Tell me about being an Engineer!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Tell me about being an Engineer!

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seo: Jan 21, 2007; search engine optimizer

Dr. Goonstein posted:

Did you go to college at UNL or UNO? After getting invited to an Honor's day thing at UNL, i'm actually leaning their moreso than CSM. Lincoln is only 3 hours away compared to Golden's 6.

both! the engineering school is Lincoln's but half their majors are actually taught at the Omaha campus :iiam:

I first got a lib arts degree from UNO, but I'm still taking classes at UNO applying those classes as credits for other classes at UNO... all to get an engineering degree from UNL

If you pick a major based in Omaha (Computer, Electronic, Architectural, Civil, Construction) you can get both UNL and UNO scholarships, which pretty much means if you try you'll probably get a full ride. I haven't heard much of the SMART scholarship but it looks like it does have a service requirement. Expect to work for the DoD after graduating (which wouldn't be too bad...)

They love grad students here. The TAs are all former UGs, but the PhD students are pretty much all chinese

seo fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Nov 24, 2010

# ? Nov 24, 2010 03:49

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# ? May 16, 2024 21:20

Dr. Goonstein: May 31, 2008

seo posted:

both! the engineering school is Lincoln's but half their majors are actually taught at the Omaha campus

I first got a lib arts degree from UNO, but I'm still taking classes at UNO applying those classes as credits for other classes at UNO... all to get an engineering degree from UNL

If you pick a major based in Omaha (Computer, Electronic, Architectural, Civil, Construction) you can get both UNL and UNO scholarships, which pretty much means if you try you'll probably get a full ride. I haven't heard much of the SMART scholarship but it looks like it does have a service requirement. Expect to work for the DoD after graduating (which wouldn't be too bad...)

They love grad students here. The TAs are all former UGs, but the PhD students are pretty much all chinese

I have in fact looked into UNO a bit too. Mechanical is what I'm planning on doing though, so I'll probably end up at UNL. A friend's brother got a 33 on his ACT and got a full ride to UNL, so I'm not sure why I wouldn't.

And working in the DoD is kind of what I want to do. I'm not sure exactly what, but Defense Industry for sure.

# ? Nov 24, 2010 04:06

seo: Jan 21, 2007; search engine optimizer

DoD and defense industry are equal and separate.

Working for a private contractor you'll be making $50+ easy. Just pick a good one because some of them are so bloated that people are finally noticing and they are starting to lose contracts.

Working for the DoD you'll likely start at $40k or less gubment wages. That and you'll probably have to live and work on the east coast

Neither is awful but I see the contractor being more likely to pay for grad school (feel free to correct me on this)

seo fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Nov 24, 2010

# ? Nov 24, 2010 04:47

Plinkey: Aug 4, 2004; by Fluffdaddy

seo posted:

Working for the DoD you'll likely start at $40k or less gubment wages. That and you'll probably have to live and work on the east coast

The DoD actually pays pretty drat well on the East Coast (Baltimore to DC area). I work contracting and have a bunch of friends working directly for DoD. We are all making about the same and sometimes the DoD crowd makes quite a bit more with like 2 more years working. They also get more paid holidays than me.

A few are making in the 80s at about 28-29.

# ? Nov 24, 2010 04:51

seo: Jan 21, 2007; search engine optimizer

Nice. Yeah I was looking at GS ratings. I guess another benefit of gov vs private is the vacation days. At one contractor I know of you start with 15 days per year and after 15 years you gain one day per year until 20 years.

# ? Nov 24, 2010 05:02

Plinkey: Aug 4, 2004; by Fluffdaddy

Our are set up 10 days for the first year, 15 for years 2-14 and 20 for year 15 and after. I think there might be a 25 for year 25+ too, but I'm really not sure.

# ? Nov 24, 2010 05:04

Thoguh: Nov 8, 2002; College Slice

Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 10, 2023

# ? Nov 24, 2010 06:12

seo: Jan 21, 2007; search engine optimizer

How many computer engineering degree holders will become software engineering code monkeys? I love CpE (building poo poo! yeah!) but I feel like the CS majors have a huge advantage in real world techniques.

# ? Nov 24, 2010 07:38

Thoguh: Nov 8, 2002; College Slice

Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 10, 2023

# ? Nov 24, 2010 07:54

UZR IS BULLSHIT: Jan 25, 2004

Thoguh posted:

Seconding the idea of getting a job and letting work pay for your Masters. My job (defense contractor) paid for me to get my Masters in Systems Engineering and now they are paying for me to get my MBA. Once I finish up the MBA I'm giving strong consideration to going for a masters in Computer Engineering (Since my undergrad is in Aerospace but I work mainly with avionics integration)

I'm going to put in a dissenting opinion. Last year I started an MS in Aerospace Engineering while working fulltime at an airline. I didn't want to drag it out, I wanted to get the degree done in 2 years, so I was taking a full course load (9 credits) and working 40 hours a week. It was hell. You have no social life whatsoever. I was either at work or at school 7 days a week and almost every single night was spent doing homework or studying.

About a month into it I found a professor who wanted to hire me as a research assistant. I put in my two weeks notice the next day and I don't regret it for a second. I make a lot less money for the time being, but honestly my research and working for my advisor are going to be a lot more important for giving me the freedom to do what I want with my career than having a coursework only MS.

I'm aware of two other people who entered my program with me who were doing the work/Masters degree thing. One of them dropped out after the first semester. The other is going to quit after this semester, because she's only been able to swing 6 credits per semester with work (need 30 for the degree) and can't stomach doing it for an entire additional year.

# ? Nov 24, 2010 15:28

Thoguh: Nov 8, 2002; College Slice

Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 10, 2023

# ? Nov 24, 2010 18:28

Plinkey: Aug 4, 2004; by Fluffdaddy

I'm only doing one class a semester for my masters (CompSci) it's really not that tough and it's a 10 class program. So 3 years and 1 semester to be done.

I don't really see a point trying to take more classes a semester. I did two this semester and while it was more work it wasn't all that bad, but I'll probably stick with one a semester to finish it off, because most of the classes I want to take are pretty code/project heavy.

Also if you do want to get your masters don't put it off. There are probably 5-7 guys I work with daily that started their masters when they had been out of undergrad for about 5 years, so around 28-29. They didn't finish because life got in the way and seem to really regret it.

# ? Nov 24, 2010 21:02

Dr. Goonstein: May 31, 2008

You guys are awesome and have been really insightful on the whole subject matter of Master's degrees. I know it's many years down the road for me, but I like to have a rough plan of what I'll be doing later in life.

My question now is what would I have to do to land somewhere in firearms engineering? I assume it would require a specialization in design or something along these lines, but surely you guys would have something. I guess it's just always been a dream to be creating new weapons. Lord I sound terrible.

# ? Nov 25, 2010 02:58

AnomalousBoners: Dec 22, 2007; by Ozma

I once talked with a person on a machinist board about entering the world of firearms engineering so it may help to repost that:

quote:

For my full-time job, I work at [ACME] Steel Castings Co. as a Foundry (Process) Engineer. I have my FFL as a Manufacturer of Firearms, and I do part-time work as a contracting Design Engineer for people in the firearm industry. One of my personal projects, a semi-automatic rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum, in nearing completion.

Yesterday, I finished an on-site interview with Savage Arms as a design engineer. Hopefully, I will hear something from them later this week.

I started in the firearms industry while attending Purdue University. As an independent project, I studied the effects of cryogenically stress relieving rifle barrels. Bushmaster and DPMS donated a few barrels for me to test. After completing the project, I kept in contact with Randy Luth at DPMS. I graduated in December 2001, and started working for DPMS in September 2002 as the Engineering and Quality Control Manager. The crazy thing is that I was (is?) the only engineer that has ever worked for DPMS.

Firearm manufacturers always want to hear about your involvement with firearms. This includes how much you go target shooting and hunting. There are very few people in the U.S. firearm industry who have college degrees in Engineering. The primary reason for this is that most engineers are not paid very well. I left DPMS while making only $34,000 per year. A friend of mine was working at Remington's R&D facility (Elizabethtown, KY), and he was only making $40,000. I was going to interview with Colt this past spring, but their highest paid engineering position was only $50,000 per year.

I replied to that and got some more great info:

quote:

You might be able to start at $45k to $50k in the firearm industry, but you would probably be stuck in New England. Unfortunately, this would be like making $20k to $30k in the Midwest.

You are absolutely correct about many new firearms being crappy for the first production run. Most companies won't spend enough time and resources on thoroughly testing their products before releasing them to the public. Ruger never had recalls when Bill Ruger was alive. Once he died, the three major products that came into production (SR9 pistol, LCP pistol, LCR? revolver) all had recalls. I've been told that Bill Ruger was THE engineer at Ruger, and he didn't share is knowledge with the engineering department. When he died, the company lost a very precious resource.

A lack of proper engineering staff is also why so many parts break. It doesn't take much skill to measure the various dimensions of a part. However, few people know how to properly determine which materials and heat treatments should be applied to the parts.

I have talked to lots of mechanical engineers that haven't been taught how to design parts and assemblies so they can be manufactured. They also don't know why automatic (full or semi) firearms use 8620 steel more often than 4140 steel. You can't see important physical characteristics like low-temperature crack resistance and hardenability just by looking at the tensile or yield strengths of the material.

# ? Nov 25, 2010 03:09

Beer4TheBeerGod: Aug 23, 2004; Exciting Lemon

Dr. Goonstein posted:

You guys are awesome and have been really insightful on the whole subject matter of Master's degrees. I know it's many years down the road for me, but I like to have a rough plan of what I'll be doing later in life.

My question now is what would I have to do to land somewhere in firearms engineering? I assume it would require a specialization in design or something along these lines, but surely you guys would have something. I guess it's just always been a dream to be creating new weapons. Lord I sound terrible.

Beer4TheBeerGod fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Dec 24, 2019

# ? Nov 25, 2010 04:17

UZR IS BULLSHIT: Jan 25, 2004

Dr. Goonstein posted:

You guys are awesome and have been really insightful on the whole subject matter of Master's degrees. I know it's many years down the road for me, but I like to have a rough plan of what I'll be doing later in life.

My question now is what would I have to do to land somewhere in firearms engineering? I assume it would require a specialization in design or something along these lines, but surely you guys would have something. I guess it's just always been a dream to be creating new weapons. Lord I sound terrible.

not trolling, i hope you kill yourself before you engineer any new weapons.

# ? Nov 25, 2010 08:30

Peyote: Apr 19, 2004

UZR IS BULLSHIT posted:

not trolling, i hope you kill yourself before you engineer any new weapons.

Guns dont kill people, the people who design them do.

# ? Nov 25, 2010 09:48

BeefofAges: Jun 5, 2004; Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the cows of war.

Peyote posted:

Guns dont kill people, the people who design them do.

I know you're kidding, but designing weapons is definitely somewhat ethically questionable.

# ? Nov 25, 2010 10:12

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

BeefofAges posted:

I know you're kidding, but designing weapons is definitely somewhat ethically questionable.

Guns are harmless.

Bullets are the real killers.

grover fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Nov 25, 2010

# ? Nov 25, 2010 16:29

Thoguh: Nov 8, 2002; College Slice

Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 10, 2023

# ? Nov 25, 2010 17:22

BeefofAges: Jun 5, 2004; Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the cows of war.

Thoguh posted:

There, I fixed it for you, this is a thread about engineering, and big things that go boom are in fact awesome from an engineering standpoint.

I've always believed that an important part of engineering is ethics. When you design a building, or a vehicle, or an electrical component, or whatever else, you try not to design it such that it'll injure your users. Even with something as benign as consumer electronics, I try to make sure that the products I work on play nice with the other electronics people connect them to, that they won't die prematurely, and that they won't otherwise behave unexpectedly and ruin a user's day. I don't just do this because it's good for the company not to piss off users, I do this because I owe it to the people who use the things I help make.

Guns and rockets and bombs and such are indeed awesome from a sciencey point of view, but I find the idea of contributing to their design very troubling.

# ? Nov 25, 2010 18:45

Dr. Goonstein: May 31, 2008

UZR IS BULLSHIT posted:

not trolling, i hope you kill yourself before you engineer any new weapons.

Haha. Well I know I probably sound like some gun-toting hillbilly, but I don't really think I fit that. I've went deer hunting two seasons, and pheasant hunting 3 or 4 times, and that is the extent of my hunting. I'm more intrigued by the guns themselves than their purpose if that makes sense?

And I've played far too much Call of Duty :v:

# ? Nov 25, 2010 19:12

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

BeefofAges posted:

I've always believed that an important part of engineering is ethics. When you design a building, or a vehicle, or an electrical component, or whatever else, you try not to design it such that it'll injure your users. Even with something as benign as consumer electronics, I try to make sure that the products I work on play nice with the other electronics people connect them to, that they won't die prematurely, and that they won't otherwise behave unexpectedly and ruin a user's day. I don't just do this because it's good for the company not to piss off users, I do this because I owe it to the people who use the things I help make.

Guns and rockets and bombs and such are indeed awesome from a sciencey point of view, but I find the idea of contributing to their design very troubling.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find an engineer anywhere who wouldn't jump at the chance to work on aircraft carriers or F-22s.

# ? Nov 25, 2010 19:50

Groda: Mar 17, 2005; Hair Elf

grover posted:

I think you'd be hard pressed to find an engineer anywhere who wouldn't jump at the chance to work on aircraft carriers or F-22s.

Nuclear engineer here... :colbert:

# ? Nov 25, 2010 21:23

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Groda posted:

Nuclear engineer here...

And you wouldn't want to work on high budget compact naval reactors?

# ? Nov 25, 2010 21:25

Plinkey: Aug 4, 2004; by Fluffdaddy

BeefofAges posted:

Guns and rockets and bombs and such are indeed awesome from a sciencey point of view, but I find the idea of contributing to their design very troubling.

People do turn down engineering jobs/moves in companies because of this.

# ? Nov 25, 2010 21:44

Thoguh: Nov 8, 2002; College Slice

Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 10, 2023

# ? Nov 25, 2010 23:43

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So when your employer is willing to pay for you to continue your education at the masters level, don't you still have to worry about getting accepted into masters programs? Isn't that still difficult? Or is graduate school easy to get into when you're not applying for a PhD-track position?

Like if the only school in your area has some steep entry-requirements, you're not getting a masters even if your employer would pay for it, right?

# ? Nov 26, 2010 02:16

Thoguh: Nov 8, 2002; College Slice

Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 10, 2023

# ? Nov 26, 2010 07:45

hobbesmaster: Jan 28, 2008

Safe and Secure! posted:

So when your employer is willing to pay for you to continue your education at the masters level, don't you still have to worry about getting accepted into masters programs? Isn't that still difficult? Or is graduate school easy to get into when you're not applying for a PhD-track position?

Like if the only school in your area has some steep entry-requirements, you're not getting a masters even if your employer would pay for it, right?

Define steep entry requirements. Are these at the department, college or university level? I would dare say the former two will be overridden almost automatically for any professional engineering masters student. You can't get away from a school's base graduate entry requirements which are related to their accreditation but thats nothing a short postbacc can't take care of.

# ? Nov 26, 2010 08:28

UZR IS BULLSHIT: Jan 25, 2004

grover posted:

I think you'd be hard pressed to find an engineer anywhere who wouldn't jump at the chance to work on aircraft carriers or F-22s.

You have an extremely naive and/or narrow view of engineers if you think we'd all cream our pants at the opportunity to work on those types of things.

Engineering is a craft and an art. What engineering should be is the application of human knowledge to make the world a better place for people to live in, even if all that means is making it easier for people to check their email. To the guy who said this thread isn't the place for a discussion of engineering ethics: you're dead wrong. Engineers play a huge role in modern society. It is up to the members of the engineering community to ensure we use our power for constructive, rather than destructive purposes.

Every homicide bomber (like the F-22) that is built, every drone strike that is carried out should be seen as a failure of engineers to better the fate of Homo Sapiens. Anyone who works to further weapons or military technology is just a lace in the boot stomping on the face of humanity.

So to add constructive criticism: to the dude I originally quoted - I hope you decide to become a watchmaker instead.

UZR IS BULLSHIT fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Nov 26, 2010

# ? Nov 26, 2010 09:14

slorb: May 14, 2002

UZR IS BULLSHIT posted:

Every homicide bomber (like the F-22) that is built, every drone strike that is carried out should be seen as a failure of engineers to better the fate of Homo Sapiens. Anyone who works to further weapons or military technology is just a lace in the boot stomping on the face of humanity.

While I agree that making weapons is extremely morally questionable, I don't think its the worst thing engineers are currently doing. Weapons are really just objects and some of the responsibility for their misuse accrues to the user.

Engineers are actively planning, overseeing, and implementing mining and resource projects that are messing up mostly the poorer regions of the world right now.

# ? Nov 26, 2010 09:26

UZR IS BULLSHIT: Jan 25, 2004

slorb posted:

While I agree that making weapons is extremely morally questionable, I don't think its the worst thing engineers are currently doing. Weapons are really just objects and some of the responsibility for their misuse accrues to the user.

Engineers are actively planning, overseeing, and implementing mining and resource projects that are messing up mostly the poorer regions of the world right now.

Oh, you're absolutely right about that. Which is why I say it is the duty of every engineer out there to do everything they can to work for the RESPONSIBLE use of knowledge and technology.

Regarding the fact that users of weapons should be held accountable: you're right about that, too. But I'm not a world politician; I'm an engineer. So I'm going to hold boots to the fire where I can.

UZR IS BULLSHIT fucked around with this message at 09:38 on Nov 26, 2010

# ? Nov 26, 2010 09:34

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

UZR IS BULLSHIT posted:

Engineering is a craft and an art. What engineering should be is the application of human knowledge to make the world a better place for people to live in, even if all that means is making it easier for people to check their email. To the guy who said this thread isn't the place for a discussion of engineering ethics: you're dead wrong. Engineers play a huge role in modern society. It is up to the members of the engineering community to ensure we use our power for constructive, rather than destructive purposes.

Yeah, yeah, and engineers that build cars are unethical for destroying the environment and engineers that design farming equipment are putting laborers out of work and perpetuating poverty in the 3rd world. One could also very easily argue all the work of engineers in these fields (defense industry included) is saving lives. Just about everyone is guilty of perpetuating rampant consumerism or massive resource consumption or something someone else finds unethical, or enriching lives if you look at it from the other direction.

This is a very good thread for information about people wanting to know what real-world engineering is like; I don't think we should be derailing it into an ethics argument. D&D or LF would be the appropriate forums for that. Lets get this thread back on track, please.

grover fucked around with this message at 13:51 on Nov 26, 2010

# ? Nov 26, 2010 13:37

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

There are "cool" engineering jobs, like working for Lamborghini, and "boring" jobs, like running sewer lines through new suburbs. The cool jobs are often not as sexy as they might seam, and the boring jobs can be quite interesting and rewarding.

For instance, you might find yourself in a job as an electrical engineer for Boeing working on the 787. Nobody sits there and designs a jet engine by themself, though. Your small part will far more likely be doing something more mundane like designing the wiring harnesses that run between the electronics bay and various equipment, selecting connectors that mate with the off-the-shelf equipment someone else selected, and picking cable types that match those specs and working with some other guy who's routing cableways to make sure they're big enough and run to the right places, etc.

Or you may find yourself in a carboard box plant, the sole engineer (or perhaps the sole ME working with 1 EE) responsible for the entire assembly line, designing new control systems and automation machinery from-scratch.

grover fucked around with this message at 13:49 on Nov 26, 2010

# ? Nov 26, 2010 13:45

Thoguh: Nov 8, 2002; College Slice

Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 10, 2023

# ? Nov 26, 2010 16:44

BeefofAges: Jun 5, 2004; Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the cows of war.

Thoguh posted:

I you want to argue moral implications please go to LF rather than trying to derail this thread.

I think it's reasonable to discuss it as long as we don't use inflammatory terms like "homicide bomber". After all, many (most?) engineering schools feel ethics is important enough to spend some time teaching it to their students.

# ? Nov 26, 2010 17:09

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

BeefofAges posted:

I think it's reasonable to discuss it as long as we don't use inflammatory terms like "homicide bomber". After all, many (most?) engineering schools feel ethics is important enough to spend some time teaching it to their students.

"Engineering ethics" is generally more related to fraud and misrepresentation and avoiding jail than "the government is evil!!!" though. The former will even show up in the PE exam. The latter is rather restricted to niche internet forums.

# ? Nov 26, 2010 17:15

Epicurus: Jan 18, 2008; I hope I can change my title later on...

How bad does computer science suck job-wise compared to engineering? I'd like to get into professional programming, writing apps or working in game design, etc., and I'm working on a CS degree.

A friend of mine started a CS degree but switched to software engineering because they preferred coding to doing math. I also am all about programming rather than learning math, and am much better at it too. Should I try making the switch?

# ? Nov 26, 2010 17:56

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# ? May 16, 2024 21:20

Groda: Mar 17, 2005; Hair Elf

grover posted:

And you wouldn't want to work on high budget compact naval reactors?

An emphatic "no" to that, too.

# ? Nov 26, 2010 21:04

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Tell me about being an Engineer!

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