Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

[AstroZombie]

Sorry for a long post in advance.

Hello Physics forums,

I read Physics Forums often for useful information and post seldom but will try to contribute useful information when I can. (if I ever feel like I have anything useful to contribute!)

I have a few questions regarding Mechanical and Electrical Engineering but before I get to that let me explain about myself and what research I have done about the matter.
I have decided to return to school to major in engineering, either Mechanical or Electrical as that is where my interests lie. I have a B.S. in Mathematics and want to get a second Bachelors to learn the fundamentals and eventually get a Masters or a Doctorate depending on the job market when I finish the Masters degree.

Now, I have done some searching for information on the matter (as anyone making this kind of decision should) so let me explain what I have already looked into, and explain what I would like to learn from anyone who wishes to offer advice.

I have looked into the BLS website for engineers and read the respective pages pertaining to Mechanical and Electrical. I have looked at the websites of companies I would like to eventually work for and looked at what they are hiring and read the job descriptions. (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, NASA, various research institutes, just to name a few). I have checked out the careers page on the Sloan Foundation website. I have been to the IEEE website and the ASME. I have also been to my school’s engineering page, and read the syllabi from classes in each major.

Last but not least I have read the entirety of “The-Should-I-Become-An-Engineer-Thread” and other useful threads here on Physics forums.

Now what I am asking is if there are any Mechanical or Electrical engineers with job experience(either practicing engineers or upperclassmen with coop/intern experience) to offer some insight into what your job is like.

Specifically: (feel free to answer any or none of these)
1. Are you Mechanical or Electrical?
2. What industry do you work and what kind of job do you do?
3. Are you satisfied with your job, what about it is fulfilling?
4. Is your company hiring new engineers and what does the job market look like from your perspective?
5. Any other useful advice about the job/major you would like to give.

If anyone else with some advice about either profession would like to chime in feel free and thank you.

To be clear, I am not asking for anyone to tell me which I should major in, I am just asking for some firsthand perspective.

Thank you all for any response in advance, and again I'm sorry for such a long post.
AZ

 

[berkeman]

Great that you've done so much research!

I have an MSEE, and work in the R&D Lab of a Silicon Valley electronics company. I design, test, and support a number of electronics products and chips used in the communication industry. The work has been challenging and rewarding, and has supported me and my family well over the years.

I actually started my undergrad intending to double major in ME and EE, but quickly found that I enjoyed the EE classes more, and switched to straight EE coursework.

Have you built a few EE-type and ME-type projects? That may be one way to start to figure out which path to take. Also, many colleges don't require you to declare your major until you finish your 2nd year, so you can take a mix of classes at first to see if one or the other option appeals to you more.

Best of luck!

 

[AstroZombie]

Thanks for the reply berkeman.

I have just recently bought an electronics kit from radioshack and built my first circuit.

So far it is interesting and my only complaint is my vision is terrible and its hard for me to see the parts. I will have to buy a magnifying glass to assist me when looking at the parts.


Are there any ME type projects or kits that you could suggest, so I can see if I have an aptitude/interest for that type of work?

Thank you for sharing your experience, I am glad to hear EE offers challenging and rewarding work.

AZ

 

[berkeman]

LOL -- get used to working with magnifiers. We use binocular microscopes in our assembly and rework stations. The smaller surface mount (SMT) parts are impossible to work with unless you have good magnification.

As for ME projects, or even combined EE/ME projects, I'd look into the area of robotics. My daughter took a robotics class in her senior year of high school, and she loved it. Also, you might check to see if an adult education class is offered near you that teaches you how to use all the tools in a machine shop. That kind of hands-on experience would probably tell you a lot. Especially the lathes and CNC machines.

 

[AstroZombie]

That's a relief I was getting worried about my vision.

I'll go ahead and look into the Machine shop and robotics projects you suggested as well.


One more question if you don't mind. Do any Mechanical Engineers work at your job, and if so, do you have idea of what they do?

I appreciate the insight,

AZ

 

[berkeman]

That's a relief I was getting worried about my vision.

I'll go ahead and look into the Machine shop and robotics projects you suggested as well.


One more question if you don't mind. Do any Mechanical Engineers work at your job, and if so, do you have idea of what they do?

I appreciate the insight,

AZ

Actually, yes. We do have an ME group. They design and prototype the enclosures for our products, and the internal workings of our more complicated mechanical enclosures/actuators. They also help with the design and fabrication of our Manufacturing Test Fixtures, which can get darned complicated for some of our higher-volume products.

One very cool aspect of their work is using a laser prototyping system to convert their 3-D CAD drawings into prototype plastic parts. We have several different systems, but this is the newest one:

http://www.3dsystems.com/german/datafiles/3dwork/3d@work_SE_Jewellery_March_03.pdf

There are at least a couple different techniques used in laser prototyping systems. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[AstroZombie]

Wow that is some really cool stuff. I never realized MEs got to do that kind of work.

I guess a good compromise will be to major in one and minor in the other, the only trouble is picking the one to major in.

But thank you. You have given me some interesting things to work on and think about while I make my decision.

AZ