Whether graduation, Christmas or Birthdays, I am notoriously hard to shop for. Most of what I want is related to electronics or tools that my family members have no interest in. Sifting through the endless tacky engineering shirts and cheap hacky “tools” can be overwhelming for the uninitiated. So I have done the endless scrolling and curating for you to put together the top 40 gifts for electrical engineers.
1. Posters / Decor
Posters / art are a great option for any lab space or college dorm. There are tons of unique and informative posters with attractive designs that can even be helpful for an engineer.
This is one of my favorite ideas in the entire list. Silicon wafers are how computer chips are produced, there are thousands of chips bounded together in a grid on these circular disks of silicon. Not many engineers have seen wafers like this is real life and the piece is very unique.
There are a couple cheaper DIY options on Amazon if you’re into that sort of thing.
Electronics Cheat Sheet Poster
Not only is this poster visually pleasing but it has so much good reference information. It could easily save someone one google search per day. And personally, as an engineer, there is nothing I like better than practicality.
Chart of Electromagnetic Radiations
This is another cool, somewhat informative poster which shows various radiations along the electromagnetic spectrum. It has an old time ascetic that I love.
2. Books
Engineers are life long learners and an interesting book is a great gift idea. There are tons of fiction and non-fiction books alike that are sure to spark every electrical engineer’s curiosity. Below are some of my favorite books relating to engineering, hacking, space and computer history.
The Martian is one of my favorite books of all time. The author does a fantastic job of breaking various engineering and science concepts down to first principals and working them into a captivating plot. And of course the book is ten times better than the movie.
The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage
The Cuckoo’s Egg is the auto biography of Cliff Stoll, a systems administrator for Berkley’s astronomy computer lab, as he finds himself unraveling a complex thread of computer espionage. When Cliff notices a 75 cent error in the accounting systems, it alerts him to an unauthorized user in the system. This sets off a long game of digital of hide and seek that no one saw coming. Set in the late 1980s, this book includes a rich history of operating systems and computer security.
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker
Ghost in the Wires is the auto biography of Kevin Mitnick, a notorious hacker during the 1990s. The book follows Kevin’s various hackings and drawn out pursuit by the FBI. Kevin evaded the FBI assuming various identities across the United States all while hacking some of the largest telecommunication companies in the world. This book is an excellent exploration for anyone interested in social engineering.
3. 3D Printers
I couldn’t put together a list of the top 40 gifts for electrical engineers and not put any 3D printers in it. 3D printers are one of the most impactful technologies for rapid prototyping in the last two decades. Regardless of the type of engineer, 3D printers are essential for building enclosures and can be utilized in almost any project.
Reality Ender 3 V2 Neo ($287 at time of writing)
This is one of the best budget 3D printers you can buy for the price. I love this 3D printer for a few reasons. It’s an open source project with a huge community behind it. This means there are tons of resources for help as well as people constantly thinking of ways to improve it. This printer has lots of upgrades from past Ender printers which have always had a great reputation in the maker community.
4. Soldering Iron / Accessories
Soldering Irons:
Every electrical engineer needs a soldering iron. In general, any decent soldering iron should have temperature control and the ability to swap tips. Here are two great options, one budget friendly and one a bit more spendy but from a very reputable brand.
X-Tronic 3020 XTS – 75W ($55 at time of writing)
The X-Tronic 3020 is perfect for a beginner or intermediate level. In fact, this is the soldering iron that I have owned for the last 4 years and it has worked very well for me! It comes with a lot of useful accessories and is good quality for the price.
Hakku FX888D ($105 at time of writing)
Hakku is a very well known brand in the industry and for good reason. They produce quality irons that stand out with their playful packaging. But I would only recommend this iron over the X-Tronic for anyone that will be soldering on a regular basis.
Soldering Accessories:
If your engineer already has a soldering iron, soldering accessories are always welcome. There are a lot of gadgets and tools that make soldering a much easier task.
PCB Clamp Holder ($65 at time of writing)
PCB holders / helping hands are nearly essential when soldering electronics. It can be impossible trying to hold wires, PCB boards and the soldering iron all with only two hands. Note that the X-Tronic soldering iron has two built in helping hands attached to the soldering station itself so this accessory might not be necessary depending on your engineer’s setup.
Fume Extractor with Helping Hands ($50 at time of writing)
Nobody likes lead poisoning. It’s important to use a fume extractor when doing a lot of soldering, yet so many hobbyists don’t own one. This fume extractor has built in helping hands which is always an added bonus.
5. Lab Equipment
Though it might sound boring to the average person, I would genuinely be excited to receive a useful new piece of lab equipment. There are a lot of tools and equipment that make projects go so much smoother. I would recommend gifts from this section for the intermediate level engineer that loves working on projects outside of work or school.
Oscilloscopes:
Every hobby lab needs an oscilloscope eventually. They allow you to measure voltages and waveforms for analog circuits and are essential when debugging hardware. If your engineer is always working on breadboards filled with wires and components everywhere, an oscilloscope might be a good gift choice.
Hantek DS05102P Oscilloscope ($259 at time of writing)
This is a good budget friendly oscilloscope that should cover 95% of hobbyist use cases. It has a limited number of channels (2 instead of 4) but has decent specs and all the features you want in an oscilloscope.
Logic Analyzers:
Logic analyzers are a key tool when debugging digital circuits and serial communications between sensors and microcontrollers. If your engineer is more interested in programming and things like Arduino, a logic analyzer might be a better starting point than an oscilloscope. Logic analyzers can run from $10 dollars to thousands of dollars but in most cases you can get away with the cheaper end.
DreamSourceLab DSLogic Plus Logic Analyzer ($149 at time of writing)
I would recommend this logic analyzer to a beginner engineer. The price is a little higher but the initial setup and user interface will be easier to work with and learn.
KeeYee Logic Analyzer ($13 at time of writing)
I recommend this logic analyzer for engineers with a little more experience. It is very cheap and can accommodate 90% of project needs but will require a bit more hassle on the setup and learning curve. There could be extra drivers to install and it requires working with some open source software.
PCBite Kit with 4x SP10 Probes ($145 at time of writing)
PCBite makes excellent quality test probes for oscilloscopes and logic analyzers. This kit comes with a PCB holder and 4 test probes which make probing PCBs much easier. These test points are weighed down so that they rest on the PCB exactly where you want to probe instead of always having to tack on test wires all over your circuit board. This kit is a good option for engineers designing their own custom PCBs.
Others:
FLIR ONE Gen 3 – iOS Thermal Camera ($229 at time of writing)
While I would only recommend this tool for more advanced to intermediate hobbiests, thermal imagers can be very useful when debugging hardware issues. They help diagnose heat issues and even find electrical shorts. While the price point may seem high, this camera has great reviews and the price of thermal imagers can quickly reach above $1,000. Again this tool is another good option for engineers designing their own custom PCBs.
6. Clothes
There are a lot of tacky engineering shirts out there with sayings like “Trust me, I’m an engineer”. I tried to find good looking shirts that are somewhat subtle so your not walking around with ENGINEER painted on your forehead.
The right hand rule is a physics / engineering concept that almost all engineers learn in year one or two of uni. It is a notation for tracking which way force is generated when a current moves through a magnetic field. I love this shirt because it’s very unique and only a select few will know what it actually means. Otherwise, it just looks like a cool shirt design.
As you might be able to tell, I love a simplistic designs and that is why I love these next couple t-shirts. The capacitors and resistors t-shirts are playful but not so in your face screaming engineer. Again, no bad puns, talks of coffee or arrogant sayings, just a nice graphic design.
This last option is a classic. Who doesn’t love the OG Game Boy?
7. Gift Cards
I know gift cards are not usually thought of as a great gift but I think they can be the perfect option for a lot of engineers. There could be specific tools, microcontrollers or parts they want / need that are going to be very hard to know or even ask about. That is why I think gift cards to some of the most loved electronics websites / stores is a perfect gift for an engineer.
Adafruit is one of the most popular online stores for hobby electronics and makers. They have tons of various parts from LEDs and single board computers (like Raspberry Pi) to solar panels and much much more.
Sparkfun is competitor to Adafruit which also has a ton of interesting and unique products. I love scrolling through Adafruit and Sparkfun looking for project inspiration.
Engineers love to learn new things and are always looking to grow their skillset. An online course is a really interesting and practical gift idea. Unfortunately, Udemy only lets you “gift” individual courses so you will have to know what course your engineer would like to take.
One last gift card like option is to pay for a membership to a local maker space. Maker spaces are a place where makers can go to use various tools and equipment like soldering irons, 3D printers, CNC machines and more. They usually have classes on a wide variety of topics with communities of people interested in different areas of technologies. You will have to do some googling to see if there are any maker spaces near where you live.
8. Coffee
It’s no secret engineers run on caffeine. By the time you get out of school, most engineers have a full blown caffeine addiction from so many late night cram sessions. So yes, coffee gets an entire category dedicated to it.
Ember Smart Mug ($124 at time of writing)
Ember is a bluetooth connected smart mug that keeps your coffee at a specific temperature. I personally own one of these mugs and love it. I am a very slow coffee drinker and after getting up to microwave my coffee every 20 minutes, my wife finally cracked and bought me one of these. They have a very sleek design and I love the portability.
OXO Cold Brew Maker ($38 at time of writing)
Many people prefer cold brew to regular drip or espresso. This OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Maker is rated one of the top cold brewers from multiple sources. I order cold brew whenever it’s on a cafe’s menu but this is a fantastic way to save a buck and get smoother coffee at home.
Nespresso Essenza Mini ($155 at time of writing)
Speaking of saving on coffee orders, Nespresso makes excellent machines for any espresso lover. Pro tip, get a re-usable pod and buy actual espresso grounds. You won’t be able to tell the difference from the real thing. This Essenza Mini model is a work horse but their Vertou lines are also highly rated!
9. Random
This section includes all the gift ideas that would don’t warrant an entire category.
Earbuds
I use my earbuds on a daily basis. Whether for work meetings, phone calls or learning on Youtube, they are essential to my productivity. If your engineer doesn’t already have a decent pair of wireless earbuds or headphones, I would highly recommend this gift idea.
JBL Reflect Aero TWS ($99 at time of writing)
Honestly, I would highly recommend any of the TWS series from JBL. These are the earbuds that I own. They have worked extremely well and lasted for over three years now. The legacy Apple Air Pods don’t seem to stay in my ear very well and I just can’t bring myself to pay $250 for the Pros. These are a solid, somewhat cheaper alternative. And some of the other TWS series can run as low as $70.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II ($299 at time of writing)
If you are going to spend the extra buck, then I would recommend these Bose noise canceling earbuds. They are rated the number one noise canceling earbuds and deliver excellent sound.
Creator’s Merch
Many people have favorite Youtubers that publish content related to engineering. Buying merchandise of their favorite creator is a unique gift that also helps these creators keep putting out great content! Here are just a few popular Youtubers.
Crypto
Many engineers are interested in crypto currencies due to its technical / digital nature. Although I know this can be a bit of a buzzword, there are many fascinating crypto projects and opportunities to learn about an emerging scene.
Ledger Nano X Hardware Wallet ($150 at time of writing)
A hardware wallet is essential when getting started with Bitcoin or any other crypto for that matter. It is very important to store your coins on a cold storage hardware wallet. This avoids losses when exchanges get hacked, go bankrupt or are just flat out running a scam (looking at you FTX). This is the perfect gift for someone just starting out in crypto.
Another crypto currency gift idea is actual Bitcoin. It’s never been easier to buy Bitcoin than right now and crypto enthusiasts will always welcome more Bitcoin. Just buy the Bitcoin from Coinbase and then you can send it to their digital wallet using the public key address. If you are new to this, I would recommend testing this out with a small amount of money to ensure you have the process correct before trying with larger sums of money.
10. Beginners
I would say shopping for beginners is a bit easier because we are living in the golden age of hobby electronics. Over the last decade we have seen an explosion of hobby boards with huge support communities like Arduino and Raspberry Pi to name a couple giants. Most embedded systems engineers that I know got their start on one of these hobby boards from a young age.
Arduino / Microcontrollers:
Arduino is a very popular microcontroller that is geared toward beginners / intermediates. Arduino’s are great for creating projects that interact with the physical world, like spinning motors and servos, blinking LEDs and reading from sensors. Arduino has a fairly low learning curve so one can often start creating simple projects quickly.
Arduino Starter Kit ($76 at time of writing)
This kit is perfect for an absolute beginner. It contains all the essentials from an Arduino Uno and breadboard to a digital multi-meter. It has everything one needs to get started.
Arduino Sensor Kit ($65 at time of writing)
This kit is a good fit for someone that has some familiarity with Arduino already. It contains a ton of different components and sensors including RFID tags, LCD screens, motion sensors and microphones. Note that this kit contains a knock off Arduino but don’t let that scare you too much. There are hundreds of knock off Arduinos due to their open design and almost all of them are perfectly compatible. However, there might be an additional step or two in the initial setup. One should be prepared to have to search the internet when setting up the board and all the various sensors but hey, that’s one of the most valuable skills an engineer can learn.
30 Days Lost in Space ($67 at time of writing)
This is a fun way to learn Arduino and more about microcontrollers. This is a puzzle kit for ages 12 and up that walks through 30 various programming challenges while “lost in space”. With this kit, you have crashed on an alien planet and now have to learn to code / wire so you can fix your space craft and make it home. It comes with “transmissions” or video lectures that walk through the various challenges.
Raspberry Pi / Single Board Computers:
Raspberry Pi is what is known as a singe board computer that runs the Linux operating system. These are tiny computers that can actually run an entire operating system just like your average laptop / desktop computer but with much less processing power. Linux is a free and completely open operating system which is why it has become the most commonly run operating system in the world. It is the operating system of engineers and is an incredibly powerful skill to learn. Raspberry Pi has a steeper learning curve than Arduino but after the initial pain of learning Linux basics, you can quickly build very impressive projects. Thanks to the power of Linux and Python, there are tons of open source Raspberry Pi projects that you can setup very quickly. These include classic video game emulators, WIFI connected lamps, camera streams and even machine learning enabled facial detection.
Raspberry Pi ($55 at time of writing)
If you’re buying someone their first Raspberry Pi, I recommend buying a starter kit that comes with an SD card and micro HDMI cable. Without these, it’s a bit like opening a brand new toy on Christmas and batteries are not included. I would recommend the Pi 4, 4GB or 8GB versions. 4GB should be plenty big for 75% of applications. The Pi can run pretty hot which can affect performance. I also recommend buying a cooling fan. I just so happen to sell the most versatile Pi shield which includes a cooling fan, a power button (the Pi does not have a default power button) and a large prototyping area.
Raspberry Pi Prototyping Hat ($29.95 at time of writing)
The Proto-Power Hat was really born out of my Pi project needs. Every Pi project that I have worked on has needed a power button and a cooling fan. I would also find myself with a huge mess of wires strung out on a messy breadboard. The Proto-Power Hat provides a through hole prototyping area to solder down external circuits. This makes projects look 10x more professional and clean.
Beaglebone Black ($55 at time of writing)
The Beaglebone Black is another single board computer very similar to the Raspberry Pi. It also has a large community behind it. It is fully open source as apposed to the Raspberry Pi which is only partially open source. They has a ton of different boards to choose from. For starters I would recommend the baseline Black model and after becoming comfortable, start to explore other boards like their AI board, pocket sized board or robotics boards. Raspberry Pi has a larger community behind it but the BeagleBone Black is certainly the next closest competitor and you can’t go wrong with either option.
Subscriptions:
The Adafruit Adabox launching in 2024 contains curated Adafruit products, collectables and discounts. It’s a fun way to explore new tech and get project inspiration.
Make Magazine is one of the leading magazines covering maker culture. They host Hackathons, feature projects, publish tutorials and share maker stories. They have been around for decades and been inspiring makers and hobby engineers all over the world.
Hope you found this guide of the top 10 gifts for electrical engineers helpful and happy hacking!
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