Message	Date	From	Subject
4374	2010-02-24 20:14:07	Gary	EMRFD in the Classroom
At work today I interviewed, and decided to hire, a new grad student out of Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo. We get lots of good engineers from Cal Poly because they emphasize a hands-on approach. This particular fellow was a slam-dunk. Why? Because his instructor in the Advanced Analog Circuits lab class is Dennis Derickson, AC0P, who uses EMRFD as a primary text. Teams of students build a version of the W7ZOI spectrum analyzer from scratch, using ugly construction. I asked my prospective hire to draw the block diagram, which he did while explaining the function of each block as he went along. Then I quizzed him on a few more topics and it was clear he truly understood how this thing works. Marvelous! That sealed the deal. RIck has mentioned similar exercises in his RF classes at Portland State or other colleges. I want to hire those students. They know what they are doing. My (professional) hat is off to Wes, Rick, and Bob for making a real impact on technical education. 73, Gary, WB9JPS
4377	2010-02-25 06:55:34	Mike Czuhajewski	Re: EMRFD in the Classroom
Years ago, KK7B was teaching in Michigan. A couple of the engineers we hired here in Maryland were once students of his. And yes, they certainly knew what they were doing! We'll gladly take a few more.

At work today I interviewed, and decided to hire, a new grad student out of Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo. We get lots of good engineers from Cal Poly because they emphasize a hands-on approach. This particular fellow was a slam-dunk. Why? Because his instructor in the Advanced Analog Circuits lab class is Dennis Derickson, AC0P, who uses EMRFD as a primary text. Teams of students build a version of the W7ZOI spectrum analyzer from scratch, using ugly construction. I asked my prospective hire to draw the block diagram, which he did while explaining the function of each block as he went along. Then I quizzed him on a few more topics and it was clear he truly understood how this thing works. Marvelous! That sealed the deal.

RIck has mentioned similar exercises in his RF classes at Portland State or other colleges. I want to hire those students. They know what they are doing.

My (professional) hat is off to Wes, Rick, and Bob for making a real impact on technical education.

73,
Gary, WB9JPS