So an electronics engineer is someone that designs computers, software and electronic systems.
And guaranteed, every industry will use them.
A radio station needs their systems to broadcast, a mining company needs their computers to work,
and even the army needs their communications to… well, communicate.
So if you have a knack for computers and software then stick around ‘cause this could be the job for you.
As an electronics engineer you could be anywhere from running communications for the military,
to designing the computer systems of the traffic and transport industry.
Even this video is being broadcast across a system of cables and computers
that an electronics engineer would have designed.
Today we’re chatting with Dan from Southern Cross Austereo
to see what it’s like being the designer of electronic equipment at a radio station.
- Dan! - G’day Jesse.
Mate I wanna know what it’s like to be an electronics engineer.
- Sure let’s go upstairs to have a chat. - Sweet!
Alright mate, well first up, why did you choose to become an electronics engineer?
Well I work in the radio broadcasting industry, so first of all we’re a communications industry,
so I look after a lot of the communications infrastructure.
Microwaves, fibre optics, ethernet and FM transmission more importantly.
My day to day job basically is keeping this station on air.
We run two FM services and five DAB services as well as online,
and we have to keep that on air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Project work involves software development, circuit design, circuit building and overall maintenance.
Wow! Seems pretty stressful. So why did you choose that career path?
Well I was pretty fortunate, this job kind of chose me.
I was always a very technically savvy person, but this job came up which involved putting me through training.
I went from there and they put me through a diploma at TAFE, an advance diploma, and here I am today.
Now you mentioned you do heaps of different stuff. What is the hardest part of the job?
Well being a radio broadcaster, we are on air 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
and performing maintenance on these services can be pretty tricky.
When it comes to project work, sometimes you can have problems that you will tear your hair out for weeks,
and when you finally get to the end… That’s the best part.
What sort of equipment and software and stuff do you use?
I wouldn’t be any engineer if I didn’t have a multimeter and oscilloscope.
They’re the two basic instruments I use.
I also use spectrum analysers, vector network analysers and logic analysers.
Software, I use the industry standard which is Microsoft Visual Studio.
There’s a lot of support on the web for that, that’s why I use it.
There’s a big community of people that use it.
And for schematic design and PCB board design I use Altium designer.
And so, if you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking about going into this career, what’d that be?
I would say not to just focus on one particular element of engineering.
I found employers these days need people with a very broad set of skills.
For example, in the radio industry you can’t just focus on transmission or communications,
you need to also be an IT guy, you also need to be able to do this
and sometime you need to be able to do the plumbing in the building as well. (laughs)
- Alrighty mate, now it’s time for the Edge. You ready? - Sure.
OK, so what characteristics does someone need to be an electronics engineer?
Determined. They need to be creative. They need to be patient.
Good communication skills and technically savvy.
Beauty. And so, now list from school to today, what does someone need to do to possibly get to where you are?
Well maths and physics would certainly help.
And I know some schools are now doing programming which would also help.
Computers and then electronics as well if they do it.
Or you can go to uni and you can get a Bachelors Degree of Engineering in specific pathways.
Either power, computer or control systems.
So if you could’ve done one thing differently but still end up where you are today, what would that be?
Well when I left school didn’t really know what I wanted to do,
so if I could go back I would go straight to uni and do a Bachelors Degree of Engineering.
- Awesome. Thanks for the chat today Dan! - Thanks Jesse.
- Now I’m itching to get back there and push some buttons. - You wanna go in now?
- Can I have a go? - Let’s go!
Let’s do it!
- You ready Jesse? - Ready to go!
Well there you have it. If you’re interested in computers and electronics,
then maybe electronic engineering could be the career for you.
Oh yeah! Oh yeah I’m DJ!