Help! Future Engineering Student Lost And Confused 4

[ewright33]

Here is my situation:

I am currently a soldier in the US Army, I am 21, and I want to be a mechanical engineer. My dad was a mechanic, but I have little to no technical experience. I get out of the army in a year, and am planning to go to Oklahoma to pursue my degree. However, I have a few issues:
1) I want to work while I am pursuing my degree, and I want to work in an area which relates to mechanical engineering. Anyone have any recommendations? Where to start, what to pursue? I have looked into being a machinist, but I am unsure whether or not it is a deviation from engineering.
2) Anyone have any information on apprenticeships and/or internships in Oklahoma for trade skill jobs? Is it something I should pursue?

I realize I sound like an idiot here, but I need some advice and a direction in which to go. I don't know whether to just work for a min wage job while in college and get my degree or get a technical skill first or what. I will have money to just pay for college and a house but I need to have a job when I get out, and other than job qualification for an unrelated job which I do in the army, I have very little on my resume. Please, anyone with any helpful tips or hints would be greatly appreciated! And the sooner the better. Thanks so much~

 

[TheTick]

Everyone starts out wanting to design motorcycles or race cars or jet fighters or rockets. Be forewarned, there are plenty of crappy jobs in all of these industries.

 

[IRstuff]

Well, not everyone. ;-)

Most of my peers, freshman year, wanted to be physicists, but there are only a handful of jobs waiting at the other end, so Physics 1 was the "weeder" class, and by 3rd quarter, my roommate who started out wanting to be a physicist declared as EngLit.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[controlsdude]

If you noticed that you need to be prepared prior to attending a four year college. Most use the 1st year in the enginneering program to weed out all the below standard students.

If your weak in math and science you will be one of these below standard students.

Most of the problems I saw was that students either wanted to party too much, work too much while in school, or were just lazy.

Ramping up in a community college prior to 4 year college is a stepping stone for some, like me. Its not a knock on anyone, depends on what knowledge and level schooling you had before hand.

 

[telecomguy]

You should also investigate the industry you would like to get into. In addition to planes, trains, and automobiles, mechanical engineers are in the energy industry (oil/gas, wind, electric), consumer products, HVAC, etc. I'm in the telecommunications industry.

I am often asked what a mechanical design engineer does in the telecom industry. My answer is "I'm responsible for everything you can see". Design tasks include everything from sheet metal enclosures, cables, paint, and labels, to PCB layout, LEDs, power distribution, EMI, and thermal management.

The hardware engineers are responsible for managing the electrons flowing thru the product and the software engineers are responsible for designing bugs. The mechanical engineer does everything else.

<tg>

 

[IRstuff]

"If your weak in math and science you will be one of these below standard students."

Here's an example from a school that does weeding in physics, as discussed. Stats from 2008:

SAT Reading% Math% Writing%
700-800 76 100 71
600-699 23 0 28
500-599 1 0 1

I guess one might argue 720 Math SAT is "weak" in a school with lots of 800 Math SATs, making one "below standard." ;-)

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[bigTomHanks]

I suggest that you choose a school that is near an area that has a lot of industrial opportunity. This may require that you goto a branch campus of a university that you want but the opportunities to work in something relevant will be much higher. As others have suggested use the first year or two to concentrate on your education. This will also give you the opportunity to readjust to life outside of the military. Use those benefits that you have worked so hard to earn to live off of and only get a thinkless job that has a flexible schedule as to not interfere with your education or social life. Also actively participate in student engineering clubs, this will give you the chance to work on a team, do some design/build, and give you something to show off in an interview. In the middle of your sophomore year work with your university career center and local companies to line up a coop or internship. The maturity and discipline that you learned in the Army will make you stand out against your peers and the opportunities will be there if you are proactive. I have a friend who did exactly what I am suggesting and he is very successful and is now working in a high paying, top secret government job. I did things backwards, I enlisted after getting my BSME and it was the best experience of my life. Either way good luck and enjoy the next few years!

 

[zelgar]

You may wish to look at regional campus for some of the bigger universities. Here in Indiana, the major schools are Indiana University and Purdue University (which has the engineering school). Many of the regional campus offer engineering studies, but have much smaller class sizes. Some people will go to the regional campus for the first year or 2 just to get through all of the "weed-out" courses before going to Purdue's main campus, while having a lot smaller class size. If you decide to stay at the regional campus, your degree will still state that you graduated from Purdue University, but at the regional campus location.

There's advantages and disadvantage to the regional campus, but if you're wanting to work outside of school it's probably a big advantage. Also, a lot of the regional campus have night classes for those that are working and trying to get their degree.

 

[thruthefence]

While trained in engineering, back in the Pleistocene, my life took me in another career path, mostly because of my young, "smart mouth" in my first job.

Not wishing to start a war, but when I see comments like

"Neither "machinist" nor "mechanic" directly relate to "mechanical engineering." The former fabricates, or refabricates, what a mechanical engineer designs, and the latter fixes it when it breaks."

I am reminded of things that I have seen in my career, maintenance & inspection wise, that lead me to believe the clever folks who design this stuff could benefit from a little "hands on" experience.

I'll cite an example;

A new model aircraft comes on the market, and this particular airplane has an inspection panel under the wing, near where the center section attaches to the outer wing panels. This panel is attached to the wing with approximately 15 100 degree 10-32 counter sunk machine screws, approximately 1/2" long. With one exception. One of the screws is only 3/8" long. If this particular screw is not installed in it's exact proper location, it will bite right into the wing attach lug of the fwd spar. No placard on the proper fastener hole, no annotation in the manuals, nothing but somebody's (misplaced) faith in a sweaty, overworked mechanic noticing the .125" length difference in a fistfull of screws in a plastic cup.

This is a "mechanic trap" of the first magnitude.

Now, somebody was clever enough to recognize the possibility of fouling the attach lug, they did spec a shorter screw, of course, but the knowledge of how things really happen in the field may have prevented an service bulletin rework after manufacture. (Which to the oem's credit, did occur.)

Please don't lecture me about the compromises that "must be made",in the discipline of Engineering, I am well aware of them.

 

[beej67]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I wonder what you do in the Army, and whether or not there's a way to spin that into some exposure in a somewhat related field.

My experience in the workplace is that there are very few jobs that don't have some sort of Venn Diagram overlap to other jobs.

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

http://www.campbellcivil.com

 

[rmw]

Interesting thread.

ewright33, My USN experience landed me in the bowels of one of their finest guided missle destroyers deep in the boiler and engine rooms. When I got out and hit Uni to pursue my ME degree, I immediately applied for and got an on-campus job in the power house which made power and steam for the campus (heat and absorption A/C). A contact I made while working there with a service engineer for a major power plant equipment OEM ultimately led to a job with that company. It was the only one I was offered in a time when most of those who graduted with me had no offers and ended up in Viet Nam. I have been in or close to that industry ever since (and still am although I work with jet engine technology now).

I would note that when I got out of college the first time that there were lots of aerospace engineers unemployed and driving cabs as we had just a year or so prior put a man on the moon and they were thousands of laid off engineers. I would also note that there are currently plenty of laid off aerospace engineers here in Houston due to the end of the Space Shuttle program. Think twice about that one.

Plenty of work, however in aviation and aviation engine derived power generating equipment - you might say faux rocket science. Gas fired and all green, you know.... Your interest in ME and your background in intellegence would make you an excellent candidate for the regulatory stuff we have to keep up with.

My story was kind of like Pmover's above except I beat him, I took 8 years to get a 5 year degree. However, my pre-graduation work experience (I later got a real Jr. Engineering job after working for a couple of years in the campus power house) was what got me a real job at a time when not having a job meant a ticket to SE Asia.

Some of that work experience was just plain mechanic work on ditch digging equipment, slinging tools, getting dirty and greasy, learning how to cut and weld, sand blast, paint, etc. and it pays off even to this day understanding how things go together and come apart (or not) and what the people who have to do that work have to go through to get it done. Some of it was in a machine shop, not as a machinist, but as an Jr Engineer who dealt with projects and problems associated with the machine lines. Invaluable. Being a hands on engineer is what has me employed today when most men my age are worried about being downsized.

Go for it and good luck. Just study hard and make good grades - hard to do with the program you have in mind. I wish I had done better in that regard, although what helped me offset the not so good grades was the work experience I brought to graduation.

rmw

 

[stkyle]

If you have the money, I suggest going to school full time and looking for internships. It's a good way to get a feel for the industry. The big name companies are extremely competitive, but there are many other ways to get a good internship. My first internship was working with Northrop Grumman, a prof. sent out an email to the entire department and six other guys and I responded... We all got the job without interview. We ended up working directly with four senior Northrop Grumman engineers and an Air Force captain.

I got my second internship in a more traditional manner, through the school job website. The important thing is to keep checking the boards and apply early and prolifically. I usually start applying for summer internships around December.

I agree with rmw, it's tough to design something if you don't know how it would be built. Don't overlook anything just because it's not in the field you want to work in. I get a lot of strange looks at career fairs "...we don't design many airplanes at Cisco"

Don't underestimate the effect of your Army experience; Leadership and Teamwork, employers eat that stuff up.

The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.

 

[imcjoek]

Working as a machinist (an actual machinist, not a CNC babysitter) would put you ahead of many applicants in your post-graduation job search.

I work for an OEM machinery builder and we are currently searching for designers. All of our applicants have at least a B.S. in mechanical. Many have a masters. Some have multiple degrees in related fields (math, physics, other engineering fields, etc).

90% cannot explain to me what each bit of "5/16-18 UNC" means.

If you have previous or concurrent hands on experience, schooling will help you to understand that experience on a higher level.
Otherwise there will be no context to relate the education to, and it will just be a stream of meaningless numbers.

 

[FeX32]

90% cannot explain to me what each bit of "5/16-18 UNC" means.

Are you serious? This is seriously deficient. This is extremely basic knowledge of threads/fasteners that you need to know to design even one simple bolt.
Also, you don't need to be a machinist to know this. Engineers are the ones that specify this.
(It does help i guess a bit if you have built your own little things from time to time, but not a necessity)


Fe

 

[MacGyverS2000]

I had to look up what the 'N' stood for as for the life of me I couldn't figure it out... then I realized it should be printed UnC to be more clear. Guess I had it right after all.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[FeX32]

You see, even the electricals have it down packed


Fe

 

[imcjoek]

Are you serious? This is seriously deficient. This is extremely basic knowledge of threads/fasteners that you need to know to design even one simple bolt.

Very serious.

Take any of these guys that show up to Mech-Other asking questions out of statics 101. These are the guys showing up looking for work!

(as a complete aside, I've never seen it as "UnC", even if that makes more sense in a (Un)ified (C)ourse kind of way)

 

[Twoballcane]

Tradesman knowledge is different than Mechanical Engineering knowledge. Knowing a type of screw is not Mechanical Engineering knowledge, coming up with a free body diagram so that you can calculate the Von Misses stress to see if the screw will fail is Mechanical Engineering knowledge. The core Mechanical Engineering subjects are Thermal Dynamics, Heat Transfer, Material Science, Statics, and Dynamics. Your four years (or five years depending on the program) will be covering these subjects. Topics on machining will be covered in one week or less. Don’t limit your future employment on being a liaison between Engineering and the machine shop. Try to have the mindset to use the theories you learned in school to improve the products that are out there. Not just the nuts and bolts, but the quantification (i.e. material, statics, heat transfer…etc) of how to make the product better. For work, since you are part of our proud service, you are a leader in your own right. Look for work that will expand your leadership qualities. Small to mid size companies may be looking for Mechanical Engineers with machinist knowledge, but the large companies are looking for Mechanical Engineers who can quantifiably make their product better.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
“Luck is where preparation meets opportunity”

 

[FeX32]

Well said Twoball


Fe

 

[KENAT]

Funny, I've seen job adds for large organizations asking for experience with machining etc.

Are you saying those are very much the exception?

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[MacGyverS2000]

I don't think anyone would argue that practical experience makes any engineer stand out from a crowd of inexperienced ones. No sane company would turn down the opportunity to get the former if they were bombarded with the latter. It's not often I see that requirement (desire?) listed in a job ad, though...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com