Mechanical engineers, what career did you end up with? 2

[himeshlem79]

Recently separated from the military, soon going to begin college on the path to an engineering degree. Somewhat torn between electrical and mechanical engineering. Trying to figure out my career options as google has only been so much help so far.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I started engineering school as an electrical engineer but switched to mechanical in the middle of my second year. After graduation, I worked 14 years as a machine designer. Along the way I was introduced to CAD and three years later I changed careers, left hard engineering and went to work for the company that had sold us the CAD software. I spent the next seven years in various roles in the sales and sales support organization before moving over to the R&D group where I worked as a product manager. When I retired, after 36 years with the company, I was in the role of corporate evangelist, representing the company around the globe at conferences and symposiums as well as working with our major clients helping them understand what our product directions were and how they could maximize their use of our software products. I retired six years ago after working nearly 49 years in engineering.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[pmover]

the responses will vary . . . based on individual's wants and desires.

like yourself, i'm former sailor and learned propulsion systems.

so, i'm a ME. myself, & several classmates, despised electrical engr classes - too many "loose electron" professors. probably should not have written the previous sentence, but studying electrical matters was not easy at the time for me. not easy to understand.

however, the more involved i became in project engineering roles, i began to learn and understand I/E details, needs, etc. i've enjoyed relations with the I/E engrs over the years.

perhaps this may help you. i, for one, need to understand the physical nature of objects and how they work, interact with other components, and their impacts. so, for me, ME was an easy choice.

life is a continuous learning experience, so you may end up changing your profession after graduation. several of my classmates did not pursue mechanical engineering roles.

regardless, good luck and have fun!

 

[CWB1]

I grew up in a diesel/automotive job shop so going into the auto industry after the military and college made sense given my background and being the US' largest manufacturing sector. A lil over a decade later I (recently) jumped into a govt engineering role for a healthy pay increase, pension, and future job security. Had I known then what I did now, I'd probably have gone into civil or other non-engineering business as an owner. The next decade or two is going to be interesting and painful for MEs stateside IMHO as there is a going to be a tsunami of top talent leaving a massively shrinking auto industry due to electrification and displacing many in other industries as businesses trade up.

 

[IRstuff]

You posted in an ME forum, but here's my two cents. I started out as EE, but migrated kicking and screaming into systems engineering and, surprise!, I love it. Obvs, there are those that pick their discipline and love their original choice, YMMV. At the end of the day, what we say here is irrelevant; you will and should pick something that will get you out of bed each morning and raring to go to work; if neither does that, then they probably aren't for you.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[hydtools]

Started college in engineering physics, changed to mechanical engineering. Spent 42 years in pneumatic and hydraulic product design, R&D, marketing, production.

Ted

 

[chicopee]

I started my college education in C.E. but then I realized that weather conditions were not in my liking when I had to do topog. assignment in the middle of a winter so I switched to M.E.. I worked in six different areas as an M.E.. First in the installation of altitude chambers; research engineer for a chemical company; design of microwave antennae when the public at large had UHF and VHF televisions; boiler and machinery and multiline surveys for an insurance company; as an ME for a bridge contractor, and last in my dwindling years special projects for environmental firm.
All my assignments were gratifying and I learned a lot but my disposition is to always find out what's on the other side of the fence. So every ten years or so I took that one step into insecurity when I went to another job. The quest for knowledge is priceless and the myriad of people you encounter is fascinating. The path that I took may not be for everyone but there is a wide open world for the taking.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I had basically two employers in 49+ years. My first 14 years was with a company back in Saginaw, Michigan, which manufactured food and chemical processing equipment (it was actually a British owned company out of Peterborough, England). I then worked nearly 36 years for a company that started-out as a division of McDonnell Douglas and ended up as part of Siemens AG. The same basic company just that it was bought, sold, merged, spun-off, IPO'd, sliced and diced several times, but it was like the guy who owned the original axe that George Washington used to chop down the Cherry Tree. Of course, the handle had been replaced twice and head once, BUT it WAS the ORIGINAL axe.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[Gr8blu]

If you want to be an engineer, really understand WHY you want to be one. Then read (or maybe re-read) Rudyard Kipling's "Sons of Martha".

My intent was to become both a pilot and an aeronautical engineer. However, failed the vision test so could not pilot. That left me at somewhat loose ends: a natural mechanical bent, but having to pay my own way through school (no loans or scholarships). I reasoned that if I had to pay the freight, I wanted something that would make me buckle down and really learn the material. That meant taking the EE path. The good side is that I got to try several branches of EE as I progressed: robotics, large scale chip design and integration, coding, antennas and signals, control, power transmission, and machine design. Lo and behold, the idea of constructing a rotating machine to do useful work really appealed to me (the mechanic side) while the magnetics and electrics really worked my brain. Several decades later (see the tag line below), and I have never looked back.

Bottom line: choose something you like to learn about or actually do - and it won't ever seem like work.

Converting energy to motion for more than half a century

 

[TheTick]

Demand for electronics-literate MEs with design skills is only going up, up, UP.

 

[LittleInch]

Designing electric motors?

Really too wide a topic for a forum discussion or anything given what we don't know about you (i.e. virtually anything), your interests, what you did in the military, what you find fascinating, do you fancy design, manufacturing, operations/mainteanece or construction?

I took a Mech Eng degree and wanted to design trains and rolling stock. First job was in a pipeline and storage tank company and I've doing that ever since (35+ yrs....). If you get sidetracked, see if that is actually the track for you or not. If not reverse quickly.

Key for me has always been enjoy what you do. As an engineer you have a lot of choices - choose carefully as the Knights Templar say.



Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[hydtools]

My ME took me to side roads into instrumentation for stress/strain, noise and vibration.

Ted

 

[LittleInch]

issue got solved

Please tell us how - We've told you a lot so it's payback time....

Or was this just a way to insert a mysterious link?

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[Sparweb]

I think we've been pouring our hearts out to a 'bot.
My firewall blocked it and the suspicious download that was initiated.
Since it's continuing, I will be unplugging in a moment

 

[LittleInch]

The post has vanished.

You may well be right....

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[SJBombero]

BSEE then BSME now Structural Engineer

 

[SwinnyGG]

I spent roughly 15 years as a design engineer in the industrial automation and robotics world, and now I'm a commercial construction superintendent.

I'm weird around these parts, but I'm a living example of the fact that if you have a mechanical engineering degree the number of jobs you can't do is pretty short.

 

[engineering_investigator]

I graduated from college with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1978. Out of college, I went to work in a refinery as a design engineer. Worked for about a year and then joined the Air Force. In the late '70s, the government had a big push going on to recruit technical people. So I went through officer training school and got my commission as a second lieutenant and then got assigned to an R & D lab in Tennessee. I did wind tunnel testing for 2 1/2 years and then facilities engineering for the last 1 1/2 of my 4 year tour of duty. I was fortunate enough to get involved with some of the tile testing that was going on before the first launch of the space shuttle. After four years in the Air Force, I decided to separate and since I had no ties, try my hand in private practice. In 1983, I started doing HVAC design work and some equipment sales. I found it extremely challenging to compete with larger and more established fires. As a result, I changed the focus of my business to forensic engineering investigations. In doing so, I discovered that I am more suited to analytical investigation than creative design work. I have been doing forensic work for the past 35 years and have not regretted making the switch. If there's one thing that my career has taught me, it's to keep my options open. That is, decide on what you want to do; pick an are where your interest lies and find a job. But remember, if things don't work out, be flexible enough to change course if necessary. Good Luck!

 

[MarySunn]

Professionals with a quality engineering education are never lost in life. Before obtaining a degree, people in this profession gnaw at the granite of science, mastering such disciplines as higher mathematics, physics, thermodynamics, the resistance of materials (the legendary strength of materials, more complicated than only nuclear physics), machine parts, as well as economics, production management, foreign languages with an in-depth study of technical terminology. I remember doing an internship at the revolving head vice, and I created them myself; it was an amazing time.

 

[RVAmeche]

Graduated in 2012. Floated around with military/fueling positions but now have been working in general process/chemical/power industry as a consultant for about 7 years.