Becoming an Engineer: Considerations and Personal Experiences

[viet_jon]

I also have ADD and am probably mildly ADHD, but over the years I learned to compensate. My mind requires challenging problems, which is probably why I did well in math and science, and my work provides significant challenges.

I've always enjoyed math and science, and in school I did well the subjects. I read encyclopedias and textbook for fun. When I was in high school, I enjoyed studying topics in particle physics and astrophysics, and other subjects, however I had no peers with whom I could discuss the subject. I was pretty much a loner.

Reading literature for class was difficult, and poetry was torture.

oh wow...literally, everything you've stated accurately describes me, except I didn't read textbooks, just encyclopedia's and everything on the web related to physics. I hope these traits make me a good engineer.

don't know if your like this too, but I'm a very deep thinker. If there's something that I don't understand, it will bother me, and I will think about it for weeks (even comes up in my dreams), until I figure it out. When hanging out with my peers, many times I will be oblivious to conversations going on, and will not say a word for hours, just sitting and 'thinking'. a lot of people think I'm a werido because of this, but I don't care, I love it.

 

[viet_jon]

while engineers do make more than almost all other undergrads right out of school they really don't make that much more. Some business students will make just a few thousand dollars less. http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/08/pf/college/lucrative_degrees_winter07/index.htm

You will notice MIS which is a major usually for CS and computer engineering drop-outs, they make darn close to the same salary as the CS and CSe students. The sad fact is that the MIS student doesn't know much about computers at all, and they usually get the job over the cs student, In fact the average MIS student after the entry level will make around $115K according to BLS.gov while the engineers will make just around 60-70k at best.

though again many MIS students are Hired by huge companies over CS students and are even paid more, why I have no idea, there major is a complete joke.

while researching your career I say screw the money. Personally, I have absolutely no interest in MIS, and if they paid 200k, I still wouldn't do it. I've been working in industry for a long time, and I know what it's like to do something you don't like. Something you don't want to be stuck with 'till retirement. That's why I'm back in school now.

I worked for a car parts manufacturing company, and the main engineer, was getting paid 100k+ for less than 8 years experience. He only has a college Mechanical Engineering diploma. He was really good and passionate about his job. Made a lot of money for the company, so they paid him for it.

Moral of the story: Do what you love, love what you do...the rest will fall in place.

 

[viet_jon]

Hello,

I have some critical questions regarding Electronics Engineering Technologist for Communications. I am doing it from a College in Canada.

I joined this program without even knowing what a resistor was and have maintained a 4.0 GPA for one year.

I am very absorbed into this field now. I love it, but often get frightened about the amount of information we are always bombarded with. I lack confidence in myself that I will be able to solve problems or do analysis without a formula sheet or that I will retain such massive information to apply in the work force

What does this field have to offer me in regards to 'types of jobs'? Out of curiosity I was looking for jobs on various sites and found no entry level openings. All require couple years of experience or are in 'product assembly' or 'component testing'. I didn't pay so much money, and study so much just to do component testing or assembly.

If anyone who knows or is currently in the Communications field, please tell me your experiences with the field. How do you work your way up to a good position?

This is the brief outline of my course. Tell me what you think about it.

http://www.senecac.on.ca/fulltime/ELM.html

Thank you.

not in communications, but I have a few friends in Canada who got their diploma in EE. I think they went to mohawk, conestoga, and seneca. I hate to discourage you, but they did not expect to start at $13 bux an hour after college. Actually, they did not get an engineering job right away. They had to start as a machine operator. After that, it takes 2-3 years experience, then you 'might' get an offer as a 'Engineering Technician' with a starting salary of only approx. 27k as I recall. Then if your good at what you do, you move to the next level of Engineering which pays 55k salary. After that there's the 'Engineering Supervisor', then 'Engineering Manager' which pays really good. It takes time to move up the ladder, lots of time.

note to US readers, in Canada 'College' and 'University' are different.

 

[viet_jon]

I live in Ontario so the schools base the admission on overall average

actually, they take your top 6 pre-U including pre-requisites. Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, Adv. Func, Eng, + 1 more.

you can get into ryerson's engineering program with a 70 something.

go here http://www.ouac.on.ca/news/news.html" there's stats for different universities and minimum grade average. oh btw, according to their survey, 95% of engineers get hired after 6 months.

 

[viet_jon]

i feel like a loner making my 5th consecutive post in this thread.

anyway, wicked thread...took me couple hours to get through it. I know exactly what I want to do now.

 

[Ian_Brooks]

Hi,
I was trying to get advice on helping a friend decide whether she should take EE/Computer Engineering or Chemical Engineering (Hence I couldn't write CE twice :D)

I'd like to deviate from the traditional argument that one is easier/harder than the other but does anyone have any insight on Chemical Engineering? I'm an EE myself and obviously I'd be biased towards it but what should someone consider when picking up Chemical Engineering?

 

[sillydude]

Well you see I am torn between becoming an engineer or physicist, its basically the fact that i might have difficulty securing a job if i go through with physics...i live in Canada, does anyone have any input on the job outlook for physics?, and for engineering i love rockets/space and would love to be involved in that in the near future, what type of engineering is best for that?

 

[shawshank]

Undergrad in Mechanical Engineering, Masters in Mechatronics, what do you guys think? How are the jobs?

 

[jesuslovesu]

I'm planning on majoring in electrical engineering. Currently, I have a TI83+ which does not do indefinite integrals. Do I need to get a TI89 that has the ability to do indefinite integrals. I've only taken statics, which has some calculus, but all the integrals have been really easy. Do upper level EE classes require people to hard integrals on tests?

 

[snkk197]

I'm agonizing over whether to choose Physics or Engineering for my degree for Sept 08 in the UK. I'm 28, with a business degree, so I'll be applying as a mature student. I got good A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Maths 10 years ago, and I'm currently taking Foundation Year evening classes in Physics and Further Maths.

The physics I'm studying now is fantastic - I'm scoring 80s and 90s in my assignments (and would do better if I didn't work full-time) so I don't have any doubt I'd enjoy studying it for it's own sake at uni. Engineering is obviously much more of a mystery. It's attractive because I want make a real stamp in society, and contribute to building thinsg that will benefit people. But I've been looking at a variety of engineering books and and the maths is scary! I did really well in maths throughout school - not a genius, but I had good intuition over the direction in which answers could be found, and I was a hard worker. It's hard to know whether I'd withstand the demands at degree level though. The further maths I'm doing now has only just started to get harder - I've received perfect marks on my assessments so far with almost no study, but it's really just revision material for me, so it's not really a good indicator of how far I could go. So I'm worried about keeping up with uni students who've probably done intensive A levels in Further Maths and Further Physics at A level. I'm hoping to consolidate and further my knowledge with some online courses at the Open University, but they don't start until Jan. I would also love to think I had some creative juices in me, but that side of my brain has been neglected for so long it's hard to know. Aeronautical engineering looks pretty exciting at the moment, but it's so competitive to get into, and I'd settle for mechanical enginnering to keep my job prospects broader. Medical engineering and robotics would be amazing to get into, but I'm not sure how much I want to get stuck back into Biology and Human Anatomy.

And as I haven't studied so recently, I don't even know if I stand a chance of getting into uni. For lots of reasons I need to stay in London, and the gap in quality between some of the best engineering unis in the world - Imperial, UCL, and Brunel, and the rest of the London polytechnics, is huge. My lecturers are adamant I try for only the best. But it means competing against 18 y.o s who have industrial work experience, project work, entered competions, etc, etc. I probably would have a better shot at getting onto a physics degree which doesn't require so much practical experience to boost your application. (Which I'd love to get, but because I have both a full-time and part-time job, I can't figure out how it'll slot in.)

So any advice for a mature applicant would be so appreciated. I found the previous observations, that physicists and scientists face much more competion in their fields than engineers, really interesting. As much as I'd love to study something I'd definitely love, like physics, at this point I have to really think long-term and where the better job prospects lie. A physics degree for me, should end with a job in R&D or industry or something similar. I can not stomach the thought of busting my gut (and my wallet) for 3-4 years and end up working in a bank (especially with a business degree behind me already!)

Brunel do offer a foundation year for their engineering courses so that's an option I can try for. Or could consider waiting until 09 to study, and spend the next year and a half accumulating as much work experience as possible to boost my application, and also really make sure it's the career I want. Financially it'll be really hard though.

Just as a side-note, we can't switch degrees in the UK unfortunately - you decide what you want from the start, physics, mechanical eng, EE, etc, etc and you stick with it or you start over (though there may be some scope to change from one engineering branch to another depending on the uni). The core subjects in the first year are pretty different between physics and engineering.

And I need to decide pretty soon - the deadline's in January :(

Thanks for any help!

Stella

 

[||spoon||]

Which Discipline?

Hi all,

I posted on this exact thread earlier in the year, unable to decide wether to do straight out physics or to do engineering.

I think i have come to the conclusion that i would prefer to do an engineering discipline over pure physics but now i cannot decide which discipline.

I have just finished high school and exams and have gitten my results back, they are good enough that i can basically choose any engineering or science course that i want throughout the state ( i live in australia). I need to have my course preferences in by noon on chirstmas eve... and i still can't decide between chemical engineering or aerospace.

My first preference at the moment is the new science course at melbourne university in which i would do a bachelor of science (with engineering, maths, a science, and a breadth subject [outside of science]) and then follow up with a 2 years masters in an engineering discipline.

A good thing about this course is that it leaves open the option of doing a physics based engineering discipline (i.e not chemical) and at my final year just dropping engineering and continuing with straight physics if i wanted too.

My problem with this course is that:
1) I need to choose in my first year wether to do either chemistry (which leads to chemical engineering) or physics (which basically leads to all other disciplines)
2) the aerospace course that melbourne university offers really ISN'T an aerospace course... it is mechanical engineering with relevant subjects such as fluid mechanics etc.added on.


Because of reason 2) given above i feel that i need to decide between chemical and aerospace straight away... because if i ultimately choose aerospace perhaps i would be better off at RMIT or Monash.

I guess my real question is not so much a question but more of a plea for adivce... can anyone give me any info on which i should choose? I think i like physics and chemistry to an equal amount... but if i was to see myself of a professor of either i would quickly come to the decision of physics.

Also, regarding the aerospace at Melbourne (mechanical with fluid mechanics)... would this leave me at a disadvantage to other engineers in an aerospace industry? would i be less employable having chosen this option over a straight aerospace degree?

My post has probably turned into mindless rambling by now and if youhave read this far thanks a lot... any help would be appreciated

||spoon||

 

[||spoon||]

another question:

If i choose to do engineering with a physics minor... how much physics would i be issing out on?

My hesitation to go into Engineering is simply dur to the fact that i REALLy like physics... want to learn as much of it as i can. Would i be missing out on a lot?

On the other hand my hesitation to become, say a physicist, is due to the fact that i want a decent job. (no offense meant to physicists intended, just that i hear its hard to find a job with only physics)

thanks,

Spoon

 

[Cyrus]

What do you think you will do as a physicists, and as an engineer spoon?

 

[||spoon||]

well i am not fully aware of the job prospects as a physicist. The reason i would do pur physics is because i like it so much and it interests me so intensely. I mean despite the fact i haven't even begun university yet i find the prospect of actually teaching physics at a university standard very attractive. this may seem very naieve, but i think it outlines my enjoyment with the subjects involved.

As an engineer i suppose it would depend upon which discipline i would choose. But again the reasons for even wanting to be an engineer stem soley from my wanting to use maths and sciences because i like them so much. i asked myself "what jobs would you use them in?" and of course engineering comes to mind straight away...

 

[Cyrus]

Ok, try this again. What sets appart an engineer from a physicist? Or at least, what do you think?

 

[||spoon||]

i see, sorry.

Well to me it seems that a Physicist attempts to discover, or learn, things to do with the natural world.

An engineer uses this information gained by the scientists, and implements it into different products such as buildings materials and chemicals for every day use by society.

is that what you meant?

 

[Cyrus]

Exactly. This is not exactly true. An engineer uses physics and math no different that a physicist does. The difference is in WHAT they study. Engineers don't just 'get' equations from scientists. They derive them themselves, and study the 'nature' of the world with those equations. They just study a different AREA of science.

Heat transfer, fluid flow, material science. These are all areas of physics done by engineers. They are just highly specialized physicists.

 

[||spoon||]

so you said "The difference is in WHAT they study."

What would you say the difference is?

And "They just study a different AREA of science."

what is the difference here?

 

[||spoon||]

sorry,

What makes their area of study different?

Probably a clearer question

 

[Cyrus]

Depends on your concentration:

Aerospace - controls, aerodynamics, structural analysis, vibrations.
Mechanical - controls, fluid flow, structural analysis, materials, vibrations.
Material Science - Materials, duh :)
Civil Engineering - materials, structures.
Electrical: - circuit analysis, controls, signal processing.

Anyways, the point is these are all areas of physics.

 

[||spoon||]

I have just finished high school and exams and have gitten my results back, they are good enough that i can basically choose any engineering or science course that i want throughout the state ( i live in australia). I need to have my course preferences in by noon on chirstmas eve... and i still can't decide between chemical engineering or aerospace.

My first preference at the moment is the new science course at melbourne university in which i would do a bachelor of science (with engineering, maths, a science, and a breadth subject [outside of science]) and then follow up with a 2 years masters in an engineering discipline.

A good thing about this course is that it leaves open the option of doing a physics based engineering discipline (i.e not chemical) and at my final year just dropping engineering and continuing with straight physics if i wanted too.

My problem with this course is that:
1) I need to choose in my first year wether to do either chemistry (which leads to chemical engineering) or physics (which basically leads to all other disciplines)
2) the aerospace course that melbourne university offers really ISN'T an aerospace course... it is mechanical engineering with relevant subjects such as fluid mechanics etc.added on.


Because of reason 2) given above i feel that i need to decide between chemical and aerospace straight away... because if i ultimately choose aerospace perhaps i would be better off at RMIT or Monash.

||spoon||

Concerning this section from my original post.

Do you think it would be better for me to go to this flexible Melbourne university course? that way i don't have to choose discipline straight away (apart from chemical) and it also leaves the physics option open.

However, if i come to the conclusion that i want to do aerospace... i don't know if i would be better off somewhere else with an actual degree in aerospace, not a mechanical degree with some fluid mechanics. What do you think?

i am just really stuck with choosing my university course at the moment and a bit stressed because my choice has to be in very soon

 

[Cyrus]

Here is the thing, if you want to get a job in Aerospace, you are going to want to do engineering. Either Mechanical or Aerospace, both are similar to each other. Fluid mechanics is very similar to aerodynamics, just the problem changes. The maths the same. Exactly the same. (I've taken both.)

The question is, what do you want to do as your job? Me, I want to work and design aircraft. Choice is simple for me. What do you want to do?

 

[||spoon||]

honestly i don't know yet. I'm only 18 and a question of "what do you want to do?"... for the rest of your life! is a bit daunting to say the least. But what i DO know is that i want to use a lot of maths and science in whatever job i do get...

I mean i don't have any paricular interest in aircraft themselves, or in chemical plants themselves... I'm really only interested in the science and maths used to design them and make them work.

Because every branch of engineering has this aspect to it is the main reason i am having difficulty deciding.

 

[||spoon||]

I mean Melbourne univeristy is one of the best in australia... (i don't know where you're from) so id really like to go there... but i don't want to miss out on an actual Aerospace degree if that's what i ultimately want to do... and if i choose physics in first year what if i want to do chemical engineering later? this is my main problem i think

 

[||spoon||]

did you go to university in the first place knwoing you wanted to design aircraft??

 

[Cyrus]

You can use a lot of math and science in any area. Having interested in aircraft means the math and science used to design and make them. If you don't have any interest in them, its pretty clear you should not do it.

I wanted to be a pilot when I was 5. I don't waste time or money. I went to college for a reason and did it.

 

[D.Booker]

i've been looking and looking, and everywhere i see this topic i see the same general answers. But my question is what if you don't meet a few of these 'standards' to become an engineer major? For example i love to take things apart and see how they work, I've always been curious in that manner (especially electronics)...my only downfall is that I'm not really the greatest in math...(but oddly enough i love my AP Physics class, and maintain a B). I took geometry my junior year of high school, and now I'm taking trig in my senior year, and i was doing well with it until we got to equations that were all words...which is giving me that question as to if i should rethink my major or not...any suggestions??

Thanks

 

[Cyrus]

To be an engineer one must know math.

 

[kdinser]

See how you do in calculus. Math gets a lot more interesting once you get into calc.

 

[RufusDawes]

Is it possible to become an engineer if not so naturally good at maths through hard work ?