A PE cert is important for other branches of engineering, especially for Civil, but the only time it is really needed for EE is:

• Power (very high voltage, power plants, etc...)
  
  
• Certain times, somewhat rare, for everything else. At which point, they basically find someone who is licensed in the correct state and get him to review/sign.
  
  I never got mine, I was worried that I might regret that, but I am starting to become confident I won't.
  
  
  If you are interested in controller/programming and dist. control, I would start off by applying to Emerson, Honeywell, Foxboro(Invensys), Yokagawa or even HIMA.
  
  In the Houston area (I know that is a ways from Wa.), there is also a high concentration of 3rd party outfits that are contracted to do a lot of the programming/configuration due to the amount of nearby industry.
  
  
  But yeah, I came out of school working for a vendor doing configuration and programming, and it was a very good transition out of school. In general, they have a slower pace of work and are much more of a niche role, which is a very good thing when you are on your first job. When I left them to work for an E&C firm, it was another huge step change. The reason control systems in industry is so awesome is because it is such a HUGE field, and it is constantly changing/evolving.
  
  The best thing you can do, IMO, is to pursue one of those vendors, they are all large and have a lot of opportunities. In interviews, you need to listen, ask pertinent questions, and show that you are willing to tackle challenges, and welcome them. Know that 99% of what you learned in school will never be used again, but all that knowledge is important as a foundation to learn new stuff. Always jump at the opportunity to do field work, that is where you learn a HUGE amount of information.
  
  Also, I always swore that I would never work in the Oil and Gas industry (I thought it was old, boring, etc), and that is exactly where I ended up. And I am so happy about it... it is a VERY complex and interesting industry. Here you do more distributed control. If you end up working with factories or chem plants (which is more likely in your region) it will probably involve more batch process control.
  
  
  Finally, YOU HAVE GOT TO CHECK OUT THESE TWO BOOKS... I know they are expensive, but they are the most comprehensive and great aggregations of control systems information out there...
  
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Instrument-Engineers-Handbook-Vol-Measurement/dp/0849310830/ref=pd_sim_b_1
  
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Instrument-Engineers-Handbook-Vol-Optimization/dp/0849310814/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2
  
  If you get them, please let me know what you think. I love em. When you have 5,000 pages of information and it can barely touch on every topic, you know that your field is pretty broad.
  
  
  

It seems to me that introductory electromagnetism is, physically, very simple.

If the subject is difficult, I suspect it has more to do with the math than the physics. Unlike introductory mechanics, most problems in E/M rely heavily on vectors and vector calculus (and for many students E/M is also a first introduction to other more sophisticated mathematical ideas, like Laplace's equation and coordinate transformations).

As far as introductory level books go, though, I think Griffiths handles the added mathematical rigour of E/M quite well. Griffiths explains his math in great detail throughout the text, and chapter 1 is a thorough and complete, but straightforward and simple, treatment of vector calculus; I recommend that you study it in great detail (and work many problems) before continuing to the physics. Preparation in linear algebra is probably also helpful as well.

Also, keep in mind that there are several approaches to electromagnetism. As I recall, Griffiths develops the theory more or less historically, and only makes the connection with special relativity in the final chapters. If you want to look at the ideas from another angle, you could try a book like Purcell or Schwartz, which use special relativity to derive magnetism as a theoretical, rather than experimental, result. Personally, I find this approach more elegant, interesting, and even a little easier; nonetheless, understanding both approaches is important in the long run.

Edit: By the way, another book to consider is Shadowitz (I have only read the first 5 chapters, and I still recommend it on that basis alone). Shadowitz develops the basic theory very logically and consistently: chapters 2 through 5 cover the divergence and curl of E and B (one chapter each). At times the explanations are lengthy, but this might be useful for a struggling student.

There are two main parts of "everything else": Mechanical, and Electronic.

For most hobby-level robotics, the mechanical side of things is pretty simple. Learn about torque and power, and how to change them around (gears, pulleys, levers, etc.) and you're most of the way there. As long as your robot is small and moves reasonably slowly, it doesn't get much harder than that. I can't really offer a good book that covers this because my major is Mechanical Engineering and so my knowledge comes from a wide variety of textbooks and lectures.

The electronic side is much more involved. The best thing that you can do is learn how to solve systems of equations. Learn Ohm's law. Learn Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws. Learn how to do loop current analysis.... The most important thing for a beginner in electronics is to realize that circuit schematics are not flow charts. Current does not flow down one wire and then another. Everything is moving all the time. I strongly recommend Practical Electronics Handbook by Sinclair and Dunton.

Once you get into the more advanced robots, when you have a real budget and you're doing more complex things, believe it or not, the electronic side gets to be the easy part. The faster your robot moves and the more complicated moves it can make, the more advanced your mechanical analysis needs to be. College-level textbooks on kinematics, statics, and dynamics are your best bet. And just like the mechanics, the programming gets complicated much faster than the electronics. If you want to make a robot that can drive or fly around quickly, you get pretty deep into nonlinear control theory. Same for robot arms and motion planning.

Oh, as far as recommendations for actual robot products go, check out sparkfun and adafruit and see if any kits really catch your attention. Otherwise, Mindstorms products make the mechanical and electronic assembly of the robot much easier - you don't have to worry about the electronics at all, and the mechanics are just lego technic. That said, you won't learn any electronic theory from playing with Mindstorms, so it's a bit of a compromise.

It probably only matters a lot if you want to go into semiconductors or some allied field that uses similar technology (e.g. disk drive heads, and in the future nanoelectronics). Do some research about this field to help decide what your interest level is. Here's some links:

Solid State Technology - Trade Magazine

[List of (Chemical/Physical Manufacturing) Processes used in Semiconductor Fabrication](
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device_fabrication#List_of_steps)

Look for this one in your engineering school library:

Electronics Materials Processes Handbook

Chip Manufacturing Process - Philips Factory - pretty recent version

Old-timey Chip Manufacturing - Fairchild - 1967 vintage - good for seeing a much simplified version of manufacturing. Keep in mind that Intel was founded by engineers who left Fairchild the year after this video was made. How things have changed! Fairchild invented the core technology used since 1960 called "planar technology". Only very recently has this basic technology started to run out of steam (and one of the replacements is the so-called finFET or trigate transistor design).

Chip Manufacturing at TSMC - the largest "foundry" manufacturing company. This video is a little more technical than the others.

I don't think the class mentioned is likely to be particular difficult material but I'm an EE; I specialized in IC design and semiconductor physics/modeling - one advantage is I understand the electrical side of why and what it's for.

In terms of course load it's iffy if you should overload that far. In the US kids do that because of the uncertainty of funding for tuition but in countries where you have more support, it probably is wise to underload a bit. It's a good idea in the US too but it's a harder sell.

There's no place in a resume/CV for recording how you had a heroically overloaded schedule (and no one cares who might hire you). They will care if you manage to burn-out or fail-out, affecting your grades or graduation however.

BTW we talk about some of this whole subject in /r/chipdesign I'm usually the one posting the (ChemE or EE related) manufacturing process links.

That.... that is not the job of a simple mosfet. It's also beyond my abilities so i can't explain the design process to you either.

Let's consider the hypothetical situation. We have an irlb3034 with a Vgs of 10V, our power supply has infinate current capability with no drop, and everything is connected with lossless conductors.

So when our mosfet is turned on it will have a Rds(on) of 1.7mOhms. I = E / R, so I = 8.4 / 0.0017, I = 4941.18A. But a mosfet is merely a switch, the load is what you want to switch and that dictates the current sunk through a n-channel mosfet. With PWM you're switching it on an off quickly giving you an average voltage, but a lot of factors come into play (mosfet dynamic characteristics) and i don't have the time to explain that all out.

Switching supplies are entirely different animals though, inductors are involved, diodes as well, physics as well. That's all beyond my skill set when it comes to rolling my own SMPS from scratch.

There are some books on it, however they tend to assume you already know a lot or have a formal education in electroncs. That and it'd coost you probably about 400 dollars for two books on the subject if you were to buy them new instead of rent them or check em out from the library.

Sorry i couldn't be of more help. And yes Vgs of 4.5V > is for switching instead of amplifying.

You'd be looking for books such as:
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Electronics-Converters-Applications-Design/dp/0471226939/

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Electronics-Basics-Principles-Applications/dp/1482298791/

Along with a good background in general electronics and design.

I doubt you can find anything that isn't hundreds of pages long. It's not a short list! Especially for analog. Digital is shorter but not that short.

I'd recommend any number of "Handbooks of Electrical Engineer" to be honest. They have this kind of thing. BTW 600+ pages. Definitely cool though.

https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Handbook-Electrical-Engineers-Seventeenth/dp/1259642585

Not cheap but they don't change that much so get one that is 5-15 years old on the cheap.

Another useful handbook is Handbook of Chemistry & Physics. Also on the expensive side but worth it if you need Chemistry and Physics constants and data. Again you can get an older edition and it's 99% fine but cheaper.

The military-industrial-academic complex created a standardized protocol so they could control the Internet. Starting in the 1950s, there were many competing network protocols. The MIA consolidated around one to control us. During 1978 to 1993, email, for example was email was used in the interoffice mail environment, however, starting around 1993, with the advent of the WWW, email became a consumer application. And, with that, companies like MicroSoft, Google, etc. began to own email. More importantly, the "free" email account you got, ended up you giving up your FREEDOM. These private companies monitor all your emails and OWN your emails. In my opinion, as I share in, the Future of Email, https://www.amazon.com/Future-Email-V-Shiva-Ayyadurai/dp/0997040238 , we need a public email service, protected by the same measures we used to have for snail mail. That is the way to ensure we get back our privacy, at least relative to email.

Ahh, then perhaps try another book (or wikipedia, which tends to have good explanations). I can recommend:

Hu - Modern Semiconductor Devices for Integrated Circuits

http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~hu/Book-Chapters-and-Lecture-Slides-download.html

Sze - Physics of Semiconductor Devices

http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Semiconductor-Devices-Simon-Sze/dp/0471143235

Kasap - Principles of Electronic Materials and Devices

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Electronic-Materials-Devices-Kasap/dp/0073104647/

Neamen - An Introduction to Semiconductor Devices

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Semiconductor-Devices-Donald-Neamen/dp/0072987561/

And for entertainment value, Britney Spears' Guide to Semiconductor Physics:

http://britneyspears.ac/lasers.htm

If these aren't available in your library, you can find perfectly good older editions at abebooks.com for less than $20 with shipping.

The semiconductor will always be at equilibrium ( n*p = n_i) unless acted on by an external energy source, such as a bias voltage or light source. No external source = equilibrium.

I can recommend some of the books from when I went to school 2010-2012. These were some of the core books in my program. I just linked to the first google search I found for each book.

​

-Introduction to Biomedical Equipment Technology by Carr Brown; might be one of your course books. It's kind of a overview on the biomed field in general.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/introduction-to-biomedical-equipment-technology-joseph-carr/1100503966/2661299500947?st=PLA&sid=BNB_New+Marketplace+Shopping+Textbooks&sourceId=PLAGoNA&dpid=tdtve346c&2sid=Google_c&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5NPjBRDDARIsAM9X1GIC_sHHPSHdMwt0u0BrsIhJg__N4g5Y2dK01chpSr2UO-TYOb2cn00aArgIEALw_wcB

​

-Principles of Electric circuits; pretty sure this one goes over AC/DC circuits

https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Electric-Circuits-Conventional-Current/dp/013507309X

​

-Electronic Devices conventional Current Version (Goes over resistors,capacitors, diodes, transistors and other small electronic components)

https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Devices-Conventional-Current-Technology/dp/0134414446/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Electronic+Devices+conventional+Current+Version&qid=1551179367&s=books&sr=1-1

​

-Digital Fundamentals; I think this one goes over logic gates, binary code,hexadecimal code, etc).

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/digital-fundamentals-thomas-l-floyd/1100057465/2660322216626?st=PLA&sid=BNB_New+Marketplace+Shopping+Textbooks&sourceId=PLAGoNA&dpid=tdtve346c&2sid=Google_c&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5NPjBRDDARIsAM9X1GLtz4Ccxu7Ss-gazYGrsZtRkxJ8ZVzOqTAOen3BvpJq9MxdtMz_t18aAjjeEALw_wcB

​

Also I found a game on google play the other day that uses logic gates, kind fun and worth checking out; it's called Circuit Scramble

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Suborbital.CircuitScramble&hl=en_US

​

​

During my engineering degree I studied semiconductors extensively. The two books I would recommend to you are Pierret for device fundamentals, and I think this is what I used for device fab. Since your lab does optoelectronics, I'll also recommend Kasap. These are all very much engineering oriented, so they are good if you're looking for a functional understanding of how these devices work.

Also, some of the solid state physics (learning about density of states, electronic structure, etc.) is probably better learned from Mermin and Ashcroft.

I don't refer to it often these days, but my old copy is still a best friend. :-) I get more info from my copy of The Radio Handbook though.

https://www.amazon.com/RADIO-HANDBOOK-William-I-Orr/dp/0672224240

>Applied Electromagnetics, Wentworth, ISBN: 978‐0‐470‐04257‐5

\^That was my textbook for e-mag. It's the kind of book with a lot of math and not much application, but it was really good. Although, my professor for that class was really good and gave a lot of application stuff in his lectures. I'm not sure how good the book is on its own.

I have notes that cover the first two chapters of this book. I can send them to you if you pm me your email. It'd be a good way to see what topics it covers at first.

This book covers transmission lines first. Some books cover transmission lines last, so it depends on what your professor is doing.

Edit: I just remembered, I also read through this book during the semester. It uses the transmission lines last method.

If you're into piracy, you can torrent this one pretty easily.

I am using this book, but it is a different version as I bought it on sale a year or two ago. I never found time to begin it until I finished school, but now it's great to learn a new science!

A third option might be to get this one used. It provides a good amount of design examples which are always helpful. Plus its cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Electronics-Electrical-Computer-Engineering/dp/0195117018/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453689790&sr=8-2&keywords=elements+of+power+electronics


Also coursera offers a power electronics course by UC boulder (Erickson) which you may want to look into. I know the other ones were free, but I don't know how these new specializations on coursera work
https://www.coursera.org/learn/power-electronics

It sounds like you are actually talking about power electronics. Power ellectronics are the power conversions outside the motors that control the motor and motor/drives is more the magnetics of the drive.

I just finished a class on power electronics last semester and we used [this book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0195117018/ref=mp_s_a_1_14
?qid=1452095997&sr=8-14&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=power+electronics)

If you really want I can send you all of the lecture notes too. I'll update later with the motor drives book we will be using. I also have an electronic version of the power electronics book.

ill give you the second edition of this book for free if you want to pay for shipping. probably 15 bucks for shipping in the US.

http://www.amazon.com/Distribution-System-Modeling-Analysis-Edition/dp/1439856222?tag=duckduckgo-d-20

edit: it's basically brand new. like really almost brand new.

For a very basic but thoroughly entertaining introduction: There are no Electrons: Electronics for Earthlings.

Also: Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics.

https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Mechanics-2nd-B-H-Bransden/dp/0582356911

Need solutions manual not the book.

$5. Price negotiable

Need the following:

|Title|ISBN-13|Bounty|
|:-|:-|:-|
|Intro To Semiconductor Devices|9780072987560|$5|
|Introduction to Communication Systems SOLUTION MANUAL|Book ISBN: 9781107022775 [Since no ISBN exists for Solution Manual that I know of.]|$5|

My university uses this book for introductory quantum physics. It seems to be well-liked - I'd consider it.

Instrumentation/process control/flow engineer... I really do not know what we are called on all levels its very multi discipline.

http://www.amazon.com/Instrument-Engineers-Handbook-Third-Edition/dp/0801982421

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0849310830/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687622&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0801982421&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0KHGRBBP35EWXQDHB34W

There is a lot of instrument and process information in these books..

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Semiconductor-Devices-Donald-Neamen/dp/0072987561