College, ME, EE, or ? 2

[PH927]

I have decided to revisit my future education plans and I’m looking for opinions on my situation. First let me tell you where I’m at. This may be too much information but you can skip the next paragraph.

I’m 30 years old, and a Journeymen and Residential Master Electrician. I started in the electrical field 14 years ago (I was running residential jobs when I was 16) and really liked motor controls. About 8 years ago I decided to jumped ship to an engineering firm after I realized the control work promised to me was going to the boss’s nephew. I am currently at a manufacturing company where I am part of a 7 man engineering team. My function is the electrical end of things the others are all mechanical. I bid, design, draft, program, build, test, and install most of our systems. Just in case you did not catch it I have not been to college, although I have been to a lot of training and have a lot of experience.

This brings me to my current situation, do I keep on the way I’m going, which I am doing well, or do I go get an engineering degree so I can get paid more for doing the same thing. I admit that college does intimidate me a little since I’m not sure what to expect. There are also other factors that I won’t get into.

If I do decide to take the college route that leaves me with another question, ME or EE. Strangely I think I would lean more towards the ME to give me better versatility in the machine design world. My boss (an ME) and another ME I work with think I would do very well with either degree. Although I do get this “Come to the dark side” thing from them quit frequently. I plan to at least talk to the local school when they get back in.

What do you guys think is best for the long term forecast?

Any pros, cons, or other options would be great.

P.S. We have 3 week old Twins along with two other kids so sleep is not what it use to be, please excuse any incoherent thoughts.

 

[dvd]

If you are happy in engineering then get a degree. I don't think that you will make any more money as a degreed engineer than you could make as a union electrician would who works their way up to superintendent. It's all about happiness.

 

[ctopher]

You can major in one and minor in the other. Either way, at least find a school and get started. You can be undecided for a short time and get general ed going, and talk to other students & professors to get a better understanding of ME and EE.
Good luck to you.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)

 

[carnage1]

Oddly my story is quite similar, but I won't bore you with the details. I am about to start my senior year in my BSME Program. I have an associates in EE. Your experience in electrical systems, controls and motors would serve you very well as an ME, and give you a skill set not many MEs have. Also much of the EE curriculum I have seen focuses on stuff that is very theoretical and only useful to asic and other chip designing engineers, whereas the ME programs tend to be a little more generalized.
obviously I may be a bit bias towards the decision I made, but I would strongly recommend looking into it.

As a last note I see that no one warned you about what I discovered when my third child was born last November. Once you get past two kids, your outnumbered.

 

[ctopher]

I went back to school after having 3 kids. It's hard, but doable.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)

 

[TheTick]

You are on the dark side.

You seem to have enough practical ectrical knowledge for your field of interest. The ME side would probably help you most with overall machine design and understanding of electro-mechanical components, plus give you more insight into hydraulics.

Either way, get a degree. Being respected in one workplace is not nearly the same as being respected in the greater job market. Get a degree and be the same practical tradesman you always were with a better education behind you.

 

[DonPE]

It sounds like the reason for wanting the degree is mostly money, which is OK. Right now, you have a stable job where they seem to respect you. Can you ask them to pay for your degree? Can you ask them for a raise? If you are doing the bidding, then you should have some idea about what kind of money the company is making.

Getting a degree full-time means you will have no income for 4-5 years, and will be paying on average 20K a year. It's very hard to recoup that amount of money.

I don't know how much you make, but if you make about $30/hr, then you will forgo over the years about $200,000 in total income plus another $80,000 for the school. You will also need to pay for insurance for your family, if your wife is staying home with the twins. If you start out of school at $50,000, it will take a long time to recoup your expense. Most engineering positions don't pay overtime, unlike for an electrician, so you can't just work longer hours to make more money. If you want better benefits for your kids, can you get into the IBEW?

Having a licensed trade may offer more security than engineering, which is mostly an unlicensed profession. If things are slow in your state, you should be able to test for a license in another state that's hiring, and move there for a while.

I hate discouraging you from getting a degree. But I just want you to understand that the costs are very high; the benefits not so great; and the payback period, a long time.

 

[oldfieldguy]

PH927--
Ditto to Tick's comment. AT 58, I'm too old to go get teh degree, but I've been in the engineering/technical side of things for thirty years. The degree gets you in the door with a lot more respect, IMHO.

I've been there. I have no trouble PROVING my capabilities for any employer, but many won't talk to me with thirty years of track record from microamps to gigawatts when they can get a guy with four years of experience and a degree.

And then THAT guy calls me.

Best wishes!

old field guy

 

[PH927]

It is not all about the money but it is always nice to make more. I am the kind of person that knows when they don't know something. I know I have some gaps to fill. Because I don't have an engineering degree it's harder to do what I want (not because of knowlege). I guess I am just wondering if there are other options besides college. If that's what I need to do then I will, but I have to make sure I don't miss any options. I also know college is not going to be a fast thing to do, maybe ten years?

I am still interested in ME vs. EE for the field of machine design.

Thank you.

 

[carnage1]

When I went back i started with a few key math courses I needed. I did these online through

http://online.chemeketa.edu/

They are a brick and mortar community college here in Oregon.
I was able to go back to school full time (I told my boss either I got the open night shift position no one wanted or I was quitting, he fired me two days later because he is that way) However if I could not have gone full time I would have continued doing some of my classes online.
Once I finish my BSME I am considering on online masters through

http://www.outreach.uidaho.edu/eo/

or possibly the masters in science and math education at

http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/online-degrees/graduate/science-math-education/

The point of all this is that you can find a wide variety of classes online (at a wide variety of prices). Also if you take the online classes from a physical school that is part of the standard higher education system transferring credits is usually very simple. It is a nice low risk way to get a feel for what you want to do.
As for which to settle on you don't have to decide yet. you could start by taking the classes that are common to both and seeing if you like one better.

 

[PH927]

Here is where my ME vs. EE comes from.

http://www.memagazine.org/june08/features/whoowns/whoowns.html

 

[xnuke]

I work as a controls engineer, and I've done both machine and process control projects. I think the ME is the way to go, since you have a foundation in electrical, but make sure you go deeply enough into controls, even if you have to take in from another department.

I read somewhere that the zeroth law of control design is:

"The mechanical or chemical engineer must design a system that is controllable."

No matter what, if the original system is not controllable, nothing a controls engineer does can control it.

I have a MSEE specializing in controls, but I started off as an I&C technician and a background that cross-trained me in mechanical systems, so I do well as a controls engineer since I understand how the mechanical systems are supposed to work. Most EEs do not, so I agree with David Alciatore that the mechanicals usually make better controls engineers, both in the process and in the machine control industries. However, they are not usually as good at programming, so EEs often do well as systems integrators.

xnuke
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