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Is engineering a field that is feasible to get into somewhat 'late'? I'm 26, and though I strongly considered going to school for engineering or something similar when I went to college the first time around, I didn't because I was loving retarded. Now I'm stuck with a useless degree and a prospective life of useless jobs, and I'm getting worried that it's too late to get into anything I'd actually enjoy doing. I have a friend who's in an engineering/physics/math triple major, and every time we talk I always end up thinking that even the soul-crushing coursework sounds fascinating, and I could totally love doing it. Lifewise, I'm in the feeler stages right now, trying to figure out what's worth thinking about and what's not. Any thoughts?
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May 24, 2010 20:54
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Kurei posted:I don't know how BME or BioE works in the top top top tier BME schools like UCSD, Hopkins or Berkeley but I know in general BME doesn't give you the skill-set to compete with hard engineers like MechE, EE, material scientists and Chem E or hard natural scientists like biochemists, biologists and chemists. I went to Hopkins with a lot of BMEs and they are basically required to double major in another engineering field as their "specialty", be it MechE, EE, ChemE or MatSci. That's probably one of the reasons its considered a decent BME program.
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May 24, 2010 21:55
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you ate my cat posted:I have a friend who's in an engineering/physics/math triple major, and every time we talk I always end up thinking that even the soul-crushing coursework sounds fascinating, and I could totally love doing it. Lifewise, I'm in the feeler stages right now, trying to figure out what's worth thinking about and what's not. Any thoughts? I did a triple major. (BME, ME, Mat Sci) I don't think its soul crushing at all if you truly love what you study. Also, anything is soul crushing if you don't have a life outside of school which a lot of engineers don't. If you enjoy the challenge of solving problems and learning state-o-the-art technology like me school will never be soul-crunching. Also, its not too late. I know plenty of 30something year olds getting their engineering degrees. Some finish up when they're 29~ and going even further to get their PhDs. You would fit right in. Us undergrads straight out of high school don't even notice. plester1 posted:I went to Hopkins with a lot of BMEs and they are basically required to double major in another engineering field as their "specialty", be it MechE, EE, ChemE or MatSci. That's probably one of the reasons its considered a decent BME program. That's interesting to know. Are you absolutely sure they're required? Because I can't find that info on the undergraduate Hopkins BME website. If its true, I'd like to quote you on that and pass that information onto the dean of the BME department at my school.
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May 24, 2010 22:17
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korgy posted:It's a company that does drilling and such I believe. I can't tell you exactly what I will be doing because I am not sure yet. I will be doing an 8 month training program that does classroom teaching and field training. They hired mainly engineers with a 4 year degree. They do look for any technical degrees so you might be good in looking at oil companies. I can tell you specifics about the job if you want to pm me. What year are you? Don't have Plat and I don't want to clog the thread. I'm going to be a senior and have pretty respectable grades. I was considering studying and taking the FE just cause, hey it probably can't hurt anything. Not sure if it will be worth the effort though. I'm basically looking for something that gets me off a computer for 9 hours a day because a lot of Physics heads that way. You can email me at ... though if you so desire. Crazyweasel fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Nov 8, 2012 |
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May 25, 2010 00:26
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Zo posted:Not if that's all they're doing. That'd be a technical writer. You know, someone with a degree in liberal arts. It's also a complete dead end. Engineering in a regulated environment (ie, medical stuff) is actually all writing. That brings me to another point about biomedical engineering as a major. I have a BSEE and I build medical devices. I don't need to know a drat thing about medicine or biology (obviously I pick up some of it) because I work out a detailed requirements document with the MD or PhD that actually has a need for the product.
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May 25, 2010 01:05
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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May 25, 2010 01:11
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Kurei posted:That's interesting to know. Are you absolutely sure they're required? Because I can't find that info on the undergraduate Hopkins BME website. If its true, I'd like to quote you on that and pass that information onto the dean of the BME department at my school. It actually looks like the curriculum has changed a little bit since I graduated in 2007, but they still emphasize specialization. If you look at this overview of their undergraduate program, you'll see a large portion is devoted to the "focus area". These are: * Systems Biology * Cellular and Tissue Engineering * Computational Biology * Sensors, Instrumentation, and Micro/Nanotechnology Almost all of the focus area classes are taught by other departments, be it chemical engineering, biology, electrical engineering or materials science. When I was taking upper level ChemE courses, a good 40% of my classmates were actually BMEs specializing in ChemE.
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May 25, 2010 01:23
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you ate my cat posted:Is engineering a field that is feasible to get into somewhat 'late'? I'm 26, and though I strongly considered going to school for engineering or something similar when I went to college the first time around, I didn't because I was loving retarded. Now I'm stuck with a useless degree and a prospective life of useless jobs, and I'm getting worried that it's too late to get into anything I'd actually enjoy doing. Yes, it is. I have coworkers who didn't start studying engineering until they were your age and they're doing fine.
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May 25, 2010 04:31
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you ate my cat posted:Is engineering a field that is feasible to get into somewhat 'late'? I'm 26, and though I strongly considered going to school for engineering or something similar when I went to college the first time around, I didn't because I was loving retarded. Now I'm stuck with a useless degree and a prospective life of useless jobs, and I'm getting worried that it's too late to get into anything I'd actually enjoy doing. You are a perfect candidate and are probably much better off being older as you are presumably more driven to succeed than your average freshman. I would suggest taking a class or two in each of the various engineering disciplines so that you get a feel for what truly interests you. A few years ago I found myself half way through a mechanical degree with poor grades and no motivation, because I was too stubborn to realize that I didn't care about any of it. After taking a couple quarters to explore the University's other offerings, I found my way into an intro circuits course and loved it. Now I'm a few weeks away from graduating with solid grades, and with a few minor exceptions, I have loved every class. I hope that helps you figure out what you want to do. Engineering is a great field, good luck!
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May 26, 2010 19:50
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Mr Crumbbley posted:Well I just switched my major to Energy Engineering, so any one here have experience with it? It sounds interesting, but I don't know much about it. I switched to it because I couldn't get into Civil Engineering. I don't like that I'll have to be doing way more Chemistry and Thermo, but I guess that's the way it's gonna be. This is a popular degree program here in Sweden, and there are tons of jobs right now for someone with a degree like this. I took both my degrees in energy engineering, and none of my classmates are having trouble with finding work or doctorate placements. That said, I have not once heard of such a thing in the US. The interviewers for jobs which I applied to in the States weren't too skeptical of my degree, for what it's worth; they just needed some explanation.
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May 26, 2010 20:47
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Is it a wise idea to do EE for a BSc then move on to nuclear power for an MS? I found out that there is a Nuclear Engineering degree in my area but it's only at the Master's Level and wasn't too sure which way to go.
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May 27, 2010 05:16
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Aerofallosov posted:Is it a wise idea to do EE for a BSc then move on to nuclear power for an MS? I found out that there is a Nuclear Engineering degree in my area but it's only at the Master's Level and wasn't too sure which way to go. I was under the impression that this was a very common route for nuclear engineers.
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May 27, 2010 05:49
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Kurei posted:yea, at my school the BME department only has 3 Biomedical/Bioengineering PhD and the ones that did get their phds in BME did their undergrads in other engineerings. The one BME phd that did both undergrad and phd in BME isn't very smart. He thinks he's smart but in reality he's just fooling himself. The others are Biology, Mechanical, EE, Chem E PhDs. That goes to show you what kind of foundation BME gives you (a lovely one). All my BME friends grads are either not working or having a real hard time finding jobs. While my ME friends are getting interviews all over the place. I went to one of those three "top tier" schools you listed for bioengineering and I stick by my words: BIOENGINEERING IS THE MOST WORTHLESS ENGINEERING DEGREE ON THE PLANET (maybe not as bad as energy engineering, lol). Even at the "top programs" you end up a "master of none" with no applicable skills. I cannot recommend bioengineering to ANYBODY unless your goals are to get a PhD in bioengineering or a closely related field. gently caress I honestly couldn't tell you a single thing I learned in my classes, except for the time I was sitting in Reactor Engineering and learned that I really wanted to be a doctor.
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May 27, 2010 08:29
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To echo a lot of other people: I don't know of any medical device employers that are going to knock back a good EE or ME student for an internship because they didn't study biomedical. Take a couple medical courses as electives to show you're interested and do well in them. Again, with energy engineering, I don't know of any power companies or large equipment providers that are going to bin the resume of a good EE/ME student. Getting a generic degree costs you almost nothing, keeps your options open, and significantly raises your chances of getting a job somewhere.
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May 27, 2010 12:22
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I was under the impression the biomedical engineering was a very rare degree/department at most schools. I go to Case Western Reserve University, which has an enormous BME department, but I'm pretty sure we're exceptional in that regards. And I've never had the impression that it's a worthless degree (though I don't know that much about it).
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May 27, 2010 14:42
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ANIME AKBAR posted:I was under the impression the biomedical engineering was a very rare degree/department at most schools. I go to Case Western Reserve University, which has an enormous BME department, but I'm pretty sure we're exceptional in that regards. And I've never had the impression that it's a worthless degree (though I don't know that much about it). There are ~65 ABET accredited BME departments in the US which grant undergraduate degrees in the subject. So I guess uncommon for sure, but not necessarily rare. If a school doesn't have a dedicated BME department (Princeton for example) a lot of research that would otherwise fall under the purview of BME takes place in material science and chemical engineering. In fact, more and more chemical engineering departments are renaming themselves to be something like 'chemical and biomolecular engineering' or 'chemical and biological engineering.' It's perceived 'worthlessness' comes from the fact that it's relatively new, and having just an undergraduate degree in it doesn't result in the same number of job offers that typically follow the more traditional engineering disciplines. I hate to say it, but most people with chemical engineering degrees plus a couple of electives in biology can pretty much do the same job as someone with a dedicated BME undergraduate education. Plus, the guy with the chemical engineering degree can do a lot of other jobs that a guy with a BME degree would just not be suited for, like design oil refineries, or work in a food plant, or manufacture glue or polymers, etc. It's not worthless if your goals are to apply to medical school, or go to graduate school. Personally, I got all of my degrees in chemical engineering (BS, MS, and working on PhD). However, most of my electives are either molecular biology or core graduate biomedical engineering classes, and my research is really heavy biomaterials. I guess it's the best of both worlds. Foyes36 fucked around with this message at 15:00 on May 27, 2010 |
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May 27, 2010 14:54
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Pfirti86 posted:There are ~65 ABET accredited BME departments in the US which grant undergraduate degrees in the subject. So I guess uncommon for sure, but not necessarily rare. If a school doesn't have a dedicated BME department (Princeton for example) a lot of research that would otherwise fall under the purview of BME takes place in material science and chemical engineering. In fact, more and more chemical engineering departments are renaming themselves to be something like 'chemical and biomolecular engineering' or 'chemical and biological engineering.' Like you said, BME just doesn't have enough cross-disciplinary skills to be considered for a lot of jobs. We only had a biomechanics option for the ME kids, no dedicated program.
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May 27, 2010 15:09
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Well after nearly 5 months of nothing, I scored two interviews, one the day after the other. Just finished the second one this morning. Fingers crossed!
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May 27, 2010 19:02
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Mr Crumbbley posted:Well I just switched my major to Energy Engineering, so any one here have experience with it? It sounds interesting, but I don't know much about it. I switched to it because I couldn't get into Civil Engineering. I don't like that I'll have to be doing way more Chemistry and Thermo, but I guess that's the way it's gonna be. I currently work as an energy consultant, mostly doing technical review work for California utilities. I started about 9 months ago, and am currently studying for my EMIT/CEM test in December. I was ISE (aka ISEasy) in college, and beyond my basic physics courses, my degree had nothing to do with my day-to-day workload. 90% of what I do is either pulled from basic equations and statistics, or handled by proprietary software. Now that I think about it, the most valuable courses I took in college were my non-technical writing courses - the purely technical ones were taught by engineers who couldn't write for poo poo, while the fruity comp lit courses were taught by PhD candidates in the English department who would beat you to death if you misused a semicolon. If you're struggling to pick a major, don't worry about it. The field is really, really broad, and pulls a lot of material from different disciplines, so while a ME might be much better at pump systems analysis, a EE will kick their rear end at PV system design or power system optimization. So long as you have a basic understanding of pumps/motors, basic HVAC equations (airflow and psychometrics), basic refrigeration cycles (how air conditioners work), and simple electrical systems (power = current X voltage durr), you're able to do 90% of the work. If you want to specialize in building simulation or commercial sector work, get a materials science or mechanical degree (all the major building sim models are just elaborate heat transfer equations). If you want to work in the industrial sector, mechanical engineering is probably your best best. If you want to do solar or lighting work, go electrical. If you're not sure, just pick a major where you won't fall asleep in class, and add as many writing / liberal arts courses as you can handle. It's easy to learn a new set of equations from a reference book; it's incredibly difficult to learn how to write well without someone critiquing your work. plustwobonus fucked around with this message at 21:00 on May 27, 2010 |
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May 27, 2010 20:55
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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May 27, 2010 21:38
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Anyone got any advice about getting into the field of Water/Sanitation ? I'm literally finishing my MEng Environmental Engineering and have applied to a couple of jobs in that field. My application process has been a bit unfocussed though - basically finding a big company and applying for the water treatment graduate programmes. I'd be thinking of getting into the development side of things as well, as I have 3 languages (english/french/spanish) and have taken a couple of courses linked to development.
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May 27, 2010 21:53
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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May 28, 2010 03:45
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Zo posted:Like you said, BME just doesn't have enough cross-disciplinary skills to be considered for a lot of jobs. We only had a biomechanics option for the ME kids, no dedicated program. Argh. Its not how many jobs can I get with degree X, its does degee X help me get the job I want. When are engineers going to learn this.
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May 28, 2010 05:17
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What's the current industries perception of Mechatronic's graduates? I'm halfway through my degree, hoping to move into some sort of control/scada/ instrumentation related position at the end of it. The degree leans definately more towards the electrical/electronic, as opposed to mechanical. (ie, only got 1 pure mechanical subject in 2nd/3rd year, the rest is all electronics, control theory, AI, etc..) I would like to hear any experiences of people with this degree. (especially in Australia) cheers!
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May 28, 2010 07:46
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Cyril Sneer posted:Argh. Its not how many jobs can I get with degree X, its does degee X help me get the job I want. riichiee posted:What's the current industries perception of Mechatronic's graduates? My courses leaned towards control systems and electronics as well, but throughout interviews I was taken very seriously by everyone from pure software (database development, firmware development) to manufacturing. At least here in Canada I think the perception is very good. We had more than 1 mech subject though. More than I would've liked really!
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May 28, 2010 12:57
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Juriko posted:This is very true. My roommate did EE but ended up in software testing because of an internship and timing(did not want to take chances in the job market back in march). The pay was amazing for someone out of college. The thing is almost any college graduate that is computer oriented could do it. I've helped him with more than a couple projects. His job in no way needs an engineer, but they only hire engineers because they can. Same here, I was hired for an internship doing aerospace computer programming, which magically turned into software verification the day I started it. I was hired back after graduation by the same company to do aerospace computer programming, and it turned into 90% software verification. Fool me twice... After getting laid off and not being able to find a job easily doing aerospace computer programming, I took a job doing software verification as a consultant and earn 40% more. I also appreciate the current company's honesty about what I would actually be doing. In short, they have trouble finding people who actually want to do software testing, so if you are up for it make sure they pay you more.
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May 28, 2010 14:25
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rosebud posted:Same here, I was hired for an internship doing aerospace computer programming, which magically turned into software verification the day I started it. As stated on the last page, and needs to be reiterated constantly, programming in a regulated environment such as aerospace or medicine is 99% paperwork, validation, etc and 1% coding. In not so regulated environments you might make it down to 90% paperwork and 10% coding!
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May 28, 2010 18:58
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hobbesmaster posted:As stated on the last page, and needs to be reiterated constantly, programming in a regulated environment such as aerospace or medicine is 99% paperwork, validation, etc and 1% coding. In not so regulated environments you might make it down to 90% paperwork and 10% coding! I actually enjoy programming and am quite good at it, but I hate programming professionally. It's always boring poo poo, database access and stuff like that. Way more fun to do it as a hobby.
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May 28, 2010 19:08
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grover posted:Programming in unregulated environment- when something needs coded and there's no money to contract it out and you're the only engineer in the office who knows how to do it- can be rather fun, though! 95% coding and 5% pushing out updates to everyone. You don't have management causing you to waste 90% of your time with paperwork, status meetings and the like? And you work for the Navy?
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May 28, 2010 19:15
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hobbesmaster posted:As stated on the last page, and needs to be reiterated constantly, programming in a regulated environment such as aerospace or medicine is 99% paperwork, validation, etc and 1% coding. In not so regulated environments you might make it down to 90% paperwork and 10% coding! And as stated there's a difference between an engineer going through that stuff and making decisions, doing thoughtful work, and a test monkey who could be replaced by a fancy (but more costly) script. Even when I write specs I'm making engineering decisions the whole time, weighing tradeoffs between different components and how to drive costs down. If I'm clicking buttons while reading off a test script someone handed to me it's not so exhilarating. But go ahead and call both of those "just paperwork and validation etc"!
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May 28, 2010 19:24
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hobbesmaster posted:You don't have management causing you to waste 90% of your time with paperwork, status meetings and the like? And you work for the Navy? I like field work the best. Sucks sitting in airplanes/airports 24hrs straight, sometimes 3 full days in transit traveling to some of these places, but once I'm there, I really enjoy the work. grover fucked around with this message at 21:07 on May 28, 2010 |
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May 28, 2010 20:22
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I am a Mech E finishing up my AA (Dynamics and DEq is all thats left next semester). I have the opportunity to take two higher level math courses and get a math minor and I am wondering if it is worth it to take these. I would like to work for a manufacturing company that uses a machine shop to produce whatever it makes. (So far I really like the company I am presently working for) My goal and reason for considering it is to start with the best starting salary I possibly can. On top of a BSME I will graduate with: -Certfied OCP-D Machining Certifications (Basically I went to and completed machining at a tech school) I can also TIG weld. -At least a year in an internship/tech type position for a milspec tool company -A machine shop in my garage (which mentioning to the right person got me this internship) -An industrial management A.S. degree -Very good employment history (Had a job every day since I was 16 and ran a profitable business for a few years) -Shooting for 3.0-3.5GPA Additionally, any tips for helping increasing the amount I start at? AnomalousBoners fucked around with this message at 22:18 on May 28, 2010 |
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May 28, 2010 20:57
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RealKyleH posted:-A machine shop in my garage (which mentioning to the right person got me this internship) Wha? Like full on CNC machine or you're just drat good with a drill press kinda thing?
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May 29, 2010 01:41
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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May 29, 2010 02:10
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Thoguh posted:For example I worked for a year at a 3M manufacturing plant. When we needed something machined we'd CAD it up and send it out for a bid. Then it would arrive a week or so later in a box. If it was a really simple job we'd just sketch it, walk down to the maintenance shop and have them knock it out for us. While having an understanding of the machines and their capabilities was nice, if we'd tried to actually use them we would have gotten in trouble. An engineer's salary meant management didn't want us to be spending time doing things that the maintenance guys could be doing instead. You don't need to actually machine stuff for machining knowledge to be useful. Machine shop guys would KILL to have engineers who understand machining, because theyll think about how the part will be machined when they design it, and make no/less stupid-rear end mistakes. Which of course makes the job of the machine shop much easier.
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May 29, 2010 02:27
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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May 29, 2010 02:50
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ApathyGifted posted:Wha? Like full on CNC machine or you're just drat good with a drill press kinda thing? My CNC machine is a Hurco KMB-1 retrofitted sot he tape drive runs off PC commands but I cant get it to talk to the PC and I'd rather just trade it for a manual bridgeport if I could. Got a 13x40 geared lathe with basic accessories, bandsaw and 200A AC/DC Tig. Thoguh posted:You seem really set on acquiring feathers in your cap, which is fine, but are you doing it because you love machining, or because you love making money? Because as an engineer for anything other than a small shop (which wouldn't pay as well, especially to start) you won't be going anywhere near the machine shop other than to look. Other than your internship most of the things you list would definitely make it more likely for you to get an interview, but would have little or no impact on your starting salary. Its not so much that I want feathers in my cap, they were just low hanging fruit. I got the Industrial management A.S. degree for taking 6 class, the math would be minor for taking two. The machining was for the understanding engineering but the original intent was to build engines and it was free. I love production car based racing, which lead to machining, which it turns out I really like. As far as opening my own shop, yes that is fairly likely to happen. I liked running a business and it was doing decently I just saw an opportunity to get paid to acquire a new skills set and went for the internship. If I won the lotto tomorrow though a portion of it would go toward opening up a business. AnomalousBoners fucked around with this message at 03:11 on May 29, 2010 |
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May 29, 2010 03:06
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ApathyGifted posted:You don't need to actually machine stuff for machining knowledge to be useful. Machine shop guys would KILL to have engineers who understand machining, because theyll think about how the part will be machined when they design it, and make no/less stupid-rear end mistakes. Which of course makes the job of the machine shop much easier. Is this something she can parlay into a cooler than average internship? Is there any particular angle she should try for that, or is it just something worth mentioning on internship applications? Shalinor fucked around with this message at 21:24 on May 29, 2010 |
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May 29, 2010 21:20
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I work for a small company where engineers sometimes do go out in the shop and I have never once been out in the shop despite being a better machinist. This is just where I work though. Most of what I do is testing/spec updating or writing (Like mil and SAE)
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May 29, 2010 21:28
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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May 29, 2010 21:41
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