Vibration and acoustics? 2

[gman89]

Hey everyone,

A bit of background about me. I recently finished my degree in mechanical engineering and am searching for my first job. I did a mechanical vibration based thesis as well as several elective courses on various aspects in the field.

Long story short I realized that I like the field of vibrations due to the analytic nature of the problems. I like the mathematics involved and just find the broad nature of the field interesting.

Because I'm a naive graduate, I'm wondering if anyone could share their relevant experiences as I'm very indecisive due to me being a very career motivated person and paranoid about making mistakes. It seems as though a lot of V&A consulting firms deal heavily with the construction industry, while some companies are more involved in development (such as underwater based acoustics). Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

 

[TheTick]

I'm very indecisive due to me being a very career motivated person and paranoid about making mistakes.

Risk aversion is inversely proportional to rewards.

 

[SomptingGuy]

It depends where you are really and what your interests are.

While the internal combustion engine is still around, automotive companies and consultancies always have active NVH departments, with a diverse range of activities.

- Steve

 

[MintJulep]

Was there a question in there?

Oh, right insight.

Learn how to ask focused questions.

 

[Latexman]

A quote from a former boss, "if you want the right answer, you have to ask the right question."

Good luck,
Latexman

 

[Twoballcane]

There are many vib and shock problems to be solved in defense companies. However, I would suggest that you also add heat transfer and structural analysis to your repertoire. And, since you have acoustics knowledge, you can really get into structure born noise issues. All problems will need to blend all of these together to solve them. Also, if you can understand how to run shakers and drop machines and how to collect and decipher data coming from transducers may be the discriminator to set you apart from a typical analyst.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
“Luck is where preparation meets opportunity”

 

[gman89]

Sorry, I guess I was hoping someone would end up writing an essay about their fantastic (or terrible) career in V&A, my bad.

It seems most likely that I will end up getting getting a job at a vibration and acoustics firm that has clients in construction. The first year will be pretty mundane work (setting up loggers, retrieving data) but eventually lead to handling my own clients. While I believe this is good experience for someone at my level, I would prefer to work in a more R&D focused environment.

My personal research of using V&A in defense and space industries seems interesting and I would apply for such jobs in a heartbeat. I guess I'm trying to get some perspective on the relevancy of working for construction based clients in terms of what I want to achieve.

When asking for insight, I would like to know if anyone else started in a similar position and whether their focus changed in the same way I'm hoping it does for me.

 

[SomptingGuy]

My career in V&A (NVH as I prefer to call it)...

Got thrown into a diesel fuel injection company's NVH department as a pre-university student. Found it really fascinating - measurement, analysis, simulation, you name it.

Spent one summer vacation doing environmental noise work - factory noise mainly. Dull work, but good to get about a bit and be paid for it.

Avoided noise and vibration course at university - too much coursework when I could have been more usefully occupied in the bar.

Took a job in automotive engineering NVH after graduation with a consulting company. Loved the first 5 years, then got a bit bored with repeat jobs.

Am now purely analytical, but still in the acoustic simulation and analysis business.

So that's been my last 25 years.

- Steve

 

[casseopeia]

I don't know anything about the vibration and acoustics field, but you might try finding a recruiter that specializes in technical jobs who could point you to some companies with large, well-funded R&D departments.

Then go talk to people at those companies. Ask a lot of questions.

Treat your job quest as your own research project.

You can put some of that fear to rest if you are proactive in your own due diligence. Part of the fear is feeling guilty making a bad choice. You don't have to feel bad if you take a job that doesn't work out. Just remember there is no guarantee no matter how much groundwork you do. The worst thing is that you will have to find a new job.


"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump

 

[KENAT]

A different angle, you might be able to apply your skills somewhere that deals with precision metrology/manufacturing equipment or the enclosures etc. they get put into.

TMC

http://www.techmfg.com/

Herzan:

http://www.herzan.com/

Newport:

http://www.newport.com/Vibration-Is...oog-ppc-0028&gclid=CPe4-LWFwa4CFcQa6wodcWQyzQ

Minus K:

http://www.minusk.com/index.html

Ingelligent Enclosures:

http://www.minienvironments.com/

Bruker:

http://www.bruker-axs.com/unitedstatesandcanada.html

What country/location you're in may also affect your options.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Was there a question in there?

Oh, right insight.

Learn how to ask focused questions.

Thought the exact same thing in that order... decided not to post.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[casseopeia]

gman89, What I think is that you are at major life transition, about to go out into the big, ugly rat-infested sewer of working at a job. It's scary. It's especially scary right now. The good news is that it's better than it was and you are young enough to be allowed to go through an exploring stage in your life. Use this as an opportunity. The more groundwork you do, the better you will feel about any decision you make. Don't think any job you take you have to be at until you are old and ready to retire. You will learn that mistakes will not kill you (at least most of them).

Take a lok through KENAT's links. Looks like a good place to start. Don't let anyone convince you that you have to be 100% certain before you take a leap. There is no such thing as 100% certainty. It might help to come up with your worst-case scenarios, and then list a plan if they come true. That's another way to face fear of uncertainty.



"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump

 

[FeX32]

Risk aversion is inversely proportional to rewards.

Very true.


Fe (IronX32)

 

[jmw]

Acoustics and vibration....
Co-incidentally I was looking at the Cranfield University process engineering department and vibration and acoustics crops up there....

http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/soe/departments/ope/pse/staff.html

and if you look at some of the staff and their backgrounds... maybe some advise sought from them?
Process instrumentation ranges across a lot of fields.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[GregLocock]

Underwater acoustics is a fun and well rewarded field. I spent roughly the first 20 years of my career in automotive NVH, it is a good technical field, but can get a bit repetitive. It's a good one for the politically minded as the fixes tend to be expensive and inconvenient to other areas of the car. You will meet some really clever people in NVH, you will also meet some people with a flair for solving problems in a useful way. The two groups may overlap significantly. Or not. Incidentally there is a great tendency for people with the latest hammer to pronounce that every problem is a nail.





Cheers

Greg Locock


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[SAK9]

Reliability Centred Maintenance(RCM) of rotating machinery ie pumps,turbines,compressors etc relies a lot on vibration measurement and analysis.Companies like Bently Nevada offer RCM solutions to a number of industries like power plants,refineries,cement plants ,paper mills to name afew.

 

[spongebob007]

I went to school for aerospace engineering. My interest was in doing CFD work and I did that for a few years. My second job out of school was with a very small private company that manufactured components for the defense industry. Despite the fact that we were a small company, we had our own test laboratory complete with a shaker table. We were in the middle of a qualification program when our test engineer literally got up and walked out after a dispute with the boss. The boss came to me and told me to put my work aside because I was now temporarily the test engineer until a permanent one could be found. I had to figure out how to run the shaker and do vibration and shock testing. During the test we had a vibration failure and since I was still doing double duty as a design engineer, I used FEA to figure out how to move the resonant frequency out of the test range. I also designed shock and vibration test fixtures. I only did this work for a few months but that was my start in the world of structural dynamics. After I left that company I spent nearly ten years designing acoustic transducers. I have also done work on machinery noise mitigation. I also have expereince in seismic design as well as over five years working on shock and vibration for military applications. Most of my work is on the analytical/R&D side but I do have the testing background. I also studied acoustics in graduate school. The bulk of my work has been structural dynamics-shock and vibration, with acoustics being more of a secondary focus. I like the work. It is more interesting than a lot of other things I could have done with my career. I still ocassionally have the opportunity to do CFD work. A background in both structural dynamics and fluid mechanics is relevant to acoustics, especially when you are dealing with noise generated by air flows.

 

[btrueblood]

Spongebob, I took a degree in aero engineering with a lot of structural, vibration, etc. analysis courses. First job out of school was doing combustion chamber acoustics...and awhile after that was running CFD codes. Go figure.

 

[GregLocock]

I was doing various odd bits of analysis including FEA for one department, when the modal analysis engineer in the noise and vibration group upped and left. So I was shown the lab, and the big pile of manuals, and was asked to get on with it. So I did.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[SylvestreW]

I work in the field as a consultant, based out of Toronto, Canada. There are numerous consulting engineering firms in North America that do this type of work.
Do a search for:
Institute of Noise Control Engineering and Acoustic Society of America (INCE & ASA) for US info & companies.
Canadian Acoustics Association (CAA) for Canadian info & companies.
Institute of Acoustics (IOA) for UK based info & companies.

The field is broad so it's not easy to answer your question.

Personally, I like the engineering consulting gig because it offers a real variety of projects, but getting paying clients is always a challenge.