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I'm about to graduate with the wrong degree (for me)

P

Pollock

Golden Member
I am about to graduate with my BSME in June, and while I am well-qualified with several internships, I am now realizing that I am about to have a degree that barely enables me to do what I really want to do.

A lot of older engineers grew up in the heydays of the space age and were inspired to work on aircraft and spacecraft. Others are gearheads and love automotive stuff. That's all well and good, but it's not for me. I grew up in the computer age, starting with a classic Macintosh, progressing to building my own computers, and now being fascinated by the capabilities of smart phones. Stuff like this is exciting to me because it's still constantly breaking new ground, not stuff that has been "figured out" over many decades.

Whether it's software, hardware, networking, or something else, I find myself asking inquisitive questions: "How do Google routers handle such massive traffic?", for example. I don't find myself asking questions like that about many "traditional" mechanical topics, like turbomachinery, cars, aircraft and spacecraft, etc.

I think that sort of curiosity is essential to be a good/fulfilled engineer, and I don't appear to have that sort of interest in mechanical topics (or maybe my courseload has simply crushed any extra inquisitiveness beyond that which is required).

So where do I go from here? I have been applying to a couple of ME grad programs to keep my options open, but ultimately I want to go to industry and make cool stuff.

tl;dr

Graduating with BSME in June. Interning at GE/NASA/Amazon made me realize I want to work in some sort of computer company or tech industry. What are my options?
 
This
I have a BSEE but MS in Computer Engineering. Support my family via software development
 
Congratulations on reaching graduation. It seems this realization was most likely realized some time ago. There is no need to worry. An education in Mechanical Engineering is an asset that will be very helpful if you pursue another degree in computer science. One of my computer science professors had a BS and MS in MechE with a doctorate in CS.

You could go for an MS in CS and use that combination to get into software development for an engineering company, for example Northrop Grumman writing software for some of the military components they develop.

Your BSME is a strong asset that will be of good use to you whatever direction you decide to take.
 
Thanks for the advice. This is something I have been grappling with for some time now, but I haven't been able to find the guidance I need, and I have only now been able to articulate these feelings.

An MS in CSE or ECE was my first thought, but I guess what I am struggling with is that the graduate schools I have looked at for CSE and ECE (appear to) require a BS in the respective field for admission. I may be wrong about that, but at the very least, I would think I'd need to fulfill some additional prereqs.
 
degree in Communication, professional web developer. They only cared that I had a 4-year degree. Except that was back in 2000 and not now when there's much more fierce competition.
 
At minimum you could focus on the control system side of things. If you look at the research focuses of ME grad schools you'll notice they are heading away from the traditional ME topics.
 
I am a consultant in EE & physics. My customers are all MEs designing connectors, sockets & IC packaging for next gen high speed digital applications. There is a lot on that plate from mechanical FEA, thermal, to manufacturing & assembly issues. I make models of their designs studying how they will perform in high bandwidth digital applications ... they make sure that the "it" can be built to the physical specs of the application.

All of the tech companies in the Bay area need MEs, RTP in NC as well and plenty of companies in between. I can do some of what they do and some like to do some of what I do, but there are only so many hours in the day and I have no problem deferring as much to them in their subject areas as I can.

Because you have just an BSME is not necessarily a limitation in the industry you are interested. Advanced degrees to augment are never a bad idea tho.
 
Pollock said:
Thanks for the advice. This is something I have been grappling with for some time now, but I haven't been able to find the guidance I need, and I have only now been able to articulate these feelings.

An MS in CSE or ECE was my first thought, but I guess what I am struggling with is that the graduate schools I have looked at for CSE and ECE (appear to) require a BS in the respective field for admission. I may be wrong about that, but at the very least, I would think I'd need to fulfill some additional prereqs.
Click to expand...

You may have to take additional prereqs, true. I would shoot an email to the dean or whoever is in charge of the program(s) you are interested in and just ask what pre-req's you'd need as a BSME for their master's programs. Most will be more than happy to help you!
 
I'll second psistar. I just graduated with an ME as well and as I was looking for a job I found a lot of high tech electronics manufacturers and things of that nature that needed ME's for different aspects. Not to mention that with your internship portfolio it sounds like you could probably get into an awesome defense contractor that would be extremely cutting edge.
 
While I make some good money with my BA CS (yeah yeah I know, save it) engineers are in short supply. Any Aero company will pick you up in a heartbeat.
 
At the enterprise server design team where I work, most of the guys on the thermal team are ME's. They take care of all the cooling architecture and design from the single server, all the way to a fully loaded server rack.
 
PhaZe said:
At the enterprise server design team where I work, most of the guys on the thermal team are ME's. They take care of all the cooling architecture and design from the single server, all the way to a fully loaded server rack.
Click to expand...

How do I get into something like that? Whenever I look at the career sites for Dell, IBM, HP, Apple, etc. I can't seem to find anything relating to MEs. Whether it's servers, desktops, laptops, phones, data centers - it's all something that I would like to be involved with.
 
arcenite said:
While I make some good money with my BA CS (yeah yeah I know, save it) engineers are in short supply. Any Aero company will pick you up in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

This is true. Ive got a co-op internship in January with a major aerospace company and I'm the only AE major there, the rest of the people I'll be with are all ME.
 
Pollock said:
How do I get into something like that? Whenever I look at the career sites for Dell, IBM, HP, Apple, etc. I can't seem to find anything relating to MEs. Whether it's servers, desktops, laptops, phones, data centers - it's all something that I would like to be involved with.
Click to expand...

If data center cooling design is interesting to you, look at HVAC companies or consulting firms who primarily deal with that. It is fascinating stuff but you may end up doing other systems that may be less interesting to you. I don't think most of the actual companies typically do their own data center design but I may be wrong. IIRC apple was hiring a few ME's for their new cupertino campus that will be going up over the next few years.

I got into HVAC design just in my last couple quarters and wish I had looked at it earlier. It is super easy from a design standpoint and the construction is awesome to me.

Turns out I'm going to be going into pumps, so back to your standard turbomachinery and system design.
 
WhoBeDaPlaya said:
Do a non-thesis MS. Shouldn't be hard to finish in a 1-1.5 years.
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Thisaone. I'm doing an MEng because after I finished my BAScCE (take that mofos!), I was completely lost as to what I wanted to do. This was especially so because I started working in transportation and structural - I told myself I HATED both fields after I graduated and would never want to have shit to do with them. Funnay.

So, after a year of working, I went back to school part-time to do an MEng (non-thesis masters, just courses) to see what interested me (and bragging rights). Almost done now, and I'm a lot more "found" now than before.

Totally get what you mean about course load. Five to six courses per semester is stupid as you only have time to study for grades - that or you spend every waking minute studying and doing extra exploratory studying. I'm doing 2 courses per semester and have time to learn stuff in detail, ask questions, etc.

Having said that, a graduate program without some sort of research project is a bit wasted. I opted to do a 2 course equivalent research study supervised by a professor: it worked out great.
 
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