How Do Experienced Electrical Engineers Keep EE Exciting and Stay Motivated in the Field?

Hi everyone,

I'm a new EE who just graduated in May from The University of Kansas. I enjoy RF Systems, Radar, and Antennas. I've got many years to craft my skill set to be as helpful as this website, but I thought I would stop in and say hello.

I wanted to ask a basic question that might help break the ice. How do you keep Electrical Engineering fresh?

My question is meant to help those that have many years in the field and end up getting so involved it's hard to keep up. I hope EE hasn't become mundane and dry, because lets face it sometimes it can be. Engineering is challenging and can often be misrepresented. So, here's a chance to get out of your comfort bubble.

(My official answer)
As a new EE, I love the Radio Frequency subset. I naturally gravitated to it during my undergrad and took a few grad classes on the subject. I used it in my capstone courses and continue to apply it today. I find Radar and remote sensing to be a massively underused resource and I strive to teach myself this subject matter. I keep fresh by exploring new subjects within RF and by spreading the word that RF Engineering is cool.

O the question is how to keep people (EEs) interested and contribution.

Well, I know for me, I enjoy the questions, like:

I am working on such & such, and tyring to do this, but it isn't working as well as I need, any suggestions.

Now if it's just an R/C oscillator it isn't really going to garner much attention. But lets say it's an oscillator in a near field reader, now that's interesting.

Engineers love a challenge and they love to show off, i.e., tell people what they know, teach. So tap into that and the field of endeavor has no bounds. Instance you love RADAR and RF. I love RADAR and RF, not my principal EE focus but have loved it since I was a kid with home built radios.

You'll always find stories like yours and mine that peak people's interest.

Firstly congratulations on graduating and welcome to the world of engineering :)

I agree with Earl, discuss what you're currently doing with online communities like here on EEWeb. Social media is a great place to keep up to date with advances in technology as well as seeing interesting ways in which people are using current or older technologies. I use twitter, newsfeeds and podcasts for daily information where I get updates from EEWeb, enGadget, Wired and New Scientist. I've joined the IEEE and my monthly IEEE Spectrum magazine is full of interesting articles. I'm just giving examples, not advertising. There's daily emails from EEWeb here as well with people trying to solve problems, which I love to read and help if I can.

I also write a blog on things I've been doing, problems I overcame trying to get something to work and little projects I've started and things I would like to do. A lot of the time, the things I'm doing are highly confidential and I can't say much about the specifics, so I have to stay very vague. I find the blog a brilliant way of keeping a record of what you've done as well as sharing it with the world.

I recently did a module in RF engineering in my Masters and I found the subject very interesting. Beforehand, I thought it was full of difficult mathematics, which I found took away from the subject, but with so many RF tools available online or to purchase, it has taken away some of the difficulties and enabled the more interesting points to shine through.

For an RF EE especially Amateur Radio can help keep your interest hot. You can play with antenna design, circuit design, and even communicate. Forums such as eham.net, QRZ.com and ANTENNEX have stimulating questions and answers. Beware there is much folklore tempered with insights from engineer hams.

And of course there are trade magazines to read, the IEEE, and writing articles yourself can help you hone your skills. Writing is a great way to gather your thoughts and see if you really understand what you're doing. Don't forget to have it peer reviewed.