00:00:01
S1: With our program, with an associates degree, you're looking at thirty seven to fifty thousand dollars.

00:00:08
S2: So now I'm in the biomedical field. I work at Emory University Hospital

00:00:13
S3: right now at four point twenty two dollars an hour. It is a solid industry.

00:00:23
S4: Ninety eight seven sheptock or ninety eight point seven percent of our students earn a career in today's episode, we're going to look at electrical and computer engineering technology. This is the program you want so you can gain the skills and knowledge needed for your career as an electrical and computer engineering technician. We're going to talk to an instructor, a current student and a couple of program graduates to find out all the details, including how much money you can make when you finish the electrical and computer engineering technology program at Chattahoochee Tech.

00:00:53
S1: When you finish this program, etc., there are so many jobs because the thing about the electrical and computer engineering discipline is that it is broad, it is extremely broad. So any company that requires any kind of electronics or any kind of applications that have computers in them, they are going to need engineering techs to help to install the equipment, to do preventative maintenance on the equipment, to fix the equipment if it's having issues.

00:01:22
S4: Stephanie O'Donahue is the lead instructor of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Program.

00:01:27
S1: Basically, what our program does is prepare engineering technicians. There are a lot of disciplines in engineering and we focus on electrical and computer engineering and we also have a specialization in biomed. So we have a lot of students who like to go forward and end up being Biomet techs at the local hospitals and companies that do imaging and stuff like that.

00:01:53
S4: Where exactly are tech students getting jobs?

00:01:55
S1: So our students have gone through a lot of places right now. The most popular are the hospitals. Right? So every probably like every couple of weeks I get a request for a biomedical tech. And so they're working at places like WellStar Rehires our student. They hire at least one student a year, if not a couple of students. PHILIPPS So that's the biomedical arena. We actually even had the VA who just contacted us. And once again, they need people. They need Biomet technicians. But on the electronic specialization front, we have had people who worked for Marda. Right, who work for Hartsfield Jackson in the logistics and in the, you know, keeping up with the luggage track and the luggage, that type of stuff. People don't think about the background of that. Once you check your luggage, what's happening? We have students who work for there are some local companies like in Kennesaw where they are dealing with these computer boards and they are doing stuff like gas station boards. Right. And so they go in and they fix the boards and and they give a warranty on. And we have some students who work for like Southern tea and automation's those in North Georgia. They have more manufacturing type companies. And so automation and robotics, our students get hired in those type of jobs as well. And we've even had a couple who did like programming, like there's a couple of companies within Marietta where they create software to integrate different hospitals and stuff. And we've even had students who went off and worked there.

00:03:36
S3: My name is Legia. I started Chattahoochee in two thousand nine and I graduated in 2011. I attended the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Program and I also did a biomedical engineering technology. What made me choose this path was the fact that I want it to be in health care, but not exactly in the clinical setting. And I have been worse off since 2015. As a full time employee. I started as a volume one wanting to buy to BioMimetic three, and now I am a medical supervisor and I am actually in charge of the biomedical activities, not for the hospital.

00:04:42
S4: Crosspoint Lee's training at Chattahoochee Tech has led him to having a good paying, stable and rewarding job

00:04:48
S3: right now to pay for five point twenty two dollars an hour. That is a solid industry financially. It is a good, stable job besides just the finances. I like my job because at the end of the day, when I go home, I can say, well, you know what? Today, by fixing this device first and then is this a mistake or a ventilator? Today, by fixing this ventilator, I'm helping a physician keep this patient alive. This patient could be somebody else's father, could be somebody else's first and only son or daughter. So when we look at just the different aspect other than finance, to me, it brings me joy. It brings me peace. It makes me feel that I am contributing my little bit to the society. It makes it makes me feel. I am giving back to my community,

00:05:55
S1: so on average, when you finish with two years with our program, with an associates degree, you're looking at thirty seven to fifty thousand dollars. Twenty five percent of my students go on and get a bachelor's degree. And, you know, if you go that route, you're looking at coming out, making 60, you know, minimum. So it's a great paying job.

00:06:20
S4: Stephanie says that you can make good money and we know that Lee works at the hospital, but what else can you do with this program? Are there other jobs? What exactly is this program anyway?

00:06:29
S1: Engineering technology is more about applying the engineering concepts. So if you get a traditional engineering degree, it's very math and science heavy, very math and science heavy. And you don't even touch any type of equipment or anything until you finish physics, chemistry, several physics classes, chemistry, about four math calculus classes. Right. With engineering technology, what we do is we apply it more. Right. So you're not going to be designing systems normally. You're normally going to be implementing them. And so there is math and science, but not as heavily, but way more labs, way more hands on type training. And so that's the difference between engineering and engineering technology. So you're going to learn about, let's say, Ohm's Law, which is the penultimate theory in all electrical engineering. All right. So you're going to learn that. But then what you're going to do is you're going to be working on a bunch of circuits where you're in the lab building these circuits, troubleshooting these circuits, analyzing these circuits, or you're going to learn if we go to the computer engineering aspect, you're going to learn about microcontrollers. And so you're a typical person. Might not know what a microcontroller is, but they know that if they have a smart app. Right. And what makes your application smart is that there is a computer chip in them. That's the microcontroller. And so that's what's making stuff smart. So I have a Roomba, right? So you have your regular vacuum cleaner and then you have your Roomba, which is a smart vacuum cleaner. Right. And so it can map out your house. It can have sensors on it so it doesn't bump into walls and stuff. And so it's that microcontroller that's inside of that appliance that makes it smart. And so that's what we kind of work on. So we work on stuff like that. And so basically you would be programming a microcontroller or interfacing it with sensors or LCD or, you know, different things that make you be able to communicate with it.

00:08:38
S4: Naomi is also a graduate of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Program.

00:08:42
S2: I work at Emory University Hospital. I work for health care. We have a contract with them. We work on the medical equipment. So when equipment goes down or when it's due for it's routine inspection, that's what we do. The reason why I like the program is because of the hands on and because of the instructors. Were they really made it to where they could kind of tailor it to different learning styles, you know?

00:09:08
S4: And Naomi says that having professors with real life experience is a big plus.

00:09:12
S2: It's almost like if someone's just teaching you something and they don't really know, like what it's actually like in the field, they can't really, like, pinpoint like, hey, this is super important. Make sure that you know this because you're going to need this. There are things like that, like the documentation thing, for example. That's one of those things that you don't think is super important. So things like that, it's like, hey, I know from experience you're going to need to really, really pay attention and do this.

00:09:46
S5: So my name is Elizabeth Johnson. I'm from school, Georgia. I graduated from high school. I'm in the electrical and computer engineering technology pathway and it's fantastic so far. It really helps me along with my internship I Internet or something. Automotive also controls engineering. And so learning in this pathway and then corresponding that with my job has really helped a lot. I've grown a lot in engineering classes are very, very hands on. So there's going to be a lot of lab work and there is a lot of regular homework, just book work, but it's a really big focus on the laboratory assignments.

00:10:25
S3: I do appreciate the hands on work, more so than just academics, just because it gives you more and introduces you a little more to what you're actually going to see in the real world. Or to just look at a piece of paper that sends

00:10:43
S4: the electrical and computer engineering technology program at Chattahoochee Tech is very hands on, but you won't be on your own.

00:10:49
S1: So what we say in this program is that we are here to help you fail, learn and succeed. Right. So success looks like understanding what your weaknesses are, being vulnerable enough to ask for the help and seek the resources that you need and learning the things that you need to learn in order to be a successful engineer. So a lot of people feel like asking for help is a weakness or failing. Is failure, but is not if you learn, then you haven't failed. And so for us, what we want you to do is keep failing because you're going to fail because you don't know everything, but then learn from it and grow and complete complete the program. But not only complete the program, go off and get a job. So for me, for some instructors, they feel like their job is done once they've taught their students. But I actively try to help my students get a job because I grew up poor. I had a working poor mom who was a teenage mom and education is what lifted me out of poverty. Education is what helped me be successfully successful financially. And so for me, I understand what it means to come from a background where you really have to struggle and how you want to go forward and succeed. And what I have found is that you have to be willing to ask for help, to ask questions and then to work hard to have that grit and not quit. And so for me, a student who is going to be successful in our program, they're not going to give up. They're not going to give up. If they don't do as well as they thought they did in the end in a class, they're going to come, they're going to get that help and then they're going to do better in the next class. So that's what success looks like for me. It looks like failing quick and early and learning from it and then moving on and going higher and doing better. That's what it means. And so that's what we try to get our students to.

00:12:53
S4: Not only do professors like Stephanie help their students to get jobs, but being a graduate of Chattahoochee Tech can open up a world of connections for you.

00:13:00
S2: Actually, one of my friends that was in the program graduated a semester before me and she got the internship here and then they hired her on full time. And when she got hired on full time, they're like, now we need a new intern. And then I had just graduated. So she was like, hey, my friend just graduated. You should talk to her. So, yeah, we work together. Now, there's another guy that works here that graduated from tech like the year before me. And then there's there was another guy who graduated the same semester is me that got a job here.

00:13:34
S4: Engineering technology is a male dominated field. And Professor O'Donahue recognizes

00:13:38
S1: that my goal is to recruit more women, to let them know it's a great field and financially, it's really a stable job. And I have seen most of my friends who are who are engineers, they usually don't really have like money issues because it's very stable. It pays well. If you can do it and you can get you know, you can be successful in it is very rewarding and it pays well and you can change your life. And I've had students which, you know, to me it has really touched me the most and just is why I do it. Who came in? You know, they were poor. They may have had kids and stuff. And they in two years, they have changed their lives. They've gotten this degree. They've gone off. They've got a career, not just a job. And it's a good paying job is not just the minimum wage job. And it has changed their lives for them and for their family. And so I really try to recruit more women into this field because it's just a hidden gem that they don't know about that could really change their lives.

00:14:42
S5: This is a great pathway and I'm excited to see more women and specifically minority women in it. I think I saw one other female during my introductory class and that was it. So I'm just really excited to see more women in it. Definitely need it.

00:14:57
S4: We asked Naomi what she'd say to someone who is considering Tretick.

00:15:01
S2: I would refer them to the program. I'm just that way. I'm like, do you see? It's your program. It's awesome, my friends, that the other day he was like, I want to go back to school. I was like, what do you want to do? He was like, I don't know. So I told him I was like, you know, the program that I did is awesome. And there's so much you can do with it.

00:15:19
S4: Did you hear that? There's so much you can do with it. So what are you waiting for? Get online and check out the electrical and computer engineering technology program at Chattahoochee Tech. Find out everything you need to know at Chattahoochee Tech Edu. This podcast is a production of Darren Sutherland, executive producer Jeremy Powell, creative director Jacob Sutherland, director producers Jason General and Matt Golden and Casey Bird copyright. All rights reserved. Find us online. IBG Advocate.