Feed: Chris Gammell's Analog Life - AggScore: 82.1

How To Write A Resume For Electronics

I've looked at a lot of resumes for electronics positions, so I thought I'd share some of my opinions on what should or shouldn't be on there. Nothing formatting specific, so much as how to get across your interest and passion in electronics. I used examples that are resumes meant for engineering internships, but a lot of the info can be generalized to anyone. Hope you enjoy the video!

Here are those two resumes, if you're interested: The bad (1st) version and the better (2nd) version.

KiCAD Schematic Tutorial

Oh hey, remember me? Yeah, I'm the guy that's supposed to be running this site. Sorry for the long absence. I've been consulting, recording my electronics radio show, managing a multi-blogger engineer site and even getting married! Jeez, it's been a busy time. Anyway, things have cooled off a bit, so I've freed up some time (for now, never know what'll happen).

I decided to dive into a new project after a long hiatus from hobby type activity. I plan to put an MP3 player and output stage board into an antique radio enclosure. I also decided to document the process, specifically using the open source board layout program, KiCAD. I've been talking about learning the software and doing the videos for a while now, so here it is! The first installment is the schematic capture. I'll add more as the board gets more complex and I need to dive more into the process of actually getting a board fabbed. I'm excited! Hope you enjoy the video and the ones to come!

Featured on EE Web!

I was contacted a while ago and dragged my feet, like any good engineer. But today I was the "featured engineer" on EE Web! Exciting!

Aside from the fact that it was very nice of them to think of me, I'm just as excited to be featured on there along with friends from the electronics scene! My co-host of The Amp Hour (who probably won't let me forget who was interviewed first), Dave Jones has been featured in the past. My co-conspirator for the recently completed 555 contest, hackmaster elite Jeri Ellsworth has been featured. And someone else I really respect from the hobbyist scene, Limor Fried of adafruit.

If you haven't checked out EE Web, I suggest it. They have a really clean interface which I like for browsing their articles. The forums are still a bit light on participation but hopefully will fill up with knowledgeable people soon. Thanks again to EE Web for featuring me!

Can't ESCape Wanting To Go

Horrible pun in the title, my apologies.

However, the exciting news is that I will be attending ESC Silicon Valley in a few weeks! I just worked out the details for my trip and will be there from Tuesday, May 3rd until Thursday May 5th.

I've been to ESC Chicago and ESC Boston in the past year, but the Silicon Valley version seems to have more seminars, a bigger show floor and more going on in general. That's to be expected in relation to the relative number of attendees that will likely be there. And of course each time they have a different ESC, some of the courses and people speaking seems to change at least a little to keep up with new technology.

This is exciting for me personally because I've never been to Silicon Valley before. Even more puzzling, I've never been to the Bay Area or even California before. I'm such a homebody. But I'm looking forward to seeing what's out there, enjoying the beautiful weather and hopefully seeing some of the local sites.

How did I get the chance to go? Element 14 is sending me as part of their Roving Reporter program. I'll have video, audio and written updates from the show floor each day. I'm also planning on sitting in for Brian Fuller's live streaming and interviews from the conference. And of course no trade show would be complete if I didn't try and record an episode of The Amp Hour with Dave!

My co-conspirator for the recently completed 555 contest--Jeri Ellsworth--will be there also. Jeri is a keynote speaker on Thursday morning of ESC and will also be a roving reporter. We'll try and show the conference from an engineer's perspective and have some fun.

If you know of any must-see places in San Jose, I'd love to hear about them. And if you're going to be around the conference, let me know! I'd love to hang out and talk or even grab a beer. There's at least one beer-themed event called "Beer and Boards" which will probably be a good time to hang out and talk about nerdy stuff.

I'll try and post links here (and definitely on my Twitter account) to the stuff I produce for Element 14. I'm really looking forward to seeing what this Silicon Valley thing is all about!

Closeout Deals From The Industrial Past

This past weekend I stopped into HGR, the local industrial surplus company in Northeast Cleveland. This place has industrial equipment from all over Ohio, unfortunately from plants closing down. Check out the pictures of all the machinery for sale...it's enough to build one HELL of a workshop (and even a great new workbench!).

This Place is Monstrous

OK, I really would love a robot

The Roof Could Use Some Work

Reflow Oven For Sale (You Transport)

Because honestly, you never know when a machinist might want to get some exercise

A Heidelberg Printing Press