MindfulEE, short for Mindful Electrical Engineer(ing), is a learning platform dedicated to making electrical engineering accessible, engaging, and sustainable. Whether you’re just starting out, deepening your skills, or returning to fundamentals, MindfulEE blends technical clarity with a mindful approach to support a successful and sustainable engineering journey.
Whether you're a high school student, a first-year college student, or someone curious about potential career paths in engineering, MindfulEE is for you if you're just starting in electrical engineering. It's also aimed at enthusiastic learners who want to understand the mechanisms that power our devices and shape our environment. A Grounded Guide to Electrical Engineering, volume 1 of the current MindfulEE book offerings, is an excellent starting point for those seeking to build robots, develop renewable energy solutions, or simply learn how their phone works.
However, circuits and code aren't our only focus here. Problem-solving is a crucial aspect of engineering, and challenges can be intricate, pushing your limits. Consequently, this book also provides strategies for maintaining composure, resilience, and focus in the face of setbacks. You’ll learn to bounce back from difficulties, manage stress, and keep your curiosity alive, even amid frustration. These skills are vital; not just for engineers, but for anyone navigating a complex world. It is with this in mind that I have created Grounded Journaling for Electrical Engineers, volume 2 of the current MindfulEE book offerings, as a place to develop and practice using the tools that may just make life as an electrical engineer just a bit more joyful and fun.
For parents and caregivers of aspiring students, these books serve as a guide to help your child grow into both a skilled engineer and a well-rounded individual. Technical proficiency is essential, but so is emotional well-being. Without support, even the brightest minds can experience burnout. These books encourage both.
A bit more on why I created MindfulEE and these books …
There’s a quiet undercurrent in engineering that rarely makes it into textbooks: the constant hum of pressure. Even when the work is meaningful and the people are kind, it’s easy to get swept into a culture of busyness. Meetings, deadlines, and notifications are relentless. You’re juggling multiple threads in your mind, and consequently, the colleague in front of you receives only a sliver of your attention. The same is true for you.
That was the pattern I lived with for years. I cared deeply about the work and the people around me. I was always pushing for genuine, human connection amid the technical grind. But it wasn’t easy. Without the right tools or awareness, being fully present felt just out of reach.
Over the past two decades, I’ve worked on a wide range of projects, from avionics to mobile RF systems. However, it was through teaching, mentoring interns and new hires, supporting undergraduates in university labs, and leading STEM outreach in grade schools that I began to reconnect with the soul of engineering: curiosity, creativity, and human connection. Those experiences reminded me that education isn’t just about delivering content; it’s about cultivating presence.
We teach students how to debug hardware, but not how to notice when their internal system is saturated. We train for signal integrity but overlook emotional integrity. And yet, without presence, both for ourselves and the people right in front of us, we risk losing the joy and meaning that brought us to this field in the first place.
A bit about the creator of MindfulEE …
College, for me, meant baseball. I squeezed in academics between practices and games. When my baseball career came to a close, I finally fully committed to electrical engineering, a path I’d circled during stints in aviation and architecture. In total, it took eight years, three schools, and a lot of late nights, but by the end of my time at junior college, UCSD, and SDSU, I was ready to put my hard-earned education to work.
Twenty years later, I look back with gratitude at a career that’s taken me from digital design to RF systems and engineering roles at Northrop Grumman, Qualcomm, and Apple. I’ve had the privilege of working on everything from avionics to iPhone and iPad multi-radio interference mitigation, alongside teams whose brilliance and dedication continually inspired me.
Sounds like a dream, right? In many ways, it was. But I was also my own worst enemy. I pushed myself relentlessly, making smart technical decisions while neglecting my internal system. I sacrificed presence for productivity, mistaking exhaustion for excellence. I didn’t yet have the awareness, or the tools, to notice that something vital was fraying.
These books are the guides I wish I’d had at the beginning. The currently available offerings under the philosophy of MindfulEE, short for Mindful Electrical Engineer(ing), a framework I created to blend foundational engineering learning with mindfulness, personal well-being, and long-term sustainability. A Grounded Guide to Electrical Engineering and Grounded Journaling for Electrical Engineers are written from the heart to help you build not just a career, but a grounded, joyful relationship with the work you love. Human first. Engineer second.