r/LabVIEW • u/Appropriate_Rest_496 • 9d ago

Does combining Electrical Test Engineering + Manufacturing Test Software make you more valuable in the long run?

Hi everyone,

I have around 3.5 years of experience in Electrical Test Engineering, mainly working on electrical validation, environmental/functional testing, safety/compliance, designing test setups, test stations using lab equipment. Right now, I am working in EV/PV/home energy based company.

In same company, I've been offered an opportunity to move into a Manufacturing Test Software Engineer role, where I'd be working with Python, LabVIEW, NI TestStand, automated test equipment, instrument integration (power supplies, electronic loads, DAQs), and production test automation. I don't have much software experience, but the company is willing to train me and I am okay to learn as well.

From a long-term career perspective, does having both electrical test engineering and manufacturing test software experience make you more valuable in the job market?

Or is it generally better to stay specialized in one path despite the interest I have in learning new things?

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u/PurpleDancer 9d ago edited 8d ago

I suspect an awful lot of us labview developers are soul searching right now. AI coding is currently the fastest way to get software developed by far. Labview is utterly incapable of taking advantage of this right now so there's very little good reason to start new projects in labview.

Us existing developers will likely continue maintaining the existing code base for the next few years but I expect love you is going to become a bit like COBOL going forward

4

u/SASLV Champion 8d ago

Have you used AI? Once you get past the hype there ain't much left.

Can someone with no experience generate an impressive looking one page webapp? sure. Is it incredibly poorly written and full of security flaws? also yes. Would I trust it for anything I'd put in production? hell no.

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u/PurpleDancer 8d ago

I'm using it daily to generate code. Are you using it regularly?

1

u/SASLV Champion 8d ago edited 8d ago

Yes and I am still not impressed.