Math to Engineering Career advice

[trueblue221]

This is more or less a continuation of the discussion in this thread, but I moved it here to get some more feedback from a wider audience.

I am struggling with what my career goal should be and the path I need to take to get there. I would appreciate any advice you can give me.

I am looking for a career change for something that has most of the following characteristics:

-A salary not too far off what I would be making with my math degrees

-My shop skills are an asset, if not because I use them everyday, at least they give me insight into what happens after I send my work on to the next group

-Similarly, my math skills are an asset, even if they are not constantly used.

-A “good enough” solution is acceptable, and maybe even preferable (in my undergraduate research field we “knew” what the right answer was, but had trouble proving it, because it was difficult to characterize all other possible candidate solutions)

-Frequently something new to learn

-Opportunity to reduce some problems to a decision tree that can be automated once the mechanism is understood

-Involves geometry (my math field, and I am a very visual person)

-Involves less talking to other people than my teaching position currently does. Not none, just less.(I have a moderate to severe hearing loss, and while I am functional with hearing aids, listening to other people talk is a bit like constantly playing Mad Gab). Probably not hard to do because I spend over 30 hours a week in an open tutoring lab currently

-I am philosophically more inclined towards making “useful things”(i.e. Physical objects, but also in my mind, if I were to go more towards Data Science, Amazon’s recommendation engine is more useful to the everyday consumer than predictive analytics in the stock market are)

Like any wish list, I know it is probably difficult to meet all of these criteria, but it should give you a rough idea of what I’m after. My “first draft” of a career plan to meet this is the field of control engineering, but I am open to other suggestions that I may not have thought of. It appears that the general feeling is that the Master’s in Measurement and Control Engineering at Idaho State University is not going to be considered adequate in today’s job market, and that I would be better served by a post-baccalaureate program in engineering.

It also seems probable that I have made the mistake of assuming that the only way to prove that I really have a skill that I claim on my resume, is a degree. Part of the reason for this is that it seems that all of the engineering positions I have looked at require a “degree in engineering,” and usually it specifies a bachelor’s degree. It seems like people are saying that it doesn’t necessarily matter how I get the knowledge (whether that’s independent study, non-degree coursework, or “University of YouTube”), so does that mean it’s tested in the interview, or is it assessed in the first couple weeks in the job? How does this work?

 

[trueblue221]

If it would help (or if you’ve gotten this far already and want to read more), here’s a little more about my background and thought process:

I have a BS and MS in mathematics and have been teaching math at the community college level for 2 years. I no longer enjoy it like I thought I would. I think I was mislead by the fact that when I was tutoring my classmates through undergraduate and even some of graduate school, my classmates skills were rising at a rate roughly proportional to my own. This obviously doesn’t happen in the “real world” of teaching where each year you get a new group of students starting in the same place as the last one.

The first obvious solution would be to get a PHD and work at a research university, so that at least my coauthors and maybe my graduate students would continue to keep pace with the things I learn, but I do not think I have the temperament for this. When I need to do original research, I tend to freeze up and worry that someone else has already solved the problem I am working on. On the other hand I am a very good “mimic” and very adept at understanding and adapting other people’s solutions.

I had started in engineering and finished the first year of coursework for a ME degree (Statics, Dynamics, Mat Sci, and Engineering Graphics). I transferred out because engineering seemed to require a lot of time to get the work done. While mathematics was supposed to take a similar amount of time just to understand, it didn’t for me until graduate school. When I picked up the hobbies of woodworking and blacksmithing a few years ago, I began to feel that I had made a mistake. However, I was “nearly done” with my MS degree (it took two more years after that) and with a child on the way, I thought that I should just tough it out and stick with the math degrees I had spent so much time on.

I think I may have been subconsciously resisting the bachelor program because heat transfer and fluid mechanics are spelled PDE in my math major mind. Every other topic in engineering is of interest to me, but I know that general solutions to PDEs are hard to come by. Now that I think about it, this is probably biased by my mathematical background and their cultural tendency to prefer exact solutions to numerical simulation. How deep do these subjects go in a typical engineer’s curriculum?

Sorry for the novel. I just wanted to give as much info as I thought would be helpful. I appreciate all the advice that has been given and look forward to reading what else you guys have to say.

 

[Leftwow]

A lot of engineering students fail out of engineering and major in math. That's because engineering requires a lot more work and dedication. When I was in school perhaps maybe 10% switched to math. Idk, I guess math is one building block of engineering but it's really more physics and science. Personally, I wouldn't hire a math major because why hire someone who can only do math when I could hire an intern who can do engineering?

 

[BUGGAR]

I mostly got lost in your talking - I'm an engineer and I don't like social either.
But you said shop skills. Say no more and become an engineer. Others will elaborate.

 

[IRstuff]

It used to be pretty common for math majors who decided not to teach to go into software.

TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
faq731-376 forum1529

 

[MikeHalloran]

I tend to agree with xnuke in the other thread; finish out a bachelor's program in engineering.

It doesn't have to be _controls_ engineering; in fact, just a core EE or ME program should be sufficient to round out your skill set.

You already know too much about controls; you need to know more about what you're controlling.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[trueblue221]

I posed this same question to my colleague who was an engineer in the industry for many years and now teaches engineering. She knows I have only a BS and MS in Math and want to get another MS in Measurement and Control Engineering at Idaho State U. I asked her if she had any alternative suggestions. She said the following:

If you think you’re interested in process automation, I think you should spend 3-6 months taking a couple of classes or picking up basic skills via self-study or seminars from ISA, etc. get some certifications (e.g. Allen Bradley PLC Programming, Siemens PLC programming, certifications from ISA.org ETA, IFPS, etc. and then apply for jobs. Or start working in a factory now as an operator and study while you’re working. That’s the fastest way to get from point A (teaching at FGC) to point B *if* your point B is employment in industry.

Do you agree/disagree? I would appreciate any thoughts you have on her suggestion, and any further recommendations you might have for me.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Certs and self-instruction sound like a path to becoming an instrument technician.

That's not a bad thing; maybe it pays better than I imagine; maybe it's what you wanted all along.

I thought you were intending to become the guy who generates or maintains the instrumentation documentation for a facility, or engineers a control system for a complex machine, selects which PLC to use, and maybe sketches out the ladders for the PLC programming tech to implement.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[MacGyverS2000]

It may be different in other industries... but in mine, certs are a joke. I have yet to find anyone who can prove to me what you learn in a 3-day seminar is of any more worth than someone who sat down with a book on a weekend and plowed through the material.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[urgross]

I dropped out of grad school mathematics, wanting to be the next Brown Award winner, to get a BSME. Sizing chiller plants is much easier than doing Adams-Moulton analysis for the Mathieu equation-wasted about 6 months of my life and all I had was a lousy piece of shareware. I still get a big smile when I get to visit chiller plants and boiler plants I worked on-the satisfaction, personally, is so much greater.

Whether it's mathematics or ME do what you enjoy and you will be much better at it. Who needs cert's when you can point to accomplishments, the problem is just getting an opportunity and kicking ass when you get the chance. If you want to do ME work, get a BSME.