mechanical engineering

[Craving4Boost]

I declared mechanical engineering as my major....planning to maybe specify automotive engineering. any automotive engineers on this board? maybe give me some pointers? is it fun or is it just boring stuff? i know im not gonna be turboing all the cars or anything but yeah...let me know guys.mechanical engineer people can chime in too

[adrianfromthecastle]

yeah.. i kinda wanted to know too. i'm not declared as mechanical engineering, i took the computer & electrical engineering road, but always wondered about mechanical engineering. i mean, i love cars and working on them, but was never convinced on a career doing so. any mech eng. wanna convince me to change majors [again]?

[skylndrftr]

I am presently working towards my degree in Mechanical Engineering with an Automotive emphasis. I will leave with hopefully both a BS and an MS. I have about two years left as of now. Heres the deal, At any school worth the tuition, your gonna work your *** off. Right now I am doing one of my schools required co-ops and can say working 40 hours a week is the easiest thing I have done in relation to college. At school I average probably 4-6 hours of sleep a night and in doing so hold down a reasonable (3.15) GPA. If your really interested in cars and automotive, the way to go is with your schools FSAE program if they have one. Adrian they are usually looking for electrical engineers. The material your going to get is all very useful but whether its fun or boring a lot of times comes down to the profesor. The courses are meant to be basically applied math and science. Only later when you get into your technical electives will things get a little looser. Plan on taking all of the physics and math courses in the first year or two and then get ready for statics, mechanics, dynamics, and dme which are the physical side of things and get progressively more interesting (and complex) as you go along. then you have the thermal fluids side of mechanical which is thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. the courses in engineeirng usually build on one another and while they do become more situationaly relevant and useful they also become more complex and time consuming. Personally in the fall I will be taking our introduction to composites technical elective which includes a lab with a large design project and hsould be interesting. I am also taking a turbo machinery class in the spring along with hopefully a vehicle dynamics course which is kind of difficult to get into. If I can answer any other questions just ask I'll do my best.

I can't speak for the field as a whole because I don't have any true work experience beyond my co-ops, but the classes are hard but rewarding

[Craving4Boost]

thanks for the reply...may i ask your inspiration to go into mechanical engineering? is it what you expected? is automotive engineering what you expected?

[adrianfromthecastle]

wow... very usefull information, thanks, if u dont mind, imma keep your email addy just incase i get any questions. the professors at my school are very cool and keep a very close relationship with the student which i find very good. as far as me switchin majors, i'm prolly gonna stick with this (electical and computer/ the campus is integrated) major or probably do a double major thingy, since a lot of the required classes are the same, mostly math and sciences. i'm still working on my bs. hopefully, i can get a bs in both mechanical and electrical/computer engineering. ms? we'll see, i really want to, but i do wanna get my carreer on the road.

[Craving4Boost]

my classes are usually around 400people...very difficult to receieve personal help from the proffessor himself

[skylndrftr]

C4B that blows man thats part of the reason I didn't want to go to a big school...I have had two large lecture classes (both general chem) besides that my largest class has been less than 40 people. Honestly the reason I choose engineering is that I have always had an interest in building things and understanding how they worked....I rebuilt our lawn mower engine and frame when I was 12 and have just loved working on things since then. I knew I didn't want to be a mechanic though because i anted a more specialized design knowledge than they obtain. Engineering is probably 90% what I expected especially when combined with your general intuition about what any math and science course is gonna be like. I honestly am only just getting into the automotive engineering courses but so far I am sometimes impressed and sometimes not. Its very very proffesor dependant. I have had good and bad luck. I am on a first name basis with a few profs and actually have hung out a good bit with them outside of classes. I suggest getting yourself really involved around campus It helps enormously. Not just for classes but other opportunities present themselves. This summer I will be doing ceramics research with my advisor he brought this up last weekend when he was at a BBQ I had. Thats the type of thing that look really good when it comes time to get a job

[elwesso]

IM in the mechanical engineering department at Tri-State University... Gotta say I really like it... They really want you to do good.. All professors have great office hours, and there are many other cirruclar things to help you (math help sessions every night, and things like that)...

Basically it comes down to this. All engineering classes are based off phsyics, and physics is based on calculus... Plan on taking evey math course the university offers... The good news with that is you can often get a math major to go along with it by just taking a couple of other courses... Any engineering degree + math degree= win. IN my calculus 1 and 2 class, my professor wont let us use graphing calculators..... I boguht a TI89 in HS and used it all the time... Many professors will not let you use a graphing calculator until you get through calculus 3..... which I think is good.. before going into this calculus class I didnt know how to do an integral the hard way....

As far as mechanical engineering is concerned heres the deal. With things like computer, electrical (which is basically electrical engineering + programming), chemical and so forth, your limiting your ideal jobs very much. With things like mechanical and civil engineering (especially mechanical) you can pretty much do any of those other ones... an ME degree is almost the one size fits all engineering degree... EE, CsE, CHE, and AE's are all on the decline, while CE and ME are going up (CE maybe more steady).....

If you go into civil or mechanical engineering, there is always gonna be an ample job market...

[SpecVrooom]

I graduated with a mechanical engineering degree 3 years ago, and for the most part enjoy what I am doing. You guys that are still in school, start the job search NOW! The thing that I hit, and you will have a harder time with is the job market. Alot of the work that we do gets shipped overseas anymore. India will pay less for the same amount of work that we can do. So... what happens is that they want an entry-level graduate, with 2-3 years of experience. Doesnt sound right does it? But go to any placement agency or headhunter and you will see the same problem. If you have a chance to get an internship or co-op, take it, but make sure it is applicable. If you are offered an electrical intership, dont think that when you put it on a resume that the mechanical engineering company will care. The main thing with mechanical engineering is the broad background we get. Dont hone in so much on knowing equations, but know how to problem solve. Mechanical is a broad topic, so when you search, think outside the box. Think about every kind of energy company, because we do fluids, thermo, heat transfer, engergy conversion, ect. That is a big pool to choose from. Petroleum is another one, be careful with them though. They give good benefits and good $, but you pay for it with your life; i.e. you wont have one. Most companies know that they will have to train you, they just dont want you to be an idiot. Having a second degree is a good idea, especially civil, since they are in high demand. The rest want alot of experience. Good luck gents.

[Craving4Boost]

thanks for the reply guys

are there any automotive engineers here? im thinking about declaring general mechanical engineering instead because it doesnt seem like automotive engineer pays that good? thats what i hear anyways. I would really like to go into automotive engineering if its good pay because i hope it would be fun. People say dont do it for the money...only do what you like...but i like sex..doesnt mean im going to do it for money

[skylndrftr]

lol money...to make money you have to have two quantities:1) your father is someone important in a large company2)your friends with people who are important in other large companies.

find a job that will make you look forward to getting up everyday or everyday with drag on forever. I couldn't strand working at remington because I was bored..as nice as the people were the boredom killed it. Right now im working about 15 hours a week doing ceramics research on campus and 30 hours a week at uhaul outside school (love that job) as well as taking classes that I enjoy so time really flies.

[superDorifto]

it looks like im in the same boat as a lot of other nico members, im currently entering my softmore year and looking towards either a mechanical or electrical major. i kinda feel like im late to the party since i didnt go to college right outta highschool...waited like 5 years. on the plus side i got to see what a few of my friends went through trying to find a job after they graduated. it def made me realize that i need to seriously consider finding an internship next year. i dont even care if i get into anything automotive or not. it will always be a hobby on the side. i just want a better job than the crap ones ivebeen working since highschool...even the one i have now pays the bills, but its not anything i would want to be doing five years from now. (EMT)

[burn240sx]

Thanks for the words SpecVrooom. Ill be graduating from virginia tech in about 8 months. Ive already got a list running of contacts and emails Im going to start getting ahold of in aug. Hopefully all goes well.

[nissanconvert]

Run away.As fast as you can.

[ILikeMy240sx]

4th year ME. (U of Michigan)

Worked at Toyota and John Deere for my automotive experience.

I still plan to work in an Auto industry. I really enjoyed my time @ Toyota... much better than school actually.

1 advise.... Make sure you get co-ops and internships before your senior year. Seriously.... job seraching will be 10000000000* easier.

[BigJuiceSr20]

I did IndustrialEngineering with an emphasis on manufacturing process. I was a manufacturing engineer for 9 years with an eyeglass company and have been an auto enthusiast for over 20 years. ME, EE or IE is the way to go if you like automotive. Reason I really like IE is because we did a bit of EE, ME but industrial engineering emphasizes process designs, manufacturing processes, facility designs, engineering management, work measurement, ergonomics, and basically everything that the Toyota Production System pioneered. And manufacturing isn't just specific to IE's. Many service industries, like UPS, FedEX banking airlines, are using IE's to streamline the processes by eliminating wastes and improving the bottom line and customer satisfaction.

Interesting Books to Read:The Toyota Production System...Taiichi OnoThe Goal..... Eli GoldrattLean Thinking......Jones and Womack (lean.org)

These are basically religion for IE's and available at IIE.org or lean.orgThis is not a sales pitch

[redtop91]

I second this question. I really got interested in this field after I heard that the guy that owns Full-Race was a mechanical engineer and uses his knowledge for his cars. At that point I was sold and declared my major. I still know nothing of what classes to take and what the payout will be or if the knowledge will even be useful for fabricating parts. Although I would like to get a free day at a fab firm to whip me up a GT35R

[nissanconvert]

This is a stream of conscious writing spurred by my interest in the thread topic and likely fueled by my being laughed at in my 240 twice last week by better looking females in suv's that cost more then my parents house.After I finished i realized it's not really helpful but it makes me feel better.

Not intending to scare you off of engineering but don't expect the world.I went into mech e hoping to workin the auto industry and not really knowing anything of engineering or the industry. I knew a lot about cars and wanted to design and build my own for a company or possibly my own. I also thought mech e's would get great pay as well and good job security.I am a third generation american and will be the first to graduate with a degree in my family. My parents have no money and I have taken out over 60k in loans to complete my bs degree. I wanted to have the best chance of success so I chose the best school I could get into. Although I've been told by some that my recent co-op with a world known company was unusualy bad it seemd to represent what the truth of my future was. I've talked with a lot of engineers, companies and students and done a lot of research since starting school and know a good deal more then when I started. I attempt to the best of my abilty to clear some things I was misguided on when I started my journey.

School:Choose one away from home, this was the best thing i ever did espically coming from a small surbaban town it really opens up your perspective. Many of my fellow classmates agree with me on this.Think twice before gonig to the best one you can get into, espically if you are paying for it. I recieved some fin aid from the school and govt each year, but only after they maxed out my credit with every loan I could recieve. after the first year I owed more in loans then it cost to get a degree at most colleges. From that point on I coulden't bear the thought of switching schools and still having to pay for the year at the more expensive one. I tried working 75 hours a week the first summer away at a local garage to get ahead for the next year. Fin aid subtracted the amout i made over the summer form the grants i recieved the following year. I would have paid the same had i not worked a day all summer long. Too bad I had spent a good deal of it on housing and food. It is hard not having money at a school of kids who get bimmers for birthdays.I thought going to a better school would give me the chace to make more then others at lesser known schools. I have found that companies hire who is best at the time of the opening but all is even after that. Reguardless of degree everyone gets paid the same. I witnessed one company who had engineers without out degrees performing jobs at par with students of my own school and degree.Got to the better school if you really want to learn. I have learned inmeasurable more then my friends who went to lesser schools. It will cost in the long run though. I have much to pay off as my friends do not. I have had rare free time trying to keep up with schoolwork to pass my classes. What i mean is, I've gone as much as 72hours with no sleep working on one project, average 2 all nighters a week, am now at 40 hours of homework a week with 16 credit hours.Most here are smarted then I will ever be, taking test smashed and setting the curve.Grading is never fair, cheating is alarmingly present and some teachers hate teaching-facts of all colleges, although I didn't know this going in.

Some jobs require minimum gpa's. Reguardless of the school. At a 2.6 I can never hope to work for some car companies merely because of this. Despite that I learned more then would have at another college and likely have at least the 3 minimum. It's really sad when you have to apply online and you are given 2 boxes. Check one for 3.0 and above, the other for 2.9 and below. After checking the below box you are asked no more questions, thanked and redirected to their home page. When I submitted again clicking the above box the application continued, although I did not.

College might ont be any help in finding a job, evne a good college. My "advisor" suggested I look at other companied when I told her I wanted to co-op at a car of auto comany. Our school had ties with some but she told me she wanted to save the positions for the smarter kids. She also didn't show up for a meeting one morning, and as it turns out never sent my resume to the places I told her too. i still had to pay the $200 co-op fee after I applied an got a job on my own. but I digress.

Companies want letters of recomendation form three professors or managers. If you are like me and don't kiss *** well with the professors this will be a problem later on. I've noticed an alarming number of engineers managed by business majors who get paid more, do less work and have no idea what it takes to be a good engineer. I worked a co-op whice involved cleaning rooms, and tapping holes with crappy taps because the managers thought it was not worth the 5$ for a new tap.

Job:Most companies, especially automotive companies have engineers do small parts of the final product and do a poor job bringing the efforts togeather. Several case-in-points to follow. As my one friend put it. "I could never be and engineer, you'll end up speding a year designing the a/c button on a ford escort when you really wanted to make a car" Unless you have racing success history and a lot of money to back a new company of your own you will never get to design an built a car.

Car companies like to keep the better jobs in thier country of origin. Honda may make cars over here but they are designed in japan. THe big threee over hear aren't donig so well.

Many engineering jobs are leaving to india I dont' see this getting any better with china on its tail.

Example:A company want to make a new sports car.They put togeather a team of managers in various fieldsMarket reasearch gives a poor representation of what the market wantsArtists are subbed out and sketch a car withought reguard to the engineering aspect. Simply adding what looks nice.A group of bena counter decides cost of parts before engineering is even started limiting engineers already.Groups are formed with rough guidlines. One on the motor, chassis, interior, etc.Each member of the group is given a function with a submanager and multiple in between group manager are added, some without engineering degrees. You are passed the job of desiging the drivetrian with a few other engineers.It has already been decide to use an existing motor for ease of integration and lower cost. Nothing radical can be done beacuse of time deadlines ands budget constraints. You drivetrain should cost only so muchbased on past projection of an accoutant who has never seen, let alone know what a clutch plate is. Poor communication leaves you placing the transmission where you deem worthy and later on everyone realizes things are inaccessible, problematic and just plain don't fit. Things are moved to compromise by the deadline. THe rest of the project is the same with each group having only vauge ideas of where things are and what they need to be like. You find yourself using an old transmission design slightly modified for cost effictiveness. Your boss thanks you for the job done, although you are sad that you didn't get to try the new design you thought up because it would cost to much and getting the right people to approve the reasearch needed to built and test it would be unreasonable. If you had followed through the company would have patented the design, given you a 1k bonus and a pat on the back like the manager who won employee of the month. They would then make million off the new design. The result is the car you drive everyday.

A few quick examples, I have many more:The new toyota highlander with an oil filter that conviently is located upside down at the top of the motor in a small depression. When the filter is unscrewed the oil in it fills the depression, overflows all over the motor into inaccessable places and then the driveway leaving you soaking up the used oil with rags before putting the new one on.

The early 90's cavalier with the oil filter between the fender and transmission lines. Leaving you bending the lines to get the filter out because it is larger the any path out of the car.

The mazda miata with the factory recomedation of unbolting the motor to remove the filter.

THe Ford taurus and f150 the the starter near the filter causing an arcweld when you use a metal band wrench on it.

The New cobalt superchaged wher the filter can only be removed through the air intake or with it removed.

THe mustang with the shift linkage bolt in the normal location of the transmission check plug. Whne its removed the linkage drops into the transmission rendering it useless unitl its dropped, dissassembled and removed.

The hummer h2 with a drain hole that shoots the hot stream of oil onto the reinforcement bars and then faning out everywhere as the arc decreases and passes over 3 bars.

Cars with technology way behind its time, plastic where plastic should not be.Cars with unusable rear seats, stereos and headlights worth more then the brakes. Making a convertible in only automatic.Making a line of twin turbos and then not offering a turbo convertible.

The scion Xb.

Piss poor aerodynimic styling. Ever wonder how 50's cars were nice and round then 70's cars were nice and boxy then 90's were round again? I think they had artists sketch up what they thought was good. They modeled it out and made a car via few calculations and guess and check instead of starting with an engineering concept and then integrating style.

No one person did a bad job, it just didn't come togeather. To many cooks ruin the soup.

Aside from the exception few cars which were designed by a tight group from the ground up, this happens.

I like to see things built right and credit given wher due. I see many engineers screwed over all the time by companies drivin by profit and I dont' want to be one of them. They do all the work while the guy with the shifty smile, econimic savvy and fat wallet make the money.

I will never get to make a car of my own or even be on a team who designs a supercar. The odds are better of me becoming a pro-athelete. Not knowing anyone from any company is like not being able to catch.

Lord knows i can't speak Italian or japanesse so Ferarri and the better half of honda are out.

I am applying to attend architecture school after I graduate in hopes of at least getting to vent creativly in that field. Although I know there are limitations in it too, it will be less boring for me then spending two years on the plastic side cover for the next motorcycle.

I'm tired from my rant.

This is long.

I am a bitter person.

Goodnight and goodluck.

[adrianfromthecastle]

holy sht what a read! man... you really make the field look really depressing. Quote » Some jobs require minimum gpa's. Reguardless of the school. At a 2.6 I can never hope to work for some car companies merely because of this. Despite that I learned more then would have at another college and likely have at least the 3 minimum. It's really sad when you have to apply online and you are given 2 boxes. Check one for 3.0 and above, the other for 2.9 and below. After checking the below box you are asked no more questions, thanked and redirected to their home page. When I submitted again clicking the above box the application continued, although I did not.[/quote]aww.. fuk

Quote »The scion Xb.[/quote]

[redtop91]

My childhood dreams.... are ruined!!!!!!! No I expected all of that and I've already started towards my degree. I just wanna know if I can custom fab me a Turbo at the end of the day

Muahaha he said scion

[Craving4Boost]

Nissanconvert - Thank you so much for your time because you have answered so many of my questions. I wanted to get into mech. engineering but I believe I'm in it for the wrong reasons. My hobby is, of course, cars but I don't believe I'll be able to work on cars how I want too and you have just proven that thought. I'm sorry to hear about your rough life because I know I currently got my share of many loans. I plan on getting out the mech. engineering major and keep cars as a side hobby only. As to what major I want, I'm not sure...does anyone have any reccomendations to find out what you want to do with your life? I would go to a career counselor but honestly, those career tests seem like BS to me.

I hope your hard work pays off one day Nissanconvert and thanks again for sharing you're hard earned experience.

[Craving4Boost]

holy sht what a read! man... you really make the field look really depressing.

but I loved every second of it

[elwesso]

Let me say ive done some looking into this, and really, nissanconvert is right on WHEN IT COMES to working in the car industry....

The car industry has such competition!!! Menaing they cant afford to pay every engineer 75k a year starting salary.... The car industry is the worst place to work for as an engineer, IMO... I would NEVER plan on wokring for a car company... You all know how much I enjoy cars and all that stuff, but finding a secure job is more important.. Of course car companies are only going to accept the best of the best, because they have thousands of graduates applying for jobs.... Sure, itd be great to work for Nissan or something like that, but dont plan on it...

Just dont limit yourself to working for a car company. Theres plenty of other companies that will pay good money for a good mechanical engineer...

Thinka bout it this way. You can still work on your car at home, but you may not design cars... IMO, ive found i like seperating my job and hobbies... You can still be an ME and enjoy what you do, but it just may not be with cars...

I recommend joining your local chapter of ASME and taking advantage of all the things they offer (trips to conventions and stuff)... Do as much as you can and you can back out before its too late....

If you like working on cars, youll probably be better off going to a technical school and being a dealer tech. Youll probably make as much as an engineer and depending who you are youd probably enjoy it more.....

For me, I dont really mind sitting down and doing calculus all day (not that I do), but its not something that bothers me...

[redtop91]

For me, I dont really mind sitting down and doing calculus all day (not that I do), but its not something that bothers me...

good save

[skylndrftr]

I recommend joining your local chapter of ASME and taking advantage of all the things they offer (trips to conventions and stuff)...

You rang?

I am this years student chairman. I can answer a whole lot of questions about ASME. And it has definitely improved my job hunting. I am working for Intel next summer partially because of it. My gpa is 2.64 however, what I sell people on is my 'PFOS' which is my gpa in engineering classes because its higher (3.3) its all about playing games. stack the resume...and realize the company where you work doesn't make you love your job. What you do at your job makes you love your job.

[underground57]

Could you tell me (us) more about ASME?

I'm going back to school for ME and possibly AE as well. Current plans are still somewhat fluid for me, but the long terrm goal is to get into the race development sector.

Btw, glad this forum is getting a little more attention.

[elwesso]

http://www.asme.org

Its a great thing. You get discounted rates for job fairs and all that stuff, as well as conferences. Im going to a conference in chicago this weekend (I think)....

Plus it looks great on your resume.....

[Craving4Boost]

If I'm going to put in time with something, I rather it be the SAE (society of automotive engineering) club because they teach you things you want to learn as a car enthusiast. I rather just keep cars as a side hobby and do something more STRAIGHT FOWARD with my major. I loved working on cars cause it's straight foward and you get to put to the test your own work.

I don't mind math at all, but when it comes to puzzles and crappy word solving problems in my MAE (mechanical aerospace engineering) class, my mind is definatley not there. The only thing thats making me stay is that engineers are one of the few majors that is just so solid. You can get a job pretty easy when you get out of a good school but I don't want to be in it for the money. And if I can't work on cars like I wanted, there's simply no point.

I'm not saying mechanical engineer is a bad major...its a GREAT major. However I just wanted to start to this thread because a lot of car enthusiasts "dreams" are to become a mechanical engineer for the wrong reasons

[elwesso]

If I'm going to put in time with something, I rather it be the SAE (society of automotive engineering) club because they teach you things you want to learn as a car enthusiast. I rather just keep cars as a side hobby and do something more STRAIGHT FOWARD with my major. I loved working on cars cause it's straight foward and you get to put to the test your own work.

I don't mind math at all, but when it comes to puzzles and crappy word solving problems in my MAE (mechanical aerospace engineering) class, my mind is definatley not there. The only thing thats making me stay is that engineers are one of the few majors that is just so solid. You can get a job pretty easy when you get out of a good school but I don't want to be in it for the money. And if I can't work on cars like I wanted, there's simply no point.

I'm not saying mechanical engineer is a bad major...its a GREAT major. However I just wanted to start to this thread because a lot of car enthusiasts "dreams" are to become a mechanical engineer for the wrong reasons

I TOTALLY AGREE with your post.... COMPLETELY.. Especially that last part...

Really, it wouldnt be hard to be part of ASME as well as SAE... On our campus many people are part of those at the same time... The meetings are usually once every week at worst, more likely every 2 weeks and usually at different times...

[skylndrftr]

Craving is absolutely correct. don't become a meche to design cars...its not gonna happen

Wes...your going to chicago? good for you great in fact!! My section was gonna send somebody but it falls on the weekend before our last week of classes (quarter system). We (myself and my executive board) did go to a student leadership seminar at olin college this weekend. I am also going to be doing the old guard comp in the spring.

Underground. Race development is not something to go into this with as a goal. Its just gonna drive you nuts. Go in to learn, become an engineer, and then pursue the opportunities as they arise because they are extremely few and far between. Tell me what school your looking and i will see what they have in terms of ASME if your interested.