Engineers?

[MarkP]

. . . 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. . . .

No truer statement. The hardest years are the first 1 1/2 or so. Most people can't discipline themselves to study hard and learn, or as pointed out "how to learn". I'm not saying everyone is an engineer but there are more people who flunked out because they didn't try vs. those that didn't have the math skills.

Had one instructor who spent 2 weeks writing on the board and not saying much to the class. He hit it hard right away. Many freaked out and dropped. After 2 weeks he turned around, smiled and said - "That's about the right size" in reference to class size. :rofl: The class was fun from that point on, lot's of interaction.

BSEE

 

[Blueboy]

Civil - major in Structures.

go for the major that you like.

I like bridges so that is the direction I went.


Jaime

 

[HunterAK]

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.

Judging from the people my GF hangs out with from her classes, you're spot on... I guess I lucked out with her though... She may throw the curve on that one.

She's a pretty hot nerd I think... She was one of those girls that was kind of the band geek growing up and didn't come into her own until college and then all the guys that remember her from high school are like, Holy SHIT, that's her?!?!?!

They're the keepers.

 

[p m]

Hard work CAN replace born-with genius.

That is one grave mistake... No, it cannot.

There's a fundamental thought in the slogan "Engineers Rule," if one takes it not literally, but in more general sense.
What is the percentage of population that _creates_ things that simply weren't there before?

 

[jlessard]

I'm returning to college after working a few years in IT/Real Estate and planning to go into engineering as well.

Talking Cal II this semester and I love it
Only one the class to get 90+ on all the tests..

I really want to be involved in the Aerospace industry, but I was considering Physics Engineering on the advice of some college counselors. They said it would be more broad and will apply to aerospace companies and other industries as well just in case..
Dose this sound right to you all?

 

[ptschram]

That is one grave mistake... No, it cannot.

There's a fundamental thought in the slogan "Engineers Rule," if one takes it not literally, but in more general sense.
What is the percentage of population that _creates_ things that simply weren't there before?

Eggsactly! Engineers are born, not educated.

I seriously doubt that I could be made into an artist, just as my friends who are graphics artists couldn't figure out which end of a screwdriver to hold onto.

I laugh at most folks with "MBAs". When I realized that half the students in my lower level business classes were there as MBA candidates, I realized how worthless that degree is. If you want to learn business, get a double major. I will put my BA in corporate finance up against anyone with an MBA. How they can give a masters to somebody who has two years of a discipline and discount the same person with four years of the same discipline is beyond me.

(rant off-again)

PT

 

[Nantahala]

The type of engineering is important, but I think the line of business you want to get into is more important, especially in what you are doing day-to-day. Be thinking about what setting you want to be working in - consulting, industry, government, utilities, academia, construction, etc. You can be a mechanical engineer and do far different work in each of the fields above. And, you can have different kinds of engineers doing the same things within each of the fields above.

There are many salary surveys out there for engineers, but the biggest salary differentiator for different levels of an engineering career is what field you are working in, not what type of engineer you are. As with anything, the harder and smarter you work, the further you will get over time.

Matt

 

[wdmcdonald]

what would be the best field to get into right now? just wondering

 

[Nantahala]

The best field right now is a little dependant on region. Construction is pretty good all the time if you wanted to be out of an office and have potential to travel - I'm sure it's not going well in Florida right now. Construction engineers with larger construction firms can earn some good $. Industry also has a fairly solid base, but a lot of industry is going out of the country so there is a little higher chance you're going to walk into work one day and find out you've been downsized. A lot of automotive industry is in the northeast and has some ups and downs, but is fairly constant. Same with the petroleum industry down south. Consulting will always be around - opportunities with downsized industry but they still need engineers to do the work needed so hire a consultant, utilities upgrading outdated infrastructure, developers needing projects designed, and so on. Typically lower pay with consulting. Academia is pretty constant if you want to be in the college setting. Utilities will always have $ and will have some sort of a staff of engineers. Government such as DOT will be be constant, but the type work will vary some depending on politics and region. Pay typically isn't too good with DOTs, and you can get pigeon-holed pretty easy sitting there working in your cube.

There are glamour jobs with mechanical like working in automotive, and entry level salaries are higher, but look at the hire rate for entry level MEs. It's lower than the other diciplines and that's why there are a lot of MEs getting grad degrees - can't find one of the few nice jobs so they stay in school. My suggestion would be to do some summer work or co-op work to see what you like and open some doors for when you graduate. Also join a professional society.

M-

 

[piper109]

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....

For sure you didn't do that in the US of A. Blighty I would wager.

 

[EJB90]

My dad is an electrical engineer with a minor in mechanical (if minors existed when he was in college). He is also is a certified election (he thinks its absurd many electrical engineers can put there talent into making machines, etc but they don't even know how to wire a house). He really enjoyed engineering but he doesn't really do it anymore. He's more upper management now but can still use his knowledge in work.

He said that the top 2 jobs right now are Engineers and CPA's. He says many of the power plant industry companies are picking up engineers as soon as they can find them. I think what ever you do you will be able to find a job.

 

[Nantahala]

The reference to nuclear brings up another growing field. There are going to be at least 20 new nuclear power plants, or additional reactors at existing plants, proposed for construction over the next decade +/-. At least one proposed site has submitted their combined operation license (COL) application and more are coming down the chute. At least several of these are going to be built (personal opinon, but the writing is on the wall) and that's huge design and construction $ involved. The big players in nuclear engineering are hiring up right now in a big way. The engineers that built the plants in the 70's are retired so there is an open market for new, talented nuclear engineers to build and run these things.

M-

 

[Emerson00]

That is one grave mistake... No, it cannot.

There's a fundamental thought in the slogan "Engineers Rule," if one takes it not literally, but in more general sense.
What is the percentage of population that _creates_ things that simply weren't there before?

I excelled students who initially displayed greater aptitude for the fundamental math/science courses - it often seemed easy for them - after applying myself and working my ass off. I've done well enough as an engineer in practical terms since then as well.

Maybe I just didn't "get it" like they did until later, and maybe i was born with some aptitude, but I can tell you... it wasn't as easy for me as it often seemed for many of my colleagues. Coasting didn't work; hard work did, and well.

I disagree a bit about how few people create... I think it's human nature to create. Some of us are better prepared, equipped, and suited to it.

 

[leeawalden]

what would be the best field to get into right now? just wondering

I know the top two coming out of Auburn now are Wireless engineering and Petroleum engineering. Wireless is big here because Auburn was the first school to offer a degree in Wireless eingineering.

 

[LR Max]

I am currently a Mechanical Engineering Student.

My best advice is to find another major. You'll end up doing business type stuff anyway.

It really, really sucks THAT much. About 70% of all engineers wash out. About every upper class engineering student here wishes they hadn't have done it. Pretty much all engineering professors these days (or at least according to most of my friends who went other places, holds true to my institute) are foreign. They are literally out to get you (i.e. don't cut ANY slack or give a damn about you). I'll go in to talk to a prof and he will basically say, "Well you are obviously an idiot and you should know how to do this even though it isn't explained worth a damn in the notes or textbook" (but not so direct). You WON'T graduate in 4 years so just go ahead and get that thought out of your mind.

Sure, I know a lot about engineering. I can pretty much tell you how your rover works AND run numbers to support it. I've got lines of code (yes, most of mechanical engineering these days deals with computer code) that can give exact numbers on the radiation heat rate between your body and the room you are sitting in. But at the end of the day, I've spent 14 hours on this crap (pretty much everyday) and all of my non-engineering friends are out having a good time. It really, REALLY sucks when someone asks where you are and they reply, "Oh, he is either dead in a ditch somewhere or in the library" :ack: . And yes, I have gone to the library before the big game instead of tailgating like normal people. Engineering is so competitive. If you don't have good grades or some other trick up your sleeve, internships are difficult to come by unless you are willing to go to the Sahara or some other ungodly place like that.

Hell, I probably won't even go into the engineering field (Apparently, I am a photographer, but it pays the school bill). Most engineers get out of it anyway (or at least the ones I've talked to). Sure, there are a lot of cool engineering jobs but there are A LOT cooler jobs working at big banks or businesses or something. If I would only put in HALF of the effort I put in engineering into business, I'd have a 3.9 GPA no problem.

Oh, and DO NOT work in automotive (that is, if you don't take my advice). Every engineer I've talked to that has worked for a car manufacturer has been treated like crap. Also stay away from nuclear power plants. Reviews have been miserable...at best. Same for manufacturing. Not too good reviews from that sector. Long hours with no hope of improving your situation (my lineage would have probably landed me at "The Mill" back home but fortunately the mill got shut down).

The cirriculum is unbelievably difficult. Out of all of my gearhead friends, I am still the only one still in it. But really, look at something different. There are no "happy" engineering students. We are all stressed out and it carries on forever, leaving you uptight and miserable.

Now I gotta go back to studying for finals. This was my "study break" for tonight. Back to busting my butt while everyone else is having a blast :yawn:

 

[LR Max]

As for the remark on Nuclear engineers, there still isn't much of a demand. There hasn't been a nuclear power plant built in a couple decades. The ones they are planning on building are already drawn up and everything. The plans for these facilities have been filed away and are finally coming back out since regulations against nuclear is starting to ease a little.

My friend is a engineer at a nuclear power plant. All she does is writeup reports on replacing worn out valves and pipes :ack:

 

[wdmcdonald]

dang... that doesnt sound fun at all. you guys are beginning to make me change my mind haha. i wanted to eventually have a career in business so im thinkin i might just put all my time and effort into that.

 

[OddBall...wolf...wolf]

I'm a mechanical engineering student that is on year 4 and a half with at least another year and a half to go. I am also on my third school. But I'm not giving up on the major because I know its the only one for me. The main thing is to get the right school that fits you. The first school I went too sounded good but had a horrible math department. So once I got off academic probation I left that school and went to community college where I graduated with my associates degree. Now I'm back at a big school completing the second half. Its ok so far but as been previously stated I haven't gone to bed till 3 am for the past 2 weeks and its going to continue into next week with exams. But I'll have a month of fun and then back to it in the spring.

Ultimately I would like to have a job where I'm designing one day and then building the next. Kinda like having a striped collar both blue and white. That statement got me an internship interview due to the fact they needed someone that understood what was causing failures or problems and then build the solutions and test them. So my dream job is a little weird and a niche but i will find the right company one day.

Take the engineering 101 class and see what you think. If you like it buckle down hard because the classes don't get any easier.

 

[DiscoveryXD]

dang... that doesnt sound fun at all. you guys are beginning to make me change my mind haha. i wanted to eventually have a career in business so im thinkin i might just put all my time and effort into that.

you're just starting college? Do you do all the work on your ruck, or does someone help you? If you do all the work than damn, you've got some skills for such a young dude!

 

[wdmcdonald]

you're just starting college? Do you do all the work on your ruck, or does someone help you? If you do all the work than damn, you've got some skills for such a young dude!

thanks haha. Yep goin next year. I do almost all of the work. I'm just now learning to weld so i fabricate everything and tack it together and then pay someone to weld it up for me.