Hardware Engineers Career Outlook

Hardware engineers work with the physical parts of computers, such as CPUs, motherboards, chipsets, video cards, cooling units, flash drives, disk drives, storage devices, memory cards. network and all the components that connect them, up to cables, nuts and screws. They design parts and prototypes to be tested, using CAD / CAM technology to create schematic drawings. Hardware engineers assemble parts using hand tools, welders and microscopes. Parts are reworked and developed through multiple test procedures. Once the final design is complete, hardware engineers supervise the production and installation of the parts.

Hardware engineers also work on peripherals such as keyboards, printers, monitors, routers, mice, trackballs, modems, scanners, external storage devices, speaker systems and digital cameras.

Some hardware engineers are involved in the maintenance and repair of computers, networks and peripherals. They solve problems, order or make new parts and install them. The workload changes daily, leaving some days more hectic than others. If a serious problem cannot be solved over the phone, the engineers should go to the source. The solutions are not always simple; some require hardware changes or system redesign. Engineers often update or review systems early in the morning, late at night or on weekends to minimize downtime. Major network problems require complete shutdown of the entire system.

Engineering professionals should be familiar with several network systems, such as local area networks (LANs), geographic networks (WANs), among others, as well as programming languages ​​(including the hardware description language, which describes the hardware of digital circuits) suitable for your company's needs. As information technology changes so rapidly, it is important to keep up to date with the development of new parts and the procedures for incorporating them into older systems as they become available. Many work as part of a team of specialists who use scientific, mathematical and electronic elements to improve existing technology or implement solutions.

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