BSME vs. BSMET degree 2

[mikem395]

I'm currently in the military and am looking to start a degree program. But I've been trying to figure out the differences between the positions I can hold in the civilian world with a BSME vs. a BSMET or BSAST in Mechanical Engineering Tech. I'm interested in design and problem solving. And I'm also very hands on. I like to "turn wrenches". The time I've spent in the navy has been as a technician. And I was hoping this experience would carry over to the civilian world. And the other problem is with my schedule in the military I barely have enough time to take classes let alone intern somewhere. I was wondering if this would be a problem also. Any help would be greatly appreciate. Thank you in advance.

 

[iainuts]

Hi Mike, Note that this thread may get deleted, but you may find this other message board more helpful:

http://www.physicsforums.com/

Anyway, I spent 4 years in the USAF (Pope AFB) as an aircraft mechanic before going on to get my BSME in 1988. There were no colleges for engineering in the area, so in the evening I could only take introductory physics, some math courses, English and humanities courses. But this actually worked out very well. The physics and math courses got me up to speed in those areas, although they didn't transfer. The English and humanities courses transfered directly though, and that allowed me to take one less course most semesters and allowed me more time to focus on the technical courses. End result was I had much more time for the hard stuff, and was well prepared for it. So although I still had to take 4 years of engineering, it was made a lot easier by taking night courses while I was still in the service.

Regarding which degree is best for you, I think you need to figure out what you enjoy the most. You can't do well at something if you don't enjoy it. That said, I still do a lot of hands on work right now, I still build prototype equipment and when it gets installed I can still work on it to some degree at customer locations. If you enjoy hands on work, a BSME won't stop you from doing that.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Twoballcane]

Hi MikeM,

Well in my onion it depends on which side of the drawings you want to be. If you want to be on the design side of the drawing where you are the person in charge of the design where you get to pick the parts and do the analysis (instead of wrenching your penciling and erasing LOL…). In order to do the analysis you have to take the BSME. The other side of the drawing is the receiving end. Once you get the drawings, you have to put it together. This is the BSMET degree side.

Some words on the BSMET. I’ve read in the past post that you don’t really need a BSMET to work as a technician. Your experience in the military may be enough to qualify as technician. If you see you’re self as one day to be manager, then I can see the BSMET can be valuable.

Keep up the good work!


Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[pipehead]

I believe a BSMET cannot sit for the EIT or PE tests to become PE's. Personally, I've made a point that a tech degree cannot call himself an engineer even if the company he works for doesn't provide engineering services. I believe your experience makes you as valuable as any ET already out there.

Get the ME degree and move from a very honorable profession to another profession.

 

[sms]

If you are up to it, go get the BSME, there is plenty of hands on stuff you can do with it. You will not regret the BSME, you very well might regret the BSMET, and then you will be back in school again!!

-The future's so bright I gotta wear shades!
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of the Eng-Tips Forums.

 

[zcp]

I know several with a BSMET who have gone back to school to get a BSME. I don't know anyone who has done the reverse.......

ZCP

http://www.phoenix-engineer.com

 

[electricpete]

Based on comparison with BSEE / BSEET, I would say that if you go to work in a plant environment, you might be better off with a BSMET in the first one or two years, and then better off with the BSME for the rest of your career.

The technology degree will familiarize you more with specific equipment and processes, the engineering degree will familiarize you more with general math and theory that applies accross a broad spectrum of equipment and processes.

The engineering graduate placed in a new area will gain familiarity with the specific equipment and processes over time. And he can understand it on a more theoretical level. More importantly, he has the tools to learn new stuff (new technology, new work assignment etc). Myself, I have never taken a formal course in a mechanical discipline (other than physics 101 F=ma etc), but I feel like I have picked it up pretty quick when my job demanded it because I had a solid math background.

The technology graduate initially has a head start in the familiarity with specific equipment and processes. But he may not have the tools to understand it on a theoretical level or easily transfer the principles to new equipment/processes that he wasn't taught about. And to catch up with the engineer by picking up the theory over time when you don't have a solid background to begin with and have been out of school for awhile would not be so easy.

In some ways, it's like the difference between giving a man a fish and teaching a man to fish.

That's just an opinion. Of course I haven't taken a technology program so I may be out of line (hope it doesnt' offent anyone). And it's also worth mentioning that a person's success may depend a lot more on the person than the education. I am sure there are plenty of technology degrees and non-degreed people who could outperform engineers in some jobs for reasons unrelated to their educations.

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[FredGarvin]

I'll chime in a bit here as well. I would say that the BSME is the way to go. I had a few classes with technology types. The thing is that YOU have control over the type of job you want and will go for. If you like being hands on, there are PLENTY of jobs out there that have engineers turning wrenches. I am one of them. If you don't want to be stuck doing a job that is not interesting to you, then you have to take control and be very proactive in your job quest after graduating. A lot of people simply send out resumes and wait for whatever comes their way. Don't do that. Let the potential employers know what you want to do. I know of a lot of places that would love to get engineers with dirt under their fingernails. I would also highly recommend smaller companies. Usually they tend to have fewer people doing more tasks so you would have a much greater chance of doing all the things you would like to.

Don't waste your time with the technology degree. The BSME will open up a lot more doors for you.

 

[65Roses]

ABET uses two internal commissions to accredit engineering and engineering technology degrees. Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) accredits engineering and Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) accredits engineering technology degrees. The criterion each degree must meet is different.

All states allow EAC/ABET graduates to sit for the PE exam. And all most all states allow TAC/ABET accredited graduates to sit for the PE exam. But that number has been shrinking and in my opinion will continue to shrink.

The problem with most Engineering Technology (ET) programs is that they are too "watered down". What I mean is the curriculum varies greatly from school to school. Some institutions only require one Calculus course. Others require three plus a course in differential equations.

Whose fault is this? I blame ABET who set the standards for accreditation of engineering technology programs. The TAC of ABET should raise the bar for ET students.

I'm a BSMET graduate and my school was re-accredited my senior year (1997). I remember one of the TAC members telling a faculty member our program resembled a BSME program more than it did a BSMET program. Unfortunately not all ET degree offering universities provide such an above and beyond minimum expectation level of education. This has definitely hurt the image of ET programs and graduates in the minds of Engineering graduates and licensure boards.

I suggest you try to obtain the BSME. This way no doors are closed for you and you all ready have good hands on skills obtained with the military.

But you may find it difficult to find an institution with flexible classes schedules such as offering night courses. Institutions with Engineering Technology Programs are usually more flexible with their course offering schedules (the idea for theses schools is to appeal to the working student instead of the traditional student).

Good luck!


Why is my handle 65Roses?
Please visit

http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/About65Roses/

to learn why!

 

[Tmoose]

"I believe a BSMET cannot sit for the EIT or PE tests to become PE's.

http://www.ppi2pass.com/ppi/PPIInfo_pg_map-ma.html

I took and passed the EIT exam a year or 2 after earning a BSMET from the University of Lowell (Massachusetts) ( Now UMass Lowell).
8 years experience plus at a few lbs of engineer calculations would need to be submitted for P status.
At that time most of the ME night courses at ULowell would have been accepted 1 for 1 in the day program. I recall Differential Equations was one of the few exceptions.

That was a long time ago.

 

[Heckler]

Check this thread:

Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Technology??
thread404-173385


Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 3.0 & Pro/E 2001
XP Pro SP2.0 P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
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(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he's all right." -- George Best

 

[jistre]

Yeah, I thought this conversation sounded familiar, Heckler.

 

[electricpete]

Rereading this thread, I realized my comments were stupid.

#1 - I have never attended any engineering technology program, so I don't have any idea what they teach. I was just going on vague second-hand info which was not a good idea.

#2 - I have great respect for folks like Tmoose for the insight he shares on this board and maintenanceforums.com

What I should have said was: There is a debate within many schools (including BS Engineering programs) about what level of theory vs practical is appropriate. My personal opinion is the theoretical part is pretty important.

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[tibbs76]

Here is a link you might find interesting. I realize this is just one school and their opinion on the topic.

http://pserie.psu.edu/academic/engineering/engvsengtech.htm

 

[mikem395]

I really appreciate all the help all you have given me on this topic. Now I just need to find a school. I'm up here in Maine, where there isn't much. But I've decided to pursue the BSME if possible. I might have to settle for the BSMET. I just don't want to settle for less. No offense to anyone. Thanks again for all the help. If you guys have any info on any online programs for BSME it would be a great help. Thanks again.

 

[Tunalover]

mikem395-
Last time I checked Case Western wasthe only school offering engineering degree programs on-line but I would double-check that the program is ABET-certified. Of course the last time I checked was probably a year ago when I was interested in on-line MS programs.



Tunalover

 

[jpankask]

You will not have much luck finding an online BS program in engineering. If you do, it's doubtful they will be accredited by ABET. There are just too many lab classes required to make distance learning effective for a BS. There are many distance learning MS programs in engineering offered by quality engineering schools but none that I am aware of offer distance learning BS programs.

 

[Tmoose]

I also should have said I'm confident my Cum Laude BSMET has usually not been the help a BSME would have been.

I'm about to put it to the test on the job market again in a few weeks, as the outfit I'm working for is getting out of the rotating machinery arena

 

[PistonRod]

Forget the tech degree, go for the bsme or better yet a masters degree. Its more work, but you'll be glad you did. You will have more respect, responsibility, self-satisfaction, and money in the field of engineering. And you can still "turn wrenches" if you want to. But you probably won't want to after the education.

I nearly made the mistake of going the easy rout of the techy degree....I'm glad I went for my BSME (wish now I went for the MS).

17 yrs experience ME machine designer and manager. Now employed with GE-Nuclear.

 

[4everlearning]

mikem395:
I have a BSMET. I am also a PE. BSME or BMSET, respect comes with PE. However, in my 22 year career, I have run across one major food company that did not recognize the BSMET, but they would accept the BSMET with the PE.
Do I regret not going for BSME? Only because of the perceived value others put on it. I am satisfied in my career. I've been employed by a major pharmaceutical firm and managed teams of designers/engineers on varied large capital projects. I have found a great deal of satisfaction on the construction side, where I have more significant impact.
I did all my schooling at night. Passed the PE in one sitting. Now, I am getting the urge to go back and obtain an MS. Continued education is for my own satisfaction, not because I think it may draw more salary.
I was able to land some very good jobs before my degree because I had one qualification that was fairly rare. I was well trained in 3D modeling. Point is, in addition to the degree, work on (and sell) one particular qualification that is useful in the industry. I would imagine your military background will do well for you.
In the end, it's the passion you bring to the job; it's the personality and motivation you bring to the team; it's your ability to take a lackluster position and manage it so that it makes you want to come to work everyday. Don't wait or depend on others to do it for you.
Pace yourself. Take a break only if you absolutely have to, but never stop. Close out your education with the PE. Don't let your employer imply to you that they have no use for the PE - do it for yourself - for closure. When you finally finish, you will probably hunger for more learning; hence, my handle.
Good luck.