[sdiy] Should GaTech go bananas?

[harrybissell]

Tim Parkhurst wrote:    (and I sniped... :^)

> Having very limited teaching experience (assisted teaching AutoCAD and
> drafting at a local JC), I can still offer up a few observations:1)
> Many students choose a certain field not because they love it, but
> because they think they'll make a lot of money at it. They're not
> really interested or motivated, and they don't have that "spark" that
> makes them want to go the extra mile and learn above and beyond what
> they're exposed to in class.
>
> Damn fools... why would they pick engineering ??? DUH their jobs will
> be gone
> before they graduate.  They should major in "police-state militia" or
> some other
> growth industry   (disclaimer - I am not alluding to any specific
> state here, just the
> state of world affairs... ;^)
>
>  2) EE majors are focusing more and more on simulation software rather
> than actually building circuits and blowing things up.
>
> In SOME cases (FPGA design for example) simulation may be 90% of the
> ball
> game. Still, you have to verify the finished design.  I took a huge
> hit in my first
> FPGA doing some 'analog domain' tricks that failed miserably.
> Eventually with
> the simulation (and some good advice) I found structures suited to
> that task.
>
> Simulation is a double-edge sword.... and one of those edges is always
> pointed
> right AT you.
>
> I've told this story before, but I recently asked a couple of EEs I
> used to work with if they owned a breadboard or any test gear. One
> said no, and the other asked "What's a 'breadboard?'" Kinda sad,
> actually.
>
> Double sad... because a generation ago you'd be flamed for even using
> the
> breadboard (unless you meant VECTOR board, you didn't... :^)
>
> Simulation is cheap to teach as well... and its hard to break the
> simulator
> (unless you download some bad porn into it...).  Easy to break the 10x
> probes
> though... Tim (nothing quite like hooking up a 'lytic backwards for a
> demo about why polarity is important) Servo
>
> No... hook up a TANTALUM backwards then ask them "feel that cap...
> it's not getting
> HOT is it ???"    (I touched a dying tantalum once....)
>
> --
> "The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and
> stupidity." - Harlan Ellison
>
> "Sure... I know what love is... a boy loves his dog !"
>
> H^) harry