Possible Interview about Engineering. 1

[Iheartengineering764]

I am currently a junior in high school and I am interested in engineering. For my college writing class, I am required to interview someone about a field or career I am interested in. Currently I need anyone who is willing to share experiences or advice on this career. Thank You.

 

[BulbTheBuilder]

Thank you for your interest in engineering. One thing to note, engineering is very broad: aerospace, civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical ...etc. Care to share which engineering you are interested in? A couple of engineering overlap in terms of responsibilities, sharing specifics about your interests will make it easier for anyone to assist.

 

[Iheartengineering764]

Thank you for your interest in engineering. One thing to note, engineering is very broad: aerospace, civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical ...etc. Care to share which engineering you are interested in? A couple of engineering overlap in terms of responsibilities, sharing specifics about your interests will make it easier for anyone to assist.

I am interested in Aerospace engineering, but I'm also intrigued by chemical engineering as well. I took chemistry last year and I enjoyed it quite a bit, however, I feel I am enjoying Physics even more this year. As of right now I plan on applying for aerospace engineering at Ohio State.

 

[Taicho567]

I'm from O&G and I can't say much about other industries. I'd say any engineering profession that involve very high pressure process, flammable fluids, extremely high or extremely low temperature process would be an interesting choice.

These conditions would require a state of the art technology mixing together with local and international regulations so as to ensure the working condition is safe and the environment around is protected. Having said that, complying and following the established engineering code of standards are imperative to achieve this. Engineering background would definitely make you appreciate these.

So much things to learn from these technology, regulations and code of standards and you'll learn these from dozen of projects whereby you'll meet a lot of people from different background, you'll travel a lot and more importantly you would make money out of it.

 

[Iheartengineering764]

I'm from O&G and I can't say much about other industries. I'd say any engineering profession that involve very high pressure process, flammable fluids, extremely high or extremely low temperature process would be an interesting choice.

These conditions would require a state of the art technology mixing together with local and international regulations so as to ensure the working condition is safe and the environment around is protected. Having said that, complying and following the established engineering code of standards are imperative to achieve this. Engineering background would definitely make you appreciate these.

So much things to learn from these technology, regulations and code of standards and you'll learn these from dozen of projects whereby you'll meet a lot of people from different background, you'll travel a lot and more importantly you would make money out of it.

 

[BulbTheBuilder]

I am interested in Aerospace engineering, but I'm also intrigued by chemical engineering as well. I took chemistry last year and I enjoyed it quite a bit, however, I feel I am enjoying Physics even more this year. As of right now I plan on applying for aerospace engineering at Ohio State.

I personally see aerospace and chemical engineering as two different paths. I mean for industries like mechanical and aerospace you can easily jump around unto each other unlike aerospace and chemical.

You enjoyed chemistry quite a bit, but do you think you'll "love" it enough to make a career out of it? From your statement, it sounds to me that physics (aerospace) has your heart. It early to tell which you route you'd want to take but I will consider which course I like better and I'm good at and also consider how happy I'd be working in that field. Both are lucrative industries so money (to me) should be at the top of your determining factors.

Hopefully, people with chemistry / aerospace background can share more info since I am civil.

 

[Gr8blu]

In my experience, unless you have a VERY narrow field of application you aren't going to be effective with just the knowledge imparted by one branch of engineering. For example: most of my career has been spent designing, manufacturing, testing, and troubleshooting rotating electrical machines. By default, that requires a knowledge of electrical engineering - particularly the physics of electricity and magnetism, as well as both linear and rotational motion. That being said, a lot of the "extra" background got its start in the early semesters of my chosen program (because it is assumed that the students don't really know what they want, so are exposed to all engineering tracks plus some other courses), with considerable additional learning after I was actually out in the workforce.

Within the electrical field alone, it requires knowledge of some specific subsets: magnetics and machine design, power transmission and distribution, power electronics, VLSI (Very Large-Scale Integration, which basically means designing computer chips), antennas, and radio-frequency applications.

However, it ALSO requires significant knowledge in chemistry (for insulations and material properties), mechanical engineering (for material properties, torque transmission, foundation design, structural integrity, and both static and dynamic performance), civil engineering (foundation design and transportation capabilities), process and industrial engineering (how things are supposed to work and what the end objective is), finance (how to pay for materials and the finished equipment), fluency in at least one written language (to effectively communicate ideas to others), mathematics (to figure out how to perform all the necessary calculations to translate an idea from words to actual motion and equipment), and interpersonal skills (how to deal with people).

In some specific instances, it also requires at least some knowledge of medicine (think prosthetics) and various environmental effects (think land-based systems vs offshore locations vs air or space).

 

[Iheartengineering764]

Thank you for your input Gr8blu! If you're interested, I still need another engineer to interview. It can be done on email or video call. I only have 10 or so questions and what I really need is some basic contact info to list for my assignment. If you're willing, please send me an email at 26uelchert@hlschool.net

 

[Raz1069]

I am interested in Aerospace engineering, but I'm also intrigued by chemical engineering as well. I took chemistry last year and I enjoyed it quite a bit, however, I feel I am enjoying Physics even more this year. As of right now I plan on applying for aerospace engineering at Ohio State.

Great!! I might not have years of experience as I am relatively fresh in terms of experience but academically, if you like physics and mathematics then things will become interesting for you because engineering is more of a practical and advance level of both. One thing that can make you successfull in engineeering is your curiosity. "Why-What-How" these are the questions that are actually the ladders of learning.

Aerospace engineering is indeed the most delightful among all courses. You will study courses like fluid dynamics, propulsion systems, solid(structure) mechanics, heat transfer and so on. In chemical engineering, you will study transfer phenomenon and process related courses. Thing is, all of the engineering is somehow related to physics and mathematics so solid grips in the basic concepts will be very helpful.

I advise that during your studies try to do as much projects as possible (could be DIY projects). They will improve your understanding of principles and your hunger to learn.
Good Luck