What do you call a person that does this?

TeRRoRByteZ2007

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Hi there,

I'm trying to figure out what this job is called, please help.

Someone that programs electronic devices and/or creates the devices as well? What is this job called? And if someone maybe knows what is required and where it can be studied will also be helpful. I'm a student at CTI and currently I'm doing Java as my main language. I realized I'm really interested in this kind of thing. Like creating a circuit, working with Bluetooth so that you can use your cell phone to switch on lights or play music... Something like that... The thing is I'm currently in East London, and don't think I have enough money to leave this place to study elsewhere, but anyway...

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Electrical Engineer? Computer Engineer?
 
Cool :) thanks for the quick replies...

Your best bet to attend any good University if you want to go into any of those two areas though.

System Engineer (aka Computer Engineer) is someone like Froot, that can code the heck out of any device or create new applications and software. You are looking at about a 6 year course including your Masters.

Electronic Engineer is basically someone that works and can repair circuit boards and even create them, those of motherboards, televisions, gaming consoles and the list goes on.

System Engineer sounds a bit more romantic to me though, just a pity I'm way too stupid for it :p
 
Your best bet to attend any good University if you want to go into any of those two areas though.

System Engineer (aka Computer Engineer) is someone like Froot, that can code the heck out of any device or create new applications and software. You are looking at about a 6 year course including your Masters.

Electronic Engineer is basically someone that works and can repair circuit boards and even create them, those of motherboards, televisions, gaming consoles and the list goes on.

System Engineer sounds a bit more romantic to me though, just a pity I'm way too stupid for it :p

:D

Haha...

I Googled System Engineer/Computer engineer and it looks like it is what I'm looking for... Only thing is where can I study? (That is, in East London)... I don't think UNISA would offer something like this... And damn... Looking at the subjects.... SCIENCE, thought I would be finished with it!!!
 
:D

Haha...

I Googled System Engineer/Computer engineer and it looks like it is what I'm looking for... Only thing is where can I study? (That is, in East London)... I don't think UNISA would offer something like this... And damn... Looking at the subjects.... SCIENCE, thought I would be finished with it!!!

I have no idea. Be a student I say, pack your bags and head to Stellies or even Tuks :p
 
Your best bet to attend any good University if you want to go into any of those two areas though.

System Engineer (aka Computer Engineer) is someone like Froot, that can code the heck out of any device or create new applications and software. You are looking at about a 6 year course including your Masters.

Electronic Engineer is basically someone that works and can repair circuit boards and even create them, those of motherboards, televisions, gaming consoles and the list goes on.

System Engineer sounds a bit more romantic to me though, just a pity I'm way too stupid for it :p

Computer Engineer != to System Engineer...

Computer Engineer >> System Engineer.

froot and I can't only code the heck out of devices etc... Computer engineers are much more than that.

Electronic and Computer engineers are very similar. And it's not to do with creating motherboards, televisions, gaming consoles etc. It's nowhere near as romantic as that. As a computer engineer, your job description is one of the most varied out there, mainly because you have such a broad background in so many fields.

A lot of computer engineers work in fields such as telecommunications, robotics, etc.

A Bachelors in Engineering is 4 years (they say engineering is a 4 year degree of which the first 5 years are the most difficult :p ). Honours and Masters are dependent on whether you study full-time or part-time.

While studying Computer or Electronic engineering @ Tuks, you will cover a LOT of maths, signal analysis, control-systems, and design topics of all kinds. You will also do a fair amount of high-level programming, and slightly less embedded programming (although you will be expected to be able to do this quite competently). Electronic engineers do things like electromagnetism, and computer engineers do things like artificial intelligence.

Edit:
Tuks is the only University in the country that offers Computer Engineering (i.e. B.Eng (Computer) ). Stellenbosch, I'm told, offers Electronic Engineering with Computer Science, and UJ offers Electronic Engineering with IT Endorsement. As I understand, these are similar to Computer Engineering.
 
:D

Haha...

I Googled System Engineer/Computer engineer and it looks like it is what I'm looking for... Only thing is where can I study? (That is, in East London)... I don't think UNISA would offer something like this... And damn... Looking at the subjects.... SCIENCE, thought I would be finished with it!!!

If you aren't into science, you should STAY AWAY from ANY engineering degree (except possibly industrial).

The same goes for maths.

As an engineering student (almost any engineering discipline) at Tuks, you will cover subjects such as Introductory Calculus, Linear Algebra, Calculus of Surfaces, Differential Equations, Calculus of Sequences And Series, Numerical Methods, Introductory Statistics.
Computer and Electronic engineers go further and do Stochastic processes (stats on steroids).

Science-wise, all engineers (I think) touch on mechanics. Most do Dynamics too (although computer engineers do this to a lesser extent). All engineers do physics. Computer, Electronic and Electrical engineers do quite a lot of circuit analysis. I can't speak too much for others, but computer engineers have some design subjects where you need to design and implement full systems (that actually work). This is even before you reach your final year project, where you do something that is generally pretty cool (robot soccer, levitation, etc).

Third-year Computer Engineers at Tuks last year developed, in their Design And Manufacturing subject, systems that used microprocessors, motors, sensors and wireless. The actual system didn't really matter; they just had some requirements. So there were things like radio-controlled cars, bridges, cranes, etc. Pretty cool actually (some of them actually worked well too :p).
 
Computer Engineer != to System Engineer...

Computer Engineer >> System Engineer.

froot and I can't only code the heck out of devices etc... Computer engineers are much more than that.

Electronic and Computer engineers are very similar. And it's not to do with creating motherboards, televisions, gaming consoles etc. It's nowhere near as romantic as that. As a computer engineer, your job description is one of the most varied out there, mainly because you have such a broad background in so many fields.

A lot of computer engineers work in fields such as telecommunications, robotics, etc.

A Bachelors in Engineering is 4 years (they say engineering is a 4 year degree of which the first 5 years are the most difficult :p ). Honours and Masters are dependent on whether you study full-time or part-time.

While studying Computer or Electronic engineering @ Tuks, you will cover a LOT of maths, signal analysis, control-systems, and design topics of all kinds. You will also do a fair amount of high-level programming, and slightly less embedded programming (although you will be expected to be able to do this quite competently). Electronic engineers do things like electromagnetism, and computer engineers do things like artificial intelligence.

Edit:
Tuks is the only University in the country that offers Computer Engineering (i.e. B.Eng (Computer) ). Stellenbosch, I'm told, offers Electronic Engineering with Computer Science, and UJ offers Electronic Engineering with IT Endorsement. As I understand, these are similar to Computer Engineering.
I didn't say a Computer Engineer is someone that can create motherboards, I said an Electronic Engineer can fix them though (dependant on the damage that is).

I have 2 Computer Engineers in my family, both are my cousins. One studied at Tuks and the other at Potch if I recall (might be wrong).

My cousin's are brilliant at what they do and I give them all the credit. By saying they can code devices is my way of saying you give these guys raw hardware (whatever it's called) and they can design/code it to be a flight plan system or anything you require it, even an electronic fuel injection system.

I have to confess, I don't know what a Computer Engineer's capabilities are, but I do know they are damn smart.

Edit: Yep, it's Potch http://www.puk.ac.za/fakulteite/ing/electrical/index_e.html
 
Last edited:
I didn't say a Computer Engineer is someone that can create motherboards, I said an Electronic Engineer can fix them though (dependant on the damage that is).

I have 2 Computer Engineers in my family, both are my cousins. One studied at Tuks and the other at Potch if I recall (might be wrong).

My cousin's are brilliant at what they do and I give them all the credit. By saying they can code devices is my way of saying you give these guys raw hardware (whatever it's called) and they can design/code it to be a flight plan system or anything you require it, even an electronic fuel injection system.

I have to confess, I don't know what a Computer Engineer's capabilities are, but I do know they are damn smart.

Edit: Yep, it's Potch http://www.puk.ac.za/fakulteite/ing/electrical/index_e.html

Holy moley! That's new! Just checked out the yearbook... It's legit too... ECSA accreditation.

*humbly bows*

Re-Edit:
Ooh... They're up for re-accreditation this year :p
 
Last edited:
I am in this line,Its called an electronics engineering research and development .I have seen on the net many years ago that you could study the whole thing in 4 years.
 
Hi there,

I'm trying to figure out what this job is called, please help.

Someone that programs electronic devices and/or creates the devices as well? What is this job called? And if someone maybe knows what is required and where it can be studied will also be helpful. I'm a student at CTI and currently I'm doing Java as my main language. I realized I'm really interested in this kind of thing. Like creating a circuit, working with Bluetooth so that you can use your cell phone to switch on lights or play music... Something like that... The thing is I'm currently in East London, and don't think I have enough money to leave this place to study elsewhere, but anyway...

Any help would be appreciated.

Yeah, that could be either a computer engineer or an electronic engineer. In some fashions there are barely any differences between those two. The ability to program software is pretty much the only difference (others too but this is the main difference in my opinion).

The inclusion of physics in engineering degrees as well as mechanics in the EEC department is to give the students a bit of knowledge for when they work in the field one day. They have to be able to communicate with ie a mechanical engineer and have an "idea" of what he's talking about.

Talking about motherboards, Computer Engineers I suppose might be able to design and build those, but Electronic Engineers will be more suited to doing that.

I'm not biased about Tuks but the best engineering department in my opinion is Tuks. They also have the best labatories that I have seen. Some of the lecturers there are absolutely brilliant. One of the lecturers, Peter Palensky, is an absolute genius. He comes from Austria and I must admit, he is very very good at what he does. He's 30ish, has his doctorate and has more experience than some of the higher-ups in the department (don't tell them I said that :D)
 
Yeah, that could be either a computer engineer or an electronic engineer. In some fashions there are barely any differences between those two. The ability to program software is pretty much the only difference (others too but this is the main difference in my opinion).

The inclusion of physics in engineering degrees as well as mechanics in the EEC department is to give the students a bit of knowledge for when they work in the field one day. They have to be able to communicate with ie a mechanical engineer and have an "idea" of what he's talking about.

Talking about motherboards, Computer Engineers I suppose might be able to design and build those, but Electronic Engineers will be more suited to doing that.

I'm not biased about Tuks but the best engineering department in my opinion is Tuks. They also have the best labatories that I have seen. Some of the lecturers there are absolutely brilliant. One of the lecturers, Peter Palensky, is an absolute genius. He comes from Austria and I must admit, he is very very good at what he does. He's 30ish, has his doctorate and has more experience than some of the higher-ups in the department (don't tell them I said that :D)

Palensky talks funny :p
 
I actually find his accent appeasing (right word choice?)... better than some of the other lecturers I've had...
 
I actually find his accent appeasing (right word choice?)... better than some of the other lecturers I've had...

Did you ever have Dr. Maepa ? (Maths lecturer)

*shudder*

/me thinks back to his explanation of doppler effect...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH"

He knew his stuff though (even if he wasn't able to convey it well)
 
Did you ever have Dr. Maepa ? (Maths lecturer)

*shudder*

/me thinks back to his explanation of doppler effect...

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH"

He knew his stuff though (even if he wasn't able to convey it well)

Yeah. I had him in first year calculus. I remember that knob on the back of his head. He talked faster than a Ferrari on NOS and wrote even faster, but he knew his stuff...
 
Yeah, that could be either a computer engineer or an electronic engineer. In some fashions there are barely any differences between those two. The ability to program software is pretty much the only difference (others too but this is the main difference in my opinion).

The inclusion of physics in engineering degrees as well as mechanics in the EEC department is to give the students a bit of knowledge for when they work in the field one day. They have to be able to communicate with ie a mechanical engineer and have an "idea" of what he's talking about.

Talking about motherboards, Computer Engineers I suppose might be able to design and build those, but Electronic Engineers will be more suited to doing that.

I'm not biased about Tuks but the best engineering department in my opinion is Tuks. They also have the best labatories that I have seen. Some of the lecturers there are absolutely brilliant. One of the lecturers, Peter Palensky, is an absolute genius. He comes from Austria and I must admit, he is very very good at what he does. He's 30ish, has his doctorate and has more experience than some of the higher-ups in the department (don't tell them I said that :D)


Degree Programmes
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Electrical Engineering entails the generation, distribution and utilisation of electrical energy. This includes subjects such as alternative sources of energy (wind, water, sun, energy), protection and power network stability, power network design and management, electrical propulsion (hybrid and electric vehicles such as cars and motorcycles), control systems to control any type of motor and system (e.g. speed, braking, steering, suspension, gear box and stability control of motor cars), large electrical plants in buildings, factories and townships, etc.

Electrical Engineers most often work for firms such as automobile manufacturers, City Councils, Consulting Engineering Firms, CSIR, ESKOM, ISCOR, LGI, Powertech, SASOL, TELKOM, mines and factories and in a large variety of other firms including electronic and computer firms.

ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
Electronic Engineering primarily entails the generation and dissemination fo information through electronic systems and subsystems. All the principles of the world of electronics are used. These include basic electronic components and systems (e.g. amplifiers, transmitters, receivers, microprocessors, computers, computer systems, power sources, inverters) and also complete and custom-made systems such as user electronics (TV, cellular telephones, radios, microwave ovens, hi-fi systems), car electronics (ABS, speed control, fuel injection), process control systems, electronic warfare avionics, navigational equipment (GPS), information systems, industrial measuring and control systems, entertainment, speech and visual recognition systems and many more. Furthermore, bio-engineering and photonics are also addressed as subsections of Electronic Engineering.

Electronic Engineers most often work with firms such as Altech, Anglo American, CSIR, De Beers, Denel, Grintek, Kentron, LGI, Mintek, MTN, Philips, Plessey, Siemens, Telkom, Vodacom and many other firms including electrical and computer firms.

COMPUTER ENGINEERING
Computer Engineering represents the combined fields of Information and Communication Technology (IT and ICT). This includes computer systems, software engineering and telecommunication systems. Microprocessors, computers, computer networks and computer network equipment, transmitters, receivers, antennas, microwave networks and optical fibres are discussed under equipment. Subjects such as computer programming, operating systems, the Internet, teletraffic engineering, data security and signal processing are addressed under the theoretical principles. All systems that form part of the design, installation, commissioning and management of systems forming part of the Information Super Highway form part of Computer Engineering.

Computer Engineers most often work with firms such as Alcatel, Azisa, Cisco, Datatech, Dimension Data, IBM, ICL, LGI, MTN, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Q-Data, Silicon Graphics, Vodacom, Sun MicroSystems and any firm where data and/or communication networks are operated and these include almost all organisations, firms and institutions - (WANs, MANs, LANs, Micro LANs, etc).

http://www.ee.up.ac.za/main/en/undergrad/degrees
 
Did you ever have Ronelle? (no need to mention her surname, her name was well enough known...) :eek:
 
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