Should I pursue Mechanical or Automotive engineering? 1

[GabrielT2003]

So I am currently at Arizona State, where they offer a bachelor's degree in mechanical and automotive engineering. My future plans are to work for a car company for most of my life. I've been told by others and my dad that Mechanical is the way to go, given that I have more job opportunities if I ever want to move away from the automotive industry. I don't find the point on taking very hard theoretical classes for MechE that I will most probably not use when I can get more practical and hands-on classes with an Automotive engineering degree, supposing that ultimately, my only goal is to work for a car company. Do you guys have any sort of feedback that you could give me with this decision?? Thanks.

 

[GregLocock]

I think the advice you have been given is sound. Automotive engineering degrees will give you a very light intro to each field, but only the sort of stuff you'd pick up within a month on the job, and will be based on outdated tech, and taught by people who have never worked in automotive.

One course I know of is still using stuff that my boss wrote 20 years ago. It's not bad material, but that particular job has changed so much since then that only the general concepts still apply.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[DouglasM]

Personally I would recommend Electrical Engineering. Much better than Mechanical engineering.

 

[3DDave]

Unless you are willing to gamble that you'll get a job in an automotive company and otherwise will be working fast-food or waiting tables, the mechanical degree that will also get an automotive job can support applications elsewhere.

 

[Artisi]

Mechanical engineering will offer a far wider area of opportunity for you in the future - auto is and would be ok, but a bit narrow overall.
If auto is your hearts desire, enrol in mechanical and concentrate if possible in the direction of auto.

It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. (Sherlock Holmes - A Scandal in Bohemia.)

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Personally I would recommend Electrical Engineering. Much better than Mechanical engineering.

Completely different fields of study with different mindsets, so I would consider this horrible advice for all but the 0.01% of folks who have an equal interest in both.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[MacGyverS2000]

My future plans are to work for a car company for most of my life.

Yes, but do you know what you will be doing for that car company? If your intent is to be a mechanic/auto tech, then you can expect to be working on the floor following someone else's direction on what to fix/replace. If your intent is to shape the progress of a vehicle's design, then a Mech-E degree is significantly more useful (and you can still get your hands dirty, if you find the right job).

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[IRstuff]

Never say never; what you think you want may totally change when the rubber meets the road. I thought I was going to be designing integrated circuits from the get-go; I've not seen the inside of one in over 30 years.

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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[MacGyverS2000]

I thought I was going to be designing integrated circuits from the get-go; I've not seen the inside of one in over 30 years.

Yep, you never know. I was initially gearing up for the same thing (die design), but class scheduling, past experience, and available jobs leaned me more towards firmware/hardware design. Now several decades later I think I'm in a position that may have me starting to lean back into die design (or thereabouts). Go figure...

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[IRstuff]

I heard something amusing on a show that I'm now (only now?) embarrassed to admit to watching. The plot involved software for manipulating integrated circuit feature sizes "less than 1/10th the size of human hair" ROFLOL!!!

human hair ~ 100 um, so they were concerned about smaller than 10-um feature sizes. When I was thinking I was going to design integrated circuits nearly 40 years ago, feature sizes were already down in the 3-4 um range, and even the laggardly Intel is already down to 10 nm, which is the time frame of this episode. Intel's competitors are pushing below 5 nm. Good thing I wasn't drinking anything at the time.

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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[MacGyverS2000]

But think of all of the hair you can modify!!!

I think TSMC is beginning rollout of their 4nm process next year for mass production... 4 orders of magnitude in size reduction compared to that show.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com