Thomas T. Smith '00
EMC Engineer
L.S. Research and Compliance
Position Description:
I perform electromagnetic compatibility testing on various electronic devices prior to release into production and marketplace.
Necessary education or experience:
B.S. degree in electrical engineering, biomedical engineering or equivalent knowledge, or understanding of antennas, electromagnetic fields and international standards.
Key skills that are necessary to be successful in your position:
Ability to interpret and apply international standards established by various
regulatory agencies including (FCC, IEC, CENLEC, CISPR, ISO, ETSI and many
others). Other necessary skills include ability to communicate with design
engineers, project managers, and other regulatory agencies/personnel via
phone, e-mail or personal interaction. Multitasking is required to manage
multiple projects at various stages and ensure completion of each project
in an acceptable amount of time. In addition to testing devices, accurate
logbooks are kept to validate test results as well as support test reports.
A description of your path to your current position:
I received my B.S. degree in biomedical engineering from MSOE in May 2000. I began working for L.S. Research and L.S. Compliance in June 2000.
Good (and bad) aspects of your current position:
The good aspects of my current position are that I continually meet new and
interesting people with different career paths everyday. New products and
designs pass my desk each day. This allows me to see the latest and
greatest technology has to offer. The products that I test are not limited
to one particular area of industry. One day I may test a medical product,
the next day I may be testing a home electronics product and the next day I
may be testing a product heading into a heavy industrial environment that
the average consumer will never see and so on. As a result I continually
apply similar standards to many different products. However this also is
a bad aspect of my job. There is a significant amount of repetition. I
generally conduct the same tests over and over on different products. My job
requires that I pay attention to details and monitor the product’s
performance closely. Any degradation of the product not only constitutes a
failure to comply with the test standard, but it also indicates that if a
problem were to occur in the field, significant consequences could result,
including lawsuits and injury or death to those in contact with the devices.
One other negative aspect of my current position is that I work for a rather
small company and thus after three years my job responsibilities have not changed
a great deal and there are few opportunities to advance inside the company. At
times this is frustrating because I would like to continue to grow and develop
new skill sets in order to avoid being pigeonholed.
What do you enjoy about your current position?
I enjoy the control I have with my current position. I am able to work with multiple projects and personnel at
one time. Thus, I have many deadlines and at times meeting other people’s
schedules and expectations is more difficult than actually performing the
tests. Every customer acts as if their product is the only one you have to
work on and thus you should be able to meet each and every one of their
demands. However these challenges are what keep the days going by faster and
faster. Also, the amount of responsibilities that have been placed upon me have
allowed me to become comfortable with my decision-making abilities and also
forced me to trust my judgment.
Any other advice?
My recommendation is to try and provide yourself with a diverse background
during the summers and between classes. This provides you with two valuable
pieces of information. The first being you will learn more about what your
interests are and what you would like to focus on in the future. The
second is once you begin the interviewing process you need to have
experiences that make you standout from the other candidates who are
interviewing. Sometimes it doesn’t need to be anything extraordinary.
In my case being able to provide writing samples and the fact I did research
involving emissions from cellular phones at an internship set me apart from
the other candidates. I was able to show my logbook and technical documents
that were written for senior design. I know the other candidates were all
capable of writing reports, however being able to show proof is what set me
aside from the rest.
On MSOE and Biomedical Engineering
Do you think a degree in BE is a good choice?
I honestly believe a degree in BE is an excellent choice if you don’t
know exactly what type of engineering you want to do. The reason is
simple; the BE program is oriented to give you a little knowledge and
experience in many different areas. Electronics, mechanics and physiology
are the basics. Thus I consider a BE when they finish to be a
jack-of-all-trades. A BE has enough experience and understanding to have
the building blocks necessary to learn more.
Do you think MSOE is a good choice of colleges?
In order to answer this question you must decide on what your reason is
for choosing MSOE. If you want to be pushed and learn how to excel in
life, the answer is simple: yes. MSOE will push you and you will accomplish
things that when you look back you won’t understand how you were able to
get through, but you know it made you better for finishing. If you are
looking for a place to spend the next four or five years of life before
the real world comes, then MSOE probably isn’t the place for you. However
this is not to say MSOE won’t provide you with fun and entertainment, but
the atmosphere is definitely not that of your typical state college or
big university. MSOE provides you with a close knit and a challenging
environment with all the intention of helping you succeed if you put the
effort forward.
Why did you choose MSOE's BE program?
I looked at other BE programs and MSOE was
ABET accredited. Second, I knew once I was accepted to MSOE, I could begin
taking my classes in the BE program. I wasn’t required to take general
classes for the first two years and pray my grades were adequate enough to
get into the engineering program. From day one I knew what my goals were
and what I needed to do to accomplish them.
What did you like about MSOE?
I enjoyed the class sizes. There were small enough to give you that feeling
of high school where you know everyone in your class. Some of your classmates
become your best friends while others remain your lab partners. Although the
class sizes are small the campus is located in a city environment, which allows you
to feel like you are at a big time school. For the most part, the faculty and
staff want you to succeed and will assist you if you make the effort.
What did you like about the BE program?
By far the greatest thing about the BE program is senior design. The senior design
project is in my opinion where you are exposed to what life could be like once you
are done with school. The social interaction provided in senior design is one of
the most important learning experiences. Also the deadlines and problems that are
incorporated into the senior design schedule are priceless. These attributes and
skills can only be experienced over a significant amount of time.
What did you like about the student activities and student life at MSOE?
The thing I enjoyed most about the student activities at MSOE was that everyone was
in the same situation. Everyone knows how much course work you have and that your
main reason for being at MSOE is to learn. Therefore people were willing to accommodate
your schedule to allow you to participate in activities when it was convenient for you.
Now that you have graduated and are in the workforce, are
you happy with the education that you received in the BE program at MSOE?
I am happy with the education I received. I don’t feel I would be where I am today
if I had not attended MSOE. Not only from and education view but also from the
networking aspect. MSOE provides you with a close-knit group of people who understand
what you learned as well as how you learned.
| For information about MSOE's B.S. in Biomedical Engineering program, contact interim program director Dr. Charles Tritt at (414) 277-7421. |