!! this sounds similar to my life' story a few years back. I graduated with A EET ( electronics engineering technology). in a mild economic recession. Out of 100 grads ,five were offered jobs. One year later I was still working with the uneducated bums earning chump change. There was no use for my degree neer my midsize city, I would have to move to Dallas or New Jersey (not an option) to find a entry level position. I wanted to go back in time and slap that 17-year old idiot (myself) and try a different degree. Perhaps EE with a power distribution option, then at least the POCO would look at my resume'.

Without any real employment goal, most all of my jobs involved electrical troubleshootin or machine repair. A short stint with a grumpy old fart as a trim carpenter taught me more about cuttin-and-fitting than any electrician.

I soon realized that I needed a piece of paper(electrical, heating, plumbing liscence, etc) in order to keep my wages up every time I changed jobs, or else go back to the bottom of the wage scale.

My advice-
a: Don't get upset when you get fired-laid off. Think of it as a good opportunity to try something else ( every time I got fired I soon found a better job). Employers owe you nothing more than a paycheck, get over it (you lost you virginity and idealism-welcome to the realworld) go on and do something better.

b: Find your abilities and traits. What is simple for you and difficult for others. What can you do all day that is interesting. (WOW -I can do that and get paid too)

c: Find your job( employer) that can treat you well and ask "what kind of education/training they need?"

d: GOOD LUCK and Don't burn your bridges, everbody else knows everbody else.

 

[Super Sparky]

Thanks Dudes

Thanks Dudes

Thanks guys, I'm sure you've got better things to do than point a naive sparky in the right direction, but I'm grateful you took the time to.

i want you to know that i

Really
REALLY
REALLY

Appreciate advice from those that have been where i plan on going.

thanks again.