Best electronic sensors books according to redditors

A third option might be to get this one used. It provides a good amount of design examples which are always helpful. Plus its cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Electronics-Electrical-Computer-Engineering/dp/0195117018/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453689790&sr=8-2&keywords=elements+of+power+electronics


Also coursera offers a power electronics course by UC boulder (Erickson) which you may want to look into. I know the other ones were free, but I don't know how these new specializations on coursera work
https://www.coursera.org/learn/power-electronics

It sounds like you are actually talking about power electronics. Power ellectronics are the power conversions outside the motors that control the motor and motor/drives is more the magnetics of the drive.

I just finished a class on power electronics last semester and we used [this book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0195117018/ref=mp_s_a_1_14
?qid=1452095997&sr=8-14&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=power+electronics)

If you really want I can send you all of the lecture notes too. I'll update later with the motor drives book we will be using. I also have an electronic version of the power electronics book.

A PE cert is important for other branches of engineering, especially for Civil, but the only time it is really needed for EE is:

• Power (very high voltage, power plants, etc...)
  
  
• Certain times, somewhat rare, for everything else. At which point, they basically find someone who is licensed in the correct state and get him to review/sign.
  
  I never got mine, I was worried that I might regret that, but I am starting to become confident I won't.
  
  
  If you are interested in controller/programming and dist. control, I would start off by applying to Emerson, Honeywell, Foxboro(Invensys), Yokagawa or even HIMA.
  
  In the Houston area (I know that is a ways from Wa.), there is also a high concentration of 3rd party outfits that are contracted to do a lot of the programming/configuration due to the amount of nearby industry.
  
  
  But yeah, I came out of school working for a vendor doing configuration and programming, and it was a very good transition out of school. In general, they have a slower pace of work and are much more of a niche role, which is a very good thing when you are on your first job. When I left them to work for an E&C firm, it was another huge step change. The reason control systems in industry is so awesome is because it is such a HUGE field, and it is constantly changing/evolving.
  
  The best thing you can do, IMO, is to pursue one of those vendors, they are all large and have a lot of opportunities. In interviews, you need to listen, ask pertinent questions, and show that you are willing to tackle challenges, and welcome them. Know that 99% of what you learned in school will never be used again, but all that knowledge is important as a foundation to learn new stuff. Always jump at the opportunity to do field work, that is where you learn a HUGE amount of information.
  
  Also, I always swore that I would never work in the Oil and Gas industry (I thought it was old, boring, etc), and that is exactly where I ended up. And I am so happy about it... it is a VERY complex and interesting industry. Here you do more distributed control. If you end up working with factories or chem plants (which is more likely in your region) it will probably involve more batch process control.
  
  
  Finally, YOU HAVE GOT TO CHECK OUT THESE TWO BOOKS... I know they are expensive, but they are the most comprehensive and great aggregations of control systems information out there...
  
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Instrument-Engineers-Handbook-Vol-Measurement/dp/0849310830/ref=pd_sim_b_1
  
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Instrument-Engineers-Handbook-Vol-Optimization/dp/0849310814/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2
  
  If you get them, please let me know what you think. I love em. When you have 5,000 pages of information and it can barely touch on every topic, you know that your field is pretty broad.
  
  
  

Instrumentation/process control/flow engineer... I really do not know what we are called on all levels its very multi discipline.

http://www.amazon.com/Instrument-Engineers-Handbook-Third-Edition/dp/0801982421

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0849310830/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687622&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0801982421&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0KHGRBBP35EWXQDHB34W

There is a lot of instrument and process information in these books..