engineers! pass down your experience!

i'm going to become an engineer, and it is VERY important to me right now to know what kind of information will i need afterwards, so i can concentrate on learning it, and learning it the right way.

for example, to what extent did you use all the math you learned? all the series and differentials, the double and triple and line integrals, green's theorem and all the different equations to solve ALL kinds od differential equations, all that stuff which you learned, which has engineering applications but seem too far fetched to be confronted in career situations, i don't think i'll ever need to compute the center of gravity of a complex body by revolving the function of its curve and all that, if i get a curve there has to be a soft copy, and the rest is a click away..

OR, am i going to be asked to find that stuff like being asked face to face in a meeting when i can't use a computer? in my work, will i be given enough time to collect all the forgotten info i need to accomplish my task or do i need to have it close in memory?

electrical circuits and magnetic fluxes, will i deal with them extensively or not? they have electrical engineers for that right?

all the different material properties and manufacturing processes and thermodynamic equilibrium, i'm not saying i'll completely forget them but am i expected to solve or consider a complex problem at short notice? material properties should i like memorize them? to what extent? i can always research and compare, cast irons grey and white and all the structures inside; rosettes and lammelars and stuff, melting and different phase's temperatures and composition percentages, will i be needed to give an instant answer?

how much should i memorize and how much should i understand? when exactly did you have to recall an equation you learned in your bachelor's degree and solve it as a requirement of your job?

ALSO, this may all change depending on the position you hold in a company, so what positions ARE available, what're their requisites? how good do they pay and what kind of assignments are you supposed to carry out?


in conclusion; what did you regret not doing in your bachelors degree? and what is it that you did that benefited from so much you feel you're lucky for not neglecting, which altered your performance in your professional life greatly?

 

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oh and btw, while i'm a mechanical engineer, and that's what i's asking about, it won't be much different from other engineers(i think[?]), or even other science majors who end up working in companies, (as opposed to research or academics)

 

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Of course you are. Meetings always raise questions. You'll be expected to give a ballpark answer at the very least.

You'll need to know how and when to apply what you've learnt, and how to look it up if you can't remember.
And engineering is full of complex problems that require solving at short notice: that's why you'll be employed. If it wasn't required at short notice any idiot could pick up a book and work it out. Engineering is about getting the job done on time and you don't know what problems will arise before you start.

Not really - to start with you'll be expected to be able to find those things but the more you use them the more you'll remember them.
And then you can be a real geek.
For example pounds to kilogrammes conversion: 2.2046226218, multiply or divide as required, or the density of steel: 7.847.

You should understand all of it.

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What's the point of knowing an equation, for example, if you don't understand what it's for or how/ where it's used?

What's a bachelor's degree?

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You've got to know the basics, otherwise you won't even get an interview.

 

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Great!

Well as a Mechanical Engineer myself, I cant really see much difference in the fundamental skills engineers have, which is to think logically and practically, come up with creative solutions, and have a good aptitude for problem solving. The basic question I am asked/ask myself frequently every day is "how will we do this?". Some solutions are expensive, some are difficult to implement, some are damn right impractical, but in the end you will weigh up all the options and settle on a compromise that satisfies what you think the customer wants (whether its an internal customer or external) on time, on budget. Remember - Engineers are in the business to make money for the company. That will drive the bulk of your desicions. You just have to take all you know, to create something of value that someone else is willing to pay you for.

Fresh out of schooling you wont be expected to roll of complex equations off your tongue. But you will be expected to have a good fundamental understanding of mechanics, maths etc. The vast majority of what I learned came after I started my first job. University simply gave me a good grounding in the fundamentals.

Usually you will have an idea what the meeting is about and you can prepare. At first its unlikely you will have much responsibility, more than likely you would have a mentor/buddy who can show you the ropes, get you used to the methods and techniquies you will be using. You will spend quite some time training on the job. As you gain confidence/knowledge you will be more able to answer technically challenging questions.

I used to work for a company on FADECs and as a Mech Engineer, I didnt need to do any electrical circuit work what so ever. If as a Mech Engineer you work for a company making electrical products you will probably find yourself in a team on multidsciplinary team. It really depends on what industry you end up in. Engineering is quite a broad term, you may be a designer (CAD drawings, parts lists, etc) or an analyst (stress analysis, fatigue, thermal etc etc again it all depends on what you company makes) There a shedload more subjects you could potentially get involved in, chances are you will find something you like and focus on that (ie for me it was Stress and Fatigue analysis). So there are potentially endless routes you career could take eventually.

If you do a decent course at a decent university you wont need much more, because any specific detailed knowledge will come from the time you spend at the company you work for. A company that uses composites will have in-house knowledge and experiance that you will learn from. Standard uni courses on the Mechanics of Materials should be OK. You are not going to be expected to reel off data from memory just for the sake of it. You will be expected to understand most of it though.

As long as you fully understood the equation when you were in school, you shouldnt need to memorise complex stuff. You will always have reference books available, I have several books on my desk. Its not important to memorise equations, its more important to understand them. Of course some equations are simple and you shouldnt really struggle (eg Youngs Modulus = Stress/Strain). Engineers use as much information to make good decisions, using the best tools available to them. Besides every company I worked for had design guides, best practices etc. You will usually be expected to follow them (eg for me there were specific types of equations we had to use, as certification of aircraft structures cant be done using just any old method). Like I said, you will learn THE MOST when you start working. University simply gives you and overall basic backround. Its is there to get you into a certain mindset. You core skill should be to embrace challenges and be a keen problem solver. Engineering for me has always been about solving problems.

Blimey, that varies hugely depending on what industry you end up in. Broadly speaking, in the various companies I have worked for, there are some basic similarities: beyond you career as an engineer, you may have the opportunity to follow two routes, one along the management route, one along the technical route. Some people switch over from time to time. Basically if you follow the management route, you will take on more project magaement, people managament, budgets etc. In other works, manage. If you went the technical route, you will essentially aim to become an expert. Buliding up detailed knowledge and become an asset to the company by being a key source of experiance and knowledge. In my experiance, managers get paid more. Technicaly guys complain about not being paid as much, but the experts really enjoy the job. At some point you may have to decide if you want more money, or a more interesting job. If you are really lucky you may get both!

Hmmm....well in between my Masters I did spend time working in placements for companies, eg summer jobs, I even spent a year working for one aerospace company before returning to uni to complete final year. Without doubt getting that experiance was the best desicion I made in my life. I graduated having experiance on my resume (attractive to employers), with a much better idea of what I wanted to do (eg for me it was Aerospace). And of course, make you you get a result you feel accurately represents your ability. Get that balance between social life and work right when you are studying, dont neglect either of them!

If you can get 6 or 12 month placements with companies, I strongly advise you do it. Companies like having someone cheap eager to learn. And they may even offer you a job once you graduate.

 

I used it extensively in grad school. I don't use it so much on the day-to-day now that I'm working, but then I would never have gotten this job or the skills required for it without grad school, and I never would have gotten into grad school and understood what was being taught without the math.

Both to some extent. Depends on the job. You'll be expected to know stuff that's highly pertinent to what you're working on off the top of your head - what exactly that consists of will depend on what the job is. But probably most of it will be things you learn on the job, rather than equations from undergrad.

On the other hand, there's an expectation that certain basic things will have been so pervasive in undergrad that every graduate with half a brain in his head will know them by heart. In EE this would be stuff like Ohm's Law, Fourier transform, etc. This isn't so much a question of memorization and recall so much as the common vocabulary of the field, which you need to master to be able to talk sensibly with other working engineers.

Depends on the job. If you aren't an electrical engineer, you probably don't care so much. But there are mechanical engineers that work on things like motors and turbines that involve electromagnetism, so you should have at least a solid grasp on the basics, if not expertise yourself. Even if electrical engineers will be handling that aspect of it, you need to know enough to have an intelligent conversation with them so you can work together and have confidence that everyone understands one another and what needs to get done.

Probably knowing how to figure the stuff out (in a reasonable amount of time) is more important than knowing stuff from memory. But being able to spit out complex stuff from memory can be very helpful in job interviews.

I'd say understanding is more important - that you know what equation is relevant and can quickly find it is more important than memorizing it. Although, again, memorization can impress potential employers at job interviews.

I can't comment on that generally. It varies a lot by industry and even within industries. And it doesn't sound like you'll be working in my industry anyway, so...

Hmmm.... nothing, offhand.

Working intern positions in real engineering fields during the summers. That is the most important thing you can possibly do, and a good track record there will make up for any number of academic blunders, job-wise.

 

I think: to be an engineer is a way of thinking, a way of perceiving reality.
If you're an engineer then you can be any kind of engineer.You choose what you like.
You must learn how to learn ,in university.
I wish you success

 

Whatever discipline you want to pursue, I assure you that you need a LOT of information. I am an IIT graduate and know.

Not all of that math is going to be used in professional work. but at academic level it is needed to broaden to horizons of knowledge.

One thing, centre of gravity of a complex body is CRUCIAL.



ele

Not unless you are in electrical engg, that too dealing with generation etc. But you MUST know about it. Though a Civil Engg Grad, I too had to pass such exams.

Materials are what an engineer deals with.

Memorisation does not make an engineer. You MUST think. You must know the fundamentals etc,.

I never regretted being an engineer.

 

Much of what you will need to know, you learn on the job.

No matter what specialized classes you take at the undergraduate level, a vast of them majority won't help at your first job or pretty much any job. Make A's in your core engineering classes, and you will bet set. Don't spend your own extra money accumulating knowledge you won't need. Rather, get out and continue your education at your employer's expense. It is a tax deduction for them, so most of them are open to the idea.

I would recommend accumulating as much work experience as you possibly can while in school. Start getting part-time research jobs ASAP, and try to land summer jobs. Research jobs at universities are good experience because you will probably be required to operate a higher level than your first actual job. But try to get both kinds of experience.

Aside from making good grades, the biggest advice I could give is this: your school matters a lot for your first job. The people screening your resume are typically pretty dumb, so they automatically hone in on your school then GPA. A 3.2 student from a top school will probably get more and better job offers than a 3.9 honors student from a mid-tier school, even if the latter student is better.

A resume with no GPA from Cal Tech or Stanford is automatically assumed to be better than a resume from Big Sky State University with a 4.0 GPA. I have seen really mediocre candidates from Harvard or Princeton end up with the same job as stellar candidates from public universities. True, the stellar employees may rise faster, but they are the exception: the mere above-average candidates from public institutions never really had a shot. If they could make it past the resume screening process, they would though.

Also, most engineers really shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to displaying soft skills. You see these guys with great technical skills and abysmal personalities. Half of an interview is to test your technical competence. The other half is to assess if it would be to enjoyable to work with you. One thing I like to see is some kind of involvement with a sports team or social activity. It basically tells me the person is at least normal.

In conclusion,
Rule #1: Make good grades, especially in core classes.
Rule #2: Graduate from the best school you can, even if it means transferring.
Rule #3: Accumulate experience. It gives you practical knowledge and potential contacts.

 

It may take a bit of effort, but try to get the fundamentals clear. That is what IIT did to me. Second, try thinking, not depending on manuals. They do not and cannot cover all the aspects.