Engineers?

[wdmcdonald]

Who on here is an engineer? I ask because I'm going to college next year and will be studying engineering. Most likely mechanical. Also what area do you guys work in? (automotive etc)
Just trying to get an idea of the industry and where I'm headed.

Thanks,
Dillon

 

[Lucasd2002]

One thing I can tell you for certain is that you will have less fun in college than all of your friends who are business majors. You will also see less T&A in class than they will. On the other hand, there is certainly a sense of pride among those with technical backgrounds, regardless of the stigma. I have a BSME and MSME.

 

[AMCM Disco]

Hope you really really really like math.

 

[HunterAK]

I'd be the OPPOSITE of having an engineering mind, but my GF is a civil engineer. She works for BP though, doing none other than.... petroleum engineering work. Serious $$$$.... Jesus... she was an intern last summer making 4200/month... as an intern. They had these "functions" with caramel fountains and ice carvings, blah-di blah, and then they'd send them on "team building" trips... ie fishing charters, trips to the North Slope, Canada, etc.

They really rope em with their recruiting.... she loves BP though... go figure.

 

[AMCM Disco]

Oh, did I mention math?


Seriously though, it's some tough work, but the end pay off is quite cool. My brother's got parts on the 767 tanker, F-22, CH-53K, A380, 787....

They've got some nice "perks". Top end when he travels, Lakers tickets was two weeks ago I think, and the pay's pretty nice... but it's like doctors, they don't just give away that paycheck, there's a lot of school (read: math) and hours working your way up through the ranks... but it's very rewarding if you love it!

Obviously I'm voting for aviation, as I've been flying for umpteen years now and with family in the industry it's where I'm headed.

Good Luck!!

 

[ptschram]

Retired Environmental Engineer.

The math wasn't the hardest part, some of the chemistry classes were far rougher than the math although it was the math that took me so long to get that degree.

The math for my chemistry degree made the math for my finance degree VERY easy!

When I hear how much kids are making right out of school and think how long it took for me to break $50K, it's enough to make me cry. Even moreso when I realize I was the designated felon for my employers and not being paid shit!

 

[snosrfr]

Retired Environmental Engineer.

The math for my chemistry degree made the math for my finance degree VERY easy!

:rofl:

pts nailed it! yep, ogre chem (organic) still gives me nightmares... it was a defining point in my life where i realized i wasn't as smart as i thought i was (follow the electron path and move the charge around...) now MEMORIZE IT so that you can regurge it on tomorrow's four hour exam! that said, it did prepare me quite adequately for the love/hate relationship with my rover!

and lucas'02 was spot on too - prepare thyself for getting pissed off hearing all the business majors down the hall hitting the kegstand whilst you stare at equations, proofs and algorithms rewarding yourself w/ peanut m&m's for making it through "another" chapter...

apologies for the overuse of the elipse...

-snosrfr

 

[leeawalden]

:rofl:

pts nailed it! yep, ogre chem (organic) still gives me nightmares... it was a defining point in my life where i realized i wasn't as smart as i thought i was (follow the electron path and move the charge around...) now MEMORIZE IT so that you can regurge it on tomorrow's four hour exam! that said, it did prepare me quite adequately for the love/hate relationship with my rover!



I am a microbiology major (applying to vet school) but I started out in Engineering since my dad is a civil. I took cal II and realized I hated math. However, OCHEM I & II weren't bad at all...as long as you can memorize. But most of the classes I am taking require a lot of memorization. A lot of my friends are engineering majors and I know that me and them alike have no tail in our classes and I have to pass by the bar on the way to the library and see all of those Lib arts and bus majors going out 5 out of 7 nights a week.

Also, if you get into engineering and think that just because you aren't making A's and B's in every class you are taking, don't worry. D stands for Degree.

 

[snosrfr]

:rofl:

I took cal II and realized I hated math.

i took calcII and realized how to cheat...

lEEw, to a fellow micro-B peep i have one thing to say, "we kick the proverbial crap outta the macro-B pukes!!!"

-snosrfr

 

[jim-00-4.6]

I have to pass by the bar on the way to the library and see all of those Lib arts and bus majors going out 5 out of 7 nights a week..

Don't sweat that too much; after you graduate, the liberal arts majors will still be in the bars, working as bartenders.
No offence intended for any bartenders in the audience.

 

[lagged]

Be rock solid in math. Thats basicly the first two years of Mech E.

I make more money during the summer driving a truck than I will make when I graduate, but they keep telling me its worth it.

 

[UK 4X4]

Engineer....thats me.....

However I did the old route......4 year aprenticship....

at an experimental nuclear power facility......

They had enough rocket scientists with degree's up the ying yang.....

Then worked out that they needed people who actually knew how
build things that functioned.......

rather than just knowing the theoretical methods

They gave up on graduates and built their own training school...

2 years of milling,turning,welding,grinding,basic electrical,drawing office,college on block release to do a few maths sums.

Then two years specialising in mechanical/electrical/ instrumentation
or drawing office( note back in the day when we used paper and pencils, not autocad)

I chose instrumentation as i could not see its limitations, ie the subject is so broad there would be always something new to get into



22 years since I left and only ever met two other people with the same skill set and adaptabillity

I work in the oilfield and the pay is'nt bad....however for 4 years of training I could have been a lawyer....

and earn't a lot more.....but money is'nt everything to me and I'd have hated wearing a suit everyday......

i prefer jeans and t-shirts a comfy pair of UG's and bringing my dog to the office as I'm in charge....

 

[robertf]

currently studying MET, started out as ME a while ago and couldn't cut it, just came back after some time in the real world. I think I could do ME now, but this is more my bag, even though the expected pay is way less.

Its not so much if you are good at math, its your self discipline. Read the stuff, do all of the practice problems even if you think you know it. If you realize when hanging out with your friends that you are the smartest person in the room, make new friends.

And be prepared to spend all day sitting next to people who look like Borat and bathe less frequently than most of us wash our rovers.

 

[wdmcdonald]

thanks for all the replies. its not so much that i like math but im really good at it. i went to a college and looked at an example engineering final... made me not want to go to college at all haha. it was the top score and the guy got like a 67%. i picked mechanical cause its a little broader than most of the other majors. im actually planning on getting a BS in ME then going to grad school to get an MBA.

so far it sounds like its gonna suck during college but it'll be somewhat worth it after its all said and done. i got into cal poly slo for mech engineering... i think i might be in over my head haha

 

[Lucasd2002]

thanks for all the replies. its not so much that i like math but im really good at it. i went to a college and looked at an example engineering final... made me not want to go to college at all haha. it was the top score and the guy got like a 67%. i picked mechanical cause its a little broader than most of the other majors. im actually planning on getting a BS in ME then going to grad school to get an MBA.

so far it sounds like its gonna suck during college but it'll be somewhat worth it after its all said and done. i got into cal poly slo for mech engineering... i think i might be in over my head haha

In some ways, that sounds like me a few years ago. I had a great teacher in high school for math and had credit for Calc I by the time I started college - thanks to that HS teacher I was able to coast through the rest of my math requirements because I had such a good base knowledge of calculus from HS. [definitely take those AP classes to get credit if you can].

It's pretty early to thing about grad school for you at this point. I would say, in general, getting a MBA will be more useful after you have a few years of work experience - employers will think it is more useful and it will mean more after you have been in the business world. In my case, I graduated in 2002 and the job market was in the tank after 9/11 so I didn't have too many good options. That led to one of the greatest features of the engineering education world - you can get PAID to go to graduate school in engineering. You won't get paid much, but you will get a small salary for doing research in a lab (as I did) or being a teaching assistant (on top of the free tuition).

Ask to get paid to go to med school or law school and then see if anyone can keep a straight face.

 

[LilRascle]

One thing I can tell you for certain is that you will have less fun in college than all of your friends who are business majors. You will also see less T&A in class than they will. On the other hand, there is certainly a sense of pride among those with technical backgrounds, regardless of the stigma. I have a BSME and MSME.

My Buddy just graduated with a BSEE. Some of those in his class were.....:jumpfire: HOT!

The sense I got was that they are all smarter than....uh...me....and they know it! Something about a woman talking smart is just cool!:rofl:

He decided to go to Florida for his MSEE and got a job at NASA. How cool is that?

 

[MtclimberVT]

I'd be the OPPOSITE of having an engineering mind, but my GF is a civil engineer. She works for BP though, doing none other than.... petroleum engineering work. Serious $$$$.... Jesus... she was an intern last summer making 4200/month... as an intern. They had these "functions" with caramel fountains and ice carvings, blah-di blah, and then they'd send them on "team building" trips... ie fishing charters, trips to the North Slope, Canada, etc.

They really rope em with their recruiting.... she loves BP though... go figure.

Petroleum engineering is where the money's at!!! currently funding my rover addiciton, (my girl does all the hard work in the relationship) my Dad has been with General Electric as a EE and he loves it, took him a long time to get where he is but life is good if you put in a lot of hard work

 

[paxton]

Even if you're aero or mech or something else, I highly recommend taking all the EE courses you can.

Unless you're EE, then I recommend taking all the physics you can.

(I have a BS in math and a MS in computer science, so what do I know? I work for a large aerospace company with many engineers from many backgrounds. I've seen it. You, as an ME, should know EE. Take my word for it.)

-Paxton

 

[Emerson00]

Civil engineer here.

If I were to do it again... I would be in Mechanical or aero.

I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, and lots of the people in my classes were... I felt like an idiot for the first year or two during the math, physics, chem, etc, etc... Then I got serious, busted my ass, and got good grades. I still gradumatated with a 2.7 because I was on the flunk line for 2 years.

I had lots of job offers when I graduated, because I got involved with ASCE (all branches have prof societies) and started showing up the seniors (got the "Outstanding Senior Award" for the engineering school when I was a junior).

Bottom line, our motto was "engineering students do more work after 3am than any other student does all week." And it was the truth. When I wanted to do well, I did nothing but class/work/study/nap, repeat.

Hard work CAN replace born-with genius.


The nice thing about an engineering degree is it teaches you how to learn. I have self taught all manner of hobby things (ahem... Rovers?) since school because I now get bored easy.

The $$ benefit is that there is always engineering work needed. I'm applying for positions in several overseas countries now and it's exciting (yeah, got bored with hometown).


Why ME or AE? I would prefer to actually design solutions to problems rather than figure out how to re-use old solutions as it seems we do in civil. I find civil somewhat boring - to be fair, I hated structures in school and regret it, and have considered going back for a MS in structural and getting into that field of civil. I tihnk structures is perhaps the most interesting aspect of civil. But, I'd rather be a mechanical engineer working for Land Rover, than designing the building for them, or siting the test track.

 

[SGaynor]

Engineering is for wankers! Learn a science!


Just kidding....

Math was the hardest part for me, the chemistry came easy. That's why I'm a synthetic chemist.

But really, any engineering (or science) discipline is worth doing. Yes, it will be hard, and there will be times where you want to quit (like when you're studying your ass off and your roomate rolls in at 2 am for his 8am polysci exam - solution: get other engineers as roomates). Just like anything else in life, if you work hard at it and are persistent, you will succeed.

Grad school is not worth it unless you want to do research, and then I recommend that if you really have the research bug, you get your PhD (it opens more research doors for you than a MS). Getting your MBA, however, is a plus - you will make a LOT more $$. Sad to say, but an MBA is valued more in the real world (especially in the US) than is a PhD.

One final item: Always remember that you can't spell geek without EE! :seeya: