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Gin_Rummy posted:Couldn't that be more of a reflection on Airbus though? I mean, they did decide to make a plane that can only land in certain airports. I feel like it's a pretty niche market and they can only sell so many to begin with... The 747 line is close to shutting down too. The market for wide bodies is slowing overall. Nobody wants any planes that use more than two engines anymore.
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Aug 20, 2016 16:44
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HondaCivet posted:Does anyone know much about going to grad school in engineering? I have a BS in ME but ended up doing unrelated work (software development) for the past five years after school but it hasn't really been a good fit over time so I'm interested in getting back into engineering. I had asked about work earlier in the thread and people suggested systems engineering which sounds cool but all my undergrad work experience was research rather than industry. I am strongly leaning towards a terminal MS rather than a PhD. How does having a MS change the work you do, your employability, etc. typically? If you did it yourself are you glad you did it or not? I'd want to study the areas of controls and mechatronics and such and I'd be looking at more R&D-ish jobs, maybe even jobs at like the national labs. I have a PhD in ChemE. I would say if you are really interested in R&D jobs as an engineer you will need a PhD to get in the door. I interviewed for two R&D positions at national labs, one as a staff scientist and the other as a postdoc, and they both required a PhD for the position. There may be smaller companies out there willing to hire someone with a MS to be a R&D engineer, but all of the people I know who left with MS from graduate school ended up with process engineering jobs or something similar. A PhD probably seems like a big up-front commitment (and it is if you make it through), but it is very possible to leave on good terms with a MS if you decide it isn't worth it (unless your advisor is psychotic).
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Aug 24, 2016 05:00
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Yoked posted:I have a PhD in ChemE. I would say if you are really interested in R&D jobs as an engineer you will need a PhD to get in the door. I interviewed for two R&D positions at national labs, one as a staff scientist and the other as a postdoc, and they both required a PhD for the position. I have an MS in EE and have an R&D job in a big company. I regularly write my own journal articles and present work at conferences. We have a few MS MEs as well. (To be honest I entered the company with a BS! Granted my internships had been all in academia...) Many good schools have a very good MS program and allow you to publish from them. And then places like MIT Lincoln labs or SwRI (or any national lab) recruit MS people from these schools. If you find a school that has good collaboration relationships with industry you won't have a problem building a relationship. (There is a huge difference between an MS from a half online course school and a MS from a school in the UC system for example, when looking for R&D) It also doesn't hurt to pull down an extra $40-$60k per year compared to shacking up with a PhD program. I think some people don't realize how many non-PhD are in R&D because not many people constantly advertise their credentials, even PhDs. If you end up really wanting a PhD, you can always continue later. If you have questions about schools or companies I can try to answer them.
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Aug 26, 2016 16:46
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Yoked posted:I have a PhD in ChemE. I would say if you are really interested in R&D jobs as an engineer you will need a PhD to get in the door. I interviewed for two R&D positions at national labs, one as a staff scientist and the other as a postdoc, and they both required a PhD for the position. WHile this may be true for chemistry, as stated above it is not for engineerings as a whole. In particular for EEs and MechEs.
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Aug 26, 2016 20:59
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I was trying to offer up my experience with trying to get a R&D job at a national lab since that is what the OP mentioned. This has just been my experience in chemical engineering, but other disciplines may not have those kind of educational requirements.
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Aug 26, 2016 22:17
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Yoked posted:I was trying to offer up my experience with trying to get a R&D job at a national lab since that is what the OP mentioned. This has just been my experience in chemical engineering, but other disciplines may not have those kind of educational requirements. That's a fair point and I'm sure it'd help. Most of the Navy researchers I've met have been PhD in something like you stated though I know of one hardware research engineer who was MSEE. At my old job in tech and while doing research in undergrad, Mech Es from Livermore, SLAC, NASA Ames, NASA JPL, NASA LSP (Not all were in R&D, some were) mostly had Masters. Only one of the people I worked with from those places had a PhD and he was a director at KSC for NASA LSP.
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Aug 27, 2016 00:27
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Yoked posted:I was trying to offer up my experience with trying to get a R&D job at a national lab since that is what the OP mentioned. This has just been my experience in chemical engineering, but other disciplines may not have those kind of educational requirements. I'm pretty close to both SNL and LANL, and have friends that work at BNL, ORNL, INL, and LLNL. In nuclear applications they are all basically a PhD only club, assuming you want to do any kind of research on your own. I've seen people with just a master's get a job but it's usually as an assistant or a technologist, doing a lot of the setup and teardown for experiments and taking data. The other option for getting hired on with a master's is to be involved in a project during your master's that they are continuing and will bring you on when you graduate because of your familiarity with everything.
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Aug 27, 2016 01:34
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Uncle Jam posted:I have an MS in EE and have an R&D job in a big company. I regularly write my own journal articles and present work at conferences. We have a few MS MEs as well. (To be honest I entered the company with a BS! Granted my internships had been all in academia...) Thanks, that helps a lot. Is just getting through a thesis-based MS program at a decent school enough to get an in or to get those jobs do you need a specific connection during grad school like you described?
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Aug 28, 2016 04:48
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When you're talking about research, the choice of advisor is far more important to your future prospects than the ranking of the school unless you are seeking tenure-track positions. Since you're only asking about a MS these doors are shut to you regardless. I think that, depending on industry, getting research positions with an MS is very much the exception rather than the rule. In my opinion, a MS is just not enough time to develop the skills and knowledge required of a scientist to successfully direct their own research program. However, companies define research as many different things and it's possible to enter in some kind of capacity. I think in many cases, the engineers with BS/MS will be working in a quality evaluation or test capacity rather than guiding the direction of research and deciding which questions are worth asking wrt the science.
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Aug 29, 2016 06:13
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Are there any electrical engineers who know poo poo about power distribution on here who would like to move to New York City? Must understand what an NEC is. How about plumbing and/or fire protection/life safety?
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Aug 30, 2016 03:32
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osker posted:Are there any electrical engineers who know poo poo about power distribution on here who would like to move to New York City? Must understand what an NEC is. I sent you a PM.
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Aug 30, 2016 12:20
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Quarter life crisis question: I graduated with a BS in ME and BA in Economics. I have been doing environmental engineering (more of a technician but still getting in hours for a PE and I like to work outside...). I can sit for an environmental PE in less than 2 years, and by then my student loans will be paid off. I am having second thoughts about the environmental field, it is not that interesting to me any more. I couldn't find a job in ME at the time I graduated so I took the environmental job and got comfortable where I am and am getting good project management experience. The only ME jobs around me are HVAC design, which I am not interested in. I work with hydrologists occasionally and feel like I would enjoy a career in that. I want to get a masters in Civil with a focus in hydrology. My questions are should I stick it out for 2 more years at my current job and get a PE in Environmental Engineering before going to grad school? Will having a PE help with grad school/ grad school applications? Will my education-career path scare prospective employees/advisers away? I don't know any one with a ME degree, environmental PE and Civil masters working in Hydrological engineering.
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Sep 7, 2016 03:28
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Will your employer pay for the master's? Is it a good time in your life to take on that work load? Is the environmental work you do now related to hydrology in any way?
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Sep 7, 2016 03:32
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Should have clarified. I would quit the current job if I go to grad school. All of the classes I need to take are only offered during the day and with my current job I travel a lot and couldn't make that work. My wife works at the local state college, which has a good civil program, so I would get free tuition. I would try to get a research assistance ship which comes with a modest stipend so I wouldn't have to dip into savings and it would be good research experience. My current job is only tangentially related to hydrology. I do a lot of soil and groundwater sampling. SkiLander fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 03:46
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I used to work with a guy who had a P.E. in environmental (Ph.D too), with a BS and MS in Mechanical. He did some water resource (which is what I assume you mean by hydrology), but mostly potable water/wastewater work. As far as I can tell, a person's time spent pre-P.E. is so variable for most civil people, that it shouldn't be a big deal for you to switch. IMO, you're better off getting the master's pre-P.E. It counts for a year towards the PE requirement, and it should theoretically be easier to switch your focus pre-P.E. I see a bunch of water resource jobs that want background in modeling groundwater. Your background, even if it's just in sampling, is likely to help. I would definitely try and get an internship though in water resource while you do your masters, though that'll be hard since your masters program is all during the day (which seems very odd).
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Sep 7, 2016 04:29
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Do you even need the masters? If you've got some basic knowledge of the theory and a course or two you could probably just look for entry level work in that field. Edit: bah. skimmed that and thought you had an environmental degree as well. Yeah, hydrology with an mech degree would be a hard sell. T.C. fucked around with this message at 08:42 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 08:32
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Took the EE FE today. I don't know if this is the universal experience, but the first half was insanely easy, and the second half was pretty difficult. Gave me a bit of confidence whiplash.
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Sep 8, 2016 20:23
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Do employers actually give a drat about engineering honor society membership?
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Sep 8, 2016 23:36
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Hello Sailor posted:Do employers actually give a drat about engineering honor society membership?
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Sep 8, 2016 23:43
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Hello Sailor posted:Do employers actually give a drat about engineering honor society membership? It's 70% the type of stuff you worked on before and 28% that you're not a butt. 2% reserved for future use. I wouldn't care about HKN but at least its not damaging like people who put Who's who memberships on their CV.
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Sep 9, 2016 04:48
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What about officer positions in said societies?
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Sep 9, 2016 04:55
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They're fine, not really a crazy discriminator but maybe something to talk about during your first interviews. Projects that you did or internships will count far more for both in my experience. I will carve out exceptions--chairing IEEE or a club that brings in industry speakers you automatically get introduced to all kinds of people in companies. It's pretty much an effortless built-in network grower.
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Sep 9, 2016 10:58
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Hello Sailor posted:Do employers actually give a drat about engineering honor society membership? Yesterday three people told me how great it looked on a resume!  (Not even a joke; they really did...)If I had a dollar for everything that someone at my school said "Would look great on a resume!" that meant jack poo poo to employers I'd be able to pay for a semester of classes.
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Sep 9, 2016 12:36
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Uncle Jam posted:It's 70% the type of stuff you worked on before and 28% that you're not a butt. So... How does one get a job when very little of what you've worked on before is strongly applicable to any job you might actually want? I've been trying to get into robotics, but I've never been able to get any professional experience involving serious machine design. Also, I've been looking for trade shows which could have good networking opportunities. I've noticed CES is coming up in Las Vegas. Is anyone here familiar with that show? Would they have much of anything for someone with a mechanical engineering background? (they seem to be mainly focused on electronics and software, but their site mentions robotics).
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Sep 9, 2016 21:44
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Hello Sailor posted:Do employers actually give a drat about engineering honor society membership? Like, if you were tasked with finding a good engineer, and you had resumes to look at, would you consider that a point in their favor?
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Sep 9, 2016 22:12
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Hello Sailor posted:Do employers actually give a drat about engineering honor society membership? It means you had a certain GPA and paid some money. I guess if you didn't have anything else to put, it'd be useful. It seems kind of redundant if you're already including your GPA though.
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Sep 10, 2016 01:16
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tbh if i were in a hiring position (i'm not and never have been) i'd actually probably count that against someone. i don't give a poo poo about your nerd gold stars.
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Sep 10, 2016 01:22
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Probably a good thing you're not in a hiring position.
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Sep 10, 2016 19:52
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So hopefully in a few months I get to move back home and work near there. (Currently working in Africa.) If I sit and take my PE and pass, is it worth getting a master's? Companies seem to like to show that you're continuously doing education. If not the master's there are a couple of different 4-6 day courses I'd like to do with various vendors...
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Sep 11, 2016 17:26
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I have a BS in mechanical engineering and worked for 12 years in a consulting firm. Got laid off last month cause we do a lot of business with CAT and that's just a bad thing to base your company on these days. It's kinda tough looking for a new job cause I did a little bit of everything instead of getting really good at one thing. I've been looking to fill in some gaps in my experience with classes. One thing I'm thinking about is doing an online GD&T course (most of my experience with tolerances is just applying CAT's standards and not generating the tolerances from scratch). It's been something that's been asked about in the interviews I had. Anyone know of a decent online course I could take? I see ASME has a $700 course on their site, which seems like a lot. But, I guess it comes with some name recognition built in. Honestly, I only spent a few minutes looking myself before realizing I'm not sure what I'm looking for. Senor P. posted:If not the master's there are a couple of different 4-6 day courses I'd like to do with various vendors... Can you share some info about this? I'd be interested.
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Sep 12, 2016 22:17
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I'd be interested in feedback on a standalone GD&T course as well. That's an area of improvement for me and I'm in a similar boat (laid off a few months ago), albeit with less experience.
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Sep 12, 2016 23:15
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I'd say save your money and pick up a book with exercises. If you have experience designing/drafting then it's pretty sensible stuff and you can pick up the basics in a day or two. If you're looking at jobs where you need to be a total expert then that ASME class doesn't get you that far into it anyways. I'm enrolled in it through work right now and it's just boring videos that go over the book page by page.
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Sep 13, 2016 02:05
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The Royal Scrub posted:I'd say save your money and pick up a book with exercises. If you have experience designing/drafting then it's pretty sensible stuff and you can pick up the basics in a day or two. Figured that might be the case. I think once I'm done studying for the PE, I'll pick this up: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0971440166/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=XYQRDV1YHE53&coliid=I12BWINHIDUDN2 You can buy that, the workbook, and the tolerance/stack-up analysis text for a shade under $300. It's a lot, but it's cheaper than the course and I imagine slower-paced self-guided study would be more beneficial in the long run.
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Sep 13, 2016 04:26
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Its also super easy to just learn as needed. Theres no GD&T symbology or stack up I couldn't figure out by googling.
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Sep 14, 2016 23:40
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Noctone posted:tbh if i were in a hiring position (i'm not and never have been) i'd actually probably count that against someone. i don't give a poo poo about your nerd gold stars. Or it's just some kid that someone told him/her, "This would look good on your resume" and doesn't actually say anything about them at all.
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Sep 15, 2016 21:19
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I don't think honor societies are too meaningful on a resume, but they also don't really hurt. The only thing that'd be a red flag for me would be someone listing their membership in a Who's Who-type list that consists solely of them paying to have their name in a book.
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Sep 16, 2016 03:11
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Jesus christ, don't waste the loving bytes on your honor societies.
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Sep 16, 2016 21:48
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What's the big software used for prototyping on a 3d printer? Solidworks? AutoCad?
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Sep 19, 2016 06:23
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I haven't used a modern 3D printer, but I understand that they just take stl files into their software and do all the necessary prep work in can there (there may also be some generic software that works with multiple (all?) printers). So, basically any CAD program can be used to design and export that original stl file.
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Sep 19, 2016 15:36
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PRADA SLUT posted:What's the big software used for prototyping on a 3d printer? Solidworks? AutoCad? For personal use I would go with Inventor solely due to the price. I *believe* you get the 3D printing for free with the educational version.
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Sep 19, 2016 22:54
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