Engineering career

[ZeroLogic]

How you guys doing. Its been a few months since I graduated highschool and I'm looking for a little bit of a career change plus schooling. Right now I'm framing houses/additions and building decks and what not. When I turn 19 I lose my health insurance unless I go to a school so I want to keep that and also I want to furter my education.

Could you guys tell me some thing about a career in engineering?
I love thinking and creating things and solving problems. I was looking at either civil engineering or mechanical engineering, but leaning more towards the civil engineering. Could you guys tell me about the schooling I would have to go to and what exactly do you do when you start working. I already googled it but I'm just looking for personal opinions. Any other information would be great.:macho

Do what engineering interest you. I had that set on my career but I decided to go with owning my own business and I still have a good background with AutoCAD, CNC machines and drafting work. I think aeronautical engineer would be cool or something with NASA. My dads cousin is the electrical engineer for the space shuttle.

I was thinking of going for mechanical engineering to but it probably costs a lot. I was looking it up and you need to learn and know so much stuff that I dont even care about.

[wilkin250r]

There is a lot of math involved. You don't actually use that math while on the job, day to day. But you need that math because you need to UNDERSTAND the concepts you're dealing with.

For example, if you have a beam with a continuous load across entire length, you need calculus to describe (and understand) the load at each point, the shear stresses at each point, the torque forces at the support points, ect ect ect.

This isn't something you can just use general guidelines for. If you are actually designing these structures, you need to KNOW them 100% inside and out. Even if you don't use the math on the job, you need the math to understand the concepts you are manipulating.

But luckily, the engineering profession has been around forever, the education system has it pretty well figured out. They know how to teach you, it's not impossible, it just takes a lot of hard work. But if there is a will, the education system will make sure there is a way.

[Quad18star]

Now are you looking to become a Professional Engineer with a 4 year University ddegree and wear an iron ring on your finger , or do you want to be a technologist take a 2 or 3 year college course and get a diploma?

Professional Engineers have the right to sign off on designs and drawings ... they put the final signature on the page and say it's a safe and unflawed design.

Technicians and Technologist gather data , put together designs and drawings but don't sign off on the stuff ... it has to be looked over by a P.E.

Either way you go , you will have a LOT of math involved , like Wilkin said . You need to know just how much a beam can hold , where it's major stress points are , what load will it shear at, allow for sway in tall buildings , concrete mixtures , slump tests , etc

I took Civil Engineering Technician and I'm now taking Mining Engineering Technology ... math is in everyone of my courses . It becomes second nature after a while ..... it may look complicated , but the fact of the matter is , there's a handful of formulas that you continously use over and over again. Formulas stay the same , the numbers change.

[Regular_Joe]

Engineering = Lots of Math and Physics

CAD, CNC is most likely a 2 yrs degree
Civil, Mechanical, etc. is likely a 4 yr degree

You need to be a FULL time student to actually keep medical benefits via the parents. Usually that means 12 credits, and equates to 3 or 4 classes at a time minimum. Possibly more if you intend on graduating in that 2 or 4 yr time frame.

[trick450r]

Im on my way to a mechanical engineering degree and all i can say is if you dont like math forget about it. Im in trigonometric funtion right now and it is very very difficult. however keep the mindset that no matter what it is very hard to outsource the engineering trade. Good luck

[Regular_Joe]

In college you have to stay mentally tough. Keep reminding yourself if it was easy, everyone could do it and get a degree. They don't give them away thats for sure.

[ZeroLogic]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm stuck between a few different career choices right now and it is driving me nuts. What I really want to be is a furniture builder/designer. But its extreamly hard to make a career out of it. On the other hand I like designing stuff and solving problems like I stated. I'm not the best at math but I'm not the worst. Most of it just comes to me.

Right now I'm looking to get into a school, but for what is the real question. I'm stuck between mechanic "technician", carpentry, and engineering. Its driving me out of my mind. I want a career that isn't just sitting behind a desk screwing around on a computer. I'm a hands on worker and I love creating and building stuff. But after a while carpentry just gets old and I'm not sure if its really what I want to do.:ermm:

[54warrior]

I would pursue the furniture building thing. People will pay tons of $$$ for that stuff once you've established a name for yourself. Open up a store perhaps with all your different wooden products, etc.

[Ralph]

You should be above average mathwise and then it will get hard your 2-3rd
year when you get to second order differentials and your vibrations classes.

Either way, its alot of work.

If you are looking for a technology degree penn state altoona has a very good Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology program and is far lest focused on the theoretical stuff.

I knew a few of the guys in the program and one of them was an ex cannondale engineer who lost his job and needed to get a degree.

[54warrior]

Originally posted by Ralph

If you are looking for a technology degree penn state altoona has a very good Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology program and is far lest focused on the theoretical stuff.

I knew a few of the guys in the program and one of them was an ex cannondale engineer who lost his job and needed to get a degree.

My friend went there. Got a decent job off the bat, but just got laid off a few months ago. He may be moving to Ohio now for a sales job.

I have a 2MET degree from Penn State and it's what got me my job. I design all different types of conveyors, paint booths, etc.

Can't say that I learned a whole lot though at the PS campus I went to though, and they were absolutely NO help at all in the job search process. Very disappointing, wouldn't send my dog there!

That being said, since I've been out of college for over 6 yrs. now. I haven't seen an actual Project Engineer/Manager type of job tht I would want. It's not really much engineering at all if you ask me, at least not what I've been exposed to. More scheduling and other BS than real engineering. F that! Sure it pays more, but it's not what I would enjoy doing.

[Quad18star]

If you become a Technician or a Technologist , you will do a lot more field work as compared to a Professional Engineer who has a University degree.

The thing with a job like being a Civil Tech , no two days are ever the same ... your environment is always changing and you have new projects to work on. In Civil you'll learn everything from surveying , soil mechanics , hydraulics , physics, laws, CAD, etc .

The Tech part of Engineering is actually very interesting ( for the right person). I enjoy a challenge and having things change everyday .. that's why I'm in Mining Engineering Tech right now .

Take a good look at all the Engineering type fields ... there's a ton. One thing is for certain though .... there will always be a need for people with Engineering backgrounds. Buildings don't design themselves , roads don't build themselves.

The college I attend puts out about 200 Mining and Civil Engineering Techs each year. The employment rate for those 200 techs is 100% . Each and every one of them have gotten a job in their field.

3rd year guys ( technologists) have multiple job offers.... companies come banging on the doors and throwing offers at the students and most of the time they are trying to outbid the other employer by throwing in bonuses or higher salary.

My cousin's boyfriend .. 19 years old ... 2 year Civil Eng. Technician landed a job before he even graduated and is making $65 000+ a year and full benefits.

[54warrior]

Originally posted by Quad18star
My cousin's boyfriend .. 19 years old ... 2 year Civil Eng. Technician landed a job before he even graduated and is making $65 000+ a year and full benefits.


What college?

Why can't I find a job like that???

[Ralph]

Originally posted by 54warrior
My friend went there. Got a decent job off the bat, but just got laid off a few months ago. He may be moving to Ohio now for a sales job.

I have a 2MET degree from Penn State and it's what got me my job. I design all different types of conveyors, paint booths, etc.

Can't say that I learned a whole lot though at the PS campus I went to though, and they were absolutely NO help at all in the job search process. Very disappointing, wouldn't send my dog there!

That being said, since I've been out of college for over 6 yrs. now. I haven't seen an actual Project Engineer/Manager type of job tht I would want. It's not really much engineering at all if you ask me, at least not what I've been exposed to. More scheduling and other BS than real engineering. F that! Sure it pays more, but it's not what I would enjoy doing.

The Altoona EMET Program is pretty new and they cant even meet employers demands of students.

Last i heard there was a 100% employment rate right after the program. Local companies are even recruiting high school kids in the area and paying for them to go through this program if they agree to work for them for a year or two...

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by 54warrior
What college?

Why can't I find a job like that???

A small community college in town here ( Cambrian College).

He's a Civil Tech and landed a job with a Mining company . He plays on AutoCAD all day laying out Geologists markings.

He's really into photography and they found out about it ... he now does all the corporate photos and video for them ... which he gets paid bonus for.

[ZeroLogic]

I read a little more about types of Engineering, Civil and structal engineering struck my fancy. More so civil. What exactly does a Technician/Technologist do exactly?

Also is it hard to get into a school for Engineering? I wasn't so bright in high school and regret it every second.:ermm:

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by ZeroLogic
Also is it hard to get into a school for Engineering? I wasn't so bright in high school and regret it every second.:ermm:

Depends a lot on your target school. Something like MIT might be incredibly difficult to get into, but I doubt you have your eye set on MIT anyways.

You can almost ALWAYS get into your local university, most of them like to keep local talent.

If you are dead-set on a certain school, but can't get in, then I would suggest going to a Junior College in the same area, and apply yourself really hard. A 4.0 GPA at college level will carry ten times the weight of your high school history.

[ZeroLogic]

Well, I'm looking for a school around the Raleigh, North Carolina area.

I found Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. It don't look very hard to get into and they have a Civil Engineering class as well. But its quite far away. Should I steer away from the Community Colleges?

[wilkin250r]

A community college degree will certainly be more valuable than no degree. But a degree from an accredited university is generally a little more valuable. They generally pay their professors a little better, so the education is generally a little better.

But there's nothing wrong with going to a community college for a couple years (to get the stupid stuff out of the way, like English 101, Phsycology, or Music Appreciation), and then transferring to a university down the road. The community college will be cheaper, and most of them have a transfer program. You WILL want to check with your target university to make sure everything will transfer smoothly.

That's the way I did it, because I was paying for it myself. A couple years at the local community college, and then transfer to the university to finish up my engineering degree.

[Ralph]

If you live in pa then you would be stupid not to go to penn state.

It is such a good engineering school and so inexpensive for you compared to some of the other engineering school.

Take advantage of their satellite campuses. Spend 2 years getting your feet wet there and then if your still in you automatically transfer to university park (just keep a 3.0 and the other requirements...)

I'm sure there is a campus relatively close to you, they are everywhere....

[ZeroLogic]

Alrighty thanks for the info guys. I just don't know exactly where I want to go to school yet. I live about 45 minutes from Scraton. So Penn State ain't to far away. But I may move down to NC in July. Ah decisions decisions.:ermm: