I need you advise...

Plenty of training available here.

I'll leave others to suggest some companies that side of the pond.

Before you think "what program should I learn?" you should think "how can I learn to use a program effectively?" Having said that, I prefer Scilab for price (although it helps to approach it as a Matlab power user).

No one thing will help you get hired easily. Having said that, I always look for people who have done something _real_. So if you're going to get an MS, I strongly suggest you find a department that's going to make you do a practical project.

Dunno about publications.

Look for a university that has more than one specialist in control systems -- if they just have one or two then they aren't serious about it. University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana, is one of the big names, but may not be the best for you unless you're a real hard charger. I'd say a department that has some depth, and does real projects in what you want.

And finally, you didn't ask (or say) what _sort_ of control systems you want to get into. Do you want to do industrial process control (great big dirty things)? Do you want to do aerospace or instrument control (itty bitty clean things)? Something in between, like machines in sawmills or paper mills? There's room for all of those things under the "control" umbrella, but which one you want to do can have a big impact on what you should know.

Most of us didn't really know anything about this topic when we graduated so your feeling is normal.

Homework, lots of it. I graduated years ago and I am still doing home work.

I would learn how to do system identification and simulation. Scilab is all you need for that and it is free.

I don't think getting hired will be easy in the near future. You will need to be persistent and special. I prefer people that have done their own projects. The project provide experience and show the ability to solve problems. They help make you 'special'

I don't have specific answers but in general I would concentrate on learning 'forever knowledge' like math and physics as opposed to tools such as PLC. Tools change. 'Forever knowledge' doesn't and will never be a waste of time.

I also would learn how to program well. I would find one language and learn it well. C++, java, C#, or C will do. I am not impressed with people that list a dozen languages and can't program in any of them well. What ever language you pick, remember it is just a tool to do a job. It is just a passing fad. Hopefully the tools is a mainstream language from which you can learn good programming techniques that can be carried over to the next programming language ( fad ). It is these techniques that I look for in a programmer, not the number of languages.

Peter Nachtwey.

Get your tests with level A. Get your master thesis with level A.

The master thesis should solve a real problem as real as possible. Get best acquainted with the most common office programs.

You can't do more.

Get your tests with level A. Get your master thesis with level A.

The master thesis should solve a real problem as real as possible. Get best acquainted with the most common office programs.

You can't do more.

(snip)

Oh, I felt I knew _lots_ about this _when_ I graduated. It was after I tried getting things to work that I started feeling ignorant!

I would recommend you find a company that makes things you are interested in working on. After I finished my Aerospace degrees I got an offer from HP and went to work on tape drives. They were interesting control problems. But, if I had to do it again, I would be more careful to select the type of products I would be working on. I think on-the-job training is a great thing, especially if you have a EE degree already. I would even suggest getting a year or two in industry before embarking on a master's degree. You may find that helps you figure it out.

For learning more about controls, I suggest SimApp.

Peter Way peterw 'at' Ventimar.com

Not to mention that it's far easier on the wallet. You're working,=20 earning money, instead of paying, and many companies pay for the=20 degree. =20

--=20 Keith