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unkle77
Sep 9, 2009

Please prepare me one of these... Chocolate Egg Creams.

SB35 posted:

Yes, yes you are. Get the FX-115es it's far superior, can do basic integrals, derivatives, matrices, and more. Well worth the money. Just make sure you study for the test with it as well so you know how to use it.

That's what I passed the FE with, and you're right: those calcs are awesome. The ability to edit/display equations before running them is also huge.

On an unrelated note, I graduated with a BSCE and an EIT this past December and have not had any real luck in finding an engineering job. I'm getting a bit desperate, and I was curious about recruiters. Has anyone had any experience with a recruiter? Any success? I've heard bad stories and I'm disheartened by the random addenda to job postings that recruiters and recruiter-supported candidates will be flatly rejected. It makes me think that most companies simply do not like recruiters and do not like the way they do business.

In the meantime, Google is all I've got for job opportunities. Thanks!

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Pander
Oct 9, 2007

Fear is the glue that holds society together. It's what makes people suppress their worst impulses. Fear is power.

And at the end of fear, oblivion.



I had someone from the Lucas Group get all excited about me and then they disappeared.

So dunno.

I used a TI-30x on the FE. Too many times I'd need to re-check the little printed instruction pad on the back to make sure I was doing my permutation correctly. Just couldn't find a FX-115 in time :\

Good luck on it. I found it incredibly demoralizing. So long, and so many civil/mechanical type questions about stuff I'd never needed to know (lots of "a force bends a bridge" type questions). Generally though, you should (if you've worked at all for your degree) be super confident about 50% of your answers, pretty confident with another 25-30%, and then kinda guessing with the rest. That should pass it for you.

unkle77
Sep 9, 2009

Please prepare me one of these... Chocolate Egg Creams.

Pander posted:

I had someone from the Lucas Group get all excited about me and then they disappeared.

So dunno.

This is generally what I hear from friends, too. Thanks for contributing.

quote:

Good luck on it. I found it incredibly demoralizing. So long, and so many civil/mechanical type questions about stuff I'd never needed to know (lots of "a force bends a bridge" type questions). Generally though, you should (if you've worked at all for your degree) be super confident about 50% of your answers, pretty confident with another 25-30%, and then kinda guessing with the rest. That should pass it for you.

E: Yea, its an urban legend apparently. ><

unkle77 fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Jul 17, 2012

CCKeane
Jan 28, 2008

my shit posts don't die, they multiply

unkle77 posted:

That's what I passed the FE with, and you're right: those calcs are awesome. The ability to edit/display equations before running them is also huge.

On an unrelated note, I graduated with a BSCE and an EIT this past December and have not had any real luck in finding an engineering job. I'm getting a bit desperate, and I was curious about recruiters. Has anyone had any experience with a recruiter? Any success? I've heard bad stories and I'm disheartened by the random addenda to job postings that recruiters and recruiter-supported candidates will be flatly rejected. It makes me think that most companies simply do not like recruiters and do not like the way they do business.

In the meantime, Google is all I've got for job opportunities. Thanks!

I've had some luck with recruiters getting me interviews, though usually it's contract work. That may not be a bad way to start building a portfolio though.

Especially for a first job, I think getting involved with the alumni association of your school is a good bet, and really underutilized.

Do try to keep your head up, I promise you it gets much easier after the first job.

Hed
Mar 31, 2004

Fun Shoe

unkle77 posted:

Also, don't forget that there are an equal number of A, B, C, and D responses, ie, a group of 100 questions has 25 As, Bs, Cs, and Ds.

Are you sure about that? This sounds like an urban legend.

unkle77
Sep 9, 2009

Please prepare me one of these... Chocolate Egg Creams.

Hed posted:

Are you sure about that? This sounds like an urban legend.

Researched, redacted. Can't find anything to support that theory, so it apparently is just an urban legend. I didn't have to do much guessing so I suppose it didn't hurt me too much to approach the remaining answers with this in mind. Seriously though, every engineer at my uni thought this was the case! It is a mystery!

CCKeane posted:

I've had some luck with recruiters getting me interviews, though usually it's contract work. That may not be a bad way to start building a portfolio though.

Especially for a first job, I think getting involved with the alumni association of your school is a good bet, and really underutilized.

Do try to keep your head up, I promise you it gets much easier after the first job.

I'll check out the alumni association, then, thanks! And thanks for the encouragement. Getting tired of looking, but entry-level and no experience is a tough sell to any would-be employer.

unkle77 fucked around with this message at 02:39 on Jul 17, 2012

movax
Aug 30, 2008

unkle77 posted:

That's what I passed the FE with, and you're right: those calcs are awesome. The ability to edit/display equations before running them is also huge.

On an unrelated note, I graduated with a BSCE and an EIT this past December and have not had any real luck in finding an engineering job. I'm getting a bit desperate, and I was curious about recruiters. Has anyone had any experience with a recruiter? Any success? I've heard bad stories and I'm disheartened by the random addenda to job postings that recruiters and recruiter-supported candidates will be flatly rejected. It makes me think that most companies simply do not like recruiters and do not like the way they do business.

In the meantime, Google is all I've got for job opportunities. Thanks!

Is BSCE Civil Engineering or Computer Engineering?

unkle77
Sep 9, 2009

Please prepare me one of these... Chocolate Egg Creams.

movax posted:

Is BSCE Civil Engineering or Computer Engineering?

Civil.

HClChicken
Aug 15, 2005

Highly trained by the US military at expedient semen processing.
I'm hoping somebody who graduated with their ChemE degree (maybe NCSU) can give me some advice. Fall 2013 I'll be returning to my school after 5 years off. Right now I'm working on some distance courses to ensure I'll be a junior. I already have all the science pre-requisites to include the first ChemE course and then the computer applications ChemE course along with differential equations and calculus based E&M. I'm kind of worried how much I have forgotten and what I need to review before then to prevent a semester long deer in the headlights look.

My first semester would be quantitative analysis (chemistry), Transport processes (ChemE), Process thermo (ChemE), and either an electrical engineering or materials science engineering course for an intercurricular requirement.

Obviously I need to review differential equations and some calc II/III. But how far should I go into it? I've tried looking online for a syllabus for the courses but my only option appears to message the instructor or get an advisor to find it for me.

I'm probably going to take the EE course especially if I want to look more into Biomedical as a minor/ M.S. later on. So that's going to be E&M.

I guess my options for study include Khan Academy/ finding & purchasing old text books, really not sure what else self study I could do.

AmericanBarbarian
Nov 23, 2011

HClChicken posted:

I'm hoping somebody who graduated with their ChemE degree (maybe NCSU) can give me some advice. Fall 2013 I'll be returning to my school after 5 years off. Right now I'm working on some distance courses to ensure I'll be a junior. I already have all the science pre-requisites to include the first ChemE course and then the computer applications ChemE course along with differential equations and calculus based E&M. I'm kind of worried how much I have forgotten and what I need to review before then to prevent a semester long deer in the headlights look.

My first semester would be quantitative analysis (chemistry), Transport processes (ChemE), Process thermo (ChemE), and either an electrical engineering or materials science engineering course for an intercurricular requirement.

Obviously I need to review differential equations and some calc II/III. But how far should I go into it? I've tried looking online for a syllabus for the courses but my only option appears to message the instructor or get an advisor to find it for me.

I'm probably going to take the EE course especially if I want to look more into Biomedical as a minor/ M.S. later on. So that's going to be E&M.

I guess my options for study include Khan Academy/ finding & purchasing old text books, really not sure what else self study I could do.

I think emailing your professors is the best way to get specific clues to what you need to review. Just explain you have been out of school for 5 years, and ask for a syllabus from last year to help you review for specific calc and differential equations applications. Also check the professor's homepage on the university website or wherever that is located. Sometimes they keep old class resources there. Khan Academy is good for basic maths review, also look to http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemical-engineering/ for some syllabus to a transport process and thermo class. Have fun back in school dude.

Exergy
Jul 21, 2011

HClChicken posted:

My first semester would be quantitative analysis (chemistry), Transport processes (ChemE), Process thermo (ChemE), and either an electrical engineering or materials science engineering course for an intercurricular requirement.

Seconding emailing professors.

Also review analytical methods for solving partial differential equations (PDE) (mainly Fourier series/transforms and Green's functions), as well as remind yourself the different coordinate systems. You can also check with professor if you will be required to develop code for numerical solutions, in which case review FEM. Or maybe you will just use some simulators or PDE solvers.

HClChicken
Aug 15, 2005

Highly trained by the US military at expedient semen processing.

Dr.Spaceman posted:

I think emailing your professors is the best way to get specific clues to what you need to review. Just explain you have been out of school for 5 years, and ask for a syllabus from last year to help you review for specific calc and differential equations applications. Also check the professor's homepage on the university website or wherever that is located. Sometimes they keep old class resources there. Khan Academy is good for basic maths review, also look to http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/chemical-engineering/ for some syllabus to a transport process and thermo class. Have fun back in school dude.

Thanks to both of you, I'm very excited to get back into school. I kind of hosed myself over back then and have spent the last few years getting my poo poo together. I still have 15-18 credit hours I have to take before fall 2013 before I can start but I can't see myself getting anything less than a 4.0 average during this time which really helps my situation.

I'm really nervous though because I know I can get A's on everything in the next year but if I don't I'm gonna have to go to a lovely school like A&T (if you want a good read look up their ABET rebuttal).

HClChicken fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Jul 18, 2012

SeaBass
Dec 30, 2003

NERRRRRRDS!
Has anybody here worked or currently work for General Dynamics? I have a phone interview tomorrow afternoon (mid-level engineering position), just trying to get a feel for the place.

Frinkahedron
Jul 26, 2006

Gobble Gobble

SeaBass posted:

Has anybody here worked or currently work for General Dynamics? I have a phone interview tomorrow afternoon (mid-level engineering position), just trying to get a feel for the place.

Which divison? I interviewed (and was offered a job) at Electric Boat last year.

fishhooked
Nov 14, 2006
[img]https://forumimages.somethingawful.com/images/newbie.gif[/img]

Nap Ghost

unkle77 posted:

That's what I passed the FE with, and you're right: those calcs are awesome. The ability to edit/display equations before running them is also huge.

On an unrelated note, I graduated with a BSCE and an EIT this past December and have not had any real luck in finding an engineering job. I'm getting a bit desperate, and I was curious about recruiters. Has anyone had any experience with a recruiter? Any success? I've heard bad stories and I'm disheartened by the random addenda to job postings that recruiters and recruiter-supported candidates will be flatly rejected. It makes me think that most companies simply do not like recruiters and do not like the way they do business.

In the meantime, Google is all I've got for job opportunities. Thanks!

It really depends on the company. Some consultants prefer to go through a recruiter/head hunter as they do the leg work and generally have a pool of cheaper talent. Other companies use a recruiting service but also advertise on their own. I don't see any reason not to talk to a few head hunters to get your resume out there or pick up a few leads. Just don't sign anything "exclusive" with them.

I'm in the market right now myself and have 2 head hunters who call me pretty often. How it works for me is they will approach me with an opening. If i'm interested in the opening I'll check with the company to see if they have it advertised themselves. If they are only exclusive with the headhunter, or only use headhunters, then I'll let them submit my resume. Usually the headhunter will require me to sign an agreement that says I won't submit on this opening through another recruiting service.

Honestly though, most of the jobs they bring to me are not worthwhile. It is usually contract work with firms trying to get engineers on the cheap. I've only actually submitted my resume through a headhunter once and I never pursued it after the first interview.

Just realize that to the recruiter your just a resume they use to boost their labor pool statistic. They are calling 50 other engineers and giving the same speech they give you. Utilize them as a tool to get job notifications, and maybe a few leads, but don't rely on them to find you that dream job. Your best bet is still making personal contact with the person hiring and following up the best you can.

SeaBass
Dec 30, 2003

NERRRRRRDS!

Frinkahedron posted:

Which divison? I interviewed (and was offered a job) at Electric Boat last year.

Electronic Systems, Inc. in San Diego. Got a call from them this morning on my way into work. They're going to bypass the phone interview and have me come in for a face-to-face interview next week.

Edit: I'd be working with the high voltage capacitor group.

SeaBass fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Jul 19, 2012

Murgos
Oct 21, 2010

SeaBass posted:

Edit: I'd be working with the high voltage capacitor group.

That sounds like it would be mostly boring and then occasionally terrific as a new design explodes in the lab spraying dielectric while arcing electricity everywhere.

While you're there I would look for signs of recent fires and if there are a higher than normal number of injuries among the tech staff.

Frinkahedron
Jul 26, 2006

Gobble Gobble

SeaBass posted:

Electronic Systems, Inc. in San Diego. Got a call from them this morning on my way into work. They're going to bypass the phone interview and have me come in for a face-to-face interview next week.

Edit: I'd be working with the high voltage capacitor group.

That's how they did it for me. Didn't even schedule a phone interview, just went right for the in person. They never did reimburse me for the food costs during travel like they said though :argh:

I guess I'll just describe what my experience was like, but since Electric Boat is literally a giant shipyard, it might be different from yours.

All of the people interviewing that day were all herded together after being checked in by security and taken on a tour of the facility by an engineer. Really interesting stuff, got to see the subs up close inside the docks, the biggest machine shop I've ever seen, etc. We were all asking the engineer questions the entire time and he was really honest with his answers. He also said that at Electric Boat, something like 50% of all people who get offered a job there turned it down.

I was interviewed by two engineers in the group that was interested in me in one of their offices. Both would have been my boss if I had accepted. No technical questions beyond asking about the work that was on my resume. They did the standard stuff like describe a time where you solved a problem between two people. I got an offer via email probably a week later. I knew by then I'd be doing grad school, so I turned it down instead of haggling on salary or whatever, but I do remember it being a little low, not sure what cost of living was there though.

Cockmaster
Feb 24, 2002
Does anyone know anything about the field of robotics and the jobs therein? I got an MS in mechanical engineering, but now it looks as though the job market there is biased towards electronics and programming.

I'm currently working for a company which hired me as a CNC programmer, gave me an engineering job two weeks later, then used the size of the company to weasel out of paying me an engineer's salary. I've been looking for something better, but there's not a whole lot in my area, and I could only justify relocating if I could be reasonably confident that it'd be suitable for the long term. The only jobs that really appeal to me are those involving the design of complex machinery.


I've been thinking about going back to school for electrical or computer engineering. There's a state school near me where I could take a few undergrad courses in electronics and programming, after which I'd go for a master's elsewhere. Does that sound like a worthwhile career move? Someone mentioned online programs - are there any particularly good schools for that?

Pander
Oct 9, 2007

Fear is the glue that holds society together. It's what makes people suppress their worst impulses. Fear is power.

And at the end of fear, oblivion.



I'm taking the POSS/BMST on Tuesday from Exelon. Anyone else take it before, have any advice? It sounds rather elementary.

Vaporware
May 22, 2004

Still not here yet.

unkle77 posted:

I'm getting a bit desperate, and I was curious about recruiters. Has anyone had any experience with a recruiter?

Recruiters make their money on people with 5, 10, 15 years of experience. Who they have followed that long, and know their skillset. The markup for companies on recruiter hires is something like 20-30%. What follows from this is that, yes, you need to find out who the recruiters are for your career path, but don't expect them to get you a first job.


Cockmaster posted:

Does anyone know anything about the field of robotics and the jobs therein? I got an MS in mechanical engineering, but now it looks as though the job market there is biased towards electronics and programming.

I'd nail down what in robotics you want to do. Machine vision? Work flow pathing?
My mistake was thinking there was anything in robotics related to basic machine design. The people doing the programming don't need very many people to do the stress analysis.
Have you looked into packaging/conveyor design stuff? I see packaging layout jobs pop up pretty regularly if you've got 5 years in the field. Or retail industrial robotics? automationdirect is the company I was told does that kind of thing.

Cockmaster
Feb 24, 2002

Vaporware posted:

I'd nail down what in robotics you want to do. Machine vision? Work flow pathing?

I was mainly thinking of R&D or something close to it. My dream job would be something along the lines of Google's robot car or Dean Kamen's prosthetic arm. Basically, I'd like to be involved in real technological progress. I'd consider most anything that would legitimately help me build skills applicable towards that, but I have no interest whatsoever in stuff like field service or sales or process engineering.

quote:

My mistake was thinking there was anything in robotics related to basic machine design. The people doing the programming don't need very many people to do the stress analysis.

Well, someone has to design the actual hardware. Though if you're putting together a workcell from off-the-shelf equipment, all the fancy stuff will have been done for you.


quote:

Have you looked into packaging/conveyor design stuff? I see packaging layout jobs pop up pretty regularly if you've got 5 years in the field.

The problem is that I don't have 5 years in the field, and the job I have isn't giving me any real experience that would meaningfully apply to such a position (let alone my ultimate career goal).

I have been looking into the Allen Bradley PLC programmer certification. I could technically afford it (it's just over $5000 for all the necessary classes), but I don't want to spend that kind of money without being confident that it'd be worthwhile. How helpful do you think something like that would be if I've had no professional experience with PLCs?

T-1000
Mar 28, 2010

Cockmaster posted:

I was mainly thinking of R&D or something close to it. My dream job would be something along the lines of Google's robot car or Dean Kamen's prosthetic arm. Basically, I'd like to be involved in real technological progress. I'd consider most anything that would legitimately help me build skills applicable towards that, but I have no interest whatsoever in stuff like field service or sales or process engineering.
I'm currently doing a PhD in a robotics research group. I think there's only one or two people here doing research involving mechanical design. Sure, mechanical design gets done, but it's not the focus of the research and is largely done by support staff. The focus is on the code. Everyone here is a programmer. People either have computer science degrees, or mechatronics/mechanical/aerospace and a lot of Matlab/C++/Python experience.

The people at Google - Sebastian Thrun & company - are all programmers. It's not really a huge amount of work sticking sensors on a car (well, it's a lot of work, but their hardware is not what makes them the best). It's interpreting the data and acting upon it in a sensible way that's the really hard part. Sensor design and processing, mapping, planning and control are unsolved problems with decades of research worth doing. You can do absolutely amazing robotics research with a $5 webcam or $100 smartphone and a free C++ compiler if you know what you're doing. There's still a lot of awesome hardware design to be done but it's fewer and further between.

Robotics is freaking awesome, but I don't know how many jobs there are. There's work around here programming manufacturing robots, but that's not my cup of tea. R&D is my plan as well, I'm probably going to try to angle for something with sensors or vehicle automation for a mining company when I finish here, but I don't really know.

The best thing you can do if you want a job in robotics is learn to code. The big languages are C++, Matlab and maybe Python. And maybe getting a masters or PhD; it's a small enough field that a lot of the work is still done in universities and you make a lot of connections. But given the situation with education in the US I don't know how feasible that is for you.

Disclaimer: I'm doing a PhD which is mostly software, based on sensors and not a lot of hardware so everything I say will be biased. And I'm in a different country so things may be different.

edit: Also, Thrun & Norvig do an unreal artificial intelligence course online which is exactly the same course you do in undergrad compsci. Do it. There's a machine learning course that's even better run by another guy at Googel but his name escapes me. You should be able to find them with a bit of google-fu.

Senor P.
Mar 27, 2006
I MUST TELL YOU HOW PEOPLE CARE ABOUT STUFF I DONT AND BE A COMPLETE CUNT ABOUT IT

unkle77 posted:

That's what I passed the FE with, and you're right: those calcs are awesome. The ability to edit/display equations before running them is also huge.

On an unrelated note, I graduated with a BSCE and an EIT this past December and have not had any real luck in finding an engineering job.

Have you tried applying for construction engineer/field engineer positions? Those are usually pretty available and help build good experience.

SB35
Jul 6, 2007
Move along folks, nothing to see here.

Cockmaster posted:


I have been looking into the Allen Bradley PLC programmer certification. I could technically afford it (it's just over $5000 for all the necessary classes), but I don't want to spend that kind of money without being confident that it'd be worthwhile. How helpful do you think something like that would be if I've had no professional experience with PLCs?

This kinda class (at $5000) seems like the kinda training that companies would pay their employees to go to, not the kinda thing you'd see many people just out doing on their own.

Cockmaster
Feb 24, 2002

SB35 posted:

This kinda class (at $5000) seems like the kinda training that companies would pay their employees to go to, not the kinda thing you'd see many people just out doing on their own.

Normally, yes. The problem is that my job has nothing to do with PLCs, and in this economy no one is going to hire someone with no experience and immediately pay $5000 to train them.

Edit: Oh, and according to one place that's offering some of these classes, there are something like 14 or 15 people is the entire US with the actual certification. Apparently, most companies don't require formal proof of proficiency in something that they've already hired someone to do.

Cockmaster fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Jul 21, 2012

TrueChaos
Nov 14, 2006




That's because it's Allen Bradley, seriously gently caress AB. Their support sucks and they're incredibly overpriced.

Of course most of my rage comes because clients spec AB equipment when Direct Logic/AutomationDirect stuff works fine. For reference, I'm dealing with standalone units where we're not networking multiple PLC's or controlling complex equipment, generally deal with a mix of discrete and 4-20mA signals, and really only need the 4-20's for alarm set points and data logging. We don't do a tonne of math on the PLC, which is where I've heard AB can be better. I'm also not a programmer / electrical guy, I deal with the Mech side of things.

movax
Aug 30, 2008

T-1000 posted:

I'm currently doing a PhD in a robotics research group. I think there's only one or two people here doing research involving mechanical design. Sure, mechanical design gets done, but it's not the focus of the research and is largely done by support staff. The focus is on the code. Everyone here is a programmer. People either have computer science degrees, or mechatronics/mechanical/aerospace and a lot of Matlab/C++/Python experience.

The people at Google - Sebastian Thrun & company - are all programmers. It's not really a huge amount of work sticking sensors on a car (well, it's a lot of work, but their hardware is not what makes them the best). It's interpreting the data and acting upon it in a sensible way that's the really hard part. Sensor design and processing, mapping, planning and control are unsolved problems with decades of research worth doing. You can do absolutely amazing robotics research with a $5 webcam or $100 smartphone and a free C++ compiler if you know what you're doing. There's still a lot of awesome hardware design to be done but it's fewer and further between.

Robotics is freaking awesome, but I don't know how many jobs there are. There's work around here programming manufacturing robots, but that's not my cup of tea. R&D is my plan as well, I'm probably going to try to angle for something with sensors or vehicle automation for a mining company when I finish here, but I don't really know.

The best thing you can do if you want a job in robotics is learn to code. The big languages are C++, Matlab and maybe Python. And maybe getting a masters or PhD; it's a small enough field that a lot of the work is still done in universities and you make a lot of connections. But given the situation with education in the US I don't know how feasible that is for you.

Disclaimer: I'm doing a PhD which is mostly software, based on sensors and not a lot of hardware so everything I say will be biased. And I'm in a different country so things may be different.

edit: Also, Thrun & Norvig do an unreal artificial intelligence course online which is exactly the same course you do in undergrad compsci. Do it. There's a machine learning course that's even better run by another guy at Googel but his name escapes me. You should be able to find them with a bit of google-fu.

I am, uh, unsure about a T-1000 doing a PhD in robotics.

OctaviusBeaver
Apr 30, 2009

Say what now?

Cockmaster posted:

Normally, yes. The problem is that my job has nothing to do with PLCs, and in this economy no one is going to hire someone with no experience and immediately pay $5000 to train them.

Edit: Oh, and according to one place that's offering some of these classes, there are something like 14 or 15 people is the entire US with the actual certification. Apparently, most companies don't require formal proof of proficiency in something that they've already hired someone to do.

I'd look for some training stuff online instead of doing a class. Ladder logic is really pretty trivial if you have any programming experience at all. And yeah they have more advanced stuff like PIDs, but I kind of doubt an introductory class would get into that anyway. I've never heard of a company asking for formal training w/ PLCs, everyone I know just learned it on the job.

Crazyweasel
Oct 29, 2006
lazy

Cockmaster posted:

I was mainly thinking of R&D or something close to it. My dream job would be something along the lines of Google's robot car or Dean Kamen's prosthetic arm. Basically, I'd like to be involved in real technological progress. I'd consider most anything that would legitimately help me build skills applicable towards that, but I have no interest whatsoever in stuff like field service or sales or process engineering.

I work/ed/work for that man on a different project. I'm not knowledgeable enough about the "Luke" team to tell you "Take classes A,B,C and you'll be in" but I can tell you some stuff about the company and maybe help you out if you are seriously considering trying to work for him. I don't have PM's but if you would like to email me at redacted since its been awhile, let me know if you want it I'll see what I can help you with.

Crazyweasel fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Jul 25, 2012

Hotbod Handsomeface
Dec 28, 2009
Are there any Chemical Engineers here? Can someone tell me about what kind of work I can expect as a Chemical Engineer? I have never met a ChemE and have only met 2 other students in the major so far (at a community college) and they both dropped out of the class we had together. Any other information or tips would be great.

movax
Aug 30, 2008

Hotbod Handsomeface posted:

Are there any Chemical Engineers here? Can someone tell me about what kind of work I can expect as a Chemical Engineer? I have never met a ChemE and have only met 2 other students in the major so far (at a community college) and they both dropped out of the class we had together. Any other information or tips would be great.

There's definitely a few here; the ones I know from school are at companies like Eli Lily or J&J and develop better manufacturing techniques/production lines for all the fun chemicals they make. I also heard them swear a lot about a "Unit Operations" class. :shobon:

Off-topic: I think I'm a bad person; a recruiter spammed me on LinkedIn about some "exciting opportunity with large company in $area_x". Normally I just ignore these, but she was cute and we had mutual friends apparently, so I replied with "Not interested, but want to get coffee sometime?"

She said yes, but I guess this makes me a sexist pig and part of the problem scaring women away from engineering :ohdear:

e: if anyone bets on her treating it as talking about job instead of a coffee-date, I will buy you an avatar; with my luck, that will probably be the case

Cicero
Dec 17, 2003

Jumpjet, melta, jumpjet. Repeat for ten minutes or until victory is assured.

movax posted:

She said yes, but I guess this makes me a sexist pig and part of the problem scaring women away from engineering :ohdear:
But she's a recruiter, not an engineer, right? Also I don't see how asking someone out that you met in a work-related way is sexist.

CapnBoomstick
Jan 20, 2006

Hotbod Handsomeface posted:

Are there any Chemical Engineers here? Can someone tell me about what kind of work I can expect as a Chemical Engineer? I have never met a ChemE and have only met 2 other students in the major so far (at a community college) and they both dropped out of the class we had together. Any other information or tips would be great.

ChemE here. It's difficult to say what kind of work you can expect since it really depends on what you want to do. The traditional chemical engineer will work as a process engineer in a chemical or petroleum plant. You develop and maintain large-scale chemical processes. This is what most people think about when they think ChemE. But we're not limited to that. I'm an environmental engineer, developing remediation technologies for cleaning up hazardous spills. Others can be found developing processes for the food industry, pharmaceuticals, and semi-conductors. You're never limited to working in just a chemical or petroleum plant.

This is pretty brief, but if you have more in-depth questions, go ahead and ask.

Exergy
Jul 21, 2011

Hotbod Handsomeface posted:

Are there any Chemical Engineers here? Can someone tell me about what kind of work I can expect as a Chemical Engineer? I have never met a ChemE and have only met 2 other students in the major so far (at a community college) and they both dropped out of the class we had together. Any other information or tips would be great.

ChemE working in petroleum R&D. In our case around 90% of the time you'll be in the lab - verifying performance of different materials to see if they meet your requirements, anything from the way how it changes its properties under your trigger to measuring physical properties. Design and synthesis of the materials (literally inventing the formula) usually is outsourced to chemical companies like DuPont, 3M, BASF, etc.

Pollyanna
Mar 5, 2005

Milk's on them.


One thing I'm thinking about when job hunting is how do I "move up" in my field? As in, what kind of job offers the best chance at becoming more proficient and experienced, and would help me go from QA monkey to someone who knows what they're doing? Seems like there's a lot of slightly specific and esoteric positions involving bioinformatics in a modeling system with C++ or what have you.

It might just be that I'm not specialized enough, maybe? My background so far has been kinda haphazard, getting schooled on medical device design to biomaterials to what have you. And I'm proud of what I can do, and like it specifically because I've demonstrated some sort of aptitude for...whatever the hell I'm doing.

Crazyweasel
Oct 29, 2006
lazy

Pollyanna posted:

One thing I'm thinking about when job hunting is how do I "move up" in my field? As in, what kind of job offers the best chance at becoming more proficient and experienced, and would help me go from QA monkey to someone who knows what they're doing? Seems like there's a lot of slightly specific and esoteric positions involving bioinformatics in a modeling system with C++ or what have you.

It might just be that I'm not specialized enough, maybe? My background so far has been kinda haphazard, getting schooled on medical device design to biomaterials to what have you. And I'm proud of what I can do, and like it specifically because I've demonstrated some sort of aptitude for...whatever the hell I'm doing.

In Medical Device QA(R&D not Inspection) I know 2 people that were bumped to QA Managers after 2 years, 1 had the right attitude to go to project manager after 3 years, and another works mostly on product safety and regulations now but was offered a role in industrial design. I think becoming a Systems Engineer may also be a plausible step.

I feel that internal promotion is where you'd see the most vertical movement promise from a QA starting point, because the company has a much better idea of your style, strengths, and exactly what you did. If you were to apply for something like a Project Manager at a different company, it may be an uphill battle showing them that you picked up the proper skills if you were only doing QA. I think a lot of managers believe QA doesn't provide the range or depth that other engineering disciplines do, but it gives you a pretty good understanding of the final form of a product and there are certainly merits to being a good QA Engineer.

Crazyweasel fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Jul 28, 2012

Celot
Jan 14, 2007

Manawski posted:

I can attest to this. I have a physics degree, and SLB snapped me up for engineering without batting an eye. Especially since a lot of the jobs these companies offer have you starting out in the field, they'd rather have you have a better grasp on the scientific part, and they will teach you (or pay to have you sent to someone who will teach you) the engineering parts once you've proven yourself.

Which segment did they put you in?

White Kid Polo
Mar 28, 2006

you must take me to taco bell and i am not kidding
Hey guys, I have some questions about the viability of entering engineering in the future, and whether it would be worth it to go back to school to get the degree.

Right now I'm 23 years old, and will be 24 by the time I graduate next spring with a bachelor's in Economics. Hopefully I'll be able to find work in my field for a few years, but if not, I do have other less-desirable jobs lined up (even if they aren't the types of jobs I went to school for, at least it's something). I might also join the military for four years after graduating. Bottom line is, I probably won't have any glaring gaps on my resume in the future, but I will not have anything related to engineering whatsoever.

As a hypothetical, let's say I work for three or four years and save up for a second undergrad degree, or pay for it through military benefits, whatever. If I do go back to school after that, I could end up being in my early 30's before I can finish with a degree in Mechanical/Biomedical/whatever type of engineering I go with.

Based on what people in this thread know, would that make me way too old to start a career in this field? My hope is that if I can get good grades in my engineering curriculum, along with a resume that shows I at least know how to function at various jobs (even if they aren't engineering-related), I could have a chance to get job offers.

I realize that this is basically planning for 9+ years from now, and a lot can change between now and then, but I would appreciate any input. :)


quick tl;dr version: Is 30+ years old too old to be hired as a new engineering undergrad under any circumstances? Or does it just depend?

White Kid Polo fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Aug 4, 2012

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resident
Dec 22, 2005

WE WERE ALL UP IN THAT SHIT LIKE A MUTHAFUCKA. IT'S CLEANER THAN A BROKE DICK DOG.

White Kid Polo posted:

Hey guys, I have some questions about the viability of entering engineering in the future, and whether it would be worth it to go back to school to get the degree.

Right now I'm 23 years old, and will be 24 by the time I graduate next spring with a bachelor's in Economics. Hopefully I'll be able to find work in my field for a few years, but if not, I do have other less-desirable jobs lined up (even if they aren't the types of jobs I went to school for, at least it's something). I might also join the military for four years after graduating. Bottom line is, I probably won't have any glaring gaps on my resume in the future, but I will not have anything related to engineering whatsoever.

As a hypothetical, let's say I work for three or four years and save up for a second undergrad degree, or pay for it through military benefits, whatever. If I do go back to school after that, I could end up being in my early 30's before I can finish with a degree in Mechanical/Biomedical/whatever type of engineering I go with.

Based on what people in this thread know, would that make me way too old to start a career in this field? My hope is that if I can get good grades in my engineering curriculum, along with a resume that shows I at least know how to function at various jobs (even if they aren't engineering-related), I could have a chance to get job offers.

I realize that this is basically planning for 9+ years from now, and a lot can change between now and then, but I would appreciate any input. :)

You sound kind of down on your prospects as an econ major. Why is that, if you don't mind me asking? I almost thought about quitting engineering as a junior after a bad internship but that would have been a rash decision and a huge mistake had I followed through with the idea. It's a good idea to reflect on why you want to transition to engineering and make sure it's for the right reasons.

If you decide you are serious about engineering, why don't you go have a chat with an academic advisor ASAP to see if you can change academic paths and get an engineering BS in 2.5-3 years (including summer courses) starting immediately in lieu of your econ degree? I'm sure some of your econ degree will still apply. Is money a major issue for you at this point? ROTC might be an option if you are already considering a military path and this won't set your degree back any time at all.

If you stick with finishing the econ major, I don't really think 30 is too late to start as an engineer, it will just set you back from a career progression standpoint but talent/drive can quickly make up for that. Just make sure your career path is personally fulfilling irregardless of age.

resident fucked around with this message at 23:26 on Aug 4, 2012

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