I just finished reading through dozens of your responses to Communications/Test Editor Lou Frenzel's online commentary, "Whatever Happened To The Electronics Hobbyist?"Lou really struck a chord, as so many of you have followed a parallel path from hobbyist to amateur radio afficionado to electronics engineer. You fondly recall the good old days and recount some of your favorite hands-on projects. You also debate what has become of the hobbyist. Are today's tinkerers toying at the systems level? Are they coders hacking away with Linux? Or are true hobbyists heading for extinction?
Meanwhile, some posters pondered how we can get today's kids interested in getting "under the hood" with electronics when their tech toys—Razrs, iPods, Wiis—are so much more advanced than anything they could build themselves. Some of you even questioned the relevance of getting kids involved in electronics, pointing to a lack of opportunity for engineers in the U.S. today.
THE FUTURE'S SO BRIGHT Based on my trip to a Freescale media day, which offered a peek at some leading-edge technology, the opportunities for U.S. engineers are plentiful. In fact, Freescale is rife with innovation.
Its i.MX31 multimedia processors now power wireless devices running extensive multimedia applications. Its system-in-package solutions integrate accelerometers, microcontrollers, and RF transmitters for applications like tire pressure monitoring. And ramping up with a pilot production line in Tempe, Ariz., its redistributed chip packaging (RCP) technology eliminates wire bonds and package substrates.
Freescale is aggressively hiring U.S. engineers for these projects. The job market is particularly competitive in the high-performance analog space, where Freescale is increasing its design capabilities for industrial and consumer applications. The company is opening new engineering centers in Milpitas, Calif., and Irvine, Calif., as well as in Shanghai, China.
The perception that "there are few opportunities for engineers here because everything is built in Asia" just isn't the reality of today's engineering market. Granted, most consumer electronics manufacturing is, by economic necessity, done in China and Southeast Asia. But the awesome design represented by today's hit consumer products is a triumph of global competition and cooperation, with each component that wins a socket in these devices presumably the best in its class from niche engineering specialists.
THE NEXT GENERATION Assuming this demand for innovative ideas from the Western world isn't going away anytime soon, I come back to the quandary of how to get more kids interested in engineering. This isn't a hypothetical question for me, as I have a 14-year-old son who says his career goal is to be an inventor and who loves the latest electronic toys—but he isn't a tinkerer. I can't buy him a kit to build his own gaming station, so I try to think of other ways to turn his love of the latest gadgetry into a career motivator.
True, I have a huge advantage as the editor of Electronic Design, but I work to engage all my kids with what I've learned from teardowns of the iPod or the Wii. I talk to them about the amazing engineering inside, and I paint a picture of the sort of dream jobs of those who get to create these devices.
I had the perfect opportunity for this sort of motivational chat the other morning. I was somewhat dumbstruck to find myself standing with my son in an hour-long queue at Toys R Us on the day a shipment of Wiis had arrived—the Nintendo gaming machine that's still nearly impossible to find at a retail store even months after its Christmas sellout.
I used the opportunity to talk to my son about how ASICs are designed and how the gaming machines are driving the development of the most advanced chips on the planet. I also talked about accelerometers and how the Wii makes the most of them.
And, I talked to him about the future for those who go into engineering; about the tech superstars of our world—Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos; and about the unlimited opportunities for those who can understand and invent new technology. The more complicated that technology gets, the more that the people who really understand it will succeed. My son loved my inside information. By the time we got to the counter, he was nearly as excited by the Wii's engineering as he was about the chance to go home and hone his gaming skills.
While its becoming harder and harder it seems to get the younger generation into being electronics hobbyist, I blame this on a change in the schools and also our society. I have been out of high school for ten years now and in talking to my old teachers (one of which is now the principle) I have found out that the classes that I took back in the day are no longer offered. The metal, wood and auto shops are now weight rooms for the football team. The electronics, drafting and other technical courses were dropped as my old teachers retired.
As for society, too many people do not understand that if something breaks, you may be able to fix it, and for a fraction of the cost. We have too many luxuries in being able to drive down the road and purchase a DVD player at the local grocery store. I would rather spend an hour to see how something works and spend $0.3 to buy a part to fix something then to immediately jump in the truck and drive to the store and spend $30 to buy a new one. It’s a love of tools that has been on a downward decline in the last 2 generations. My wife does not understand that I can go and purchase a new tool for $60 that will allow me to fix 10 items at $30 a piece, she and to many others are of the belief that if it breaks, just buy a new one.
As for getting more kids excited about engineering, I do my part. I present at local career days in my area, even though I don’t have any kids. I try to bring fun stuff into the classroom and get them to understand that engineers are involved in everything that they buy, use or things they don’t even notice until you point them out.
The best luck I have had in getting kids excited is building custom Radio Controlled Vehicles. While most are not autonomous, most incorporate mechanical, electrical and other forms of engineering to form the complete product. It may be custom suspension, frames and axles in combination with electronics for lights, sounds and motors. In my present project I have even been able to incorporate pneumatics. At one school I have even been able to assist the staff in setting up an after-school club working with tools and building the kid’s ideas.
I think it is up to the engineering community to ensure that kids are excited about designing and building new ideas.
Nate
Nate -April 26, 2007
You comment that your son loves tinkering but that you cannot get him his own kit for gaming. Have you checked out Parallax at the following link http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=32360
It may not be the state of the art in graphics but it is a start.
They also have a great assortment of beginners and advanced Robotics kits.
I grew up taking apart vacuum tube radios and all kinds of machines that I found in dumpsters. Those days are gone BUT in the Bay area we are fortunate to have a place where both young and old can come and take classes in everything from how to use a lathe, an oscilloscope, a sewing machine, a 3D printer, an industrial plasma cutter or a small laser etching printer, etc.. Take a look at the activities available at: www.techshop.ws
This is a place were people can hang out on a Friday evening or during the weekend and either learn or just tinker with stuff. There are part bins and all kinds of donated machines that can be torn apart to make new things. The Tech Museum and assorted clubs use the facilities for some of their events too.
Perhaps if there were a few more of these places around the country, there would be room for kids to tinker and learn how to be real engineers.
Anonymous -March 29, 2007 (Article Rating: )
This issue doesn't just involve our young. Many adults would like to educate themselves via evening engineering programs which are rapidly vaporizing. My father attended night school and earned his Masters in engineering at Hopkins. What did he do with his degree? He designed components on the rocket which put the first satellite into space. Then he moved on to a long and prosperous career.
In Maryland, the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins and other schools have canceled evening under graduate engineering programs. I am friends with a PhD EE who taught at Hopkins as an adjunct instructor when their program was eliminated and I'm told the evening classes were full and profitable. Yet they were eliminated. Why?
Just yesterday, I read that the US has slipped from the number one spot as a world technology leader and in my opinion, it's going to get worse before things improve.
Right now, public school systems around the country (worse in some states than others) have eliminated science classes in grades below high school. This is going to hurt us in a huge way in the coming decades.
How long will it be before American students will have to immigrate to another country to learn leading edge science and engineering?
Anonymous -March 29, 2007
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