Hi all
I am a 52 years old electronics technician with massive experience in
analog electronics like audio and power supplies .

I want to start a career in FPGA designing .

My intention is to buy a good book and a good FPGA
evaluation board and to do some projects on it to
get experience .

I did some work in VHDL in the past .

My question is do I have a real chance to get into this field now
at my age ?

Thanks
EC

>Hi all
>I am a 52 years old electronics technician with massive experience in
>analog electronics like audio and power supplies .
>
>I want to start a career in FPGA designing .
>

Seriously, I would think that RF was a better bet for you if you want toincrease your earnings/hour.

BTW, are you UK based, or elsewhere in Europe?
	   
					
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Posted through http://www.FPGARelated.com

RealInfo wrote:
> I am a 52 years old electronics technician with massive experience in
> analog electronics like audio and power supplies .

> My question is do I have a real chance to get into this field now
> at my age ?

Depends on how deep you want to go but, sure, I did and I
started at a later age than yours.  I had so much fun that
I started a hobby company based on it.  Check out Demand
Peripherals.

Bob Smith

If you are determined and patient enough and most
importantly you want
to learn I don't see why you can't make a move into this area. There
is still a bias against taking on the older worker with limited
experience so I don't think it will be an easy move. There will be a
lot of rejections probably along the way. Your analogue background can
be useful in understanding issues particularly at board level. Most
young graduates these days don't think beyond '0' and '1' if they even
think at as low a level as that. That's something you might be able to
use as an advantage in gaining a position. Combining with some board
level analogue electronics might also get you a way in as an all-
rounder. That way an employer gets some immediate benefit but you get
a path to experience.

Starting on your own is a good idea to see that you like doing the
work and can make the transition. If you want to go further and do
something like a masters or other qualification that may also help but
is costly to do.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd.

On 1 Sep, 09:52, RealInfo <therighti...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all
> I am a 52 years old electronics technician with massive experience in
> analog electronics like audio and power supplies .
>
> I want to start a career in FPGA designing .
>
> My intention is to buy a good book and a good FPGA
> evaluation board and to do some projects on it to
> get experience .
>
> I did some work in VHDL in the past .
>
> My question is do I have a real chance to get into this field now
> at my age ?
>
> Thanks
> EC

On Sep 1, 9:52=A0am, RealInfo
<therighti...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My question is do I have a real chance to get into this field now
> at my age ?

Can't say, but...

> My intention is to buy a good book and a good FPGA
> evaluation board and to do some projects on it to
> get experience .
> EC

I came on this news group and asked for some advice getting started a
couple of weeks ago and got some really good  tips. I ended up buying
"FPGA Prototyping by Verilog Examples" by Pong P. Chum there is a VHDL
version of the book too. Its a good read and I am finding it to be a
very well structured book to learn from too so I will pass that
recommendation on to you. I come from a purely software background.

On Sep 1, 4:52=A0am, RealInfo
<therighti...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all
> I am a 52 years old electronics technician with massive experience in
> analog electronics like audio and power supplies .
>
> I want to start a career in FPGA designing .
>
> My intention is to buy a good book and a good FPGA
> evaluation board and to do some projects on it to
> get experience .
>
> I did some work in VHDL in the past .
>
> My question is do I have a real chance to get into this field now
> at my age ?
>
> Thanks
> EC

I'm curious about what you mean by "get into this field".  You say you
are a technician.  If you are looking for employment as an FPGA
capable engineer, I would say your chances are slim since most
companies won't hire you as an engineer unless you have the
sheepskin.  When I started in electronics it wasn't that way.  A
technician could learn on the job and grow into an engineering
position.  But now companies are much more "anal" about having a
degree.

So I assume you know all that and are asking about something other
than a career as an engineer.  What would that be?

Rick

> When I started in electronics it wasn't that
way. =A0A
> technician could learn on the job and grow into an engineering
> position. =A0But now companies are much more "anal" about having a
> degree.

> Rick

Hm, I see that most companies requires BSEE _OR_ MSEE. Its a new
question on offtopic actually. I am on the last year of my BSEE and
thinking of not taking MSEE. I believe MSEE is a start way to Ph.D?
Then whats the point of studying for MSEE?

On 9/4/2010 5:47 AM, Socrates wrote:

> Hm, I see that most companies requires BSEE _OR_ MSEE. Its a new
> question on offtopic actually. I am on the last year of my BSEE and
> thinking of not taking MSEE. I believe MSEE is a start way to Ph.D?
> Then whats the point of studying for MSEE?

An MSEE is also a good way to fill in something missing in your BSEE 
coursework. Maybe an project and thesis on a VHDL/FPGA related idea?

     -- Mike Treseler

On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 05:47:41 -0700 (PDT), Socrates
<m...@gmail.com> wrote:

>> When I started in electronics it wasn't that way.  A
>> technician could learn on the job and grow into an engineering
>> position.  But now companies are much more "anal" about having a
>> degree.
>
>> Rick
>
>Hm, I see that most companies requires BSEE _OR_ MSEE. Its a new
>question on offtopic actually. I am on the last year of my BSEE and
>thinking of not taking MSEE. I believe MSEE is a start way to Ph.D?
>Then whats the point of studying for MSEE?

Logic says MS is clearly better, and PhD is clearly better still. But still...

When I had to face the choice you are facing, we had a brand new Conservative
prime minister - Margaret Thatcher.

And the writing on the wall said ...
go out and get a job, while jobs are still in fashion. 

I was lucky: friends who stayed in education for another year had about ten
times the trouble I had finding employment.

So, be guided by circumstances as well as logic. 
Circumstances will be different for you ... won't they?

- Brian

On Sep 4, 8:47=A0am, Socrates
<mail...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > When I started in electronics it wasn't that way. =A0A
> > technician could learn on the job and grow into an engineering
> > position. =A0But now companies are much more "anal" about having a
> > degree.
> > Rick
>
> Hm, I see that most companies requires BSEE _OR_ MSEE. Its a new
> question on offtopic actually. I am on the last year of my BSEE and
> thinking of not taking MSEE. I believe MSEE is a start way to Ph.D?
> Then whats the point of studying for MSEE?

MSEE is not a step on the way toa PhD unless you want it to be.
Mostly it is something you can get so that if you don't complete the
dissertation at least you've got the MS.

Getting an MSEE was a very interesting experience for me.  As an
undergraduate I felt very underrespected.  As a graduate student you
are treated very differently.  I also felt like the coursework was
much more advanced although that may just be a school related thing.

The most important thing about getting my MSEE was that it got me a
lot more respect from employers... other than the one I had when I got
the durn thing.  They made it very clear that I would get nothing
extra for the extra education.  Everyone else thought the MSEE was a
good selling feature.  I never used to see MSEE even mentioned in job
listings and now they often say BSEE or MSEE... notice they don't
mention PhD!  Getting a PhD opens a lot of doors, but closes others.
Ever hear of the term "overqualified"?

The really great thing about an MSEE is that you can get one while you
work and your employer will often pay for it!  I remember the
"Fairchild Scholar's" program at U of Md.  They put in two heavy
semesters and a short summer semester and were done, all paid for by
the company and they didn't have to work during that time.

Rick