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Why do engineers like Coffee Crisps?

dougw — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 17:33:20 GMT

Some time ago my company had an off-site meeting for about 48 managers. They divided the group into 8 tables to participate in cross-functional activities, case simulations and exercises. The method they used to assign staff to each table was they asked everyone to select their favorite chocolate bar and all those who selected the same type of chocolate bar had to sit at the same table. The idea was to put staff together who don't normally spend time together.

It turned out that all the engineering managers selected Coffee Crisps and nobody else did. It struck me that this was way beyond the statistical probability of random chance.

I do not have any idea why Engineers like Coffee Crisps, or why others don't, but it seems to be a thing in our company.

Do you like Coffee Crisps?

What is your favorite chocolate bar?

Has anyone else come across this or similar odd phenomenon? Preferences of introverts?

Nightmare Interviews

dougw — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 18:47:26 GMT

What is the worst job interview you have ever been in?

Some interviewers like to pose puzzles that can be fairly simple like "How many kings can be placed on a chess board without threatening each other?" or a little more involved like "Given 12 coins, where one has a different weight, and a balance beam, what is the minimum number of weighings needed to determine which coin is different and if it is lighter or heavier than the rest?"

I have never been in an interview where I was asked such a puzzle. And I have never posed such a question when I was asking the questions.

Have you been in such an interview? What was the purpose of the question? Did the answer achieve the purpose?

Are such questions a good idea?

Do you like such questions?

What do such questions tell the interviewee?

By the way, what are the answers to the 2 puzzles above?

May the Fourth Be With You – 2022 – Revenge of the Fifth

Catwell — Wed, 04 May 2022 19:15:30 GMT

It is unquestionably splendibulous. It is indubitably fantasmical. (Tom Shales review of Star Wars 1977 - NPR)

It’s hard to avoid Star Wars. It’s a global phenominon. It inspired a lot of people in its 45 years on this planet. How many millions, I wonder?

Did it inspire you to go down the engineering/technology path?

I always loved the “used future” look to everything. It seemed possible.

You know how it went back then. Every flashlight - a lightsaber. Every garbage can - a droid. You knew, if you tried hard enough, the force would be with you.

The original trilogy is amazing. But, I was more steeped in the prequals. At least, I was more cognizant for them. I was a bit obsessed with them. I mean, a huge plot point of episode 1 was getting a part for a broken ship. People were collecting a hodgepodge of starship parts to race each other. Things were barely hanging together, but they were all technically adept to keep it all running. Very cool.

I personally found Star Wars to be a universe with so much potential. I had to defend it that way during the prequel era. It took decades later to show I was right. The Mandalorian, Rebels, Rogue One, Boba Fett and the avalanche of shows, games, and books based in that universe doesn’t need to ride the backs of previous content to be popular. The potential is exploding. Everything new draws the viewer in deeper into that galaxy far away.

But does it inspire people the same way today? Did Star Wars help bring you here today in some circuitous way? (pun intended.)

Cabe

http://twitter.com/Cabe_Atwell

Teacher Appreciation Day 2022 – who inspired and taught you?

Catwell — Tue, 03 May 2022 18:40:16 GMT

As we grew to be engineers, makers and everything in between, we had teachers. They helped focus us, and guide us down a certain path. Today’s the day to celebrate them.

Share a story or two or three.

I’ll start:

Drowning in classes like “digital signal processing,” I felt disillusioned with electrical engineering. Undergrad can be a brutal place. I was about ready to give up.

I somehow ended up speaking with a professor, Mr. Laxpati. He was close to retirement age. His view was a sharp contrast to my beginning on a similar path in life. He shared some stories difficult times he had along the way. How the challenges changed his mindset made him a better engineer.

Professor Laxpati reminded me of why I started engineering, what my goal was, and talked about how to “engineer a career.” I definitely had a clearer mindset after our talk. I stuck with engineering. I chose Professor Laxpati to be my senior design project mentor, of course. I got 2^nd place in robotics at the senior design expo. I graduated.

He retired soon after. Well deserved.

He also inspired me to be a college professor. Hoping to help some other students along their journey too. I taught math to undergrads are a community college. WOW, being a teacher is tough work. Little did I know the work professor Laxpati had to do on top of his engineering work. Definitely, someone I aspire to match in life.

Cabe... http://twitter.com/Cabe_Atwell

Dimmer repair

wal_e — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 14:44:49 GMT

Hello everyone,

First of all I would like to apologize, I might certainly be in the wrong section, but I have been sent here by the Farnell technical assistance and to be honnest this place is a real maze for me

So, I have been trying to fix a dimmer that went working only as a simple switch : OFF to ON max light directly. Following my researches it seems that the origin of my problem is a faulty triac and also - maybe - a capacitor ; I have tested both of the 2 fuses and they are ok.

The two original component are labeled:

- BTB04-600A

- CBB62B X2 0.033µF (250-280VAC) dimensions 40/110/56/C

My problem is that I can't find any of the exact two components and I have no idea what I can use to replace them as equivalent.

Any help is really appreciated

Thank you - very much - in advance.

Power Flex 753 Allen-Bradley

lobels — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 07:24:44 GMT

We have a mixer which uses a Power Flex 753 Allen Bradley drive, we are facing a problem whereby when we load the machine, it runs after a while it stops on its own before the programmed time. when you check on the screen it gives the error message, fault no 12. fault alarm HW overcurrent.

Magnetic Radiation

lescolliershustoke@virginmedia.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 17:13:51 GMT

a question :>

I have a solenoid and it has a certain range to it, i.e. the magnetic field does not go on fro ever for practical purposes.

I can adjust the design to gain more range, I can wind more turns on the armature but this won't extend the range if the core material saturates out. I can up the voltage and hence the current, but this creates more heat that I have to dissipate, and I want to power from a battery at the end of the day. So I am trying to get the longest range I can from 10 to 14 volts.

Does anyone have an answer on which parameter to try moving first assuming the range I have is not good enough.

regards

Les C

My December Card for you ALL!!!!!

Catwell — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 19:55:38 GMT

I drew this card for my work friends... but then I realized, it's for you all too. Thanks for reading all my posts this year, seeing my projects, and everything in between!

So many holidays in December. Take your pick. It's the greatest time of the year.

Cabe

Cost for a PCB design engineer

Former Member — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:55:28 GMT

What is the standard cost for a PCB design engineer for a small 2" x 2" PCB, with one micro processor?

My Console out of... OLD to NEW!

Former Member — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 16:38:58 GMT

Well I'm taking A raspberry pi first. But I'm Adding a old screen and some old phones mother boards. so if you want to follow the project. makerkaren thebenheckshow

Attachments:

Alternative Energy Solution

Former Member — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 16:13:23 GMT

I want to guess the Engineers thought about the danger of making solution for energy now. the alternative energy solution may be based on Muscles and human, so the transportation way of Business may change in routes, schedule, and paving system around the nation. also, the war for water, oil, or gas might follow different way of planning for the nation, getting the insurance number of damages is impossible, so that I need the best guess of the increase and decrease of different types of energy. so that the work shall be organized without interruption from any compliance.

SOLID STATE RELAY query

Former Member — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 08:01:21 GMT

can we use 25A solid state relay for 40A load

Small generator suggestion

Former Member — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 16:31:53 GMT

Hey,

I was just wondering if it will be possible to make a small enough generator to power a phone or a couple of batteries with like a 30cc engine or something similarly small sized and a dc generator driven by the engine. It would be pretty cool to have that in camps or in a post apocalyptic situation. It would be pretty cheap to run too since it will be such a small engine.It will be a first with Ben to make something out of an engine!Sorry for my poor English, it is my second language.

-Thank you for your time, Have a great day.

LED clock Jumbo Digits

goldenshuttle — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 15:29:06 GMT

This LED clock kit from EBAY uses 6X S8550 transistor to drive each of the small 0.5 inch LED display

need to use bigger digits 1.8 inch require 7.2 Volt DC to glow.

is it possible to connect 7.2 Volt to these transistors and drive the big LED segments ?

Sure I will keep the 5 volt regulator to supply the PIC chip with fixed 5 volt....

If this is possible, do I need to change the 7 resistors(each is 1 Kohm) going to the a-to-g segments ?

Novice in trouble

Former Member — Thu, 29 May 2014 10:01:31 GMT

Hi all. I'm a retired mechanic and have VERY little knowledge in the magic that is electronics. So I'm throwing myself on to you good people who can maybe help me out.

I hate throwing stuff away that could easily be repaired with a little bit of effort. I was given a golf trolley last year that didn't work. It has a module with a circuit board inside that looks like it has got wet at some time. I've tested the transistors (only 3) and found 1 of them has blown. The numbers on it are HO1 and YM3045N. I've tried to find one on the net but failed. Is there a way of finding an equivalent. From my limited knowledge it looks like it controls the voltage to the motor. Secondly would water getting into it be enough to blow it or should I look for a popped diode or something as well?..... Thanks in advance ... Bill

A 555 timer you can hug

fustini — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:30:23 GMT

My new cube friend, Hans the 555 timer chip, from Adafruit:

Hans is the 'old man' of the group. He tends to be nervous and is often indecisive. Hans frequently changes his mind, and is a little fidgety (he oscillates) when he's not moving around. He is very meticulous and precise in other ways; Hans does not like to compromise, preferring to be in a steady state until a dramatic change is called for. Hans speaks with the voice of a kindly old man with a Swiss-German accent, though his voice can become more nasally when he's upset or feels strongly about something. His catchphrase is "maybe so, but perhaps not."

Hans is a part of a series of 7 electronic component plushies called Circuit Playground:

Here are the Circuit Playground plushies, we have a lot of things planned with the cute components, from teaching “props” to special projects to puppet versions for our upcoming kid’s show. Most of all we know it’s hard to figure exactly what will spark a young mind on to the journey towards science, technology, engineering, art, math and more – we wish we had these when were young

Cheers,

Drew

555 week at Make

fustini — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:17:28 GMT

Following the passing of 555 creator, Hans Camenzind, Make has declared it is 555 Week

They have posted today their Top 10 555 posts:

To mark the recent passing of Hans Camenzind, we are running a 555 mini-retrospective this week. Today I’ve rounded up some of my personal favorite 555 content from our archives, arranged in arbitrary top 10 order. Many of these are “fun” or “meta” 555 type posts. We’ll be following on later in the week with more circuit-specific 555 coverage. Stay tuned! In the meantime, please feel free to chime in with suggestions or comments about your own experiences with the 555.

One of my favorites is the 555 footstool!

Cheers,

Drew

Super Boss demands a personality test. Insult or a good idea?

Catwell — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:03:13 GMT

Yin Yang of our personalities. (via Cat's Creations - body and face paint)

Have you taken a personality test for a job?

A friend of mine was hired by a company about 8 months ago. Since then, he has become a vital part of the team. He can do so much more than anyone else in the company. He even makes parts for them in his home machine shop after hours.

As of last week, it has come to the attention of the higher-ups that he never took a personality test. For some reason, the top manager ("Super Boss") demands all employees to take one. (Side note: the manager also has cameras everywhere, including his own home. He sits and watches the video feeds all day apparently.)

My friend is considering an out-right refusal to take the test. Although technical merit is a good way to show usefulness to the company, the Super Boss may still demand the test.

Do you think that it is necessary or even ethical to ask an employee to take a personality test? After 8 months of excellent service, would it be an insult to now require the test?

The personality test is more of an assessment. There are no right or wrong answers. The evaluation comes under the guise of making sure the employee will fit the corporate culture.

Some "catch-22" personality test questions:

"Have you ever been mad at work, even for personal reasons?"

"Have you ever taken anything from the office, even a pen or paperclip?"

"Have you ever felt tired at the work place?"

Cabe

http://twitter.com/Cabe_e14

What to focus on in school for a Bachelors in Electrical Engineer, open letter to a friend

Catwell — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 19:29:16 GMT

A friend of mine is going back to school a bit late in life. She wanted to know what she should learn in school that would be the most beneficial in the career path. I wrote the guideline below as a starting point. I feel it is a work in progress. So, if you can add to it or charge it around, please reply. Every little bit will help her better down the Electrical Engineering path.

My original letter --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With my many years in the EE career field, I can share what has been the most beneficial for when you enter the work force.

First off, you may never use what you learn in college directly, just so you know.

However, school can lead you to having a deep understanding of certain areas of your craft. (If not taken seriously, your time in school will only give you the paper the degree is printed on.)

I will break down what I believe is the most beneficial to know as follows:

1. Circuit design - the basics. Deeply learn how to use op-amps, FETs, and inductors to make small systems, alongside the usual basics of resistors, capacitors, and LEDs. Sometimes a simple circuit can do what a processor based system can do.

● The first job I had made me learn everything I could about op-amps for audio warning system devices. In the designs I built MOSFET triggered buttons for choosing which alarm to set.

2. Circuit simulation software - Your best friend in design. Multisim is standard. Learn about SPICE models, etc. Build your circuits first in software before building. This will speed up your development abilities.

● After learning simulation software out of school, I wished I learned it years prior. Every troubled design I designed and build could have been done so much easier and faster.

3. Power supply design - both linear and switching. I cannot count the number of jobs and situations I needed to know this. Few truly know how to build one.

● Every single job has had me build a power supply of some sort. Off the shelf supplies work well, but occasionally the device is so small that build one is the only option. Each circuit, from the beginning, had at least a power regulation section of the design.

4. Microcontrollers - This is the foundation of many projects I have worked on. You cannot know them all, but pick one to focus on. For example PIC micros, they are one of the simplest to know. Learn assembly for the chip, and "C". The same rules apply to all the different chips, only the syntax changes. The industry is leaning towards ARM centric, so delving into that may be useful.

● I first learned PICs, which the design knowledge translated over to a multitude of other processors that each job has demanded I develop on. However, sometimes you can steer a company to use the processor you choose. Knowing a great deal on one chip will help leverage the company your way.

5. Software - Related to microcontrollers, but few know how to design software. It is critical to start with a flow chart of how the program should work. Then it is just a matter of writing the code to fulfill the blocks requirements.

● One company I worked for literally said that I should not design software from a flow-chart. "Just sit down and code," is what they told me. It became a mess, following their direction. Later, the government forced them to follow standard practices, ISO software design rules. My flow-charts were status quo. If is like an outline for a research paper, get into the habit of making flow-charts.

6. Learn how to lay out a schematic in a program like OrCAD, EAGLE, or similar packages.

● They will ask if you can lay out a board, so learn it.

7. CAD software - Although not exactly EE work, it has been a critical tool to know for jobs. I would have to draw enclosures for projects all the time. I designed machines to work with my electronics on numerous occasions. 2D and 3D CAD drafting is critical.

8. Communication - Having a base to work from for all forms of communication is key. Again, people spend a lifetime learning the nuances of RF communication, you will never get to that level in school. So, know how all forms work. Being experienced with serial, USB, CAN-bus, and RF modules like Zigbee will go a long way.

● CAN is essential for the automotive industry, it will help if you go in that direction. You will use everything else.

After school, the only way to describe your experience will be "purely academic." But what you do know, try to know it well.

Finally, everything you learn beyond your schooling is icing on the cake. The more knowledge you have, the better you look to future employers. For example, I taught myself to be a machinist and how to use CNC machinery. I have made countless parts for various jobs. I have even built my own CNC machinery and started a small company around the idea. You never know where knowledge can lead, you may want to explore the option of working for yourself someday.

Hope this helps.

End of my original letter --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cabe

http://twitter.com/Cabe_e14

"An Analog Life: My pilgrimage to the workbench of analog guru Jim Williams"

fustini — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:58:30 GMT

Engineer and occasional 'The Amp Hour' guest host, Jeff Keyzer aka mightyohm, recently visited the Jim Williams exhibit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. I really enjoyed his blog post with many photos of Williams' amazing desk:

http://mightyohm.com/blog/2012/02/an-analog-life-my-pilgrimage-to-the-workbench-of-analog-guru-jim-williams/

Has anyone here been by the exhibit?

I visited the museum twice in 2010 and love it. I even got to play Spacewar! on a PDP-1 with the guys who wrote it . I'm planning to visit the Bay Area for Maker Faire in May (from Chicago), but unfortunately the exhibit only runs through April 15th.

Cheers,

Drew

Which chips would you choose to resurrect?

Former Member — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:47:24 GMT

Johngineer ponders this question on the Adafruit blog:

http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2012/02/01/resurrecting-or-updating-old-chips-which-ones-would-you-choose/

The recent discussion about the “new” 6502 from WDC got me thinking about other old and/or unavailable chips that could use a re-introduction, or perhaps just a process facelift. This post is mainly to solicit reactions and suggestions from viewers like you, but I’ll provide my own example too.

I'm curious - which chips would the members of the community here like to see brought back to life?

Cheers,

Drew

Engineering On Friday: Holiday Tree-Topper

Catwell — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:24:15 GMT

What does an engineer put at the top of their x-mas tree?

Find out at the Engineering On Friday comic strip: Engineering On Friday: Holiday Tree-Topper

Cabe

http://twitter.com/Cabe_e14

Engineering on Friday

Catwell — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:58:33 GMT

Engineering on Friday, my weekly comic.

Spurs from my experience that there are two cases of engineering done on Fridays.

- One where no one is doing a single bit of work.

- One where everyone sweats hard as some sort of Damocles Sword of a deadline comes rushing down.

Either way, take a break, read a comic, read some news.

Cabe

http://twitter.com/Cabe_e14

Contract Engineers, get out

Eavesdropper — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:22:30 GMT

I had a job interview today, and I candidly told about other candidate's job hunting experiences. They were grave.

It seems that electronic (industry) engineers are being hired and fired in droves. Brought on for one specific task, and then immediately let go, so I was told.

In a world soaked in electronics I find it so odd that the job market is so harsh to so many.

Have several contract engineering jobs myself, I have found that it is not an overseas outsourcing of the jobs, but must be some other intangible reason.

I was told that almost every engineer that they interviewed had a minimum of 5 or so contract jobs as of recent. All short lived, never reaching the full promised committeemen of that contract.

Is this the state of our industry? Thoughts on why it is this way?

Another, more survey like question; how many contract jobs have you had?

Office Cleaning Companies ruining your day?

Catwell — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:16:47 GMT

It finally happened. I came to work today and the papers on my secondary desk were thrown out. Not in the garbage can next to my desk, but some far away, magical receptacle that is meant to absorb all wayfaring hard work. I find it quite odd that the window ceil next in my cube is covered in old bug parts, and the only thing that gets cleaned were my sketches.

I spoke to the upper brass here about the issue, they said I have to place a "note" on what I want to keep. I think it is a backwards way of handling tidying the cubicles. How about a note that says to clean here, and avoid everything else. I suppose I would have notes all over the place, including the carpet where week old pizza crust still sits.

This isn't the worst case of cleaner issues I had. I was once a professional machinist for a brief stint. I had just made a tiny gear out of plastic, and I walked away for a minute to get some plans from my desk. When I returned the cleaning guy had vacuumed off the mill, and with it my part. I asked him to dump the vacuum contents. He gave me such a hard time about it that I just made another.

Has this ever happened to you? How did it ruin your day?

Cabe