Other Becoming an Engineer: Considerations and Personal Experiences

[pete worthington]

If there is, and it is a Bachelors of Science program you may want consider if is really a wise choice. a Mechanical Engineering degree can get you into the automotive field. When I got me M.E. degree in 1987 I interviewed with Ford Motor Company, a plastics engineering firm that supplied technology to the automotive industry and a rubber processing eguipment manufacturing firm that supplied tire companies with equipment.

In my opinion you would be better off getting a M.E. degree at a college or university that is in the vacinity of heavy auto manufacturing. That way the connections and applications, perhaps even work/study or co-op, would be there for your specific interest while you earn a degreee that is more applicable to a broader area.

I would imagine that the curriculum in the first three years would be very similar anyhow. Good Luck !

 

[FredGarvin]

Is there such thing as automotive engineering? If there is, can someone give me some brief info on it (no links please).

I laugh (no, make that cringe) when I hear that term. However, with all of my preconceived notions aside I will tell you that my alma mater has a MS in Automotive Engineering available. They do not have an undergrad as far as I know. If they did that would be a damn shame. If you would like a link to my school I'd be happy to email it to you or post it.

If automotive is your choice, I would re read Pete's last post and seriously consider it.

 

[brewnog]

There are several undergrad (BEng & MEng) Automotive Engineering degrees available over here, particularly some excellent ones at Birmingham and Loughborough. They're pretty much Mech Eng degrees with an automotive slant. They kinda go against Fred and Pete's advice, and for those who definitely want to enter the automotive field they're very well respected by industry, and even for non-automotive degrees they're broad enough to get you jobs which might normally employ straight Mech Eng graduates.

 

[nikola-tesla]

physics

in a month i'll be starting my 1st year of EE studies. although I've been a very good high school student, i do worry will i be able to manage my university studies since i never did like physics. i do like mathematics and electrical engineering courses, but physics does NOT attract me. am i dummed for a failure:-)

 

[brewnog]

in a month i'll be starting my 1st year of EE studies. although I've been a very good high school student, i do worry will i be able to manage my university studies since i never did like physics. i do like mathematics and electrical engineering courses, but physics does NOT attract me. am i dummed for a failure:-)

It seems slightly odd that someone so interested in EE dislikes physics so much, but since you've enrolled on an EE course and say that you DO like EE type courses, I don't see why there should be a problem! While you'll be using lots of concepts which are based on ideas you could learn on a physics course, almost all of it will be of an engineering nature. If you've done well at school, there's absolutely no reason why you can't succeed at university.

Good luck anyway!

 

[Nomy-the wanderer]

Should I become an engineer?

Well my 1st thought was I'm a practical person who's in love with maths and physics...An engineer is someone creative that can have ideas more economic and much easier to use a certain theory of whatever...

-What engineering discipline should I study?

Engineering is not all about pure physics, i mean I'm a nuclear engineer, i love both physics and maths and i should, because nuclear engineering is all about physics and i will have to use a lot of maths, but thinking physics is different then thinking maths...
But an EE can hate physics and love maths, and certainly has to love maths, electrical engineers are all about maths, even their physics don't just use maths as a language but it's all about maths ...
It's kinda hard to me to explain in which sense, but clearly we had the same courses to study sometimes, and probably it was hard for them to solve some of our problems, because the hardest part there is about using mathematics, for us the hardest part was using physics itself...

Well I'm sorry if I'm not clear but it depends on what u feel comfortable with more, again engineering is a life style, i believe engineers can replace each other, it doesn't matter what's ur speciality, it matters more that u've the mind of an engineer.

-Is engineering difficult?

For me it's easier than anything in the world, and it has affected the way i think and deal with things deeply...So i think it's a character issue. Eversince i was a child people noticed i was practical, and mostly use the shortest ways to get what i wanted. After finishing the high school, i spent sometime with myself, thinking that being an engineer was my entire life dream but do i really fit?? Well i was never certain until i finished my 1st general year, everything was clearer to me.

 

[zeronem]

I've been struggling with these kind of questions forever.

I am talented at Mathematics and Physics. I have a hard time deciding whether I should go Full Blown Mathematics, Full Blown Physics, or go for engineering. My original major is Mathematics. I enjoy explaining Mathematics, however I can find it quite boring because it is so easy and repetitive to me. Though I am always learning something new in the Mathematics as I continue, then it slowly but surely gets repetitive until I go onto something new. I am not bad at Solving Physics Problems at all, and I enjoy explaining Physics. Physics doesn't much get boring to me. However I must admit, my skills in Mathematics are quite incredible compared to Physics problem solving. I find though, that I have no trouble at all when it comes down to solving Physics Problems in general.

I always loved the Theory behind it all. I have the ability for my mind to make a transition from Mathematics to Physics. I come across Mathematics I can solve Mathematics Problems. I come across Physics Problems, I can easily make a transition from Mathematics problem solving to Physics Problem solving in terms of Understanding Physical Concepts. I am originally a Math Major who took some Physics classes just for the Theory behind the Physics and not for the engineering aspect.

Richard Feynman was right, when mentioned the differences between Mathematics and Physics. How he explained that some some students of Mathematics may look at Physics and make the cocky claim that he/she can do Physics just as well as the Physics student since he/she can do the math. He also explained that those mathematics students may go far, but as for major contributions to their field, is rare.

Though, I have met with a striking blow to the stomach. I would like to make money, and I would like to beable to buy a beach house in a little secluded area of Hawaii. The thing is I can go for a Ph.D in Mathematics which was my original direction. Or I can go for a Ph.D in Physics. However If I go for engineering I don't have to go to school as much as I would if I were to go for a Ph.D.

I do admit though. It would be nice to beable to take all the same holidays off as do Students do, If I were to go into teaching College. I do not want to teach High School, and if I had to teach I would only go as low as say Community College. I would love to be off every summer, not have to teach at college and just to relax in my dream beach house. I know I sound crazy, but it's my dream.

Anyways, there is also the fear that If I were to go far into Mathematics I would get tired of attending school any longer and end up only with a Masters. I know many Math Professors at my Community College who just got their Masters, and didn't feel like attending School any longer to get a Ph.D

I also want to have a family early in my life. If I were to go for a Ph.D I may not have time for that. If I only go for Masters I may have time. If I do engineering I know for sure I can get some time to start a family. As I know many Engineers that have started families at a young age, or atleast as it looks to me they did.

I have also met with another devastating blow that has killed me from my love for Mathematics. That at the age I am at, is supposedly the age where one make's their original contribution to Mathematics. I have not yet thought of my original idea. I can't seem to invent or discover any thing original in Mathematics which has brought me low morale in trying. I have ideas in my head I cannot describe Mathematically. I can do the mathematics, I certainly cannot think of that original idea. That leaves me with Physics, whereas I certainly cannot think of an original idea due that I am still in my lower stages of learning modern Physics.

When it comes to engineering, I do not know exactly what I am going to be getting myself into. I know exactly what I am going to be getting into when it comes to Mathematics and Physics. As for Engineering, I am dead clueless. I don't care much for chemistry, however the only aspect I can see myself dealing with that is related to chemistry is Thermodynamics. Though Thermodynamics is generally more of Physics, Quantum Physics. Anything else with chemistry can be left to the chemists.

I am also a perfectionist. I find it takes me a long time to do experiments in Science simply because everything has to be perfect. As I was doing Physics Experiments in my Physics lab, my team would always be the last to get done with the experiment. I come to the notion that whatever Scientific tools used to perform Science Experiments I have to throughly get used to and know exactly all the particular functions of the tool. Which can be a heavy disadvantage to getting experiments done on time. When it comes down to it, I've always like the theory rather then experiment. I think maybe I am willing to bare with experiments. Especially If I were to get into Experimental Physics.

I have thought about Mathematical Physics, but that is of course not generally offered among Universities. I have also thought about Electrical Engineering, simply due to the heavy Mathematics involved however, I do not care much for Computer Science which is also involved heavily in Electrical Engineering. Which brings me down to Mechanical Engineering which is a little bit of Everything. Then as Engineer one has to beable to design. I find I am probably not going to be that great of a designer either.

So I am left at the crossroads. Maybe I shouldn't pursue anything remotely near to Math or Science. Maybe I should just pick up a guitar and learn it and feel satisfied enough. Is it possible for one to go into professional research for a company with only a Masters in Mathematics? or Masters in Physics?

 

[brewnog]

- Don't choose anything just for the money
- Don't choose anything just because you can do it well
- Don't choose anything just for the career prospects

The part of your post which did catch my eye was that you've "loved" the theory behind maths and physics. It's this 'love' which you should try and pursue. I'm not saying you should do pure maths or physics, but find something which you can throw passion into.

 

[russ_watters]

I have also met with another devastating blow that has killed me from my love for Mathematics. That at the age I am at, is supposedly the age where one make's their original contribution to Mathematics. I have not yet thought of my original idea. I can't seem to invent or discover any thing original in Mathematics which has brought me low morale in trying. I have ideas in my head I cannot describe Mathematically. I can do the mathematics, I certainly cannot think of that original idea. That leaves me with Physics, whereas I certainly cannot think of an original idea due that I am still in my lower stages of learning modern Physics.

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]

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.

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.

Bruce. I'm in the UK, and have just (this week) been offered two separate 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 high school 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 definitely 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]

Did any of you go through this phase?

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 I am 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 don't 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 can't say that Engineering wouldn't 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 can't separate 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 a lot of money.

I know engineering is a lot 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 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?

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.

 

[kdinser]

LOL, this is not a paid service, you are not entitled to expect/demand results. You post your question and people answer or don't as it pleases them.

On the other hand, you sound like most of the people in my engineering program. If you can handle the math and or the fact that most of the math involved is presented without rigorous proofs, you may do fine in an engineering program.

 

[Achernar]

At least ONE person responded to my redundant demands.
Good man.

Glad to hear about the maths being more practical.

 

[batman394]

I decided my senior year in high school to become an engineer after I'd taken some computer programming and accounting classes and decided I really hated CS and Business. I was a good math student up until then, and senior year I started calculus and it was really easy. Out of 20 kids, I was one of the only 2 in there that understood things. I decided I wanted to be an engineer because it heavily used calculus, that and I was a big science student anyway. I graduated with 5 years of it. I settled with Mechanical Engineering because when I got to college Civil didn't interest me too much. I didn't want to build bridges, design sewer systems, or public facilities. I joined solar car team and the alternative fuel part of it was amazing. Here I am in the 3rd year of the Mechanical program and although I don't get along with people in the department the classes I still enjoy.

 

[russ_watters]

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.

Sorry, sometimes new posts in sticky'd threads go unnoticed because they are always on top anyway.

Sounds like mechanical would be a nice fit for you - perhaps with a focus in robotics or something that requires computer programming or modeling. Thermodynamics is a major requirement of Mech-E, though not necessarily actual engine design.

 

[electrifice]

physics or engineering?

I am presently a high school student. I am, like a few others here, divided between Physics and Engineering. I really love Physics but I dislike what a physics education is usually geared towards... teaching, research, etc. I like the "job" of an engineer, which is more practical and involves problem-solving, which I enjoy. I want to know how much difference is there in physics education and engineering. How much physics is sacrificed in engineering?
Some institutions offer dual-degree programs in Physics and Engineering which are quite appealing to me. But I have also considered doing undergrad studies in Physics, and then later merging into engineering. Is that wise? It would allow me more time to think about what I want to do, but is the shift from a physics degree to engineering in grad school drastic? There are definitely differences and extra work would be needed, but how much extra work? Would it simply be better to start with engineering?
My questions are a bit broad in scope, but a thorough answer would be appreciated.