Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How do you know if Engineering is right for you????
Are you stubbornly determined?
Are you good at math and problem solving in general?
Are you passive aggressive?
Do you have excellent language skills (math is just another language) but poor communication skills?
Are you curious about how the world works?
Are you a thrill seeker? Almost every engineer I know rides motorcycles, rock climbs, mountain bikes etc....
I've been a Mech. Engineer for about 6 years now...
growing up, i always had an interest in fixing things, tools, and working wiht my hands. When I got old enough to drive, i was tearing my car apart to fix, or upgrade it and spent countless hours researching why things worked and how they worked. I bought things based on how complicated and how much control I had over it. The more knobs and switches, the better. I even did some electrical work as a teen and later got my license and took an interest in control systems. It trickled over to hobbies and I spent time solding up electrical components and other "geek" type stuff.
I got my degree, got a job and it's been fun ever since. Most of my time is spent designing "ideas" with CAD programs such as Solidworks or ProE, working with vendors to make these componenents and then assembling them into a product. I get involved with prototype builds, testing, etc and researching new processes. We just picked up a CNC Laser Welding station a few months ago and I've been having fun with that.
I get to travel to Japan, China and Europe every 6 months or so.
You basically need to be a tech junkie.
You don't need to be a nerd though. I'm far from it as I work out, do outdoor sports and activities, hobbies such as car racing, firearms competition, etc....
CERTIFICATION
1. If you want to work as a mechanical, industrial, or civil engineer. You will most likely have to go to graduate school because professional engineering certification will require it by 2015.
Are you sure about the year?
Quote:
The Model Law, revised August 2010, states effective January 1, 2020, following a bachelor’s degree from an EAC/ABET-accredited program, a master’s degree or equivalent (MOE) will be required plus three years or more of progressive engineering experience. These changes are being released in 2020 because the fall 2011 freshmen engineering class will be required to follow these regulations which will ultimately affect the engineering industry.
A good starting point is to consider why you think engineering might be an option. It is a very broad field, but the common theme is that all engineers use math and science to solve real world problems. What kind of problems do you like to solve? The key is to find something you are already interested in and turn that into a career, so that getting up and going to work every day is a privilege and not a chore.
I have always been interested in airplanes and electronics. As an electrical engineer in the aerospace industry, I get to find ways to integrate new technologies onto aircraft. Now, whenever I see someone tweeting or emailing while flying at 30,000 feet, I know I played a role in making that happen.
Like most fields, an engineering education will involve learning a lot of topics you will never use in your career. The problem is, it's hard to know which ones you will need and which ones you will not. It will not be easy, but if you are interested in it then hopefully it will at least be fun.
I THINK, not sure, but pretty sure, that even though NCEES will be changing the PE education requirements to a Masters that each state has to adopt those requirements, which could take a while if it happens at all.
Location: NYC based - Used to Live in Philly - Transplant from Miami
2,307 posts, read 2,769,139 times
Reputation: 2610
I am an engineer; electrical engineer with emphasis in nanophotonics applications to be exact.
You have to be good in math. You have to take most of the Math courses in college for any engineering major. These courses include: Calculus I to V (or III) depending on what uni you will attend, Differential Equation, etc.
And you have to possess ability to think critically since it is needed to solve some of the engineering problems.
In addition, you also need some "think outside the box" mentality. It is needed especially once you jump into the working field.
Now depending on what type of engineering you want to take, you also have to be good in specific things. For me as an elect. eng, I have to be able to design electronic circuits, as well as do programming using various programming languages such as C, Java and even simply hardware coding language. I also have to be able to design a laser source, splice the wavelengths, etc.
Now, if you are not good at them at the end, hard work and determination will help alot.
Do I like what I do? Absolutely not. I only do it to earn for living. But again if you are good at these subjects or at least try your best to excel, I am pretty sure you can do it.
Make sure you read the courses requirements and school rules. In my university, you are only take the certain courses max of 3 times. If you fail all 3 times, you are not allow to take that class anymore. If that class is a requirement for your major, you are ****ed. Examples: Calculus, linear algebra engineering, computer programming classes ....
My university force you to change major if you they don't think you can pass those classes.
Make sure you read the courses requirements and school rules. In my university, you are only take the certain courses max of 3 times. If you fail all 3 times, you are not allow to take that class anymore. If that class is a requirement for your major, you are ****ed. Examples: Calculus, linear algebra engineering, computer programming classes ....
My university force you to change major if you they don't think you can pass those classes.
If you fail a prereq for engineering twice, then you should either change majors or drop out of school until you are more mature/have enough time to do the program in earnest.
To be honest, if you fail any course once, it's pretty bad.
I mean, really despite what people say, it's really easy to get an engineering degree.
You put in zero effort and fail Calc II, take it over the summer and put in a little more, pass with a C, fail MultiV Calc, take that over the summer, pass with a D, and so on, and so on. Graduate with a 2.0 in 5 years.
Someone could get an engineering degree from all but the top engineering schools in this fashion.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
