r/ElectricalEngineering May 11 '26

Cool Stuff [Mod Post] Thinking about starting r/ElectricalEngineering Discord. Thoughts?

50 Upvotes

Hey all,

We have been considering spinning up an official discord for the sub. Idea is a more real time space for the stuff that comes up constantly here:

• Resume Reviews

• Career path questions

• Circuit Analysis / Homewok help (way easier with screenshots and screen share)

• Project help, PCB stuff, dumb passive component picking

• General EE lounge for you nerds

This sub isn’t going anywhere, just figured a chat space might be nice for conversations that don’t really fit a Reddit thread.

Also, we are looking for a few volunteer for modding/admin the server.

Would you actually use this? Anything we should add or do differently? Let us know.

Cheers,

—Mod Team


r/ElectricalEngineering 13h ago

Genuine question

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340 Upvotes

I have seen a lot of CS students and engineers and even some electrical engineers say that “ electrical engineering pays like shit “ put when i actually search i see a lot of things like this also in the US the highest payed job in engineering is called “ computer hardware engineer “ which is a subset of electrical/computer engineering
I want to hear people’s thoughts and opinions about this


r/ElectricalEngineering 2h ago

Troubleshooting CAN issues

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8 Upvotes

Hei,

I have a simple device (sensor) having the following structure: sensor, MCU, can transciever --> tester device

The sensor provides the analog data to MCU, the MCU works with the data, then the data is transferred via UART to a CAN transciever TLT9251VLE then to an tester device.

I have to say that I have multiple devices and all of them works, but a specific one is unable to connect to the tester device.

I checked the CAN lines and they are looking like in the picture. I'm not so experienced in CAN signals, but I know that the above signals are not ok.

Can you give me an idea in what can cause the CAN lines to look like this?

Thanks!


r/ElectricalEngineering 22h ago

Meme/ Funny Everything reminds me of him

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327 Upvotes

r/ElectricalEngineering 7h ago

Education For those already working — what’s the honest case for and against your subfield?

22 Upvotes

I’m in my 2nd semester at a community college in DFW, transferring to UT Dallas for a BSEE trying to get a feel for where I might want to end up. I can read a course catalog and figure out what each subfield does technically. What I can’t get from that is what the work actually feels like day to day, or what people regret.
So if you work in power, RF, embedded, controls, semiconductors/VLSI, signal processing, photonics, whatever I’d like to hear:
• What made you pick it, and would you pick it again?
• What’s the part outsiders never see coming? Good or bad.
• How much of your day is actual engineering vs. documentation, meetings, or fighting software?
• Job market reality — easy to move around, or are you locked to a few employers or a few cities?
• Who does this subfield NOT suit?


r/ElectricalEngineering 4h ago

Recommendations for books about vacuum interupter design

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9 Upvotes

Looking for recomendations on vacuum interrupter design. Anyone had "The Vacuum Interrupter" by Paul G. Slade? Is it good? Are there better books?


r/ElectricalEngineering 45m ago

Pathways to EE

Upvotes

I have been working as an electric vehicle service technician for 2 years. I would like to transition to an engineering role, but need a degree. I have a bachelors degree in an unrelated field. Does anyone know of good post-bac programs for EE? I would like to attend a school in-person to maximize my ability to make connections with peers and professors in the EE field.


r/ElectricalEngineering 20h ago

Education I want to get my EE degree at 24yo while working a 12h shift

65 Upvotes

As the title states, I’m 24, married, and have a 15month old daughter. I have an Associates degree for electrical, and I’ve been an industrial electrician for 3 years. I’m looking into getting an EE degree, and just wondering how feasible it would be. I work 4 12 hour night shifts a week. Is the work/home/school balance even feasible? I have calc I under my belt already from when I took it in high school in 2021. It would have to be online also. Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated!


r/ElectricalEngineering 2h ago

Equipment/Software CAD for Wiring Diagrams for Electromechanical Products

2 Upvotes

Hello all,

Wanted to see what most people use for wiring diagrams for electrical products. I'm in the middle of trying to select a decent CAD package for doing wiring diagrams for electromechanical assemblies & sub-assemblies. I'm working as an electrical manufacturing engineer, so the problem is something like Solidworks Electrical or AutoCAD might be a bit overkill (by that I mean my boss won't approve the cost), since I'm using this more occasionally to diagrams for assembly or outside vendors as opposed to heavy design & simulation work. Our products have control boards but I don't really need to focus on PCB diagrams, beyond their connections to other components of the larger system.

It seems like most packages focus on PCB, panels & buildings. I've seen some for wire harnessing but that doesn't quite fit here. I know I'm going to have to do some configuration too for our specific products.

We currently primarily use SolidWorks within our department, although we are adopting Rhino8 for some plant layout stuff. I'm considering SkyCAD, DraftSight (although that would require a lot of config), or just doing my best to pitch AutoCAD/AutoCAD electrical.

Appreciate any recommendations or insight. Part of me is just curious as well, being somewhat new to this. Sorry if this question has been asked but I really did run a search of the sub and found nothing that fit exactly.


r/ElectricalEngineering 1d ago

i hate EE

160 Upvotes

I’m going into my senior year at Cal Poly and I hate EE. I desperately wish I could switch majors but admin said its unlikely to get approved since I’m so close to graduating. I’ve hated every field I’ve explored. At first I thought I’d go into power — hated power systems. Thought I would go into electronics — ABHORRED transistors/semiconductors. Thought I would go into DSP — hated discrete time signals and controls. Thought I would go into RF after doing well in electromagnetic waves — hated antennas. I’ve had 2 internships which both made me automate using Python, hated it, neither invited me back. I’ve tolerated lectures, but hated every lab I’ve taken.

I feel like I’ve made a huge mistake and ruined the rest of my life.

What do I do


r/ElectricalEngineering 6m ago

Voltage, field strength, and distance

Upvotes

I've been trying to make sense of how distance factors into Voltage, especially when a power source is involved. Let's say I take a 12V car battery and hook up an electrode to each terminal. I hold the tips of the electrodes 2 ft apart and measure the Voltage. It's 12V, obviously. Now I move the tips of the electrodes to 4ft apart. What happens?

I assume that the electric field decreases at something like 1/r² (I'm thinking the tip of an electrode resembles a point charge at a distance of 2+ft) while the distance increases at a linear rate. So if V=Ed does the voltage between the electrodes decrease? Does the battery then just supply more charge to the tips of electrodes until the field strength is balanced with the distance and 12V is restored? But that would mean that as the distance increases, the charge density would increase without limit? What have I got wrong?


r/ElectricalEngineering 19h ago

Troubleshooting Full adder almost working

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33 Upvotes

I made this full adder from some random YouTube video, and it's made from only nand gates (see pic) however, whenever I turn on A and B it outputs 1 at sum. It's supposed to output carry. And whenever I turn on a and carry or b and carry it outputs carry, which is normal, but not sum and carry when I turn on all three? My guess is the nand that turns on carry for a and b isnt working. Btw power is off in picture.


r/ElectricalEngineering 38m ago

Education Complete beginner

Upvotes

Hey guys, I'm doing mechanical engineering and there have been some courses related to electrical engineering and electronics and while I've always gotten an A in them, I don't think I understand much about electrical stuff. And for a while I've been depending on my group mates to do the electrical stuff but it's summer vacation and I want that to change. I literally know zero about electricity, even the basics, maybe it was the system, maybe it was. Any guides that take you from the basic beginner to the point where I could do my own projects electronics? Cheers


r/ElectricalEngineering 8h ago

Hesitating on applying to the rover of the university I am enrolled in (PART 2)

4 Upvotes

For context, read this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectricalEngineering/s/WxX6ux5HHb

Hello everyone, thank you to the people who pushed me to go ahead and just apply. I just got an email from the lead of the rover team that I passed the initial application, and I am invited to the face-to-face interview at the university on Monday, July 27.

I am informed that I will be given 15 minutes to answer targeted questions on my desired roles, background, interests, and other relevant topics.

FYI, the roles I applied for are Navigation and Communication as my first choice, then Drone Development (aiding the rover to map out the terrain) as my second choice.

I am very nervous. I have 5 days to prepare for the interview.

Do you have any advice for me to do well in the interview? What advice do you have before, during, and after the interview?

Thank you in advance!


r/ElectricalEngineering 1d ago

Jobs/Careers So, the job market.

51 Upvotes

Is it really as bad as the sentiment I see around here? I'm about to start a degree in EE, lately I've been wondering, "damn, is it really not any better than most things out there?" I settled on EE because broadly speaking, engineering is one of the last things out there that seem like they reliably land you a job after graduating (provided you actually try), standing beside things like accounting, actuarial science, and of course nursing.

I'm a career changer, I wanted something more engaging that pays decently, and I wasn't about to hop on the CS train because that's going off a cliff, and I'm not passionate enough about it to live and dream in leetcode for the rest of my life. EE isn't the most enthralling thing to me, but it's more interesting than maybe 95% of things out there, so it's a comfortable compromise.

Yeah yeah, I'm blogposting, sue me, but I just feel a little disheartened that it seems like even engineering, something that has historically been a stable and good living (which it still is), is becoming less of a good deal over time. Stagnation of wages, H1B oversaturation. The pay to effort ratio in the context of a lot of other professional white collar careers catching up in salary at this point. Even with all that considered, I still think EE is a very solid pick in the grand scheme of things, but if some of you are running around with your head on fire after graduating, not being able to find a job, then it starts to sting hard..

Maybe that's just how it is these days, nothing's "guaranteed" anymore, everyone's converged on the same career tracks and life decisions, everything's already priced in.

Anyway, I'm not even aiming for some fancy semiconductor job or anything big tech related, I just want a job in power at any old utility. I'd call that pretty modest as far as ambitions go, so I'll cross my fingers that specific job market will be fine by the time I get there.


r/ElectricalEngineering 3h ago

Design Question about off-delay timer operation after total control supply failure-LVSG

1 Upvotes

I’m trying to understand the behavior of off-delay timers after a complete loss of supply.
Today I tested an ELKO CRM-91H. Both the timer supply (A1–A2) and the control input (S) were removed completely, so the relay was fully de-energized. The output was wired using terminals 15–18 (NO).
When power was restored, the output didn’t switch immediately. Instead, it stayed in its normal state for about one second before changing over, which was exactly the behavior we needed.
My understanding was that an off-delay relay can’t perform any timing after a total power loss because it has no stored energy. So I’m trying to understand what exactly is happening here. Is this expected startup behavior for this timer, or am I misunderstanding how off-delay functions work?
I’d appreciate it if someone could explain the internal sequence.


r/ElectricalEngineering 3h ago

Solved Complex Impedance of a Tubular Shunt

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0 Upvotes

r/ElectricalEngineering 14h ago

Do larger Ah battery cells really make BESS better?

6 Upvotes

I noticed more BESS projects are moving from 280Ah/314Ah cells to larger ones like 500Ah+.

The idea seems simple: bigger cells = fewer cells, fewer connections, easier integration.

But I’m wondering how much difference it makes in real projects.

A 314Ah LFP cell is around 1kWh (at 3.2V), while a 628Ah cell is roughly 2kWh.

On paper, the advantage looks obvious.

But in practice, are larger cells actually better considering things like heat management, aging and reliability?

For anyone working with utility-scale storage, what has been your experience with large-format cells?


r/ElectricalEngineering 15h ago

Education Should i take real and complex analysis?

8 Upvotes

Im currently pursuing my EE degree and have the option to do my entire technical elective requirement in upper div math.

Is there a benefit to taking real and complex analysis? Or would i be better off taking something like numerical analysis.


r/ElectricalEngineering 7h ago

Anyone else run into DC offset drift when adjusting amplitude on a DIY op-amp signal generator?

1 Upvotes

Been tinkering with old radio gear on layovers for years, mostly fixing things that have no business still working. Picked up a busted signal generator at a swap meet a while back, stripped it down, and rebuilt something closer to a triangle and square wave generator using a couple opamps and whatever I had floating around in a plastic bin.

The triangle wave came out cleaner than I expected, maybe 23% THD at the frequencies I tested. Square wave has a little ringing at the edges but nothing that bothers me given the parts bin origins of the whole thing.

What I kept running into was the DC offset drifting when I adjusted amplitude. Never fully solved it, just kind of managed it with a trim pot and called it good enough for bench use. Curious if anyone has dealt with that interaction between amplitude control and offset stability in a simple opampbased design and found a cleaner fix than just compensating after the fact.

Not looking to turn this into a precision instrument, just want to understand what I was fighting. The rebuild was fun regardless and the thing actually works, which at this point still surprises me a little.


r/ElectricalEngineering 15h ago

Jobs/Careers Best ways to get an internship as 2nd year EE?

4 Upvotes

Im hoping i can find an internship for the summer 2027 or co op. A lot of internships are opening up now and i was wondering what’s the best way to secure one aside from going to my university’s career fair. I recently found out about Jobright.ai and im not sure if a paid service like that is worth it or not before i decide to spend money. Ive applied to positions on LinkedIn and ive gotten no response. Does anyone know if there are any good websites to use online or have any advice for applications?


r/ElectricalEngineering 15h ago

Jobs/Careers National Lab Internship

4 Upvotes

Just started my last 2 years of my EE bachelor’s after transferring from a community college. Took me a while working part-time in food service to pay my way through but I finally landed my first internship at a national lab and I’m super excited!! Just want to make sure I’m on the right track and getting the most out of my experience.

I’m in my first week and it’s a lot of lab work, mostly chemical/materials synthesis which isn’t what I expected for EE but makes sense as it’s battery research. I plan on keeping the position part-time throughout the rest of my degree and full time when I’m not in school.

A few questions for anyone who’s been in a similar spot:

• How can I best apply my EE background to research that’s more chemistry-heavy?
• Is staying at the same lab long-term as an undergrad a good move, or should I diversify my experience?

Would love any input. Thanks!


r/ElectricalEngineering 13h ago

Jobs/Careers Be honest should do internship in 2nd yr vs 3yr?

0 Upvotes

Can anyone tell should I do internship in 2nd or 3rd yr


r/ElectricalEngineering 18h ago

Incomming EE but we dont start EE until 3rd year

2 Upvotes

Hi,

I have a project I really want to build (smth similar to a drone), but I won't start core EE material like circuits until the 2nd year and more complex stuff until the 3rd year.

How can I still build projects without this knowledge, and how can I learn what I need to?

I want to start with a drone, then eventually make something more complex

Thanks!


r/ElectricalEngineering 1d ago

Questions about relays!

18 Upvotes

So these might be really dumb questions, especially since I have an engineering degree and should probably already know this, but

  1. How do you set or adjust a relay? People I work with imply they’re changing relay settings but I have no idea how

  2. Why use relays over something like MOSFETs?