Any Engineers on here?

[edro]

Ever see those commercials for "DO YOU WANT TO BE A VIDEO GAME PROGRAMMER?!?!"?

Tell him to call that number.

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: edro
Ever see those commercials for "DO YOU WANT TO BE A VIDEO GAME PROGRAMMER?!?!"?

Tell him to call that number.

The Westwood one is the best. I can't stop LOLing to it.

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

if you friend is really smart, I would say Chemical Engineering.

When I graduated with my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, a couple of my friends had a ChemE degree. The $$ that were being offered to them was crazy.

 

[moshquerade]

thanks guys, well some of you.

i will let him read this thread.

fwiw now, he is really skilled in fixing computers, troubleshooting, just figuring things out when others can't, but he doesn't want to be an IT guy. he doesn't want to spend his life working on computers. he's looking for a branch of engineering where he can incorporate his love for the inner workings of computers without having that be the sole basis of his job.

 

[QuantumPion]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
thanks guys, well some of you.

i will let him read this thread.

fwiw now, he is really skilled in fixing computers, troubleshooting, just figuring things out when others can't, but he doesn't want to be an IT guy. he doesn't want to spend his life working on computers. he's looking for a branch of engineering where he can incorporate his love for the inner workings of computers without having that be the sole basis of his job.

It sounds to me like your friend likes computers as a hobby, but doesn't want to spoil his love for computers with rigorous or serious work. In that case, I would go for something like mechanical engineering, which uses computers as tools but they aren't the primary focus. Mechanical engineering has the advantages of not being too ridiculously draining (like EE or Chem E) and has a diverse field of applications and careers.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
Do not tread my path. Don't throw away something more like a hobby and fun job in order to go into seriously deep crap known as Electrical Engineering. I go home every weekend and what I find most relaxing is actually fixing someone's computer or working on a car. Analyzing a circuit is not fun. Finding the fringe field of a capacitor, while easy, is not fun. Every step you take, you will regret it more. Every homework assignment you do, every test you take, a little bit of you dies inside. Every single day you spend as an electrical engineer, you will realize that whatever you design won't matter. Marketing matters. Your product will always be useless junk until marketing takes it and blows it out of proportions. Walk away from engineering unless you're truly passionate about it.

truth....

marketing is what sells. You could have developed the shittiest product with the most illogical circuits and it will still sell when your marketing team takes over.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
Do not tread my path. Don't throw away something more like a hobby and fun job in order to go into seriously deep crap known as Electrical Engineering. I go home every weekend and what I find most relaxing is actually fixing someone's computer or working on a car. Analyzing a circuit is not fun. Finding the fringe field of a capacitor, while easy, is not fun. Every step you take, you will regret it more. Every homework assignment you do, every test you take, a little bit of you dies inside. Every single day you spend as an electrical engineer, you will realize that whatever you design won't matter. Marketing matters. Your product will always be useless junk until marketing takes it and blows it out of proportions. Walk away from engineering unless you're truly passionate about it.

Very true. I've worked sub-intern IT and already hated it. I love computers, but after crawling around a desk for the 50th time plugging/unplugging stuff, installing the 30th memory module with the user "eyeing" you to hurry the hell up, it isn't fun anymore. Computer/Electrical engineering you are just going to be analyzing a million things over and over again again.

 

[alkemyst]

I am surprised no one mentioned Biometrics. That is HUGE now. It's a bit up my alley with my biology background and I have been contacted, but lacked the engineering skills they wanted.

 

[Analog]

As an EE prof, let me give some advice. You gotta pick a discipline you love to do. Simple as that. If you don't love it, then you will be jaded and find some other work, whether 2 years down the line, or 20 years down the line.

The trend is that cheap engineering in India and China may affect the future of this field here in the US. When I was at the embedded systems conference in San Jose last spring, I met several engineering managers that were from India (especially), that job shop for projects and work here in the US - these guys have a team of engineers in India that do all the engineering, while the manager is here in the US, feeding information back and forth to his guys back home. I warned my students that more and more of this is occurring, and US companies are looking to stay competitive.

The bottom line is, that there is always room for good engineers, regardless of the economy. But you've got to love what you do - the rest will take care of itself.

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: Analog
As an EE prof, let me give some advice. You gotta pick a discipline you love to do. Simple as that. If you don't love it, then you will be jaded and find some other work, whether 2 years down the line, or 20 years down the line.

The trend is that cheap engineering in India and China may affect the future of this field here in the US. When I was at the embedded systems conference in San Jose last spring, I met several engineering managers that were from India (especially), that job shop for projects and work here in the US - these guys have a team of engineers in India that do all the engineering, while the manager is here in the US, feeding information back and forth to his guys back home. I warned my students that more and more of this is occurring, and US companies are looking to stay competitive.

The bottom line is, that there is always room for good engineers, regardless of the economy. But you've got to love what you do - the rest will take care of itself.

<threadjack>
Oh my goodness an EE Prof! I'm stuck choosing between EE and CmpE, any advice? And how does GPA affect my initial salary? If I'm in a Co-op program, will I be worth more coming out of school? How much more? Oh, so many questions T__T Wish me luck on my exams tmrw!
</threadjack>

 

[Alphathree33]

As someone who just finished a Computer Engineering degree and is now working full-time (and also as someone who used to love computers in high school) I can say with full and complete certainty:

STAY AWAY FROM ENGINEERING AT ALL COSTS.

I spent 6 years of my life doing something I hate.

Now I will probably spend another 6 years undoing the mistake.

12 years is a long time to spend making up for one college application form. =)

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
As someone who just finished a Computer Engineering degree and is now working full-time (and also as someone who used to love computers in high school) I can say with full and complete certainty:

STAY AWAY FROM ENGINEERING AT ALL COSTS.

I spent 6 years of my life doing something I hate.

Now I will probably spend another 6 years undoing the mistake.

12 years is a long time to spend making up for one college application form. =)

Used to love computers in high school and warns of not going for Computer Engineering, or any engineering at all?

Uh-oh. Mind explaining? I'm following your path...

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: Alphathree33
As someone who just finished a Computer Engineering degree and is now working full-time (and also as someone who used to love computers in high school) I can say with full and complete certainty:

STAY AWAY FROM ENGINEERING AT ALL COSTS.

I spent 6 years of my life doing something I hate.

Now I will probably spend another 6 years undoing the mistake.

12 years is a long time to spend making up for one college application form. =)

Used to love computers in high school and warns of not going for Computer Engineering, or any engineering at all?

Uh-oh. Mind explaining? I'm following your path...

just because you do something as a hobby doesn't mean it will make a good profession. if you don't "work to play" like some people, you need to find something that interests and challenges you. i'm into computers and cars as hobbies, but i picked materials engineering as my major (although i despise polymers right now, haha).

point being - your hobby doesn't necessarily = your profession

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB

Originally posted by: Analog
As an EE prof, let me give some advice. You gotta pick a discipline you love to do. Simple as that. If you don't love it, then you will be jaded and find some other work, whether 2 years down the line, or 20 years down the line.

The trend is that cheap engineering in India and China may affect the future of this field here in the US. When I was at the embedded systems conference in San Jose last spring, I met several engineering managers that were from India (especially), that job shop for projects and work here in the US - these guys have a team of engineers in India that do all the engineering, while the manager is here in the US, feeding information back and forth to his guys back home. I warned my students that more and more of this is occurring, and US companies are looking to stay competitive.

The bottom line is, that there is always room for good engineers, regardless of the economy. But you've got to love what you do - the rest will take care of itself.

<threadjack>
Oh my goodness an EE Prof! I'm stuck choosing between EE and CmpE, any advice? And how does GPA affect my initial salary? If I'm in a Co-op program, will I be worth more coming out of school? How much more? Oh, so many questions T__T Wish me luck on my exams tmrw!
</threadjack>

It won't effect it much. My friend had a 2.6 GPA and he landed a job with a 64K salary. In contrast, I know people with 3.4 that only got the high 50's, but another person with the same GPA got 70K. It is more relevent of where you work.

As for CE vs EE..... it depnds what you want to do. You can cross over to either one later down the road (provided you are not too specialized). You won't see an CE from Microsoft working in the power industry and you won't see an EE from Shaw working on MS's new OS.

Also, Analog is absolutely correct. The job market for analog engineers straight from school is pretty tough and competitive. Lots of it is outsourced. My advice to new grads is to be as versitile as possible.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
fwiw now, he is really skilled in fixing computers, troubleshooting, just figuring things out when others can't, but he doesn't want to be an IT guy. he doesn't want to spend his life working on computers. he's looking for a branch of engineering where he can incorporate his love for the inner workings of computers without having that be the sole basis of his job.

Bad reasoning... trust me . I used to tutor computer science courses all the time and that was actually a common answer if I ever asked, "what made you choose computer science?" You'd get the usual things like, "Ohh I love using the computer", "I like working with computers", etc. Those people tend to not have the right mindset when it comes to those fields. I don't know exactly what it is... a strong analytical mind... a mind open to basic ideas forming into one grand scheme?

I've enjoyed programming for a long time which is why I went into computer science. I work as a software engineer and while the documentation can be a chore and reading other documents a bore... I still love to figure it out... sit down with a pad of paper and a pencil/pen and solve the problem! Hours can pass by and I won't even notice, but stick me in front of a mindless task and I'll browse the net for half the time ( or more ).

 

[BurnItDwn]

I sometimes play an Engineer in Team Fortress 2. Does that count?
I also have experience playing an Engineer in Team Fortress, Team Fortress Classic, Battlefield 1942, Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Battlefield Vietnam, and Battlefield 2.
Still no, damn!