mechanical engineers

[pontifex]

Anyone here a mechanical engineer? Might this be a good career for someone who likes to tinker with stuff?

What were the classes like in college? Whats you're job like now? What kinds of stuff are you working on?

I realize that a lot of math is involved with this degree. I was never good at math in HS, but then I never really applied myself either. I didn't get it quickly so I just gave up on it.

 

[Eli]

:Q

You just described me.. lol. Never good at math, but mechanical(and electrical) engineering are definite passions of mine. But the potential curriculum scares me, which is silly.. I just need to go and do it.

 

[Rubycon]

Text

 

[Mike Gayner]

If you're bad at math you should try something else. I hear there's a whole world of Whopportunities out there.

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: Mike Gayner
If you're bad at math you should try something else. I hear there's a whole world of Whopportunities out there.

this.

 

[dixon]

i'm bad at maths(i almost failed basic calculus in high school) but i'm a first year first semester mecha engineering student at RMIT in australia, the maths isnt as bad as u make it to be.

just try it for a few weeks and drop out if u cant handle it.

 

[KillerCharlie]

Engineering is basically the application of math and science... if you're not at least okay with math, then it's probably not for you. However, I would definitely try it for a semester or two and see how it goes - you never know.

 

[Howard]

Being a technologist isn't bad either.

 

[frostedflakes]

I hated thermo. I guess it's a good thing I'm an EE and not an ME.

The math isn't too bad IMO, but math is something I've never struggled too much with (never really excelled at it either, though). What was the most advanced math you took in high school?

If you don't think you could handle the math, Howard's suggestion is a good one. As a technician, the focus of your education would be more on practical application than theory. I think you should give engineering a shot, though. Just be prepared to put the necessary time into learning the material, and remember that there is a ton of free tutoring and other assistance available at universities.

 

[gorcorps]

It's incredibly math focused. Even just the science classes have a ton of math in them. What kind of math did you take in HS that you weren't good at? If you got to calculus and was struggling there, then you might still be okay. If you never even made it to calc and had a tough time, then chances are you won't make it through the degree.

 

[Fenixgoon]

in mechanical engineering your basics will covers statics and dynamics (structures where there is 0 acceleration and net acceleration, respectively), fluid dynamics, heat transfer, control systems, CAD/machine design. mech-E is very flexible in that you can branch out into just about every other field whether its electrical, biomedical, materials, chemical, aerospace, etc.

there will definitely be math involved, for sure. depending on what kind of person you are, you may develop a good intuition for things. as a materials engineer who enjoys mechanics, i feel like i have a pretty god intuition about what's happening to something at both the macro and micro-scale

 

[Minjin]

EE is far more math than ME. A technology degree is basically a dumbed-down-in-math engineering degree. It certainly is a good option for many people and graduates are still in high demand.

Also, a technician isn't someone who graduates with a technology degree.

 

[MrDudeMan]

You need to either be naturally good at math or have the ability to spend hours teaching yourself. Just like everything else in life, practice makes perfect and math isn't as hard as it seems if you just put forth the effort required to learn it. It's not an overnight process but you could pick it up if you really wanted it. I would not attempt an engineering degree if you can't do this. It will not be a good fit for you and there are other more applicable fields that you could go into to apply your skills.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
You need to either be naturally good at math or have the ability to spend hours teaching yourself. Just like everything else in life, practice makes perfect and math isn't as hard as it seems if you just put forth the effort required to learn it. It's not an overnight process but you could pick it up if you really wanted it. I would not attempt an engineering degree if you can't do this. It will not be a good fit for you and there are other more applicable fields that you could go into to apply your skills.

I want to emphasize this part. A lot of my classes in engineering are basically self taught. The lecture will cover the topic in general and touch on the material a bit, but you're going to be teaching yourself 90% of the material.

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Text

I wish that was a form of engineering that you could study at a university. It sounds perfect for me.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Howard
Being a technologist isn't bad either.

Ya.

If you've got a college nearby that's got an accredited Mechanical Engineering Technology 4-yr program, maybe look into it.
There's still a LOT of math, but it's much much much less calculus. There's less of the theory, and more of applications and labtime, at least that's how it was done at Penn State's Erie, PA campus.
The only issue might be in job-hunting; an MET degree might not carry quite as much weight, even though from what I hear, MEs and METs often wind up in similar job positions.

Unfortunately, I feel that the ideal general ME major would encompass aspects of both ME and MET - some theory, some exposure to derivations, some use of canned equations and machinist handbooks, and a lot of lab time.

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: pontifex
Anyone here a mechanical engineer? Might this be a good career for someone who likes to tinker with stuff?

yes. AND the best mechanical engineers that i've worked with also had electrical engineering experience and/or degrees.

if you're good at 'visual thinking', you would probably do well with the electromagnetics part of electrical engineering. a lot of electrical engineers i've worked with (as a mech. engineer) DETESTED vector calculus, it was complete torture for them.

i suggest taking a class in electromagnetics statics, and then time-harmonic (dynamics).

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: gorcorps
It's incredibly math focused. Even just the science classes have a ton of math in them. What kind of math did you take in HS that you weren't good at? If you got to calculus and was struggling there, then you might still be okay. If you never even made it to calc and had a tough time, then chances are you won't make it through the degree.

Ok, guess mechanical engineering is out then...I struggled with Algebra...

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Text

I wish that was a form of engineering that you could study at a university. It sounds perfect for me.

The community college I'm looking at has an industrial mechatronics program, but from reading it, it sounds like it just prepares you to be a maintenance guy for factory equipment. Not exactly what I was planning on doing.

 

[pontifex]

oh, and the community college I was looking at has what they call a career associate's degree in Mech. Engineering. How would that differ from a 4 year program?

 

[Hacp]

A piece of advise I would give is to take a physics class. No matter how bad at math you are, if you do well in and enjoy physics, there is hope. From there, you can branch out into calculus and 101 engineering courses. Engineering doesn't require that much math IIRC. You only need to take the calc series, differential equations and linear algebra. Some programs require statistics and calc statistics I think. Avoid those

And yes, you will have horrible teachers who say everything is obvious. Thankfully, we live in the age of youtube. Youtube your course until you find a competent teacher.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: Rubycon
Text

I wish that was a form of engineering that you could study at a university. It sounds perfect for me.

It is at most big schools. You're still officially in one of the "classic" departments, but your specialization involves lots of relevant classes from the other majors.

I did this at Rice for my bachelors. It's not easy - I got a degree in mechanical but it felt like I had done a minor in elec and computer science by the end of it. I spent a while doing product development for Schlumberger, and now I'm at Cornell working on my Ph.D. in mechanical, doing work in robotics.

Math at the level I'm at is way more intense than what I had at the undergraduate level. You don't have to be great at math to make it through an undergraduate program, even one like Rice, but if you're not good at math prepare to bust your ass and spend tons of time beaten your head against the material to be rewarded with a mediocre (but passing) grade.

It could also turn out that you've just had bad math teachers, and once you take the college level course it'll click for you and you'll be fine.

You'll probably know either way after one or two semesters in an engineering program, so you might as well at least try.

 

[pontifex]

So you guys seem to have answered the math question, but not the others. What kind of stuff do you do working as a mechanical engineer? What's your job like?

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: pontifex
So you guys seem to have answered the math question, but not the others. What kind of stuff do you do working as a mechanical engineer? What's your job like?

So this comes from a mechatronics background, and isn't typical of mechanical engineers.

At Schlumberger I developed motor control software, and built a simulation model of a tool. For the motor control, I spent my time working in a simulation environment (that I created) in matlab in my office, coming up with algorithms. Once I was happy with one, I'd modify the software that ran on the embedded hardware on the tool (C), compile it, then go to the lab and load it up on the test bench and run the motor against in various conditions, taking data.

The modeling project was mostly within matlab also. I built a simulation of the tool (turbine, alternator, two pmsm motors, tons of valves, lots of hydraulic lines, gearboxes, etc). in order to evaluate tool performance in a variety of real world conditions without actually going out there and drilling a new hole in the group with our tool in the string. We validated the model against the data we did have from a few field trials, but for the most part is was dead-on from out of the box. We also used the model to play with controller gains without risking blowing up a circuit board. Once the tool goes commercial the model will be used to train field engineers in using the tool.

At various internships, I did project planning (shell refinery, planned turn-arounds of units in the refinery, where you shut a process down, and clean it out, repair it, and upgrade it as fast is humanly possible in order to minimize downtime. Nominally, any of these units will run for five years between turnarounds with no downtime. Of course, stuff breaks down and causes downtime, but we plan to run everything for five years, spend a week cleaning and fixing it, and then run it for another five years). I've also worked for a small engineering company that mostly did HVAC work for hospitals. Calculating how big the airconditioner needs to be, where to put it, all the engineering relating to where the unit is, how to run the ducting, etc.

Schlumberger was the coolest job I've had. I left it to go to grad school in part because I was one of the only bachelor's degree guys there that wasn't a lab tech. I'm planning to go to Ph.D. instead of masters because I've always wanted to, and I'm considering maybe going into academia when I finish up here.

 

[vonmises]

Originally posted by: pontifex
So you guys seem to have answered the math question, but not the others. What kind of stuff do you do working as a mechanical engineer? What's your job like?

I'm still an undergrad ME, but as a ME you can work in almost any field. I've done an internship with a networking company, doing design work for switches and routers. That involves heat transfer, and basic sheet metal design. Another I did working on a petrochemical refinery, much the pipelines, pumps and other components are designed by MEs. My next internship, I'm looking to get in to Nuclear design, as that's were I'd like to go after college.

You can really get into any field. Planes, cars, product design all have aspects of mechanical engineering. What is it that you want to do? I almost guarantee that you can find a ME aspect of it.