Countries to immigrate to as an engineer?

[proxilin]

Theres lots of travel perks and the net salary was great, but timelines were insane and because I started of as an analyst of their grad programme, I often found myself working through weekends as well as 16-18 hours work days during the week. Reward always went to the managers and often the efforts of the lowly anaylst were overlooked! I've had much better experiences elsewhere so far. Perhaps when im senior I'll take a stab with a consulting house again, but then it will be the likes of McKinsey/BCG/Baine/etc.. where the rewards match the amount of work you put in. Also, prestigious consulting houses like those offer perks such as Harvard/Princeton/Yale MBA's... Just my 2cents anyways...

Thanks, always best to hear from someone with first hand experience.

 

[Palimino]

I hated analog stuff, I knew i hated it after my first practical. I loved digital systems and i loved working with pics and micros.

That’s the point. No one wants to do it and would rather do digital. I am not arguing that analogue is superior (it’s not) but the sole reason for the existence of electronics is to make life easier in an **analogue** world. Equipment should go ‘digital’ as soon as possible (superior) but initial interface and feedback is usually analogue.

 

[Palimino]

...initial interface and feedback is usually analogue.

The practice of analogue electronics implies a rudimentary knowledge of how analogue beings (us) process information. Take aircraft instrumentation for example:

Standard airplane ergonomics would apply. The position of instruments is a strong cue. The instrument layout is standard – flight instruments clustered on the left (the pilot flies on the left) and engine monitoring instruments on the right. Under stress, when the pilot’s eyes should be focused outside the cockpit, the reading and interpreting the values from a digital read-out places an unnecessary intellectual burden on the pilot. All critical instruments should be analogue. A quick scan by the pilot confirms that everything is ‘in the green’ rather than wasting time by interpreting absolute values from a digital read-out (to umpteen decimal places). The pilot just needs to know he is not on the point of stalling and he has ‘enough’ height. On an analogue gauge, with a ‘green’ and ‘red’ quadrant, the position of the needle is also an indicator. Is he just in the green quadrant about to go into the red? Or is he deep in the green with no immediate panic required? The air speed indicator and the altimeter would benefit by being analogue. Fuel status and other non-critical (but essential) instruments could be digital.

I like rev. counters to be analogue as well (car, bike or plane). A green quadrant on the instrument covering ‘normal’ values to enable a rapid instrument scan by the pilot. As long as the instrument needle is in the green quadrant, everything is OK (no need for absolute values). Aids in synchronising engines on multi-engine A/C as well.

Analogue gauges also address issues and values you may not remember. For example - Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT). Useful for monitoring plug condition. If a plug fails, the EGT will be cooler (no burnt, hot gas) and out of the ‘green’. You may not remember the absolute values, but ‘in the green’ is the indication you seek.