anyone engineers in here

[J25]

im only a freshman but i think i want to be a mechanical engineer...I just got my 2004-2005 year class list to make my schecule for nexy year, what are some classes do you guys reccomend taking, im definitly going to take drafting ne others??

[wwclea01]

You better plan on doing nothing but school work. I started out in engineering at University of Lousville. I couldn't take it, it was way to much.

[Quad18star]

Yupp ... as stated , party hard now , cuz once classes start you'll be over your head in school work . I finished up my Civil Engineering degree this year , and let me tell you ... I'm glad its over and done with . I'm not sure whats courses are involved with Mechanical Engineering ... but take lots of math classes . I hope you enjoy math cuz you'll eat sleep and breath it until you're done . Maybe take a STrength of Materials course ( if offered) , Fluid Mechanics and Hydrolics ( also if offered) . Report writting also.

[Tommy 17]

MATH MATH MATH!!!!


i'm goin into mechinacal engineering this year... they told me take as much math as u can... i'm in calculus right now... also take any cadd classes u can in ur school!!!

[J25]

hows calculus, this year i took algebra and geometry and next year algebra 2 and maybe pre cal

[Quad18star]

Calculus and Statitics SUCK . But then again I totally hate math .I'm still trying to figure out WHY i decided on Engineering if I hate math so much . Oh well I got the papers . Geometry isn't as bad as the others. Just wait until you start tp play with Axial loads , Torsions , Shear and Moments Vectors, Newtons , Conversions and so on .... you'll just love it .. ( note the sarcasm) . But hey ... if you actually enjoy the stuff you're learning , it can be fun stuff to learn . Personally I didn't enjoy my program because of the MATH .

[batgeek]

Electrical Engineering BS from ODU
Systems Engineering MS from ODU

definitely put a major emphasis on your math curriculum prior to you Jr year. it will only make it easy for you. depending on your major, most 300 series classes will have a math prereq. even some of your 400 series classes too.

it also helps quite a bit to take computer courses.

[spincr4hire]

Mechanical Design Engineer

[dbsbl1]

Senior ME student at Bradley University...check out the link below to take a look at my senior design project:)


Be ready to do homework until you can't take it anymore...then you realize you've still got two classes worth of work left:(

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by dbsbl1
Senior ME student at Bradley University...check out the link below to take a look at my senior design project:)


Be ready to do homework until you can't take it anymore...then you realize you've still got two classes worth of work left:( HAHAHA Man I couldn't have put it any better ... " Be ready to do homework until you can't take it anymore ... then you realize you've still got two more classes worth of work left" ... I remember those 4:30 AM mornings doing assignments . I realized coffee tastes like crap but it sure does keep you awake . Nothing liek leaving a project that usually takes about 48 hrs of class/idependant time to do and you have 1 week to cram it all together along with 6 other classes.

Not trying ro discourage you from Engineering ... just trying to prepare you so its not a total shock . Engineering can be an enjoyable course/career and you can make good coin if you get on with the right company . I knwo the head guys in charge of Mine Shaft Designs in my area are making well over $400 000 a year . But then again ... I live in a town where mining is life . If you ever come to Sudbury Ontario Canada , you will see nothing but rocks and mines and one huge smoke stack .

[J25]

so what kind of h/w are u talkin about, like math or what..


see i love to design and fabricate stuff especailly big projects so should i go for mechanical design or mechanical engineering?




i appreciate all of your guys feedback on this

[Quad18star]

I used to have homework from Math/Statistics classes , Strength of Materials classes , English , and especially Auto Cadd. CADD is probably one of the funnest classes .... but also the most time consuming . You can draw some awesome things using it ... but if you miss 10 minutes of the class and they did soemthing important , you're basically screwed . I walked in maybe 15 minutes late one day and the teacher told me I might as well just go home and coem to his class the next day because I wouldnt have understood a thing he was teaching that day . I believed him when he started pulling files and commands from places on the computer I never knew existed .

[TORO1968]

<--- Process engineer here. Graduated w/honors from Purdue University this past May. :D

[J25]

whts a process engineer do???

[marksuttonjr]

I have a drafting degree, and have taken a little over a year woth of classes for Mechanical Engineering. I could not take any more of the ME classes. The were getting too hard for the work that I could put out while working.

[TORO1968]

Originally posted by J25
whts a process engineer do???

I design and improve manufacturing processes... Basically I come up with new/better ways to process raw materials into final products.

Right now I'm doing a lot of project engineering and management...working with contractors and vendors to make sure everything gets done as I expect it to be. :)

Let me know if you want to know more.

-Jordan

[rider#15]

I'm an engineer in training I guess. I'm a sophmore goin for an electrical engineering degree out here in texas tech. Not a whole lotta places to rider out here in Lubbock but I make do when I go back home for breaks.

[wilkin250r]

Yeah, you're going to need heavy math. If you have a GOOD math background, you may be able to jump right into calculus in your first semester. Otherwise, take a pre-calc math course to make sure you have all the background knowledge before jumping into calculus.

You're not going to be able to jump right into a Strength of Materials or a Fluid Mechanics class. All of those will require a Calculus as a pre-requisite.

I would take either pre-calculus or calculus, English 101, and get a few of your core requirements out of the way, like Music Appreciation, Social science, Western Traditions. I'm sure your college also has an Intro to Mechanical Engineering course. You're not going to be able to take anything really technical or usefull until you get Calculus out of the way, and probably Engineering Physics as well.

[vetteblues10]

i am in my second year at purdue university, studying mechanical engineering. there isn't a day that goes by that i wish i could ride my wheelers. i look for to riding more than anything when i do go home. however college is really awesome so have fun, but study hard. took me a year to catch on to the studying thing. hopefully i think i have it down now. good luck J25, where you planning on going?

[dbsbl1]

Originally posted by wilkin250r
Yeah, you're going to need heavy math. If you have a GOOD math background, you may be able to jump right into calculus in your first semester. Otherwise, take a pre-calc math course to make sure you have all the background knowledge before jumping into calculus.

That's good advice. Even if you test into Calculus, if you're unsure, take a pre-calc class. It can be a pain...especially calc 2.


Originally posted by wilkin250r
You're not going to be able to jump right into a Strength of Materials or a Fluid Mechanics class. All of those will require a Calculus as a pre-requisite.

Nope...Those are junior level classes. You'll have to learn how to integrate before you can take those classes, which is generally calc 2. Fluids requires thermodynamics which has many more pre-req's, including calc. Strengths of Materials is the same way - statics and dynamics and eng. physics...which requires calc 2.

Notice a trend??:(

[bigboy03]

ah, just get a business degree, an MBA and a law degree and then you can manage the engineers. I have 90 civil engineers working in my office. Its nice to be the boss:devil:

If you do go for the engineer, these guys are telling you right, take all the math you can handle, you will need it. But its really not all that bad, just hang in there.

[QuadMatt]

Im a process engineer, have been for 5 years. And I dont even have an engineering degree and i dont do math. (thats what computalators are for) Im more about analytical thinking and problem solving.

My advise, be an engineer if your aptitudes are conducive to engineering. This means being able to imagine in 3D and be very mechanical. But if you are more creative, maybe go for design.

[Quad18star]

You will notice that the first couple years , there is a LOT of math ... but after that it gets easy . The math gets repetitive . Be prepared to learn a LOT of stuff in short periods of time ... and learn by mistakes . Try doing a 6 mile surveying loop and realizing when you're right at the end , that you forgot to zero set the instrument. There goes a WHOLE day worth of Calcs and work ... you WILL learn to zero set after this happens to you. I'm not sure if you will need to take surverying ... but for myself it a required course .
They show you how to do everything long hand ... using the old instruments ... then they bust out the good stuff and the machine calcs all the angles and crap. You'll probably want to KILL your teachers .
We jumped into Strength of Materials in our 3rd semester . I never knew there was SOOOOO much involved in constructing a building , bridge , or road . Construct a Loadign Diagram , Shear Diagrams , find moments of inertia . blah blah blah ... My fave class out of it all was the Law section . Got to learn how to refuse unsafe work .. how to construct time tables and meet deadlines .. how to present evidence to a court room , how to write a legit contract , how to pay people , etc.

Was a great program .... not many jobs for a Civil Engineer in my area though ... thats why I work as a Retail Sales person in aftermarket sled parts and quad parts .