What does a computer engineer do?

Computer Engineers are people that actually create and engineer computer parts and devices related to computers.  Computer Engineers use code from programmers to make something engineered come to life.

Steps to becoming a computer engineer:

  1. Get a college education.  It is rarer that a computer engineer is self taught.  This degree field really calls for a BS or in many cases a master’s degree.   Once a job candidate enters the job market with a Bachelor’s degree you’ll quickly understand if you need to go on to get your master’s.  It really just increases your pay and gives one more flexibility in choosing which job he or she would prefer.
  2. After education it’s time to apply.  According to the BLS, growth in this area is expected to be around 5% from 2016-2018.
  3. The pay is fantastic with an average of  $115,000.
  4. Choose your job and enter the job market.  FInd a job that really suits you, there should be many opportunities for you to choose from.

Q and A Dave Cain

Dave Cain

 

Is it hard to enter the job market without experience?

It can be. This might be a job that you need to take on and work from the ground up. But either way you are paid well for your skillset.

 What is the job market like?  Like we said earlier pay is high and job growth is expected 5% year after year to 2026.  Making computer engineers very high in demand.

What kind of education did you use to start in engineering?

My curriculum started with a course in social studies which I thought was strange at first but looking back on it, I get the strategy of my school. They knew that we would invent technology that would make the world better but the purpose of the social induction was to remind us that in everything we design to keep the impact of people in mind. For example, what good does it do to create a car that gets 500 miles to the gallon and never breaks down if places hundreds of thousands of people out of work. We actually had to study a fictional book where the only people that were left to work were engineers and eventually they were replaced by machines.

Do you think Masters is a good idea or no?

Yes. It’s a good idea. I chose a masters in business but I have hired engineers with masters and even PhDs in engineering. The purpose of the advance degrees is to acquire advance training to help add to the body of knowledge of what we don’t know yet. That’s not to say that creative innovations can’t come from a person with a BS degree, but the advance degrees provide a disciplined approach to discovery.

Seems like you’ve had a few jobs in your career, which ones did you like and dislike?

In engineering, every day is unique and different and can be unpredictable. Looking back I have enjoyed every engineering position. At Monsanto, I designed computer based control systems to make detergents, gas emulsifiers and carpet fibers. At Michigan Consolidated Gas I designed the first computer based control system to control the distribution of gas from Louisiana to Michigan. At Kelloggs, I was on the engineering team that created Frosted Mini Wheats. In the pharmaceutical industry, I oversaw designs for branded and generic drugs and even led the engineering teams that designed the buildings that were used to make the drugs. Never a dull moment.

What are your favorite parts of the job?

Being creative. Every assignment starts with a problem and my job was to deliver a design that solved the problem. I enjoy thinking of the widest solutions and then working them back to fit the problem.

Which are the worst?
When things don’t work as designed. Failures are part of the job and you have to be able to accept that not everything is going to be a success. That’s why after each design startup, I lead a lessons learned exercise – what went well and what did not go as well as it should. I once designed a hydraulic bridge with fancy controls to unload railcars in Michigan. On paper it looked like it was going to work. We started the project up in the coldest part of the winter in Michigan and the hydraulic fluid literally froze and the bridge never worked. I had to start over.

All in all have you liked your career?
Yes, I have travelled to China, Japan, India, Europe, Israel, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Canada and every state in the U.S. installing engineering projects or supporting them. It has been a great and rewarding career.

If you had advice to offer students what would it be?
Successful careers are driven by two things…passion and purpose. Find something that you feel very passionate about and attached a purpose or reason to pursue. At 22 years old, my purpose was to use my engineering skills to help make the world a better place. I used that purpose to make decisions about opportunities and projects that I would work on. Driven by my passion I have stopped in each country and did positives things ( like helping people ) to leave a positive impact….I now have friends all over the world and each week I chat with one of them. The additional advice I would give students is that “learning never stops”, I believe that life is lived on an incline…you are either progressing up or sliding down and it is impossible to remain in one place. Go and save the world.

Jared Wolff

What kind of education did you use to start in engineering?

I started in engineering a before college. I was often taking things apart, fixing them, breaking them and even building some rudimentary circuitry that I could put in my car. It was a stepping stone to a more formal Bachelors of Computer Engineering degree I got afterwards.

Do you think Masters is a good idea or no?

If you’re passionate about a particular facet of engineering and you want to dive more a masters definitely makes the most sense. Some engineers find themselves getting their MBA. If you’re a more business minded engineer, going to school to get an MBA and build your network is a great step too. It all depends on where you are in your life and how you think school will bring value for your future.

Seems like you’ve had a few jobs in your career, which ones did you like and dislike? 

The ones I’ve disliked mostly related to the direction and leadership of the company. I’ve been more stressed out in situations like that than any other workplace hands down.

What are your favorite parts of the job?

The neat thing is diving deep into the technical bits and making a product from scratch or making and old one better. Almost every product I’ve worked on had some type of unique engineering challenge. That’s the stuff I live for.

Which are the worst?

The type of engineering I do requires lots of deep work and attention to detail. It’s easy to get lost in the work and forget about my other commitments to family and friends. It’s also often easier to do the deep work rather than the stuff that I’m not so good at like marketing and sales.

All in all have you liked your career?

I think my career is ever evolving but I’m enjoying it more now that I have the control to work with the clients that get me excited. Plus there’s something to be said about having multiple revenue streams which helps with mitigating risk and keeping food on the table.

If you had advice to offer students what would it be?

If you’re passionate in your field, start building the things you’re passionate about now. Amazing companies like Apple look at your side projects so gauge how excited you are about what you are doing. They don’t really care about school projects (everyone has to do them). If you take the time and create something on your own, you’re setting yourself up to be apart from the rest of the crowd. Doing this personally has opened doors for me early in my career. It’d be very different if I hadn’t!