Electrical Engg Interview Questions
1. Why did you choose electrical engineering field?
2. What is your specialty in the electrical engineering field?
3. What are your duties in your field of electrical engineering?
4. Do you spend more time inventing new things or improving old ideas?
5. How many hours a week do you usually work?
6. What type of education is required?
7. What type of skills are required?
8. Do you work with a group of people or by yourself more often?
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
x86 interview questions
These interview questions test the knowledge of x86 Intel architecture and 8086 microprocessor specifically.
What is a Microprocessor? - Microprocessor is a program-controlled device, which fetches the instructions from memory, decodes and executes the instructions. Most Micro Processor are single- chip devices.
Give examples for 8 / 16 / 32 bit Microprocessor? - 8-bit Processor - 8085 / Z80 / 6800; 16-bit Processor - 8086 / 68000 / Z8000; 32-bit Processor - 80386 / 80486.
Why 8085 processor is called an 8 bit processor? - Because 8085 processor has 8 bit ALU (Arithmetic Logic Review). Similarly 8086 processor has 16 bit ALU.
What is 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th generation processor? - The processor made of PMOS / NMOS / HMOS / HCMOS technology is called 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th generation processor, and it is made up of 4 / 8 / 16 / 32 bits.
Define HCMOS? - High-density n- type Complimentary Metal Oxide Silicon field effect transistor.
What does microprocessor speed depend on? - The processing speed depends on DATA BUS WIDTH.
Is the address bus unidirectional? - The address bus is unidirectional because the address information is always given by the Micro Processor to address a memory location of an input / output devices.
Is the data bus is Bi-directional? - The data bus is Bi-directional because the same bus is used for transfer of data between Micro Processor and memory or input / output devices in both the direction.
What is the disadvantage of microprocessor? - It has limitations on the size of data. Most Microprocessor does not support floating-point operations.
What is the difference between microprocessor and microcontroller? - In Microprocessor more op-codes, few bit handling instructions. But in Microcontroller: fewer op-codes, more bit handling Instructions, and also it is defined as a device that includes micro processor, memory, & input / output signal lines on a single chip.
What is meant by LATCH? - Latch is a D- type flip-flop used as a temporary storage device controlled by a timing signal, which can store 0 or 1. The primary function of a Latch is data storage. It is used in output devices such as LED, to hold the data for display.
Why does microprocessor contain ROM chips? - Microprocessor contain ROM chip because it contain instructions to execute data.
What is the difference between primary & secondary storage device? - In primary storage device the storage capacity is limited. It has a volatile memory. In secondary storage device the storage capacity is larger. It is a nonvolatile memory. Primary devices are: RAM / ROM. Secondary devices are: Floppy disc / Hard disk.
Difference between static and dynamic RAM? - Static RAM: No refreshing, 6 to 8 MOS transistors are required to form one memory cell, Information stored as voltage level in a flip flop. Dynamic RAM: Refreshed periodically, 3 to 4 transistors are required to form one memory cell, Information is stored as a charge in the gate to substrate capacitance.
What is interrupt? - Interrupt is a signal send by external device to the processor so as to request the processor to perform a particular work.
What is cache memory? - Cache memory is a small high-speed memory. It is used for temporary storage of data & information between the main memory and the CPU (center processing unit). The cache memory is only in RAM.
What is called .Scratch pad of computer.? - Cache Memory is scratch pad of computer.
Which transistor is used in each cell of EPROM? - Floating .gate Avalanche Injection MOS (FAMOS) transistor is used in each cell of EPROM.
Differentiate between RAM and ROM? - RAM: Read / Write memory, High Speed, Volatile Memory. ROM: Read only memory, Low Speed, Non Voliate Memory.
What is a compiler? - Compiler is used to translate the high-level language program into machine code at a time. It doesn.t require special instruction to store in a memory, it stores automatically. The Execution time is less compared to Interpreter.
Which processor structure is pipelined? - All x86 processors have pipelined structure.
What is flag? - Flag is a flip-flop used to store the information about the status of a processor and the status of the instruction executed most recently
What is stack? - Stack is a portion of RAM used for saving the content of Program Counter and general purpose registers.
Can ROM be used as stack? - ROM cannot be used as stack because it is not possible to write to ROM.
What is NV-RAM? - Nonvolatile Read Write Memory, also called Flash memory. It is also know as shadow RAM.
Intel interview questions
The following questions are used for screening the candidates during the first interview. The questions apply mostly to fresh college grads pursuing an engineering career at Intel.
Have you studied buses? What types?
Have you studied pipelining? List the 5 stages of a 5 stage pipeline. Assuming 1 clock per stage, what is the latency of an instruction in a 5 stage machine? What is the throughput of this machine ?
How many bit combinations are there in a byte?
For a single computer processor computer system, what is the purpose of a processor cache and describe its operation?
Explain the operation considering a two processor computer system with a cache for each processor.
What are the main issues associated with multiprocessor caches and how might you solve them?
Explain the difference between write through and write back cache.
Are you familiar with the term MESI?
Are you familiar with the term snooping?
Describe a finite state machine that will detect three consecutive coin tosses (of one coin) that results in heads.
In what cases do you need to double clock a signal before presenting it to a synchronous state machine?
You have a driver that drives a long signal & connects to an input device. At the input device there is either overshoot, undershoot or signal threshold violations, what can be done to correct this problem?
What are the total number of lines written by you in C/C++? What is the most complicated/valuable program written in C/C++?
What compiler was used?
What is the difference between = and == in C?
Are you familiar with VHDL and/or Verilog?
What types of CMOS memories have you designed? What were their size? Speed?
What work have you done on full chip Clock and Power distribution? What process technology and budgets were used?
What types of I/O have you designed? What were their size? Speed? Configuration? Voltage requirements?
Process technology? What package was used and how did you model the package/system? What parasitic effects were considered?
What types of high speed CMOS circuits have you designed?
What transistor level design tools are you proficient with? What types of designs were they used on?
What products have you designed which have entered high volume production?
What was your role in the silicon evaluation/product ramp? What tools did you use?
If not into production, how far did you follow the design and why did not you see it into production?
Embedded systems interview questions
Can structures be passed to the functions by value?
Why cannot arrays be passed by values to functions?
Advantages and disadvantages of using macro and inline functions?
What happens when recursion functions are declared inline?
Scope of static variables?
Difference between object oriented and object based languages?
Multiple inheritance - objects contain howmany multiply inherited ancestor?
What are the 4 different types of inheritance relationship?
How would you find out the no of instance of a class?
Is java a pure object oriented language? Why?
Order of constructor and destructor call in case of multiple inheritance?
Can u have inline virtual functions in a class?
When you inherit a class using private keyword which members of base class are visible to the derived class?
What is the output of printf("\nab\bcd\ref"); -> ef
#define cat(x,y) x##y concatenates x to y. But cat(cat(1,2),3) does not expand but gives preprocessor warning. Why?
Can you have constant volatile variable? Yes, you can have a volatile pointer?
++*ip increments what? it increments what ip points to
Operations involving unsigned and signed — unsigned will be converted to signed
a+++b -> (a++)+b
malloc(sizeof(0)) will return — valid pointer
main() {fork();fork();fork();printf("hello world"); } — will print 8 times.
Array of pts to functions — void (*fptr[10])()
Which way of writing infinite loops is more efficient than others? there are 3ways.
# error — what it does?
How is function itoa() written?
Who to know wether systemuses big endian or little endian format and how to convert among them?
What is interrupt latency?
What is forward reference w.r.t. pointers in c?
How is generic list manipulation function written which accepts elements of any kind?
What is the difference between hard real-time and soft real-time OS?
What is interrupt latency? How can you recuce it?
What is the differnce between embedded systems and the system in which rtos is running?
How can you define a structure with bit field members?
What are the features different in pSOS and vxWorks?
How do you write a function which takes 2 arguments - a byte and a field in the byte and returns the value of the field in that byte?
What are the different storage classes in C?
What are the different qualifiers in C?
What are the different BSD and SVR4 communication mechanisms
Computer architecture and design interview questions
What is pipelining?
What are the five stages in a DLX pipeline?
For a pipeline with 'n' stages, what's the ideal throughput? What prevents us from achieving this ideal throughput?
What are the different hazards? How do you avoid them?
Instead of just 5-8 pipe stages why not have, say, a pipeline with 50 pipe stages?
What are Branch Prediction and Branch Target Buffers?
How do you handle precise exceptions or interrupts?
What is a cache?
What's the difference between Write-Through and Write-Back Caches? Explain advantages and disadvantages of each.
Cache Size is 64KB, Block size is 32B and the cache is Two-Way Set Associative. For a 32-bit physical address, give the division between Block Offset, Index and Tag.
What is Virtual Memory?
What is Cache Coherency?
What is MESI?
What is a Snooping cache?
What are the components in a Microprocessor?
What is ACBF(Hex) divided by 16?
Convert 65(Hex) to Binary
Convert a number to its two's compliment and back
The CPU is busy but you want to stop and do some other task. How do you do it?
Hardware design interview questions
Give two ways of converting a two input NAND gate to an inverter
Given a circuit, draw its exact timing response. (I was given a Pseudo Random Signal Generator; you can expect any sequential ckt)
What are set up time & hold time constraints? What do they signify? Which one is critical for estimating maximum clock frequency of a circuit?
Give a circuit to divide frequency of clock cycle by two
Design a divide-by-3 sequential circuit with 50% duty circle. (Hint: Double the Clock)
Suppose you have a combinational circuit between two registers driven by a clock. What will you do if the delay of the combinational circuit is greater than your clock signal? (You can't resize the combinational circuit transistors)
The answer to the above question is breaking the combinational circuit and pipelining it. What will be affected if you do this?
What are the different Adder circuits you studied?
Give the truth table for a Half Adder. Give a gate level implementation of the same.
Draw a Transmission Gate-based D-Latch.
Design a Transmission Gate based XOR. Now, how do you convert it to XNOR? (Without inverting the output)
How do you detect if two 8-bit signals are same?
How do you detect a sequence of "1101" arriving serially from a signal line?
Design any FSM in VHDL or Verilog.
Explain RC circuit.s charging and discharging.
Explain the working of a binary counter.
Describe how you would reverse a singly linked list.
Source:devbistro.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Civil Engineering Interview Questions
Building materials and Construction
What are the dimensions of the standard brick?
What are thin shell roofs? Why are they becoming popular?
Name the different types of retaining walls
Structural Analysis
What is buckling or crippling load?
Define slenderness ratio. What is its effect on design of compression members?
What is meant by specific yield and specific retention?
Shear force and BM diagrams for different types of loadings on beams
Mechanics of structures
Differentiate between bending moment and twisting moment
Differentiate between mild steel and HYSD bars
Differentiate between proof resilience and modulus of resilience
What is meant by strain energy?
Fluid Mechanics
What is a spillway?
What is total energy line?
What is a flow net? Discuss its uses
Why isn't a venturimeter used commonly for measuring discharge in houses?
What is critical hydraulic gradient?
Differentiate between weir, notch and barrage
Geotechnical Engineering
What is geosynthetics? Mention its applications in civl engineering field
What do you understand by 80/100 bitumen?
Which is commonly used-bitumen or tar? Why?
What are the precautions to be taken for construction in marshy soil?
What is the relation between submerged unit weight and submerged weight?
What are the different types of foundations adopted for different soils?
What is differential settlement?
Discuss the importance of Attenbug's limits in soil engineering
Differentiate between activity and sensitivity of soils
Differentiate between soil stabilization and ground improvement
How does machine foundation differ from an ordinary foundation?
What is the permanent solution applied for the restoration of leaning Tower of Pisa?
Reinforced Concrete Structures
What is pre stressed concrete? What are its ingredients?
What do 53 stand for in 53-grade cement?
How do you construct a 25 storey building with no columns?
What are the loads to be considered for the design of bridges?
Differentiate between pre-tensioning and post-tensioning
What is the L/D ratio of a cantilever beam?
What type of dam is the Idukki dam? Give its details and peculiarity
Transportation Engineering
What is camber?
What is cutback bitumen? What are its special uses?
Draw a typical C.S. of a permanent way
What does IRC stand for?
Define angularity number and give practical applications
What material as ballast would you suggest for a high speed track? Why?
What is the usual width of a single lane and a double lane road?
Environmental Engineering
Distinguish between slow and rapid sand filters
What is super chlorination?
What is canopy?
Differentiate between BOD and COD
Advanced Construction and Construction Technology
What is batching? Differentiate between volume and weight batching
How is underwater concreting carried out?
What are the forces involved in underwater construction?
What do 20 stand for in M20 mix concrete?
Engineering Geology
What is littoral drift?
Differentiate between faults and folds
Surveying
How is a theodolite leveled?
What are advantages of electronic theodolite over transit theodolite?
Give the standard lengths of chains used in surveying
What is a benchmark? Name the different types
Source:http://claunchers.blogspot.com
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx\
Genetic Engg Interview Questions
What is Genetic Engineering?
What are the differences between Genetic Engineering and breeding?
Does Genetic Engineering harm or benefit human society?
What are the down sides of Genetic Engineering?
Can you name a few potential risks of Genetic Engineering?
How is Genetic Engineering currently used?
What are the dangers of Genetically Engineered foods?
Can Genetically Engineered food benefit the world?
What are our motives in Genetic Engineering? (Humanitarian, improve mankind or national interests)
What ethical dilemmas should be considered when genetic engineering is put into practice?
How can cloning help or hurt farmers?
What situations might be viewed as ethical uses of human cloning? Are you doubtful, fearful, or hopeful about human cloning?
Why would farmers, doctors, and manufacturers be interested in Genetic Engineering?
What are the benefits/risks when company traditional and genetically engineered breeding?
Is biotechnology more dangerous to other gene transfer technologies breeding?
Are there alternatives to Genetic Engineering?
Is Genetic engineering the best of solution?
Is Genetic Engineering worth the cost and effort?
What is your personal opinion regarding genetic engineering and human cloning?
What are you credentials / background?
Are there additional resources / individuals that you can recommend for my paper?
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Quality Engineer Interview Questions
Tell us about your quality engineering experience.
How would you go about looking at capability to help production improvements?
What recommendations would you make to include quality, as well as, the production capability into design?
Tell us about a situation in which you handled a customer's questions or problems?
What experience do you have in RMA's (returned material authorizations?)
What knowledge or experience do you know have of MRP (material requirement planning) software? Quality tracking software?
Tell us about your experience in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methods?
One of your responsibilities will be to prepare and train on standard work instructions or quality initiatives. What experience and qualifications do you have that will enable you to succeed in this role?
What advance notice do you need to give for leaving your current job?
What are your personal interests and hobbies?
Is there anything else we should know about you?
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1
Q: What is the difference between a Verilog task and a Verilog function?
2
Q: Given the following Verilog code, what value of "a" is displayed?
always @(clk) begin
a = 0;
a <= 1;
$display(a);
end
3
Q: Given the following snipet of Verilog code,
draw out the waveforms for "clk" and "a".
always @(clk) begin
a = 0;
#5 a = 1;
end
4
Q: What is the difference between the following two lines of Verilog code?
#5 a = b;
a = #5 b;
5
Q: Write the Verilog code to provide a divide-by-3 clock from the standard clock.
6
Q: What is the difference between:
c = foo ? a : b;
and
if (foo) c = a;
else c = b;
7
Q: Using the given, draw the waveforms for the following
versions of a (each version is separate, i.e. not in the same run):
reg clk;
reg a;
always #10 clk = ~clk;
(1) always @(clk) a = # 5 clk;
(2) always @(clk) a = #10 clk;
(3) always @(clk) a = #15 clk;
Now, change a to wire, and draw for:
(4) assign #5 a = clk;
(5) assign #10 a = clk;
(6) assign #15 a = clk;
1
Q: What is the difference between a Vera task and a Verilog task?
2
Q: What is the difference between running the following snipet of code
on Verilog vs Vera?
fork {
task_one();
#10;
task_one();
}
task task_one() {
cnt = 0;
for (i = 0; i < 50; i++) {
cnt++;
}
}
1
Q: Given $a = "5,-3,7,0,-5,12";
Write a program to find the lowest number in the string.
2
Q: Write the code to sort an array of integers.
3
Q: Write the code to find the factorial of an integer.
Use a recursive subroutine.
4
Q: In C, explain the difference between the & operator and
the * operator.
5
Q: Write a function to determine whether a string is a palindrome (same
forward as reverse, such as "radar" or "mom").
6
Q: Write a function to output a diamond shape according to the given (odd) input.
Examples: Input is 5 Input is 7
* *
*** ***
***** *****
*** *******
* *****
***
*
1
Q: Given the following FIFO and rules, how deep does the FIFO need to be to
prevent underflowing or overflowing?
RULES:
1) frequency(clk_A) = frequency(clk_B) / 4
2) period(en_B) = period(clk_A) * 100
3) duty_cycle(en_B) = 25%
2
Q: Draw the state diagram to output a "1" for one cycle
if the sequence "0110" shows up (the leading 0s cannot be
used in more than one sequence).
3
Q: Explain the differences between "Direct Mapped", "Fully Associative",
and "Set Associative" caches.
4
Q: Design a four-input NAND gate using only two-input NAND gates.
5
Q: Draw the state diagram for a circuit that outputs a "1" if the aggregate serial
binary input is divisible by 5. For instance, if the input stream is 1, 0, 1, we
output a "1" (since 101 is 5). If we then get a "0", the aggregate total is 10, so
we output another "1" (and so on).
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sample Engineering Interview Questions
1. Tell me about the most challenging engineering project that you have been involved with during past year.
2. Describe the most significant written technical report or presentation that you had to complete.
3. In your last engineering position, what were some of the things that you spent the most time on, and how much time did you spend on each?
4. What do you enjoy most/least about engineering?
5. What new engineering specialty skills have you developed during the past year?
6. Do you have any patents? If so, tell me about them. If not, is it something you see yourself pursuing and why or why not?
7. Think of a specific engineering project when you answer this question. What could you have done to be more successful in achieving your goal(s)?
8. Describe a time when you confronted a problem that really tested your engineering know-how.
9. What is your overall career objective? Do you see yourself working in engineering ten years from now? If not, what do you think you will be doing?
10. Give me an example of a time in which you were effective in doing away with the "constant emergencies" and "surprises" that engineers often face.
11. Describe a time when as a member of the engineering department, you were instrumental in building a good long-term relationship with another department within the company.
12. Tell me about your greatest success in using the principles of logic to solve an engineering problem in your last job.
13. Give me an example of a time when you applied your ability to use analytical techniques to define problems or design solutions.
14. To what extent has your engineering background required you to be skilled in the analysis of technical reports or information?
15. Describe a time when you used your engineering knowledge to solve a problem for which there appeared to be no answer.
16. Tell me about a time when you became aware of a hazardous workplace condition. How did you handle it?
17. Tell me about your experience in dealing with routine engineering work. How do you keep from getting bored?
18. I expect the engineer that I hire for this position to be precise – detailed oriented in everything he or she does. What checks and balances do you use to make sure that you don't make mistakes?
19. Give me an example of a time when you had to teach a skill to other engineers.
20. Some of the best-engineered ideas are born out of an individual's ability to challenge, others' ways of thinking. Tell me about a time when you were successful in do this.
21. On your last project assignment, what problems did you identify that had been previously overlooked?
22. How has your present or last engineering job changed while you've held it?
23. If I offer you a position as an engineer with us, how do you plan to get off to a jackrabbit start?
24. Give me an example of something that you have learned from a mistake that you made on a job at a client site.
25. Tell me about a time when a project team effort that you were involved in failed.
26. For what advice or assistance do fellow engineers turn to you?
27. Tell me about the most challenging technical proposal you've ever written.
28. What factors would you consider in building an engineering department from scratch?
29. How do you communicate priority projects with a team of other engineers without making them feel overwhelmed?
30. Describe a specific engineering project that you were responsible for that required a lot of interaction with a variety of people over a long period of time.
31. What do you get out of engineering that you couldn't get from any other kind of work?
32. Describe a typical day out in the field in your last or present job.
33. What media contacts do you have that would help us market our technical products/services?
34. What step-by-step criteria do you use to make difficult decisions that involve other engineers?
35. To whom did you turn for help the last time that you ran into a major technical problem, and why did you choose that person?
36. Give me two examples of technical decisions that you had to make on your last job.
37. Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision that affected the entire engineering department.
38. In the field of engineering, priorities often change quickly. Give me an example of a time when that happened. How did you handle it?
39. How can you best use your engineering education and prior work experience to help our company grow?
40. How long have you been looking for an engineering spot? Have you had any job offers yet? If so, why are you still looking?
41. Tell me about a time when you had to take disciplinary action with an engineer who reported to you.
42. Tell me about the last time you lost your temper in the field.
43. What personal characteristics do you feel are necessary to be a successful engineer?
44. What single technical skill or ability is your best asset?
45. What kind of hours did you typically work in your most recent engineering job?
46. What kinds of information would you request or require before you felt you could do justice to a project assignment?
47. Describe two specific technical contributions you would expect to make during the first six months on the job if you joined our company.
48. Tell me about a time when you surpassed all expectations by going "above and beyond" for a client.
49. What have you specifically done to make the work of the engineers who report to you easier?
50. How do you feel about the workload in the engineering department on your present or previous job?
www.thinkenergygroup.com
*more articles click*
www.sahabudeen.com
No comments:
Post a Comment