Electronic Engineer
Me and My Job | Career Focus | Course Options

Sean Rattigan, Electronic Engineer.

Sean has been an Electronics Engineer for 6 years, "but essentially my role is that of a Manufacturing / Research and Development / Field Support Engineer."

What qualifications did you need to obtain to do your job?

I graduated from AIT in '94 with a Postgraduate Diploma in Electronics and IT and also a City & Guilds Quality certificate. Before my current position, I worked as a debug technician in Tellabs (Shannon) and Seagate (Clonmel), and also in Autotote.

Seeing the fails and the design flaws (in terms of "serviceability" for changing parts and sometimes poor design, both mechanical and electrical) provided me with an insight into how I think parts should be designed. Many design engineers give little or no thought to how easy it will be to repair the final assembly. A simple, effective design with minimum complexity and minimum labour provides a reliable and cost effective product.

I incorporated the Engineering role into my role as supervisor of the Repair Depot, drafting ECOs to correct design errors/ improve reliability and reduce complexity/cost.

After some field trips to customers and resolution of various types of problems, I was promoted to the Engineering dept. in my role, which has continued to expand to various projects to improve and reduce the cost of all of our products. There is very little which cannot be redesigned to be simpler and cheaper.

NOTE: The best design I've ever seen was a Thomas the Tank Engine toy for kids. It used only one motor to drive two trains and a crane and a tractor (not at the same time of course) but the way it transferred the operating part to the other "task units" was ingenious. Minimum of parts: minimum cost! A lot of modern kids' toys have excellent design features!

What attracted you to this career?

I've always enjoyed building things or dismantling them to see how they work. In secondary school, I studied Physics, Woodwork and Mechanical Engineering. Electronics was something I was interested in from an early age. A friend of the family owned an Electronics retail and repair outlet, and often showed me the thing he was working on, such as a model steam engine (which was actually steam propelled) and a model radio controlled aeroplane. Electronics also appealed because of the variety of job opportunities available afterwards.

Describe a typical day in your job.

No such thing, unfortunately. Mostly I work on projects to reduce cost, find alternative suppliers, etc. Sometimes I assist in debugging "tricky" field return PCB failures. I design mechanical parts for repair or new production purposes. I design Electronic test stations for testing various sub-assemblies. I am in regular contact with customers in Europe and the Middle East to deal with any queries they may have or offer advise with technical issues. Often I am on the production floor if required to address test and assembly issues. I test new S/W prior to release to customers.

NOTE: We make Lottery and Tote machines. Some are all embedded but the new models are PC based and run on Win'95/'98/NT/CE. Even so, our printer (prints @ 250mm/sec) and scanner (reads @ 500mm/sec) units are custom and made in Ireland. Consequently, the driver boards and S/W drivers are also custom designed. We also make our own interface boards for the Touch-screen based terminals.

To give an idea of my day I can go through some of the things I am working on now.

• Meeting some Japanese gentlemen to discuss samples they made for us recently and the test results I returned to them. They will be able to offer a second source of a custom product for which we currently have only one vendor. This is important as with only one supplier, you are at their mercy regarding lead times and cannot push for a cost reduction. Once this supplier is approved, we can minimise the cost of the supplied part and award the order based on 1) who can meet our production schedule for delivery and 2) who has the best price.
• Evaluating some sample custom hinges I recently designed. These will be part of a kit I designed (with 9 parts in total) to replace an assembly with 23 parts and additional labour. The result will be to reduce labour and material costs and also reduce the no. of parts in inventory.
• Working with a Danish company on a single board to replace 3 existing boards. Main reason is a projected 50% cost reduction, but it will become quite complicated once we come to specifying how it will work and the S/W issues involved with backward compatibility. The work involves not only the H/W design of the board at a component level for the various interfaces (scanner w/integral thermal printer, Receipt Printer, serial ports, USB) but also the mechanical layout (to emulate current boards' external and internal connector positions). There is also the interface to the main system (PCI/Ethernet) and the S/W required to integrate the product into existing models.
• Testing new s/w from the US to allow the printer to print a different type of barcode. Working on a display/touchscreen combo of equal quality but lower cost and also trying to ensure that the plastic tooling is developed with an insert to accommodate various display dimensions. The project is at prototype stage and getting these changes approved before completing the plastic tooling will save a fortune in the coming years. The proposed display had only one manufacturer of that particular size, limiting the choices we could offer customers to CSTN. TFT displays are much more popular now, especially since the current prices are comparable to the cost of many STN panels only 3-4 years ago.

Does your job match the expectations you had for it before you started it?

Never really thought about it. I think the only thing I didn't expect was the salary. Thought it would be more, but in the Midlands, choice is limited!

What are the best things about your job?

Variety! Flexibility! Variety! Flexibility! Variety! Flexibility! Variety! Flexibility!

Mechanical assemblies: Printers, scanners, enclosures, the way the machines are assembled using various fastening techniques and materials. Plastics: Injection moulding and two-shot moulding using typically Cycoloy, Lexan and Noryl. One product uses ABS. Electronic: Custom PCBs, Pentium Motherboards, Various audio, video and communications cards, touch-screens, displays etc. Software: i.e. for programming Motherboard/VGA BIOS's, debug tools, drivers for various cards and custom drivers/utilities.

I have flexible (but long) working hours but have the freedom to (generally) prioritise the various tasks myself. The atmosphere here is fairly easy going.

What are the worst things about your job?

When we're very busy it sometimes means 14 hours days including weekends and bank Holidays. Only for Engineering Dept., unfortunately!! Lack of acknowledgement from Irish Management. Pay is below standard and pay review openly did not reward performance with increase even though the company handbook states this policy clearly. I often get a verbal "clap on the back" from our Director of Manufacturing & Engineering in the USA. I dont mind working late if he has something he wants me to address, test or document. It was from the US that my promotion to my current position came. Acknowledgement of an employees efforts even if only verbal/ via e- mail is an often overlooked but vital part of a good managers job in any organisation!!

What are the key skills you require for your job?

• Logical/Analytical mind
• Business mind (cost projections, amortisation of set-up costs, labour costs etc.)
• Good working knowledge of H/W and S/W.
• Good understanding of interconnection, plastic/metal and general mechanical engineering
• Good communication skills
• Good interpersonal skills
• Self starter
• Self motivator
• Patience

What advice would you have for someone who was interested in this career?

The path I have chosen is fairly unique in that it incorporates various aspects of Engineering and basic business skills.

For someone interested in any form of Engineering, the following is my advise:

• Pick an area of interest. There is no point in picking just any Engineering job. Make sure you'll be happy doing it. If unsure, ask questions about what the job would entail in practical terms.
• Before accepting a job, find out what the company offers 9apart from your salary) such as incentive schemes, bonus schemes, pensions, work hours and shift allowance (if applicable).
• Continue with Education. Expand your horizons.
• Ensure you do a business class (night class) if you've done none before. It will allow you to evaluate your ideas for cost impact before you propose them or present them to your boss. You might have a clear idea of how something can be done to produce a perfect result, but if implementation is going to cost more and the current yield is acceptable, it'll be a non-runner and time spent on the project will be wasted.
• Never be afraid to ask questions or admit you don't know something.
• Don't expect too much (avoids disappointment)
• Apply to both large and small companies. Many apply to large, well-established companies. The pay may be good and the work easier, but promotional opportunities can often be better in smaller companies. Try to get a job in a geographical area you wish to live in, with other opportunities nearby. This way, if the job does not work out, you may not have to relocate. This is more so an issue if you have a family/ partner.

If you were now to change careers, what could/would you do?

If I were to change jobs, I'd like to do something similar to the work I do at the moment. If I were to change career, I think I may opt to become an installation Engineer (SKY minidish for example), or an electrician, or, lastly, perhaps a carpenter. I know people in all of these trades, and the hours and pay are comparable or better than many "factory" Engineer hours/rates. I'd like to think I could get a job in Software development, particularly Linux, however I haven't studied s/w in some time which would go against me in any job application. Also, of course, there are many fully qualified s/w Engineers unemployed at the moment. Lastly, there are no opportunities in the Midlands in this area and I have a young family.