As I read through the curriculum for our next Continuing Education Center course, Introduction to Electronics, I thought that it might be too basic for our readers. People are going to wonder why we’re teaching such elementary courses.
But the more I went through it, the more intrigued I became. Whether you are a trained electrical engineer (like me), someone with training in a different engineering discipline, or just a technology geek, there’s something for you in these classes.
Take, for example, the starter class. Do you remember the basics of what makes up the particles of electricity? Think how much money you could win in a bar bet with this information! How switches, transistors, and vacuum tubes work? That’s so far into the back regions of my brain that it’s easier to just take this refresher course.
The course is taught by renowned expert and author Clive “Max” Maxfield, who certainly has his own unique method of teaching these principles. He has the uncanny ability to take very complex principles and break them down into smaller bites that are easy to understand.
As the course progresses through the week, Max will cover things like the analog and digital domains (and associated components), different types of silicon chips and packages, programmable logic devices like CPLDs and FPGAs, and circuit boards and systems.
I suggest you check it out; I can almost guarantee you’ll learn something and enjoy it at the same time. One big reason for that is that Max is unlike any professor you’ve ever had.
You raise a good point, JimT. mechanical engineers should have no pride issues in taking a class like this, just as EEs should have no pride issues taking classes in vibrations or mechanics of materials. All of these engineering core courses are easily forgotten after 20 or so years.
Just wondering - Do you offer any credit for these classes (CEU / PDH / PDU)? Since these are "live" classes, it would be a good addition for those of us now required to have certified live continuing education for ongoing registration. I have no idea what it takes to actually offer something like that, though.
Looks like a good study – and I'd have no "pride" issues in signing up. My gift, since toddler-hood was purely mechanical, and played out in Legos and Lincoln-Logs. On the contrary, all the electronics experience I've gained has come as a force-feed by placing myself in the mix of EE teams and in the heat of scheduled development programs. Studies such as this one would have been very valuable had I taken it 25 years ago.
With a stellar instructor this will be a great class. The proof will be in the enrollment and the comments. My prediction is this set of classes will prove to be a very good idea.
Clive is quite entertaining. His book Bebop to Boolean Boogie is an example of his quick wit and breaking tough subjects down, like digital electronics, to simple "bits" to understand.
A course like this is definitely needed for Mechanical Engineers. I've taught a Circuits and Electronics course to a group of undergraduate Mechanical Engineering student's and man the look on their faces were pricely. Can you say Ohm's Law!! I've worked with Mechanical Engineers and electronics and mechanics in the same project context, to some of them, just don't mix very well.
About half of our readers are mechanical engineers, many of whom haven't used EE basics since their first class in circuit theory in college. Much as we hate to admit it, that theory doesn't always stick with us over 10, 20 or 30 years.
The other important piece that I didn't mention is that Max is extremely entertaining. The 30 or so minutes that he'll be teaching each day will zip by.
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