Becoming an Engineer: Considerations and Personal Experiences

[JSBeckton]

sorry, computer error

 

[Astronuc]

Does anyone happen to know the drop rate for engineering programs? I've run into a LOT of people that started as engineering majors and then switched and not nearly as many who started as something else and moved to engineering.

I think it depends on the discipline. In nuclear engineering we had an attrition rate of about 90+%. Our department might start with 100+ engineering students, but we were sometimes lucky to end with 10 students in the program. It was usually the reactor physics class in the third year which knock out those who were holding on. Reactor physics is heavy on 2D and 3D integral calculus and partial differential equations (e.g. transport equations), which is in addition to the fluid mechanics, heat transfer and electrical engineering courses that one has to take.

 

[Astronuc]

From MIT's Mechanical Engineering Department - WHAT IS ENGINEERING?

http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Mechanical-Engineering/2-000How-and-Why-Machines-WorkSpring2002/06143630-8E63-41C3-AC7D-3CDB6FD0B9EA/0/lecture3MEoverview_fixed.pdf


Also of interest at MIT -

Energy Science and Engineering - http://web.mit.edu/ese/ - I know quite a few of these guys.

Mechanics: Modeling, Experimentation and Computation (MMEC) - http://www.me.mit.edu/mechanics/

The MMEC research and education efforts focus on six major thrust areas:

Computational Mechanics
Fluid Mechanics
Mechanics of Solid Materials
Nonlinear Dynamics
Acoustics
(see also Ocean Engineering and Sciences Area)
Transport Phenomena
(see also Energy Sciences and Engineering)

 

[Bucky Katt]

Confused

I am in my first semester studying Mechanical Engineering at university. My reasons for choosing this field are still a little bit unclear to me; basically I was always the best in my high school math and science classes and I want (mostly) to have a nice, decently-paying career and don't necessarily want to be going to school forever. However, I'm afraid I'm afraid engineering is going to be too dry for me. I love music and although I'm not career musician material I'd like to keep it an important part of my life. I don't want to quit playing after college.

The school of music here has a program where you get a BA in music and minor in EE or computer science. How easy or hard would it be to get a job that's mostly engineering with a degree like that?

After doing a bit of research I found that my university offers a physics degree emphasis in continuum physics and acoustics. Is this something I should consider doing instead if, say, I wanted to design concert halls or recording studios? I also don't want to lose scholarship money that's specific for engineering. Would that need to get paid back to the college if I switch to a related field? What engineering majors would be likely to cover that same material?

Basically I have always been fascinated by moving parts on things, gears and so on, and am very concerned about solving transportation and energy issues. I like physics and math but I don't know if I could take it doing academic work and research forever. On the other had I have a bit of a philosophical problem with possibly working for a big corporation that makes things just to make money off of people, or harms the environment.

On a mostly unrelated note, how important do you think it is for a engineers and scientists in the US to know Spanish? I'm taking second semester Spanish right now and it's not too hard but I don't know how I'm going to fit it in next semester...

Someone a while ago said how they were always finishing last in lab because they were a perfectionist. I think that might be me too. Is that a good thing or something I need to try to get over?

Sorry this is so long and I completely understand if not everything gets addressed. I just have to get it all out somehow.

 

[JSBeckton]

Don't worry, everyone faces those issues early on.

I would like to first tell you that in your first semester you are not studying mechanical engineeing, you are studying the basic math and sciences that you will need in your junior and senoir year for any engineering degree. In almost any school the first two years are very similar for any engineering major, its designed to expose you to differnt things while its not too late to switch w/o much, if any loss of credit.

I don't know much about music school but there are a lot of EE's so you might find it hard to find a really good EE job with just a minor (plus I don't know if you would even be eligible for the PE exam).

And you admitted that you are not career musician material

Almost everyone works for someone who makes stuff to sell to people to make money, its called capitalism, so you might have to do the best that you can there.

And the other thing sounded like accoustic engineering, don't know where you would go for that though.

Don't switch until you have given it at least a year, that's my advice.

 

[nekteo]

i want to ask, where is a good place (university) to study engineering?

 

[courtrigrad]

rose hulman

 

[JSBeckton]

i want to ask, where is a good place (university) to study engineering?

Probabally about 1000 places around the world. This is the top 20 in the US according to graduateshotline.com.

S.No University/College
1 Massachusetts Inst of Technology
2 Stanford University
3 University of California-Berkeley
4 California Institute Technology
5 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
6 Georgia Institute of Technology
7 University of Michigan
8 Cornell University
9 Carnegie Mellon University
10 University of Texas at Austin
11 Purdue University
12 University of California- San Diego
13 University of California- Los Angeles
14 Texas A&M University
15 Princeton University
16 Pennsylvania State University
17 University of Wisconsin-Madison
18 University of Maryland College Park
19 Harvard University
20 University of California-Santa Barbara

 

[InnealtóirLeTeacht]

Hi I am in my last year of secondary school and I think I want to do engineering next year in college. I love the idea of the engineering course, it is a good degree and yet it's still broad enough, because I have not made up my mind yet. The only problem is I really have no idea which branch to study. I really love art, it's my favourite subject, and I like maths too because I'm good at it, but I don't think I could spend my career doing purely maths things (like an actuary). I know that most engineering branches have some element of design and creativity, but is there any more so than others? I have been looking at computer engineering at the moment, because I thought that I might be able to do computer game graphics or SFX in films or TV or something like that, but my friend told me that her dad did that and that it is mainly just working out formulae and doesn't really involve graphics. Anyone doing computer engineering that could tell me? Does it depend on the university you go to?

 

[L²Cc]

In reply to Clausius' comment on I believe page 1/2 (I should have quoted): why thanks Clausius, you made my day because I'm not very strong in physics...I love math, and I'm doing so far so good in the class. I have started the class of physics late so I am struggling...I'm not a very passionate person about physics. I have seen students who simply love the notion of finding how things work. So far, I'm not THAT student. Maybe, I will develop a passion for physics later in the year! Hopefully! Thanks again for the motivation!

 

[Equilibrium]

If you don't like working in teams, don't become an engineer.

Once you've graduated (and if your school is any good, latest in your Senior year) you will have nothing but large group assignments.

My senior capstone class was one project assigned to the entire class (24 people) which lasted the entire semester. This is most likely what your work experience will be like.

ohhh my.. Need to improve working with people... BUt How? Hmm its because last semester my partner is only the one leeching me at chem lab... and i need to be more and more accurate in doing experiments...

hey, can you define what is "Safety, Fast and accurate" in lab works?

 

[whitay]

I think it depends on the discipline. In nuclear engineering we had an attrition rate of about 90+%. Our department might start with 100+ engineering students, but we were sometimes lucky to end with 10 students in the program. It was usually the reactor physics class in the third year which knock out those who were holding on. Reactor physics is heavy on 2D and 3D integral calculus and partial differential equations (e.g. transport equations), which is in addition to the fluid mechanics, heat transfer and electrical engineering courses that one has to take.

Did you ace that exam?

 

[Astronuc]

Did you ace that exam?

I aced most exams in nuclear engineering and the other disciplines. The comments cited were actually about the curriculum.

I went onto graduate school, completed an MS and started a PhD, but left to join industry. During graduate school I had research and teaching assistantships, and taught undergraduate and graduate classes, including introduction to engineering (nuclear), reactor physics, numerical methods, power plant design and fusion engineering.


Anyway, I was just chatting with a colleague, who is a manager at NASA, and she indicated they are struggling to find really good engineers. In fact nuclear and aerospace engineers are in demand due to the shortage.

So study hard and if possible, get at least a Masters degree.

 

[JSBeckton]

I work an internship in the power industry and find that most of the engineers that are continuing their education are working on their MBA rather than an engineering master, is that common in other industries?

I've read that many fortune 500 CEO's have undergrad degrees in engineering and an MBA. Seems like a good combination.

 

[whitay]

I aced most exams in nuclear engineering and the other disciplines. The comments cited were actually about the curriculum.

I went onto graduate school, completed an MS and started a PhD, but left to join industry. During graduate school I had research and teaching assistantships, and taught undergraduate and graduate classes, including introduction to engineering (nuclear), reactor physics, numerical methods, power plant design and fusion engineering.Anyway, I was just chatting with a colleague, who is a manager at NASA, and she indicated they are struggling to find really good engineers. In fact nuclear and aerospace engineers are in demand due to the shortage.

So study hard and if possible, get at least a Masters degree.

Well I just got my marks back from my nuclear physics assessment/assignment.

I got and A for my Knowledge section, an A for my cloud chamber experiment(which didn't work) and a B for my Complex Reasoning Exam. Which has inspired my recent thoughts of changing my application to Engineering(electrical)/BSc (physics) with a lot of my electives focusing on nuclear physics. I would probably take the opinion of nuclear engineering if such a discipline was available in my state.

I've kind of grown an addiction for nuclear physics, as I've borrowed various books, from the library, relating to particle, quantum and nuclear physics. Currently reading The Particle Connection by Christine Sutton, about the discovery of the Z particle.

However my concern about the choice of engineering/bsc is the maths involved. However everyone I talk to tell's me the maths is boring and hard. Though my fall back is Business/maths. So I guess eitherway I'm going to be doing some high level maths.

 

[David Laz]

If anyone could give my thread https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=143762 a read and offer any advice I would be most grateful. I now realize I should have posted all that stuff here.

 

[Pyrrhus]

-Should I become an engineer?

Well, i am a senior in Civil Engineering, so it's pretty late to change direction . Just kidding, the answer was obviously yes, and it was because i love Math, Physics, and Chemistry!, i just don't love them enough to become a scientist

-What engineering discipline should I study?

I picked Civil Engineering, because i like HUGE projects, be it a Dam, an Airport, a Highway, a Building, etc... These days i am finding my specialization direction, so far is between Structural (I like the underlying concepts in analysis and design, it's just doing tons of design gets me bored sometimes), Transport (I love the idea of working with Highways, but i'll also prefer to focus on some structural and geotechnical applied to Highways too!) and maybe some Geotechnical (Waiting for the Foundation Design course to see if i'd actually like this!, so far loved Soil Mechanics!).

-Is engineering difficult? [/QUOTE]

Sure, it can be difficult not necessarily because of abstract concepts like in the physics or mathematics, but sometimes it requires physical effort to recalculate huge tables, to check and check for errors, to draw, etc... In order words, it requires time and tons of it to do tedious work. If you got creativity, you can cut the tedious work by a huge percent!, which is a challenge i do almost every week!.

 

[Llama77]

Im a second year computer/electrical engineering student. I have always not been the best at math and sciences but really like them. The stuff really does fascinate me especially the computer stuff. Sometimes i do find math and science Boring and other times I love it and can't get enough of it. I am not really sure If I will make it and don't really know if I'm engineering material, but i sure as hell will try my best,

 

[kdinser]

ohhh my.. Need to improve working with people... BUt How? Hmm its because last semester my partner is only the one leeching me at chem lab... and i need to be more and more accurate in doing experiments...

As I get ready to enter my final year as an EE major, I can tell you that it gets better as time goes on. Your useless partner may make it through his first couple years by coasting on the work of others, but eventually it will catch up with him. By the time you get into your junior and senior year, most of the trash has been weeded out of the program and you are left with the people that are willing to put in the time to get the work done.

 

[Ascetic Anchorite]

Anyway, I was just chatting with a colleague, who is a manager at NASA, and she indicated they are struggling to find really good engineers. In fact nuclear and aerospace engineers are in demand due to the shortage.

No wonder they are in short supply:

Three killed in NASA van plunge [Dec 8] http://edition.cnn.com/ ‘A commuter van from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory tumbled 200 feet off a twisting mountain. The van was carrying six employees of the lab in Pasadena, two contractors and two NASA employees. The cause of the accident was not immediately known. Clouds and fog shrouded the site, at an altitude of about 1,500 feet. Snow dotted flanks of the mountain, but the road itself was clear.’ [and from another source] The Angeles Crest Highway is a two-lane road, with many sharp curves and very steep drop-offs (although there are guardrails). There is an obervatory, Mt. Wilson, up at the top. [and from another source] There have been quit a few scientist killed over the last 10 years. In fact the odds of so many of them being killed by accident within such a small time frame is extremely remote. [and from another source] French cable car crash kills 20 [Jul 1, 1999] http://www.cnn.com/ ‘The car detached itself from the cable, but the cable did not snap. Most of the victims were reported to be employees of the observatory, which is run by French, German and Spanish scientists. The cable car was used only for the observatory and no tourists were believed to be on board. The chief representative of the cable car union said the cable car was built in the 1980s and had recently passed a safety inspection.’

http://www.zetatalk.com/index/signdc15.htm[/SIZE]

Numerous reports for many months have stated that with collaboration from American occupation forces, Israel’s espionage apparatus, Mossad, slaughtered at least 530 Iraqi scientists and academic professors.

http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=11311

Dead Scientists And
Microbiologists - Master List

http://www.rense.com/general62/list.htm

It is very dangerous just to know certain things.

 

[Serbian.matematika]

Ascetic Anchorite, very interesting stuff, it is scary .

 

[kurt98]

I am in 11th grade and thinking about becoming a mechanical engineer.I love to design and build things. I love using design software but i am not to good at math. I am in algebra 2 and I am struggling in it. I had a much easier time in geometry. How much math do mechanical engineer's use? Should i consider another career because i am not good at algebra? Will I get by as a mechanical engineer if I struggle at algebra?

 

[JSBeckton]

If you aren't good at math then you need to get much better if you want to be an engineer of any kind. Nearly every class you would ever take, if not all as a Mechanical Engineering major will involve a lot of math. Do not try to "get by", try and learn the algebra as best you can because if you aren't good at algebra you will struggle in Calculus, Matrix algebra, and differential equations. And even if you make it through that, your work has just begun.


Don't give up because you are struggling, just be aware that its not something you just have to get through and then you will be ok. You will never make it w/o great algrbra skills.

Try harder.

 

[L²Cc]

Hello,
Although physics is said to be more concrete than math, I find math easier. I have just had a test in physics, and I somehow failed it although I understood the material very well. I guess when I get into physics test mode, I 'freak out'. Anyhow, the question is whether I have the 'features' to make it as an engineer. I love math, but no passion whatsoever for physics!

And...
What branch of engineering requires less physics and perhaps more math?
In fact, civil engineernig sounds interesting?
Opinions?

 

[JSBeckton]

Definatly stay away from mechanical, probabally civil too. Electrical engineering is very involved mathamatically. But to do any of these you will have to take several physics and physics oriented engineering classes. Engineering is a combination of math and physics, love it or leave it.

Basically, if you hate physics, forget engineering, but if you must, consider computer science engineering or electrical engineering.

 

[L²Cc]

Thanks for the reply.
Question: are you an engineer? And if so, did you struggle with physics before majoring in any branch of engineering?
Is physics something you can understand (very well) after a lot of studying and reviewing??!

 

[josh_einsle]

And...
What branch of engineering requires less physics and perhaps more math?
In fact, civil engineernig sounds interesting?
Opinions?

well you could do process engineering... lots of statistics six sigma stuff... kind of cool if you like stats and trying to control how things are made... the thing is if you do not have enough physics to understand how something works you will be a nightmare to work with...

 

[L²Cc]

hhmmm...ive never had to work with major statistics! and to be honest, it doesn't sound very interesting...Now, I am leaning towards electrical or software? i would love to do civil engineering, but I guess it involves a lot of physics! how about majoring in mathematics? Anyone, here, who knows about this field?

 

[kdinser]

Hi L²Cc, I'm an EE major and I've never been all that great at physics, but I'm doing fine in my EE courses. Engineers use math and physics as tools and I've found that the important stuff keeps coming up over an over again. So, even if something in physics gave you a lot of trouble while taking the class, by the time you encounter it for the 2nd or 3rd time, you should be able to deal with it.

Can you be more specific about what gives you trouble in physics?

 

[Jessehk]

I'm almost half-way through grade 11 (junior, to Americans), and as stressful as it is, I am trying to figure out what type of program to apply to in the beginning of grade 12.

I used to love Lego (still do, when I can get my hands on it), I have learned a few programming languages on my own time (C, C++, Python, looking at Haskell), and I have always been both highly interested and able in math and science. I've realized that I am naturally curious about how things work, somebody who loves to tinker, and that I constantly critiquing systems and products and finding ways to improve them.

Now, if I'm reading myself correctly, I might be a good engineer, though I didn't realize these were "engineering traits" until very recently (maybe the past year).

Anyways, I had two questions (for those who would be kind enough to answer):
1) Does engineering "fit" me?

2) Which engineering discipline would people recommend? I was looking at a few options:

Computer -> Combo of EE and CS. I have a fear (rational, or not) of cubicles and outsourcing.

Electrical -> Sounds neat (I love physics), but I don't want to just design circuits -- I am interested in robotics. Many aspects, such as power generation (solar power, wind power, etc), and chip design, are intriguing.

Mechanical -> I have always been interested by mechanical things (I just built a working model trebuchet from a kit -- fun stuff), but I would like to work with electronics (I could be mistaken about what ME is).

Mechatronics -> Offered at the University of Waterloo. It refers to computerized, electrical, mechanical systems. Essentially robotics and automation. If I was able to get in, I'm thinking I would enjoy this. I also like the idea that a graduate would be proficient in a variety of fields.
http://www.mechatronics.uwaterloo.ca/home.html

Any thoughts?

 

[Serbian.matematika]

High school courses and marks help you just to get into the program of your choice. Take all maths, physics, chemistry courses in grade 12. According to your description Mechatronics would be an appropriate program for you to tackle.

One example; friend of mine was a very poor child in high school; he did not have a computer while he was in high school or LEGO or any other toys to play with. Although he did not have anything but he still managed to be a top student on Dean's list @ University of Waterloo in Mechatronics.

I never played with any toys or comps except when I was helping my father to prune fruit trees and work in the garden but I am a very good student in EE 2nd year.

 

[JSBeckton]

Thanks for the reply.
Question: are you an engineer? And if so, did you struggle with physics before majoring in any branch of engineering?
Is physics something you can understand (very well) after a lot of studying and reviewing??!

I am a senoir in Mechanical Engineering and have completed 1 year as an engineering intern for a power company.

I struggled with some things but not everything. Like someone said earlier, you will come back to that stuff time and time again, to be honest I didn't really put all of the math/physics/chemistry togather until my junior year when I started to get into real engineering classes.

But you have to decide if you don't like physics because its hard or because its boring. Its a lot of work and if you don't like it its going to be really hard to learn.

Why do you think that you would love Civil Engineering?

 

[JSBeckton]

I'm almost half-way through grade 11 (junior, to Americans), and as stressful as it is, I am trying to figure out what type of program to apply to in the beginning of grade 12.

I used to love Lego (still do, when I can get my hands on it), I have learned a few programming languages on my own time (C, C++, Python, looking at Haskell), and I have always been both highly interested and able in math and science. I've realized that I am naturally curious about how things work, somebody who loves to tinker, and that I constantly critiquing systems and products and finding ways to improve them.

Now, if I'm reading myself correctly, I might be a good engineer, though I didn't realize these were "engineering traits" until very recently (maybe the past year).

Anyways, I had two questions (for those who would be kind enough to answer):
1) Does engineering "fit" me?

2) Which engineering discipline would people recommend? I was looking at a few options:

Computer -> Combo of EE and CS. I have a fear (rational, or not) of cubicles and outsourcing.

Electrical -> Sounds neat (I love physics), but I don't want to just design circuits -- I am interested in robotics. Many aspects, such as power generation (solar power, wind power, etc), and chip design, are intriguing.

Mechanical -> I have always been interested by mechanical things (I just built a working model trebuchet from a kit -- fun stuff), but I would like to work with electronics (I could be mistaken about what ME is).

Mechatronics -> Offered at the University of Waterloo. It refers to computerized, electrical, mechanical systems. Essentially robotics and automation. If I was able to get in, I'm thinking I would enjoy this. I also like the idea that a graduate would be proficient in a variety of fields.
http://www.mechatronics.uwaterloo.ca/home.html

Any thoughts?

I work in the power industry and think that there are probabally as many Mechanical Engineers as Electrical Engineers. Everything leading up to the generator is Mechanical no mater what kind of plant. (Nuclear plants have nuclear engineers to operate the reactor but still have ME's)

Electrical Engineers can do many things other than design circuits, some schools have Electrical and Electronic Engineering, mine does not. If you graduated as a EE, you could work in electronics.

Most devices are electro-mechanical these days, engineers of both types work with one another on the same projects and must have somewhat of an understanding of each dicipline. You can major in ME and minor in EE, or the other way around.


But lastly, don't beat yourself up trying to make a very important decision without much info. Read a lot and pick what you like the most, don't worry, almost every engineering program is identical for the first 2 years and exposes you to different things so if you decide to switch your sophmore year, no big deal, you will probabally not lose and credit.

 

[||spoon||]

Hey all,

I am an australian year 12 student (not sure of the us equivelant) who is not sure about becoming an aeronautical engineer, physicist or a physicsd lecturer at a university standard.

My strong points and passions are for both Maths and Physics (obviously) but I am not sure which to go for. I like the idea of an engineer because you incorporate both of these fields to make a product.. and the salary is better haha... but i am really intrigued by physics and am constantly asking random questions of my teachers... This makes me want to learn as much as i can about it because it is so interesting..

Are there any internationally well known australian universities of a high standard for educating well known engineers/ physicists?? thnaks heaps


-Spoon

 

[Jessehk]

I work in the power industry and think that there are probabally as many Mechanical Engineers as Electrical Engineers. Everything leading up to the generator is Mechanical no mater what kind of plant. (Nuclear plants have nuclear engineers to operate the reactor but still have ME's)

Electrical Engineers can do many things other than design circuits, some schools have Electrical and Electronic Engineering, mine does not. If you graduated as a EE, you could work in electronics.

Most devices are electro-mechanical these days, engineers of both types work with one another on the same projects and must have somewhat of an understanding of each dicipline. You can major in ME and minor in EE, or the other way around.


But lastly, don't beat yourself up trying to make a very important decision without much info. Read a lot and pick what you like the most, don't worry, almost every engineering program is identical for the first 2 years and exposes you to different things so if you decide to switch your sophmore year, no big deal, you will probabally not lose and credit.

Thanks for your advice and insight. :)