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I graduated with a Bachelor's in Electronics Engineering but I still want to study instrumentation and control. Do community colleges only offer these types of courses? I live in Delano, California and where is a good place to learn this course?
> At least one I&C course is required for that degree by ABET.
A course in CONTROL theory may have been required once but things are (much) more flexible now.
> I still want to study instrumentation and control.
If you have an EE degree with relevant courses in circuits and control...then you have the background to learn about instrumentation and control in an appropriate job. Or consider looking for a specialized MS program.
It isn't. If anything this is a quite exciting time for instrumentation (sensing especially). Direct-write sensing in additive manufacturing will revolutionize smart materials. Sensors are getting smaller and smaller, yielding more and more information.
And other posters are right, for some applications, the technology and jobs cannot be exported to say China or India due to export regulations (EAR and ITAR if you're in defense biz, and most companies keep their control technologies close to their chest as family jewels, especially the technology integrators like Boeing or Lockheed, the car companies, etc).
And all this data means we will need to do something with it. Control of devices will become more important. You probably learned the basics of control theory, yes? So you already have the background. On the job learning is what is required. Or if you want, get into hobbyist projects to control something. There's literally thousands of examples of how you can build robots from hobbyist parts and you will have to learn, in the process, how to write code, integrate it into logic devices, learn how control theory applies in the real world in digital instructions, and how sensors integrate into a part. Robots are just one example; this past summer I built a home coffee bean roaster with temperature control. Other folks like doing quad-copters. The possibilities are endless. Then put that experience on your resume as a project. Hands-on experience in concert with theory is as good as gold to potential employers.
Optimal control theory and its application is fascinating. As an economist, I use it a lot. I also happen to live about 1KM away from one of Denmark's major producers of control systems and instruments.
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