Entry Level Qualification 

Graduate

Career Fields 

Engineering & Technology

For Specially Abled 

Career Entrance Exam 

COMEDK, JEE MAIN BE/BTECH, JEE ADVANCED, BITSAT UG, VITEEE BE/BTECH, SRMJEEE BE/BTECH, WBJEE

About Career 

Electronic Design Engineers design, assemble prototypes, test, and debug the electronic processors that run and control all the electronic devices that we use – such as mobile phones, computers, tabs, digital cameras, music systems, and every other electronic device that you can imagine. You look for the processor speeds when you buy a mobile phone or a laptop right? These processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and the Intel processors are designed by Electronic Design Engineers / VLSI Design Engineers.

A range of machines and devices use microprocessors – you will design these

Apart from the various electronic devices you use personally, think of a range of devices and machines used at our homes, hospitals, cars, aircraft, and at industrial manufacturing plants.

At home – the automatic washing machine has an embedded microprocessor which controls the entire operation of the machine. You have a user interface through which you select various settings and press START. The microprocessor takes over and complete the soaking, washing, rinsing, and spinning functions using various parameters you have chosen, say, warm water, bacteria free cleaning, stain free cleaning, silk clothes, bedsheets, and so on.

Many cars are fitted with automatic climate controller – at the heart of the controller is a microprocessor. Modern aircrafts have auto-pilot modes – the auto-pilot program runs on microprocessors. The auto-pilot cars of the future will have one or more microprocessors.
Many manufacturing factories use automated processes – for example, the Cadbury chocolate that you might be loving is produced in a factory with few workers. The machines run on microprocessors.

Future

Now, and more in the future, microprocessors will be embedded in almost all the devices and systems we will use for living and working. From the robots, lights which come on automatically when we walk inside a room,and the wearable computing devices to the CT Scanner machines at a hospital and the machines that process the milk we drink in the morning – every device and system that we can think of already have or will have microprocessors.

Will you be able to think of your life without digital devices and systems? No, right? In the heart of every digital device or system is one or more microprocessor which control the functions of the digital device or system. In the future, most such devices and systems will run on one single microprocessor or chip.

Electronic Design Engineers design the microprocessors, referred to as chips / microchips or Integrated Circuits or PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly)

An integrated circuit (IC) is an entire set of electronic circuit which consists of multiple components such as diodes, resistors, transistors, capacitors, battery, switches, and electrical circuitries which connect all the components – all made from a single piece of silicon. Silicon is a semiconductor material which can conduct electricity. The amazing thing about IC is that all the components and the electrical pathways (connections) are printed on one single piece of silicon.

An IC is a microprocessor which controls a set of desired functions such as running the OS (Operating system software) and all the apps in a mobile phone or a single function such as controlling the air-conditioning system at a hotel.

A microprocessor could be a PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) also. A PCB is a plastic board (reinforced with glass) on which copper lines are printed for conducting electricity. Various electronic components such as diodes, resistors, transistors, capacitors, etc. are then assembled on the PCB and connected with the copper lines. The assembled board is called a PCBA and it is a microprocessor to control a single function or a set of functions.

VLSI / ULSI, SoC, Embedded Systems – what are these?

VLSI stands for Very Large Scale System Integration. VLSI chips have millions of transistors printed on them. The transistor count could be more than 10 billion on a single chip! Yes, on a single chip. You read it right. Well, wait, for such extremely large scale chips, a term ULSI or Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) is being used now.

SoC (System on a Chip) is an IC on which all the components needed for a computer or other electronic systems are built and integrated on a single chip of silicon. See, the CPU of a computer is an IC (built on a single chip of silicon). But in case of SoC, not only the CPU but also the other component like ROM, RAM, switches, and all are built on a single chip.

Mindboggling, is it? Well compared to all these, Embedded Systems are simple to understand. An Embedded System is an electronic controller embedded in another device or a machine. The controller system can have one or more IC/ PCBA.

Example? The operating system of an automatic washing machine has an Embedded System. You might be using a microprocessor in an air-conditioner to control temperature and other functions. The machines which produces Cadbury chocolates have embedded systems or electronic controller.

So, what will be your tasks as an Electronic Design Engineer?

You will understand the functions that an electronic system has to perform. You will then design the specifications of a microprocessor – the functionality, architecture, and the schematic. You will develop an RTL (Register-Transfer-Level) design or description which is a computer model of a microprocessor having all the design specifications.

RTL design is carried out using an HDL (Hardware Description Language) which is a computer language used for describing electronic circuits. RTL design conveys the functionality, performance, specifications, etc. to various people involved in chip design and manufacturing.

You will do all these using EDA or Electronic Design Automation tools such as Autodesk Eagle, Cadence System’s OrCAD, Mentor Graphics tools, Altium, etc. Since an IC can have billions of components, it is impossible to carry out IC design without EDA tools. Even PCBA designs are done using EDA tools.

You will then carry out computer simulation to observe and test the performance of the microprocessor you have designed. You will carry out all debugging. You will do it all using EDA tools. You may also develop a physical prototype of the microprocessor and test its performance. You will debug the processor then and ensure that all the specifications and standards are maintained.

Then finally, you will produce the physical design. The physical design will be sent for fabrication / printing.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

As an Electronics Design Engineer, you will be engaged with one or moreof the following roles and responsibilities:

1. Manageelectronics design projects (from planning to completion) that requires design of microprocessors or chips (ICs, PCBAs, etc.) – VLSI, ULSI, SoC, and other chips and embedded system processors.

2. You will develop concepts, design, architecture, schematic, and prototypes of microprocessors; you will test, debug, and validate microprocessors designed for a specific purpose or a function or a set of functions. 

3. You will use EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools such as Autodesk Eagle, OrCAD, Altium, and Mentor Graphics (all these are run on high end computers).

4. You will use global standards and specifications for all the components of an IC - diodes, resistors, transistors, capacitors, battery, switches, etc. A diode allows electricity to pass in one direction only. A resistor controls the electrical current that passes through it. A transistor amplifies the electrical charge. Capacitors harbour electrical current.

5. You will participate in prototype fabrication, procurement of materials, documentation, testing and analysis.

6. You will use various instruments for testing such as oscilloscopes, high voltage probes, thermocouples and current clamps.

7. You will run simulation of a microprocessor’s functions using EDA tools. You will review and analyze test data; you will troubleshoot problems.

8. You will develop new test methods and procedures.

9. You will produce the physical design of microprocessors and send for printing or fabrication.

10. You will collaborate with product development team, materials procurement team, fabrication team and others to ensure that microprocessors are made as per standards and specifications.

Career Entry Pathway 

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies – Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies – Undergraduate degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering / Electronics Engineering / Electronics & Communication Engineering / Electrical Engineering / or similar

After completing Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies, you can go for a BS or B Sci (Bachelor of Science)/ B. Tech (Bachelor of Technology) / BE or B Eng (Bachelor of Engineering) / or BSEE (Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering) / AMIE / Integrated Master’s degree courses (courses offering undergraduate study + training) or similar Bachelor degree courses in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Systems Engineering Technology, Electronics & Communication, Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering, Instrumentation Technology, Telecommunication Engineering, Biomedical Electronicsor similar. AMIE (Associate Member of Institution of Engineers) is a B.Tech level examination in engineering conducted by Institution of Engineers (India), the largest multidisciplinary body of engineers in the country, and is recognized as equivalent to B.E/B.Tech.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies – Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies – Undergraduate degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering / Electronics Engineering / Electronics & Communication Engineering/Electrical Engineering / or similar – Master’s degree in VLSI Design Engineering / VLSI & Embedded System Design Engineering / Electronics Engineering / Electronics & Communication Engineering /Electronics Systems Engineering Technology/ or similar

After completing Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies, you can go for a Bachelor’s or Integrated Master’s degree courses in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics Systems Engineering Technology, Electronics & Communication, Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering, Instrumentation Technology, Telecommunication Engineering, Biomedical Electronics or similar. After your Bachelor’s degree, you can do a Master’s degree in VLSI Design Engineering / VLSI & Embedded System Design Engineering / Electronics Engineering / Electronics Design Engineering / Communication Engineering / Electronics & Communication Engineering / Electronics Systems Engineering Technology / or in a similar field.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies – Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies – Undergraduate degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering / Electronics Engineering / Electronics & Communication Engineering/Electrical Engineering / or similar – Master’s degree in VLSI Design Engineering / VLSI & Embedded System Design Engineering / Electronics Engineering / Electronics & Communication Engineering / Electronics Systems Engineering Technology / or similar – Ph.D. in VLSI Design / Electronics Design Engineering / VLSI and Embedded System Design Engineering / in a similar field

After completing Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies, you can go for a Bachelor’s or Integrated Master’s degree courses in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics Systems Engineering Technology, Electronics & Communication, Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering, Instrumentation Technology, Telecommunication Engineering, Biomedical Electronics or similar. After your Bachelor’s degree, you can do a Master’s degree in VLSI Design Engineering / VLSI & Embedded System Design Engineering / Electronics Engineering / Electronics Design Engineering / Communication Engineering / Electronics & Communication Engineering / Electronics Systems Engineering Technology / or in a similar field. Then you can complete your doctoral studies in Electronics, Electronics & Communication, Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering, or any of the allied subjects like VLSI Design, Embedded Systems Design, VLSI & Embedded System Design, Electronics Design, Control, and Signal Processing;Power Electronics Systems; Electronics & Embedded Technology; Digital Electronics; Embedded Systems Development;or any relevant domain of interest within your respective fields as the following or similar.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies – Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies – Bachelor degree in Physics/ Electronics / a similar field – Master degree in Electronics / a similar field – M.Tech. in Electronics Engineering – Ph.D. in VLSI Design / Electronics Design Engineering / VLSI and Embedded System Design Engineering / in a similar field

After completing Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies. do a Bachelor degree in Physics/ Electronics / a similar field then a Master degree in Electronics / a similar field followed by an M.Tech. in Electronics Engineering. Then pursue a Ph.D. in VLSI Design / Electronics Design Engineering / VLSI and Embedded System Design Engineering / in a similar field.

Required Qualification & Competencies 

To get into this field, you will need to pass Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies. Then you must complete Class 11-12 Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics along with any other subject as per scheme of studies. Then you can do a degree in Engineering in any one of the following fields or you can first study for a Bachelor degree in Physics/Electronics. Master’s degree is preferred in a any one of the filed of Engineering mentioned below.

You can study for a Bachelor’s / Master’s / Doctoral degree in any of the following fields (Note that all these fields may not offer you a degree at all three levels, that is in Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral. Some fields may offer a degree only at the Master’s or at the Doctoral level):

1. Communication Engineering  

2. Control Engineering   

3. Digital Electronics 

4. Electrical and Computer Engineering  

5. Electrical and Electronics Engineering  

6. Electrical Drives & Systems  

7. Electrical Engineering   

8. Electrical Signal Processing & Systems   

9. Electronic Systems & Devices   

10. Electronics   

11. Electronics & Communication Engineering   

12. Electronics & Instrumentation    

13. Electronics and Biomedical Engineering   

14. Electronics and Computer Engineering   

15. Electronics Engineering   

16. Embedded Systems and VLSI Design   

17. Instrumentation Engineering and Technologies   

18. Physics

19. Power Electronics

COMPETENCIES REQUIRED

1. You should have interests for Investigative Occupations. Investigative occupations involve working with ideas and quite a lot of thinking, often abstract or conceptual thinking. These involve learning about facts and figures; involve use of data analysis, assessment of situations, decision making and problem solving.

2. You should have interests for Realistic Occupations. Realistic occupations involve more practical and hands-on activities than paperwork or office work. Realistic occupations often involve physical activities for getting things done using various tools and equipment.

3. You should have interests for Enterprising Occupations. You should have interests for Enterprising Occupations. Enterprising occupations involve taking initiatives, initiating actions, and planning to achieve goals, often business goals. These involve gathering resources and leading people to get things done. These require decision making, risk taking and action orientation.

4. You may need knowledge of Physical Science - Knowledge of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understand fluid, material, earth, ocean, atmosphere, and space dynamics, as well as mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures, properties and processes.

5. You may need knowledge of Electrical and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic system design, electronic equipment, electrical equipment and appliances, electrical power generation, etc.

6. You should have knowledge of Computers–for using computers for various technical and academic purposes.

7. You should have Critical Thinking skills- Skills in the analysis of complex situations, using logic and reasoning to understand the situations and take appropriate actions or make interpretations and inferences.

8. You should have Reading Comprehension Skills - Skills in understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

9. You should have Judgment and Decision Making Skills - considering pros and cons of various decision alternatives; considering costs and benefits; taking appropriate and suitable decisions.

10. You should have Problem Solving Skills - Skills in analysis and understanding of problems, evaluating various options to solve the problems and using the best option to solve the problems.

11. You should have Oral Comprehension Ability - listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

12. You should have Oral Expression Ability - communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

13. You should have Deductive Reasoning Ability - apply general rules and common logic to specific problems to produce answers that are logical and make sense. For example, understanding the reasons behind an event or a situation using general rules and common logic.

14. You should have Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

15. You should have Inductive Reasoning Ability - The ability to combine pieces of information from various sources, concepts, and theories to form general rules or conclusions. For example, analyzing various events or situations to come out with a set of rules or conclusions.

16. You are always or mostly careful about your actions and behaviour.

17. You are always or mostly disciplined in your action and behaviour.

18. You are always calm or generally remain calm in most situations.

19. You can always act independently or could do so in most situations.

20. You always prefer to experience new things and have new experiences, or you mostly do.

Career - Job Opportunities & Profiles 

At the beginning of your career, you can get a job as a Design Engineer Trainee / Graduate Engineer Trainee (after completion of your Bachelor’s degree in Engineering) in an industry or business segment as mentioned below. After your Master’s degree in Engineering, you may get your first job as an Electronics Design Engineer / VLSI / R&D Engineering / Product Development Engineer / Physical Design Engineer / Hardware Design Engineer / Component Design Engineer / or in similar positions.

1. Companies which design and produce microprocessors or semiconductor chips such as Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom, Samsung, AMD, and Toshiba (remember that Silicon semiconductor chip production could be outsourced by these companies from a fabrication company such as Global Foundries; but these companies design the chips).

2. Companies which design and develop various electronic systems (such as microcontrollers) and devices for industrial clients such as NXP, Foxconn Technologies, Texas Instruments, Microchip Technologies, Silicon Labs, Cypress, Thales,Cadence Design, Rockwell Collins,Ametek, Analog Devices, Rockwell Automation, Synopsis, Valeo, TE Connectivity, etc.

3. Companies involved in designing and manufacturing various electronic and computer products such as Apple Inc., Dell, Microsoft, Dell EMC, HP, SanDisk, Micron Technologies, Honeywell, etc.

4. Consumer and industrial electronics companies such as LG, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Honeywell, Panasonic, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Lenovo, etc.

SPECIALISATION TRACKS IN THIS CAREER

ASIC Design Engineer

ASIC or Application Specific Integrated Circuit Design Engineers design and develop integrated circuits (ICs) which are customised for a specific use. Many chips, such as computer and mobile phone processors, are designed for general purpose use. But let’s say, an IC designed to text to speech conversion in a given language is an ASIC. Many industrial customers, for their own use, get customised ICs designed.

VLSI Design Engineer / ULSI Design Engineer

VLSI Design Engineers design very large scale system integration ICs (Integrated Circuits) which may consist millions of transistors on a single silicone chip. Ultra large scale integration are also designed by VLSI Design Engineers. Ultra large scale integration design may result into an IC with tens of billions of transistors on a single silicone chip.
Electronics Design Engineer (Power Electronic Systems)
Power Electronic Design Engineers design various types of electronic systems and components for power supply – such as SMPS, inverters, converters, drives for AC/DC motors, UPS with High VoltageCurrent Devices like IGBTs, Thyristors, Inductors, Capacitorsrelated Components, etc.

Electronics Design Engineer (Electronics Hardware Design Engineer)

This field involves design & development of new product hardware circuits (Analog, Digital, Radio Frequency and Microcontroller interfacing design, and schematics). They also maintain the existing hardware and improve it for performance, costing and production quality. The analog circuits include power (DC to DC), discrete Input/ Output, preamps, amplifiers, filters, AC/DC conversion, and sensor signal conditioning circuits.

CAREER GROWTH

If you join as a Graduate Engineer Trainee, then after completion of your training, you will be positioned as Electronics Design Engineer / VLSI / R&D Engineering / Product Development Engineer / Physical Design Engineer / Hardware Design Engineer / Component Design Engineer / or similar positions. However, if you join after your Master’s degree, you can directly get a job as any one of these positions.

The next level of promotion will be to Senior Engineer level – as a Senior Electronics Design Engineer / Senior Product Development Engineer / Senior Hardware Design Engineer / similar.

After 5-7 years of experience, you can expect to become a Lead Engineer and after 12-15 years of experience, a Principal Engineer / or a Design Director / Or Head of Design.

Then after 15-20 years of experience, you may grow as a Vice President / Chief Design Officer – Senior Vice President / Senior Chief Design Officer – President – Chief Executive Officer.

Salary Offered  

1. After your Bachelor’s degree, as a Trainee Design Engineer, you may expect to make about Rs. 25,000 – 1,50,000 or even more a month. Higher salaries are paid to graduates from premier engineering institutions.

2. At the entry level jobs, after your Master’s degree in Engineering/Technology depending upon the institution where you are graduating from, you may expect to get about Rs. 40,000 – 1,50,000 or even more a month. In junior level jobs (after 4-5 years of post-graduation), you can make about Rs. 60,000 – 2,00,000 or more per month.

3. In mid-level engineering jobs in India (after having 8-10 years of experience), you can expect to earn about Rs. 1,50,000 – 5,00,000 or even more a month.

4. In senior-level engineering jobs in India (after having 15 years of experience), you can expect to earn about Rs. 2,50,000 – 25,00,000 or even more a month.

Global (US)

1. Remember that, if you are not a US citizen, getting a job in USA after a bachelor’s degree will be a rare case. However, after your Graduate (Master’s or Ph.D.), you may look forward to if you do well in your course. The chances of getting a job after graduate courses increase with the reputation of the university from where you graduate. However, if you are from a premier institute like IIT, you may get a campus placement in USA. But even that is few and far between.

2. At the entry level jobs, after your Bachelor’s degree depending upon the institution where you are graduating from, you may expect to get about USD 3,000 – 6,000 or even more a month.

3. After 4-5 years of work experience, you may expect to earn around USD 4,500 to USD8,000 a month or more depending on your job location and roles.

4. At the entry level engineering jobs, after your Graduate (after Master’s or Ph.D.) degree depending upon the institution where you are graduating from, you may expect to get about USD 4,500 – 7,000 or even more a month. In junior level jobs (after 4-5 years of postgraduation), you can make about USD 5,000 – 8,000 or more per month.

5. In mid-level engineering jobs (after having 8-10 years of experience), you can expect to earn about USD 7,000 – 12,500 or even more a month.

6. In senior-level engineering jobs (after having 15 years of experience), you can expect to earn about USD 10,000 – 18,000 or even more a month. Senior corporate leaders get much more than this; their total remuneration including performance bonuses could be as high as half a million or even a few million dollars a year.

MONTHLY EARNINGS IN INDIAN RUPEE 

1. Entry level: 0 - 2 years of work experience

2. Junior Level: From 1 to 12 years of work experience

3. Mid Level: From 5 to 20+ years of work experience

4. Senior Level: From 10 to 25+ years of work experience (there could be exceptions in some high-end technical, financial, engineering, creative, management, sports, and other careers; also in the near future, people will reach these levels much faster in many careers and in some careers, these levels will have no meaning as those careers will be completely tech skill driven such as even now, there is almost no level in a Cyber Security Expert’s job).

Famous Personalities 

Information not available.

Work Activities 

1. Drawing, drafting, laying out and specifying objects, equipment, devices, tools, and systems - Creating and developing designs, drawings, layouts and specifications about how to construct, manufacture, assemble, build, use, and maintain various equipment, devices, tools and systems.

2. Inspecting equipment, systems, structures, and materials - Inspecting equipment, systems, structures, and materials to ascertain quality, performance, defects, causes of errors, etc.

3. Fabricating, assembling, and constructing equipment, devices and products - Fabricating, assembling, constructing or otherwise manufacturing products, equipment, devices and tools; testing and calibrating products, equipment, devices, tools and systems.

4. Analysing and interpreting data and information - Analysis of data and information to find facts, trends, reasons behind situations, etc.; interpretation of data to aid in decision making.

5. Processing information - Compiling, tabulating, calculating, auditing, verifying or otherwise dealing with information processing including data entry, transcription, recording, storing and maintaining databases.

6. Creative thinking - Developing new ideas, concepts, innovative solutions to problems, newer ways of getting things done, designing products and services, creating work of art and craft, etc.

7. Strategic planning - Developing visions and goals, developing strategies and action plans for achieving visions and goals.

8. Assessing and evaluating quality - Assessing and evaluating quality of materials, systems, processes, products, services, etc.

9. Monitoring processes, systems and performance - Observing and recording information on various criteria to monitor mechanical, electronics, electrical and other processes and systems; monitoring progress of projects and tasks.

10. Making decisions and solving problems - Analysis of data and information; evaluation of alternative decisions and results of decisions; taking the right decisions and solving problems.

11. Organising, planning and prioritizing tasks - Planning and organising tasks in order to achieve work goals; prioritizing tasks to achieve goals and making the best use of the time available.

12. Updating and using relevant knowledge - Keeping updated with the latest knowledge relevant to your fields of work and use of the relevant knowledge in getting things done.

13. Getting Information and learning - Observing, hearing, reading, using computers, or otherwise obtaining information and learning from it.

14. Using computers for work - Using computers for day-to-day office work; using computer software for various applications in day-to-day professional work; entering data and process information; for writing.

15. Working in a team - Working in a team of people; developing team; maintaining professional relationships among team members.