Mechanical vs Civil Engineering ?!?!?!

[MEENG86]

Originally Posted by ballintrees

im even more confused, how can one be a manager of engineers w/o going to college? and what do you all mean by doing marketing vs actual engineering/design? how are they related or different ?

If you work in an manufacturing facility there are several type of engineers you'll find. The people who actually design the products. More than likely referred to as design engineering. The majority of the times the managers in these positions will all have engineering degrees and all report to the engineering V.P. who may only have a B.S. but more than likely has an M.S. degree in Engineering

Then there are your sales engineers. They report to the sales manager. This guy for instance could have anything from a high school diploma to a Masters degree. If you're a good salesman you can get hired for this position. More than likely though, this guy has at least a bachelors degree.

Then there are your manufacturing engineers. jobs could range anywhere from lean processes to facility maintenance/ redesign to machine maintenance to quality. This is the group that more than any other group could be run by someone without a degree. Line personnel who have worked their way up to the top.

Your question also kind of relates back to what kind of engineer you want to be. If you aren't in design engineering you more than likely aren't in R&D so you more than likely aren't doing any experimental designs which would require tons of technical knowledge so the Manager of said departments don't really need to be "more" technical than the people that work for them. Plus, a lot of engineers are required the ability to be able to "work independently". A lot of this has to do with the fact that there may be limited resources to assist you or inform you with what is needed to complete a task.


Marketing is not engineering in the least. Basically, if you're in marketing you spend your time analyzing the data of the particular market you're in. Find out what the customers want. provide a wish list to engineering who then tries to design and meet the specifications you requested. Then you hope those specifications you have provided for a product range bring sales to your company. The biggest issue with marketing departments in my opinion is that most people who go into marketing only have the desire to move up the corporate ladder, which is great. The problem is they move along before they've ever learned anything or accomplished anything until they get to a point where they are in a position where they do not even know the product. Generally speaking, this is why its best to work with a Marketing analyst who has an engineering degree/ and or background, because what caused them to get that engineering degree will drive them to at least learn the product they are trying to sell. At least thats my two cents.


On a side note, Id be less concerned about my boss having a degree and more concerned about him being competent.