To Enter or Not To Enter Grad. School that is the question

[ccathey]

I am graduating in May (05/02) with a BS in Control Systems Engineering from Montana Tech (

http://www.mtech.edu).

I have a decent GPA (-A) and have done fairly well in my control and instrument classes. I also have 15 monthes of experience designing/building equipment and proposing automation projects (work to be done by integrators) for Johnson and Johnson from an intership in Texas.

Because of of my experience in TX, I am interested in returning to industry as soon as I can, but I want to continue to be able to design automation systems - not maintain other people's designs (like most of the engineers I worked with on my intership). At the same time, I don't want to work in a think-tank working a solutions to problems that industry has already solved and/or that will never see the light of day.

My advisor, has told me the best way to be able to continue designing (and not get stuck in a maintainance position) is to continue on to grad school, preferably at a large school with new opportunities from new profs. and classes. I don't have a lot of respect for most grad. students (mostly because MTech doesn't have a really good grad program), but a lot of the stuff I'd like to learn is only taught at grad. school (like state space design as opposed to just simple ss modeling). My advisors suggestions (that I've expanded) from grad. schools are ASU (Tempe), Purdue, Univesity of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and Georgia Tech. Of these ASU has a slight lead because of probable jobs in the area and location (my wife's family is near); and Georgia Tech is slightly behind because I have no contacts in the area for jobs.

I am interested in any opinions on:

* grad. school in general,
* the schools listed,
* number and type of opportunities available for those with an MS or MSE as opposed to just a BS

Thank you
C. Cathey

 

[electricpete]

I got my MSEE from Georgia Tech recently (I'm 40 yrs old) while working full-time. I never stepped foot on-campus, but used their "distance-learning" option which has the same classes (videotaped),the same homework, and same examinations (proctored) as the in-class students. But no opportunity to assist in on-campus research.

I was fairly-pleased with that school. I thought that more classes had more of a focus on practical/design aspects than I experienced as an undergrad. I was also highly-motivated by the relevance of some of the topics to real-world problems I was tackling on the job.

Their graduate EE program was ranked 6th for 2002 by US News and World Report, as you may be aware.

So my view on Georgia Tech is that it is a good school. Also I would encourage you to consider an option that you may return to graduate school at a later time in your career... that worked well for me.

As for maintenance positions... that is where I am. But from my perspective I don't consider it to be a bad thing. There is no lack of intellectual challenge. Analysing and maintaining complex equipment not only requires you to understand the way the equipment is designed... but the way it actually operates and interacts in the real world.

Really any job is what you make of it. I encourage you to pursue your passion, whatever it is.

 

I would recommend that you go to graduate school and also obatin a PE. While in school BE SURE TO TAKE THE EIT exam, too many students FAIL to take this in school and later realize that it was the best time to take it.

In general engineers with advanced degrees are considered a cut above the normal engineer. A potential employer will likely prefer an engineer with a masters degree over a BS given the option. And a PE is even better. (This is a generalization, but in industry MS level engineers are usually the captains on projects, etc.).

There are two options, go to graduate school or go to work. If you can go to graduate school and avoid the work as you can obtain a MS in about 1.5 years and be done with it. I have two masters, one by just "banging it out" over a 1.5 year period and the other by taking night classes over a 3-4 year period. After the 3rd year, the night classes were really getting old. While distance learning and/or internet learning are an option, I would avoid if possible since one of the real reasons for going to graduate school is to make contacts and associates that you can network with years from now. In summary, go to gradudate school, take EIT the PE, then get a job is the best route, other combinations are acceptable but have more peril, also expand your graduate studies to a broader range of electrical engineering. While controls are important (nothing works without them), you also need to know the how and why things work, so take some thermodynamics and fluids classes. That is my 2 cents

 

[ccathey]

Thank you for the information posted so. In response to a few things...

* I am planning on getting my PE one way or another, and taking the EIT is a requirement to graduate from my school, and passing the EIT is a requirement in my department.

* My degree also includes, thermo, statics, dynamics, fluids, introductory machine design, some electronics, and microprocessors in addition to the control theory and more practical sides of control

Thanks again and I hope this helps provide more insite into my questions.

C. Cathey