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HondaCivet posted:Thanks! Would either of you mind telling me what industry/company you're in and what kind of products you're working on? I'm assuming you don't want to post such things publicly so PMs would be great if you had the time. Sent a PM.
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May 18, 2016 00:34
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illcendiary posted:Anyone have any experience with PE exam prep companies (PPI2Pass, Testmasters, etc)? Planning on taking the mechanical PE in October and was thinking of signing up. $1600 seems steep, but if it improves my likelihood of passing I think it's worth the money. Just wanted some feedback before I pull the trigger. The study materials are good. I also did a face to face class at the local university though (only $900).
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May 19, 2016 01:15
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spwrozek posted:The study materials are good. I also did a face to face class at the local university though (only $900). I ended up just ponying up the cash. Figure it'll be good for me to have some set structure to follow as I'm typically scatterbrained. Hope it goes well!
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May 19, 2016 03:43
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Alright guys, looking for some advice. I'm in my early 30's and I've been in aviation for 10 years as an Avionics Tech. Got my start in the USAF on F-16's. Worked civilian aviation and gov't contracting. I'm at a place where I can afford to transfer careers and go back to school. Right now, I'm looking at an Electronic Engineering Technology degree at a community college in Louisville. If everything, including the math, goes well I'd like to follow it up with a BS at UofL. Couple questions. What can you do with that Associates alone? Work in conjunction with engineers doing CAD and stuff or is it worthless? Also, is it worth it to do electronic engineering over electrical since my background is in Avionics? My goal is to ensure that that experience remains relevant when switching careers. Also, I'm looking for ballpark midwestern salarys. Thanks!
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May 28, 2016 13:32
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As an engineering tech, you work directly under the supervision of an engineer to handle the practical details and implementation of their designs. You're responsible for turning an engineer's general design into the customer-specific installation, as well as advising the engineers when they've designed something impractical or impossible to build. The job growth outlook for EETs in general is flat according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, though there's specific subfields like medical equipment that are currently growing.
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May 28, 2016 13:48
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davey4283 posted:Alright guys, looking for some advice. My advice is go talk to an adviser at UofL before you start community college. Make sure you are taking the right classes and that it will all transfer. With an AS you can probably get work drafting, soldering or maybe doing repairs/installations/maintenance somewhere. Starting salaries in that area are between $55-$65k for ECE. Go to the engineering school career adviser and ask for their salary survey to get more details. Also, they will try to talk you into an MEng. degree, my advice is not to do it, most employers don't seem to care at all.
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May 28, 2016 15:32
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davey4283 posted:Right now, I'm looking at an Electronic Engineering Technology degree at a community college in Louisville. If everything, including the math, goes well I'd like to follow it up with a BS at UofL. As someone with both a BS in engineering technology and a BS in engineering, I'd like to make sure you're aware that the two are completely different programs with almost no overlap and that credits earned in a technology will rarely transfer to an engineering degree. In an ideal world, our technologists where I work would do the CAD work. Most of them don't really know CAD at all so they do the "find it-fix it" hands on stuff and the engineers deal with both modeling and design. For what it's worth, I work in aerospace manufacturing. You could work at a factory as a "manufacturing planner" with an AS-ET which is the same thing a BS-ET would get you here.
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May 28, 2016 17:44
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davey4283 posted:Alright guys, looking for some advice. I was a USAF avionics guy on A-10s and I found that skill with avionics didn't translate to skill in electrical engineering. The intricacies on aircraft were much lower that the circuit stuff I saw in college. I was flight line though, so if you were back shop and actually dug into components you might have more closely related skills. If you still got time on your GI Bill, or can otherwise afford the time, I'd just go for the bachelors from the start. Why plan on getting an engineering tech degree if you're already looking at going for a bachelors? Aim big and dial it back if things don't look like they're going to come together. You can also take some classes in electronics before you have to declare your degree focus to make sure you really want to go for electrical engineering. That way you can still change to another focus if you find you don't like it without losing degree progress. For salary, I make $45,512 as GS-7 working out of the Quad Cities, but I'm in the recent grad intern program since that was the only way they could fill the slot I'm in and I go to a 9 next year and an 11 after that, so I'm starting relatively low on the pay scales around here. Engineers in the federal government in the quad cities are generally in a GS-12 slot which should pay roughly $80K at the current locality adjustment. BTW, don't look at your maintience experience as only in electronics. You have trouble shooting skills that can be applied to any problem whether it sparks or not. I wouldn't be overly concerned with sticking to electrical engineering because you did electronics maintience before. If you like electronics then ignore me and more power to you! (I never want to see another god damned wire attached to another god damned airplane for the rest of my god damned life)
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May 29, 2016 03:25
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davey4283 posted:Alright guys, looking for some advice. At a huge defense electronics company where I interface with guys in charge of avionics and mechanical subssystems of aircraft, I know of 0 people with an engineering tech degree on the design side. All had at least BSEE with MS common. I could see some having it in test labs or on the manufacturing floor though. I know at one company that is a customer the guys who do the testing/burn in/fix and repair dont have BSEEs so a tech degree would likely fit especially if its an AS. As everyone else has said, if you want to be an electrical engineer, get a real BSEE. That is the minimum to be called an engineer without any asterisks. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 12:57 on May 29, 2016 |
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May 29, 2016 12:54
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Well, I really appreciate the feedback guys. It's for sure helped me to make a more informed decision. I'm leaning towards going for the BSEE. It'll be time consuming but I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end. The math and science seems pretty daunting but I'm willing to give it a shot. Again, thanks for all the info.
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May 29, 2016 18:58
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Edit:nah
Popete fucked around with this message at 05:57 on May 30, 2016 |
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May 30, 2016 01:30
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davey4283 posted:Well, I really appreciate the feedback guys. It's for sure helped me to make a more informed decision. I'm leaning towards going for the BSEE. It'll be time consuming but I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end. The math and science seems pretty daunting but I'm willing to give it a shot. Don't look at the end level stuff yet. You'll start nice and easy and then work up from there step by step. Looking at the end goal makes the process look much worse than it is since you lose sight of all the intermediate steps that gradually lead you up to that level. If you want the degree and can focus on it then college is not bad, just make sure to use any help offered like professor and TA office hours and especially homework and study groups if you start having any difficulty. Slipping a bit in one class means you'll start the next a bit behind making it more likely you'll slip further. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure.
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May 31, 2016 01:35
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-Zydeco- posted:Slipping a bit in one class means you'll start the next a bit behind making it more likely you'll slip further. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure. What I try and tell people is to do *All the Homework*. Yes, it's a lot, but if you do all of it then you will pass the class. A lot of math and physics is just having done enough problems. I tried to do the homework immediately after it was assigned so as to have time to get help if I needed it.
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May 31, 2016 16:00
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The only thing that's real gay is Statics, but that maybe my school is really garbage at teaching it. What goes on in the classroom is only kinda close to the HW (Which takes hours to do and the instructor is an old guy who hates email), but the exams were easy for some reason. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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May 31, 2016 23:01
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Statics is kind of a test of meticulousness. At least that's what I found. Nothing's really hard about it aside from keeping track of everything. It was painful because it was my first semester of university after high school and I had to learn how to not coast on natural talent anymore.
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May 31, 2016 23:08
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Eskaton posted:The only thing that's real gay is Statics, but that maybe my school is really garbage at teaching it. What goes on in the classroom is only kinda close to the HW (Which takes hours to do and the instructor is an old guy who hates email), but the exams were easy for some reason. gay?
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Jun 1, 2016 03:34
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Let me tell you about my member in tension
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Jun 1, 2016 11:01
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Noctone posted:gay? The words don't get any more savory the more I think about it.
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Jun 1, 2016 19:09
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Hed posted:Let me tell you about my member in tension are we to assume a rigid body?
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Jun 2, 2016 19:47
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Hed posted:Let me tell you about my member in tension
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Jun 2, 2016 21:07
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Noctone posted:gay? 9.80665 m/s^2 * dv/dt * (mx+b) e: VVV Maybe not statics but dynamics certainly has a lot of analogues in EE. They were both taught in my Uni as engineering mechanics I & II. Murgos fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Jun 6, 2016 |
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Jun 6, 2016 13:12
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Good thing you don't need any statics in EE.
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Jun 6, 2016 13:29
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I stopped reading after you used more than two decimal points of G. 9.81 m/s^2 should be good enough for anything! Hell, half the time I go with 10.
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Jun 14, 2016 09:04
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Jun 14, 2016 13:14
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T.C. posted:I stopped reading after you used more than two decimal points of G. 9.81 m/s^2 should be good enough for anything! That's like 3.4mm/s^2... adds up kinda quick when you're accelerating at multiples of G for several hundred seconds. Not going to let you berth at the ISS doing math like that. e: VVV The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask / Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Tell me about being an Engineer! (Aero GTFO!) Murgos fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Jun 14, 2016 |
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Jun 14, 2016 13:45
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That's what we pay the aero people for. 
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Jun 14, 2016 14:01
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Jun 14, 2016 23:24
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I've been called in to do a safety investigation which is the most extensive investigation I've carried out. Going from design to implementation and I'm finding a lot of issues along the way. I can't give any details but I'm surprised at how many simple things have been missed that could cause loss of life.
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Jun 17, 2016 04:49
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Thoguh posted:A big part of engineering is knowing when you can estimate and when you have to be exact. Rocket science generally requires the latter. https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/743602894226653184
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Jun 17, 2016 05:54
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So I could use a bit of advice. I have been working for the past 2 years out of school as a Manufacturing Engineer, however my degree is in Mechanical Engineering. The job pays well but I have come to realize that Manufacturing Engineering is just not for me. Specifically I would really like to get back to design based mechanical engineering. I have passed the FE, but other than that I have let my mechanical engineering skills lapse over the past 2 years. I would be looking to transition to a mechanical engineering role in the next year or so and was wondering what the most efficient way to hone my skills in preparation for transitioning to a new role as a Mechanical Engineer would be. For reference my company will pay for engineering related classes however if I was to get my masters I would have to stay for a certain number of years following completion, which I have no desire to do. Do any of you have any recommended certificate programs or classes that I should look into, or any other suggestions?
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Jun 18, 2016 01:49
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CarForumPoster posted:At a huge defense electronics company where I interface with guys in charge of avionics and mechanical subssystems of aircraft, I know of 0 people with an engineering tech degree on the design side. All had at least BSEE with MS common. I could see some having it in test labs or on the manufacturing floor though. I know at one company that is a customer the guys who do the testing/burn in/fix and repair dont have BSEEs so a tech degree would likely fit especially if its an AS. Agreed, for engineer type positions most places want at least a BSEE, positions with associate level of education or engineering technology are much harder to find.
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Jun 19, 2016 03:11
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Agile Sumo posted:So I could use a bit of advice. Is anyone around you doing tool design?
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Jun 19, 2016 15:34
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Agile Sumo posted:So I could use a bit of advice. I did this exact thing. Find a job description for a job you want, read what skills are necessary. Find the highest rated/best reviewed book on the area of specialization (e..g. designing fuel systems, vibration testing, stress analysis etc. etc.) and read it cover to cover. Find lectures on the subject on youtube. Know basic equations by heart. Use the "commonly incurred issues" section that those books usually have as a guide of what to mention in a phone interview/cover letter.
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Jun 20, 2016 04:08
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Agile Sumo posted:So I could use a bit of advice. I was in a similar situation a few years ago except I stuck with manufacturing engineering for 4 years before switching to a mechanical engineering role at the same company. If you're not interested in doing a master's and committing long-term to the company, I'd try asking your boss if he's willing to send you to some short mechanical "professional development" type training courses that don't have any strings attached. For example, you can probably find some week long courses on whatever CAD and/or analysis tools your company uses. Depending on what type of manufacturing work you do, a GD&T course probably wouldn't be amiss either. Asking for some tooling design work like the above poster suggested is also an excellent idea. For what it's worth, I found it to be a pretty easy transition, both in terms of finding people willing to interview me and getting back into the swing of mechanical design.
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Jun 20, 2016 04:15
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As an update to this thread I got my master in aerospace eng. and been working for a small r&d composite company that is developping a mold system for a big european company. Everyone is around 26-27 years old like me and it owns bones. I was hired as a manufacturing engineer even thought I'm mostly have a design and r&d profile. It's fun, I get to actually supervise, develop the operations and help with the manufacturing since we are like 16 people total working there with the techs included. With this job I will have a pretty varied profile ranging from r&d, design and manufacturing of composite with the various internships and part time jobs, without being too specialized in a field. I hope this will pay off, someone has a similar experience with their career?
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Jul 1, 2016 16:42
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Edit : 'phone double posting
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Jul 1, 2016 16:51
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Yes, right after school I started working for a small SMA application and mfg company where most of my time was doing proof of concepts of SMA replacing an actuator and developing production tooling. We each did our own r&d and assembly so there were some long hours debugging the project to hit ship dates. I loved being exposed to all the steps but I got burned out on working with my hands. I was restoring a car and it was hard to find joy tinkering with it when I'd been filing and fitting a 3d print all week. Now I work in a tooling dept for a large co and I spend most time designing mfg machines. It's very creative and I'm at a computer 70% of the time so I look forward to going home and working on handsy projects. I still debug my machines but we have a strong team working in it instead of just me and I like it a lot.
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Jul 1, 2016 18:36
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So I'm back to the thread after having passed the FE, and I've not found a job since graduating as a mechanical at the end of April. Admittedly, it doesn't help that I didn't get an internship during undergrad, but it's still sorta frustrating. What's the general turnover on graduating and then being hired?
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Jul 1, 2016 21:32
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Well, I graduated in May of 2015, didn't start looking for a job until December, and got hired as an entry level engineer by a giant company in April. I'm EE, though, working in semiconductor manufacturing (which does hire a fair amount of MechEs, since there is complicated machinery going on).
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Jul 2, 2016 03:16
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Xelkelvos posted:So I'm back to the thread after having passed the FE, and I've not found a job since graduating as a mechanical at the end of April. Admittedly, it doesn't help that I didn't get an internship during undergrad, but it's still sorta frustrating. What's the general turnover on graduating and then being hired? I went about 10 months from graduation/FE to being hired for an engineering job. I too lacked an internship. I had a more niche major, though. I'd felt like if I had chosen electrical or mechanical I'd have gotten hired sooner, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. I think I talked about how frustrating it was in my post history.
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