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ShimmyGuy
Jan 12, 2008

One morning, Shimmy awoke to find he was a awesome shiny bug.
As a new wave of students enter college I think it would be a good idea for new engineers and maybe some further along people, like me, to really understand what all this work is for. For you engineers out there (any type, though I would love to see some ME graduates), what was life like after school? What did you major in and what jobs did you end up having? Do you enjoy what you ended up doing or would you have wanted to pick another major? This is not so much a thread for what can you do with a major, but one for what people have done.


(If this is too close to the College&academic Advice MEGATHREAD I apologize and will take this thread down, but I think that's more what people potentially can do with their major instead of just examples)

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Ewan
Sep 29, 2008

Ewan is tired of his reputation as a serious Simon. I'm more of a jokester than you people think. My real name isn't even Ewan, that was a joke it's actually MARTIN! LOL fooled you again, it really is Ewan! Look at that monkey with a big nose, Ewan is so random! XD

Ryan_Rooker posted:

As a new wave of students enter college I think it would be a good idea for new engineers and maybe some further along people, like me, to really understand what all this work is for. For you engineers out there (any type, though I would love to see some ME graduates), what was life like after school? What did you major in and what jobs did you end up having? Do you enjoy what you ended up doing or would you have wanted to pick another major? This is not so much a thread for what can you do with a major, but one for what people have done.


(If this is too close to the College&academic Advice MEGATHREAD I apologize and will take this thread down, but I think that's more what people potentially can do with their major instead of just examples)
I got an MEng in Aerospace Engineering (graduated July 08). I now work for the Government in what is technically an Engineering job, but is a lot more project management as the industry counterparts tend to do the actual Engineering. I have to say I am enjoying my job and have no regrets.

If you want to do real technical work (design, etc) then I would suggest looking into the Defence, Automotive or Aviation industries - companies like Lockheed, Boeing, GM, Rolls-Royce will always be employing Engineering grads. If you want to remain in the Engineering type sector, but are more interested in the management side of things (with some engineering) then I would suggest looking into joining a government department (think DoD, DoE, DoT etc) and going from there.

Foyes36
Oct 23, 2005

Food fight!
I studied chemical engineering, but I'm mostly a biologist now. It's funny how life works out.

Magnificent Quiver
May 8, 2003


I'm a 4th year aerospace engineering student at UVa, also in AFROTC if you've got any questions.

KaiserBen
Aug 11, 2007
Graduated a year ago, BSEE + BSCPE. Work as a field engineer for an industrial automation company, specializing in metals production (steel + aluminum mills, mostly). My job rocks. We mostly hire EEs, but there are some MEs there too.

Bonus pic of a "typical" work environment for me:

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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I'm an electromechanical engineer and have been gainfully employed for about 12 years. I really enjoy it, but then, I'm a geek for this stuff! I specialized in semiconductors and MEMS in college, but ended up getting a job in a completely different engineering field. It's funny how life works out. :)

Academia and real-world engineering are night and day. Academia may reflect what a small subset of research engineers do, but the vast majority of engineers won't use 5% of what you learned in school. It's really quite discouraging, and why I never went back for my masters. For instance, nobody uses calculus; it's far too risky and unnecessary. Any differential equations you need to use were long ago derived down to simple plug 'n chug algebra, and anything more complicated is modeled on a computer. You quite simply will never use any of the math you're learning. (So don't worry if you're sick of that math, that's not engineering.) I hear this time and time again, too. What's important is that you truly and deeply understand the concepts and understand why something happens, even if you're not going to run the equations yourself.

Inferior Third Season
Jan 15, 2005

Aerospace Engineer here who uses calculus every day. :toot:

All you engineers that say you never need any of the stuff you learned in school are doing it wrong.

Satchmo
Nov 3, 2005
!?

Inferior Third Season posted:

Aerospace Engineer here who uses calculus every day. :toot:

All you engineers that say you never need any of the stuff you learned in school are doing it wrong.

Through my first few years of undergrad I always heard people saying that you never really need to use most of the math and theory that you're taught. Then I got my first internship in an aerospace company, and it was used EVERYWHERE. Really opened my eyes and made me work much harder in school, trying to truly learn and understand as opposed to just doing what it takes to get good grades.

hobbesmaster
Jan 28, 2008

Inferior Third Season posted:

Aerospace Engineer here who uses calculus every day. :toot:

All you engineers that say you never need any of the stuff you learned in school are doing it wrong.

I also use calculus every day if MATLAB commands count.

I guess it doesn't count because I'm still in academia. Not a student though! Just insanely underemployed (really great experience though).

What you do need to do is understand how the math works and where to apply it. Not necessarily that you need to use a trig substitution to solve a given integral.

LCN
Jul 27, 2009
You're pretty much hosed if min-maxing is your game, but you get some nice perks like MOLL-E, the turbo-charged flying machine, the mechano hog and Jeeves. Statswise every other crafting profession is better.

Please don't hang me by the balls for this.

Frinkahedron
Jul 26, 2006

Gobble Gobble
Junior-year Mechanical Engineer. I get to build robots here: http://www.me.vt.edu/romela/RoMeLa/RoMeLa.html

It's pretty awesome in between studying for one of five tests I have in a 10-day time span.

However, I did my internship at a Fire Protection Engineering company, which had me talking to construction workers, architects and fire marshals, reading up on building and fire codes, working with AutoCAD on building plans, and going to all kinds of jobsites (The coolest was watching a smoke test of a prison cell block. Filled up the whole area with smoke, then let a series of huge fans rip to clear it out quickly. Most job-sites were construction/renovation sites. Office buildings, schools, government facilities.)

The only math I used was the Pythagorean theorem.

NeverOddorEven
Dec 8, 2005
Math is everywhere, just most of it has been boiled down once into a few equations you use all the time, or hard coded into some software that only becomes an issue when you are no longer using conservatism.

I work at an engineering consulting firm and we do not as a rule get our hands dirty. Occasionally we go out and do walk downs and what not, but by and large we use excel, CAFTA, FDS and some homegrown stuff. There are drawings all over the place of electrical schematics, mechanical systems and fire barriers.

Edit:
My friend works for the military as a civilian researcher and does guided air drops (he is an ME with AE concentration). He spends most of this time designing and doing project management, but about 1 week a month on average he goes to an air drop site in AZ and is either on the ground, or in the plane throwing stuff out the back.

NeverOddorEven fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Oct 2, 2009

Vaporware
May 22, 2004

Still not here yet.
I'm an ME, but I ended up as a technical illustrator v:o:v

but, I also had a real engineering job doing 3D stress analysis and yes, you need to pay attention to calc & statics/dynamics to excel at being a proper engineer. I passed the EIT/FE but you need to work around PE's to get the rec letters so I don't know if I'll bother getting my PE, especially since an EIT allows you to work in any state and PEs are state-specific.

Oh yeah and I was rarely on the factory floor other than to take measurements, but senior level engineers sometimes got to go out for failure analysis in other countries. Failure analysis is the bomb.

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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There are more engineers getting trained than ever before. In days of old, being an engineer was something special; there just weren't very many. Today, though, with so many people getting college degrees, and engineering considered a money major, there are a lot of engineers graduating, (some of whom probably should be engineers, but that's another issue). Employment opportunities are still terrific, but what we're seeing is a lot of creep of engineers into areas traditionally filled by technicians. So, engineers today often get more changes to get their hands dirty. I'd say it's almost a necessity- you can't design well if you don't get in there yourself.

Vaporware posted:

but, I also had a real engineering job doing 3D stress analysis and yes, you need to pay attention to calc & statics/dynamics to excel at being a proper engineer. I passed the EIT/FE but you need to work around PE's to get the rec letters so I don't know if I'll bother getting my PE, especially since an EIT allows you to work in any state and PEs are state-specific.
I'm a PE. The laws vary from state to state, but if you passed the PE exam and have a PE license in one state, it's usually pretty easy to get licenses in other states. In many cases, states have reciprocity and will accept licenses from other states with similar licensing laws. There are a handful of exception; civil PEs in California have a lot more hoops to jump through and have to pass special seismic exams, but for the most part, it's just a matter of filling out paperwork and paying the licensing fee and BAM, you're a PE in a new state.

PEs can work in any state they want, btw. They just can't stamp anything unless they're licensed in that state. EIT means absolutely nothing in legal terms, so there's no restrictions. An unlicensed PE, EIT and someone who failed the FE exam have the same authority.

grover fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Oct 2, 2009

BeefofAges
Jun 5, 2004

Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the cows of war.

grover posted:

There are more engineers getting trained than ever before.

I'm not sure about this. When I was in school, a lot of the professors complained that enrollment in engineering was way down from where it was years ago. Likewise, when I was interviewing for jobs after graduation, a lot of employers said that it's getting harder to find engineers to hire.

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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BeefofAges posted:

I'm not sure about this. When I was in school, a lot of the professors complained that enrollment in engineering was way down from where it was years ago. Likewise, when I was interviewing for jobs after graduation, a lot of employers said that it's getting harder to find engineers to hire.
Sales engineers, engineering managers, software engineers, all sorts of places engineers shouldn't really be working but are sapping from the workforce because they're hiring people with 4-year engineering degrees to do things only tangentially related to engineering? Yeah, it's hard to find engineers for these jobs, so they up the pay until they can seduce people away from more traditional engineering jobs. Employers really like people to have such a great technical background, even if they don't really need it. It's essentially a broadening of the field, and it's increasing demand for engineers.

At least it's not as bad as the "any degree required" jobs that liberal arts majors are vying for. Most engineers can at least pay off their student loan debt.

grover fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Oct 2, 2009

Dragonsven
Jan 29, 2006

I'm chill. I'm chill as a cucumber, man.
Just be a physics major. That's how I became an engineer!

Necc0
Jun 30, 2005

by exmarx
Broken Cake
/

Necc0 fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Dec 2, 2010

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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Necc0 posted:

I'm a computer engineer ... (for the record: I'm only a senior and still don't even have a real job)
So, you're a computer programmer engineering student and haven't even graduated yet... why are you posting in this thread? If you want, you could ask questions, I'd be happy to answer.

BTW, don't expect to be handed a $50k job the day after graduation, it doesn't quite work like that. You might get lucky if your internship pans out, but despite complaints by employers of how hard it is to hire engineers, you'll fine the same is true of engineers trying to find good jobs.

grover fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Oct 2, 2009

Action_Bastard
Nov 26, 2007

by Y Kant Ozma Post
I'm a BSE from UMich, working on my Master's now . . . really looking forward to leaving academia. From what I've learned, graduate education is 90% daily grind of managing your own research project, and 10% frantic work trying to figure out the math and theory of what you're doing.
Anyone know good companies in Michigan looking for a very hands-on engineer with experience in Mg and Ni alloy fatigue and production of fine grain ceramic materials? Wish I could tell you more about actual work, bro.

BeefofAges posted:

a sig with an interesting picture
BeefofAges: why is the University of Michigan MIMS symbol holding guns in your sig?



E:

Necc0 posted:

switching to business or some other easier major
Actually I've seen a lot of engineers and IOE's especially go get their MBA and do very well with it. If you asked them, I don't think they'd tell you it was the easy route. Yes to grover though, I've seen a bunch of investment banks on campus recruiting engineers just because we think analytically, and so aren't prone to some of the same kinds mistakes that other majors might make when put into management positions. Of course, we're prone to other mistakes.

Action_Bastard fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Oct 2, 2009

Necc0
Jun 30, 2005

by exmarx
Broken Cake

grover posted:

So, you're a computer programmer engineering student and haven't even graduated yet... why are you posting in this thread?

Because I've done real work as an engineer and am set to graduate in the spring. That's why. Is striking out programmer supposed to be an insult or something? I'm not really sure.

quote:

BTW, don't expect to be handed a $50k job the day after graduation, it doesn't quite work like that. You might get lucky if your internship pans out, but despite complaints by employers of how hard it is to hire engineers, you'll fine the same is true of engineers trying to find good jobs.

I'm going off of statistics of average salaries paid to graduates in my field from my school; the 50k is a conservative one. I already have three job offerings in various locations around the country so I'm not too worried.

Action_Bastard posted:

Actually I've seen a lot of engineers and IOE's especially go get their MBA and do very well with it. If you asked them, I don't think they'd tell you it was the easy route. Yes to grover though, I've seen a bunch of investment banks on campus recruiting engineers just because we think analytically, and so aren't prone to some of the same kinds mistakes that other majors might make when put into management positions. Of course, we're prone to other mistakes.

Definitely. An engineering degree opens up a lot of options even if you don't want to ultimately get an engineering job. I think our biggest weakness is knowledge in the social fields, such as writing, politics, etc. We're all a bunch of nerds though so is it really that surprising?

Necc0 fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Oct 2, 2009

Namarrgon
Dec 23, 2008

Congratulations on not getting fit in 2011!

Necc0 posted:

For those of you who aren't in college yet and are debating it, I say go for it. Be wary though that the scare statistics of 2/3 of engineers dropping out or switching to business or some other easier major aren't exaggerated at all. Even if you can handle the work load your first two years are going to be hell, and if you manage to stick with it I can guarantee you'll be wondering if you made the right choice while you're sitting in a lab trying to debug the same drat circuit you were 7 hours ago while everyone else is out partying and having a good time. Your workload will never decrease, and will probably increase by your third year, but by that time you'll be getting into 'real' stuff where you actually sit back and feel like all your time was worth it.


This is pretty much true for a physics major. Except replace debugging a circuit by trying to figure out what the hell is happening in your interference pattern let alone derive an equation for it.

Your :smug: arrogance :smug: increases with your years as well.

Mooch and Earl
May 20, 2009

by Tiny Fistpump
You get to ride in an APC and have the ability to absorb competitor's offices into your parent company by simply walking into them.

This video describes your job in a nutshell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA5TCAcXFMI&feature=related

Mooch and Earl fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Oct 2, 2009

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
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Necc0 posted:

Because I've done real work as an engineer and am set to graduate in the spring. That's why. Is striking out programmer supposed to be an insult or something? I'm not really sure.
No, not at all. Was more of an inside joke; most computer engineers I knew in college end up doing nothing but programming, while EEs did what's normally thought of as computer engineering. All good fields, though.

Also, you might want to work on your people skills a little.

grover fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Oct 2, 2009

Necc0
Jun 30, 2005

by exmarx
Broken Cake

Namarrgon posted:

This is pretty much true for a physics major. Except replace debugging a circuit by trying to figure out what the hell is happening in your interference pattern let alone derive an equation for it.

Your :smug: arrogance :smug: increases with your years as well.

You physics majors are insane and I don't know how you do it. If I was smarter that'd definitely be the major I chose.

Dragonsven
Jan 29, 2006

I'm chill. I'm chill as a cucumber, man.

Necc0 posted:

You physics majors are insane and I don't know how you do it. If I was smarter that'd definitely be the major I chose.

Being a physics major will test your will to live. Weed helps.

Honestly, engineering classes are easier and you get paid the same so why put yourself through hell? If I had to do it all over again I would have just been an accountant.

Namarrgon
Dec 23, 2008

Congratulations on not getting fit in 2011!

Necc0 posted:

You physics majors are insane and I don't know how you do it. If I was smarter that'd definitely be the major I chose.

Neither do I, guess who won't be doing his Master's in a die-hard physics subject :v:

permabanned
Aug 12, 2008

優しい野菜

grover posted:

No, not at all. Was more of an inside joke; most computer engineers I knew in college end up doing nothing but programming, while EEs did what's normally thought of as computer engineering. All good fields, though.

Also, you might want to work on your people skills a little.

This is what worries me a little, it is said that the foundries/IP/EDA market has shrunk by 13% on average this year, so how I am going to find a job in Computer engineering now?

BeefofAges
Jun 5, 2004

Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the cows of war.

Action_Bastard posted:

BeefofAges: why is the University of Michigan MIMS symbol holding guns in your sig?

You're mistaken, it's the Realtek crab.

hobbesmaster
Jan 28, 2008

permabanned posted:

This is what worries me a little, it is said that the foundries/IP/EDA market has shrunk by 13% on average this year, so how I am going to find a job in Computer engineering now?

The impression I've gotten is if you want a hardcore computer engineering position you need a PhD.

Death Bot
Mar 4, 2007

Binary killing machines, turning 1 into 0 since 0011000100111001 0011011100110110

KaiserBen posted:

Graduated a year ago, BSEE + BSCPE. Work as a field engineer for an industrial automation company, specializing in metals production (steel + aluminum mills, mostly). My job rocks. We mostly hire EEs, but there are some MEs there too.

Bonus pic of a "typical" work environment for me:


As a FIRST Robotics kid, having been in the GM tech center a few years ago was mind-blowing. It's a different kind of beautiful in there.

Necc0
Jun 30, 2005

by exmarx
Broken Cake

permabanned posted:

This is what worries me a little, it is said that the foundries/IP/EDA market has shrunk by 13% on average this year, so how I am going to find a job in Computer engineering now?

shrinking does not mean that people are not hiring. get a few internships under your belt while you're still in college with a respectable GPA and you're fine.

Juriko
Jan 28, 2006

grover posted:

Sales engineers, engineering managers, software engineers, all sorts of places engineers shouldn't really be working but are sapping from the workforce because they're hiring people with 4-year engineering degrees to do things only tangentially related to engineering? Yeah, it's hard to find engineers for these jobs, so they up the pay until they can seduce people away from more traditional engineering jobs. Employers really like people to have such a great technical background, even if they don't really need it. It's essentially a broadening of the field, and it's increasing demand for engineers.

At least it's not as bad as the "any degree required" jobs that liberal arts majors are vying for. Most engineers can at least pay off their student loan debt.

This is very true. My roommate did EE but ended up in software testing because of an internship and timing(did not want to take chances in the job market back in march). The pay was amazing for someone out of college. The thing is almost any college graduate that is computer oriented could do it. I've helped him with more than a couple projects. His job in no way needs an engineer, but they only hire engineers because they can.

The worst part is the turnover rate is insane. The average time spent there is 3 years since most people leave when they realize they can't move on to development.

Julio Lopez
Nov 15, 2006

We don't need no stinking badges
The great thing about Engineering is that once you graduate you can do anything. I got my BA in ME and went in to finance. They liked me because I could think logically and could make useful decisions - so different than the typical graduate.

Julio Lopez fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Oct 2, 2009

Julio Lopez
Nov 15, 2006

We don't need no stinking badges
Little known fact: The average engineering major has a higher verbal SAT score than the average English major.

King Skinny Pimp
Oct 24, 2004

by T. Finn
My dad got his degree in ME and now makes a poo poo ton of money working as a consultant to paper mills. He spent a good 20+ years working in paper mills before he went out and started his own business, but he has definitely always made good money. My mom's an environmental engineer working in solid waste management at an Air Force base (civilian job) and she makes good money too. It's worth the effort if you can get done with it.

Weaponized Autism
Mar 26, 2006

All aboard the Gravy train!
Hair Elf

Pfirti86 posted:

I studied chemical engineering, but I'm mostly a biologist now. It's funny how life works out.

I studied Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering and now I work in tech support. :suicide:

barking frog
Mar 15, 2004

grover posted:

No, not at all. Was more of an inside joke; most computer engineers I knew in college end up doing nothing but programming, while EEs did what's normally thought of as computer engineering. All good fields, though.
This is probably true. Most computer engineering students want a hardware job of some kind but instead graduate and go for the path of least possible resistance getting a comfortable technology job instead. Meanwhile, most electrical engineers learned so much background theory and stuff of little practical value in undergrad that they go back for a masters to give employers what they want.

Personally, I worked as a co-op for 8 months at GE as a hardware intern and that's when I decided EE was totally not for me.

ilikechapstick
Jun 17, 2007

very, very notorious.
My dad works at Exxon and complains about how terrible it is everyday.

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Necc0
Jun 30, 2005

by exmarx
Broken Cake

barking frog posted:

Personally, I worked as a co-op for 8 months at GE as a hardware intern and that's when I decided EE was totally not for me.

I did an internship with GE as well and can tell you that it's probably because working at GE loving sucks

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