The Should I Become An Engineer? Thread

russ_watters

Ya know, you don't need a Nobel Prize to be a successful professor, right? If it happens, great, but I think you're setting the bar a little high.

I can assure you that if you do something you don't enjoy just for the sake of money, you'll be miserable. Yes, money is important, but it isn't the most important consideration when deciding on a career.

zeronem

I do enjoy the Math and Physics, and I can pretty much enjoy anything that I do well at. However I do not know if I can do Engineering well enough to get a rise out of it. But I am pressured to maybe give engineering a try. I just worry whether If I'll get that same rise out of Engineering like I do the Math and Physics.

I was born and raised in a very conservative family given I was born and raised in the heart of Conservative America(Texas). My whole family measures how smart you are by how much money you have or make. Given that I gained a passion for math and science and the ability to carry it out, I have been pressured by my family, friends, and professors to get into engineering and go for money. My old man had to work three jobs at once at one time. I'de certainly like to pay my parents back for their hard work. I just don't know if I have what it takes to get a Ph.D. Surely I can, but like I said I don't want to end up stopping at a Masters degree like most Mathematics professor I know that did so. Engineering does look highly interesting to me, but the question is whether I will get the same rise out of it as I get out of solving math and physics problems. I think it is matter of giving engineering a shot, and If I truly like it then I will stay with it.

Nomy-the wanderer

Zeronem i think engineering would be great, as long as u love both, and there r fields where it cna be more physics or more mathematics, so it's up to u..

And then u don't have to make any breakthrough, engineering is more about practicality so if u can be so...Go ahead!

But i agree don't concern urself with being unproven or the career prospect later follow ur passion!

I'd have joined pharmacy if i thought of a better career at leats i'd have managed our own pharmacy and i'd have foudn a thousand oppotunities for a great job with a great salary!

Orgonics

I am already a trained and qualified Engineer just not in this exact field.

www.i-sis.org.uk

Genetic sequences are analysed by supercomputers these days. How many manipulate genetics by using some form of physics here?

Zeronem what field would you be inetrested in graduating in? If you like science and enjoy experimenting then an eventual Ph.D may be good for you. It's worth getting a degree just for your CV or Reseme these days.

Orgonics

Money means absolutely nothing to me, as long as I can survive I am very happy. Luxuries in life is what we all seem to want these days, when we do not essentially require them in most cases. The East is fast becoming the West when we look at their modernised cities, industry, technology, way of life, etc. Humane beings mean much more to me than trying to make a million, but I do want to progress with some sense of achievement in life to know and feel what I've gained when I look back each month or year. In fact the East is now more advanced than the west - with all outsourcing and industrial corporations operating from Asia even the MoD depends on China now.

Go where your heart leads you, not your mind. You will be happy if you listen to yourself - your true feeling.

Humber

Orgonics,
Wanting to be paid well does not mean that one is greedy. Perhaps for now, you are contented with your currrent income, but time may well change that. Money does not only buy luxuries, but freedom, and the freedom to choose. Not all engineering or science jobs are interesting or stimulating, and you may find that you will be forced to take such a position. Being paid well goes someway to easing the pain.
Engineering and science are not well paid, and perhaps it is the notion that we all do it for love that has led to this.

[QUOTE=brewnog]Bruce. I'm in the UK, and have just (this week) been offered two seperate jobs, in engineering, on graduate training programmes, with starting salaries in excess of £22k, with very reputable companies. I have under 10 weeks of practical, real-world experience under my belt, which was only partly relevant to one of the jobs. Most of the other guys being interviewed had similar levels of experience, but almost all were attending interviews to decide which offers to accept! There is so much of a shortage of good engineering graduates that graduates choose which employers they want to work for, not the other way round. I'm currently turning down interviews...

Brewnog,
There are also lots of candidates. If there really is a shortage, why is the salary only £22k?

preet

How can all of you say that career prospects and wages and stuff don't matter? ...I'm in my last year of highschool and Math and Physics are pretty much the only reasons I bother going to school... I'm not excelling in either one but the interest is definately there. I'll stay up until like 2-3AM If I don't get a question or something... I feel the need to understand... But even with all of the interest I feel that all of my work has gone to hell if I'm going to spend my time looking for a job that doesn't pay that well. Don't get me wrong, I believe that you should go into the career of your interest rather than go into something where money is available... but It's discouraging to know that even if I become a really good engineer, the money and demand is not even comparable to a field like medicine. Especially in Ontario, where I live, doctors will always be in demand whereas engineers end up having tocompete with people who come from other countries... often better trained and willing to work for a lot less. To some point it's inevitable... but it's really discouraging. I can understand that those of you who love engineering and science and math and stuff a lot wouldn't think for one second about the pay or whatever... But I know a few people who are engineers and are SOL...

I also wanted to comment on the different branches of engineering. I have no idea what I want to do. I know that someone mentioned if you don't know what branch you want to take, don't go for engineering... I don't think that's right. It's really frustrating having a deep interest for engineering but not knowing what you want to specialize in. I've eliminated a couple of things (Environmental, Civil)...but that leaves most of the major branches. I like working with CAD and stuff on one hand, but I don't want a desk job... just choosing a career is really damn frustrating. I envy people when they have like a total passion for what they want to do in life. For me everything just pans out into a dull grey. Did any of you go through this phase?

Nomy-the wanderer

Well i did, even after choosing to specialize in Nuclear engineering(the most unspecialized department, since it mainly qualifies u for a number of specializations later...) i was not sure if that was what i really wanted. A yera later, i realized, yes that's where i fit, i've chosen this department mostly because i loved physics (thinking i equally loved maths too). Then i discovered that i need more passion for physics than maths if i needed to go on, i'm skilled mathematically but my passion for it has gone gradually, seeing other friends in electrical engineering dept(wether power or communications and electronics) with their passion for maths already gone (there r some people who really love it this way, and they r totally devoted for mathematics)but they have to deal with it all the way even the physics we both study, their physics deepest complications turns into a mathematical issue, if u r good at maths u'll get through, our physics complications are deeper, because it's more about how will u translate this problem into mathematics, it's more philosophical, more about the concept...

Gradually, i started to realize that i really fit, i eleminated mechanical engineering(though they r the closest dept) because they go through much of engineering drawing which is something i hate although i've been one of the best (i've been through a couple of courses). And the syllabus balances in a way i don't really like, again nuc eng wins...

Probably why i've chosen nuc. eng. from the 1st place, was because i liked the variety in it, it's not very specialized, afterall what do we know after our 1st and general year of engineering??? merely nothing, not enough to assess our readiness to join this dept or that.

Maybe u r right, it's all based on career prospects, hence i wasn't able to choose, i've chosen the dept that gave me more options (knowing that it's mostly called engineering physics dept).

I know a civil engineer who ended up working as a communications engineer in Alcatel. He has never been able to stand the idea he could actually work as a civil engineer, he was fond of communications, and so he was able to convert his career. This guy represented the concept of an engineer to me, he had the mind of an engineer, and ahd the flexibility to do it anyway...

For me it matters little the speciality...The spirit is what matters really!

dunckel

Engineering is very difficult and required a lot of time and effort (and caffeene). If you look at something and wonder how it works and how you can inprove it, you may be engineering material. Or if when you see a problem you imediately consider possible solutions for that problem, you may be engineering material. However, if you don't like math or physics, you don't want to be an engineer. The two engineering majors that offer the broadest spectrum of career options are electrical and mechanical. They are required in almost any field. I'm a mechanical engineering student at Cal Poly SLO, and I plan on entering the entertainment industry once I achieve my degree. Hope this helps. :)

DizzyGillespie

Ok. So im having the same kind of internal conflicts about college as everyone else in this post. Math has been a passion of mine since as long as I can remember. In 10th grade I took my first physics class and my first calculus class. They were both equally exciting

I can do a major in either of these fields and still be happy. However, I dont really know much about engineering. I want to continue furthering my knowledge of math and physics as much as i can, and I think I would be uneasy doing something else in lieu of that. As of right now my intentions are to major in physics (Im a senior in high school.) How much physics would I be sacrificing as an engineering major as opposed to a physics major.

Math and Physics are my passions, but I cant say that Engineering wouldnt be just as exciting to me. If it does become just as exciting, then the deciding factor between the two becomes the salary. I cannot get that thought out of my head.

Now, there are two things that I have looked at that seem to scream my name. NYU has a Dual Degree program with Stevens Institute of Technology. In this program I can get a physics degree from NYU in 3 years of study, and get an engineering degree from Stevens in another 2 years. For some reason though, I cant seperate this kind of program in my mind from those "Get your degree quick" vocational schools that you see on TV. I know its not since these are both reputable schools. Does anybody know anything about this program? Would it be worth doing this 5 year program rather than a double major at a 4 year school?

Also, if I were to skip the NYU thing and just go to Stevens I could major in Engineering Physics. I have little idea what this entails. Anybody have a clue?

I mean my Physics teacher tells me to Major in physics and do something important, My calculus teachers tell me to major in math and become a genius, and my counselor tells me to major in engineering and make alot of money.

I know engineering is alot of work. How does a physics or math major compare?

edit: I just saw the engineering physics post. So disregard that question.

FredGarvin

NYU is hardly a fly-by-night university. Neither is Stevens from what I have heard. You would be working your arse off if you went for a dual degree like that.

z-component

I gathered from this discussion that 3+ years of engineering is hell enough for most everyone, so how common is it for engineers to continue their education to graduate school? And is it even worth the time and money to get a masters or Ph.D in any engineering field, with respect to employment opportunities?

FredGarvin

I think more and more a masters is looking like the norm. I do believe it depends heavily on the sector you are working in though. It's tough to make that kind of blanket statement. Plus you have to balance that against a lot of people not going for graduate degrees and opting for licensure instead. Really, I think you have to feel your situation out and see what your career path dictates.

Astronuc

I obtained an MS in nuclear engineering and then started working on a PhD. All baccalaureates from our program were encouraged to strive for a MS and even PhD. Most got at least an MS.

In the MS program, one goes more into a more advanced level of work, and one usually does some supervised research. For PhD at my school, the research was to be new and innovative, and more or less independent, i.e. whereas in the MS research, one's research is directed by a faculty member, in a PhD program, the work is completely one's own with the idea that the research contributes something new to the field.

As Fred Garvin mentioned, what one achieves will depend upon one's goals.

z-component

That helps a lot; thank you.

Achernar

Hello,

I was just reading this topic and found it interesting. I just got accepted into an Engineering course after doing 1 year of a Geophysics course and finding it too boring and uninteresting. I never grew up wanting to be an Engineer, but like most of you here I was able to construct lego battleships by age 3 and didn't stop until I exhausted the best part of my lego supply and was too embarrassed to buy more. So after i got bored with Geophysics, I decided to look for something else and stumbled across Engineering whilst watching "Extreme Engineering" on the Discovery Channel, that show owns and so does the channel.

I like computers and technology, I also love understanding how things work and why they do. I also like Astronomy. I am not necessarily huge into designing stuff like Engines though. My favourite subjects are Maths, Physics and Computer Science, I also don't mind Geology. Do I sound like Engineer material? Also what forms of Engineering are more awesome?

Thanks.

Achernar

...for nothing.