Mechanical or electrical engineer

[CraKaJaX]

<==== EE grad Dec 2010. Had a job lined up a year prior to graduating. Some ME's I went to school with are still looking for jobs.

As far as school... yes, the first year is usually cookie cutter for all engineers. You'll have all the same classes (physics, chem, calc, etc.). The second year you'll have (some) classes together, but that's when classes start splitting up depending on major.

 

[96Firebird]

Find a community college that offers an AS in engineering, then he can decide which he wants to do from there and save some money at the same time. I felt like I had learned more at community college than students who had been at my 4-year college for the first two years.

 

[soulcougher73]

hmm..., this appears to correct via Marvel wiki, but building the variations of the armor and other stuff requires a strong mechanical engineering background. I would have bet the farm he was an ME.

It's Tony Stark. He is probably all engineers rolled into one

 

[ichy]

My son is interested int this major. How doors one know if someone is ciut out for it. I heard there is a lot of programming. Thanks

I get a sense that most electrical engineers who remain in engineering (I studied EE but have worked in IT security since college) or at least the ones who just have a bachelor's degree spend most of their time programming FPGAs.

 

[sunzt]

Does he like working with computers all day long? If so, choose EE, else choose ME.

 

[Jeff7]

It's Tony Stark. He is probably all engineers rolled into one

But he's also an ME: Movie Engineer.

They can take a single i7 processor and a Lego set, and two days later they've got a robot that can perform 500 trillion calculations per second, complete with lots of little blinking lights and alarms, because a lot of people's understanding of technology really boils down to this: It's magic.

I love that in movies or TV shows: Whenever someone's got to quickly cobble together some sophisticated device from parts laying around, they've always got time to attach lots of little blinking lights and alarms to the thing they're making.

Good old TV writer exposition, for a target audience IQ of 30: "There, it looks like crap, but it has blinking lights on it. It is therefore freshly-assembled, and it is also sciencey. DO YOU GET IT NOW, AUDIENCE?!?"

 

[edro]

EE

EEs can do ME stuff but MEs have trouble with EE stuff.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

In my experience an EE spends the first 2 years of his job learning ME while a ME spends the first 10 years of his job learning EE.

 

[z1ggy]

In my experience an EE spends the first 2 years of his job learning ME while a ME spends the first 10 years of his job learning EE.

Haha so true. I'm EE and I actually spent 3 months along with an ME writing Python code to determine how hot our generator we designed would get and where the heat flow would be. They needed me because we first designed the generator as an resistive circuit and then used some heat flow and other equations to inject losses.

As to the OP, he probably find out during his freshman year. Physics I...Mechanical minded type things.. Physics II..Electrical minded things. Either way.. you can't go wrong really.

 

[ControlD]

I get a sense that most electrical engineers who remain in engineering (I studied EE but have worked in IT security since college) or at least the ones who just have a bachelor's degree spend most of their time programming FPGAs.

Not really. I have been a working electrical engineer for 20 years and I have yet to program anything resembling a FPGA. I'm not sure I could name a single collegue that has either. Electrical (or any other branch) Engineering is a very broad field with thouands of potential different jobs.

 

[Drako]

I get a sense that most electrical engineers who remain in engineering (I studied EE but have worked in IT security since college) or at least the ones who just have a bachelor's degree spend most of their time programming FPGAs.

LOL, nope. I've been doing board and system level design for the last 30 years. I do some FPGA programming, but I would estimate that's probably only about 5% of my job.

 

[Jeff7]

EE

EEs can do ME stuff but MEs have trouble with EE stuff.

Not always.


Though I will say that most of the people in my graduating class did indeed despise anything that involved moving electrical charges.

 

[Childs]

How about a BS in General Engineering?

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Also depends on what school he gets into. If you are in California encourage your son to go to cal poly. Very competitive, but $/degree value is unbeatable at cal poly, especially in engineering.

EE seems to be the stronger field, with more of my ee friends barely looking to find jobs. Mechanical engineers seem to have more competition.

 

[herm0016]

I am ME, should clear over 100k 4 years out of school. not impressive by ATOT standards, but pretty darn good.
imho, anyone with an engineering degree can get 6 jobs tomorrow if they are willing to do real work, and willing to live outside of a big city.

I get to play with some pretty sweet suff, work 2/3 of the year and do pretty well. but my job is being a supervisor to a crew of 3 or 4 and responsible for over $1M of equipment and the customers oil/gas well when my tools are inside it. It seems most of the people here are from ME or PE or CE. a few EE, but most of them do not last too long.

 

[CLite]

It's amusing but not unexpected that a tech site is dumping on ME's and cheering EE's. Both fields are littered with people who really never gave a fuck and end up in an equivalent job to being a plumber or electrician, but being very bad at it compared to real plumbers/electricians. On the other hand both fields have a rich opportunity for people who are bright and motivated, with large corps like ConocoPhillips blowing north of 80k on top end graduates with bachelor degrees.

If your kid is interested in ME pick him up Timoshenko's "History of Strength of Materials". I could go on semi-rant about some of the very interesting and incredibly complex problems I've come across as a consulting ME. However, the bottom line is that any engineering degree has thousands of possible careers paths, and a small sampling of opinions won't do justice to what both fields probably have to offer.

Figure out what your son enjoys via summer reading or introductory courses/etc., whatever difference may exist in pay-scales or opportunities will be far outweighed by the amount of enthusiasm he has towards his profession and career.

 

[Drako]

It's amusing but not unexpected that a tech site is dumping on ME's and cheering EE's. Both fields are littered with people who really never gave a fuck and end up in an equivalent job to being a plumber or electrician, but being very bad at it compared to real plumbers/electricians. On the other hand both fields have a rich opportunity for people who are bright and motivated, with large corps like ConocoPhillips blowing north of 80k on top end graduates with bachelor degrees.

If your kid is interested in ME pick him up Timoshenko's "History of Strength of Materials". I could go on semi-rant about some of the very interesting and incredibly complex problems I've come across as a consulting ME. However, the bottom line is that any engineering degree has thousands of possible careers paths, and a small sampling of opinions won't do justice to what both fields probably have to offer.

Figure out what your son enjoys via summer reading or introductory courses/etc., whatever difference may exist in pay-scales or opportunities will be far outweighed by the amount of enthusiasm he has towards his profession and career.

ME is butt hurt :biggrin:

Wow, you take the internet and youself way too seriously

The OP has not responded to any posts, is that a clue for you?

 

[Printer Bandit]

How about a BS in General Engineering?

Does that allow you to drive trains?

 

[Childs]

Does that allow you to drive trains?

lol I'm not sure how it applies to the job market, as it seems to be mainly used as a pathway to education or getting a PHD in Engineering. I dont think I've ever met anyone with that degree, but it seems more schools are offering it.

 

[PsiStar]

I transferred schools specifically to avoid the General Engineering degree. But, I knew that I wanted to study electrical engineering from the get-go.

Is the school with the Gen. Eng. degree accredited? Is it even possible to be accredited? This does matter to tech companies in which the graduate wants to actually work in technology. I'm not so sure if it matters for sales or marketing tho. Or, if using the engineering degree as a step for something more ... such as medicine or law.

 

[7window]

ME is butt hurt :biggrin:

Wow, you take the internet and youself way too seriously

The OP has not responded to any posts, is that a clue for you?

Well I am absorbing the advice here. Very appreciative of it. It is a new endeavor for us so I don't have a lot to say but we are taking a lot of notes.

Someone suggested introductory books. Can anyone suggest some books we can buy at barnes?

 

[Childs]

I transferred schools specifically to avoid the General Engineering degree. But, I knew that I wanted to study electrical engineering from the get-go.

Is the school with the Gen. Eng. degree accredited? Is it even possible to be accredited? This does matter to tech companies in which the graduate wants to actually work in technology. I'm not so sure if it matters for sales or marketing tho. Or, if using the engineering degree as a step for something more ... such as medicine or law.

I saw it when browsing SJSU, and after you asked about accreditation I looked it up and it is not accredited at SJSU. It is at other places. Some schools seem to use it as a place holder for engineering students who have not decided on their specialty.

 

[herm0016]

http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Handb.../dp/0071428674

nearly everything an ME needs to know. also a good book to have around if you are studing.

 

[mrkun]

Chemical Engineer.

I second this. Do CE , work for oil company, profit.

 

[disappoint]

Tony Stark was an electrical engineer.

Rowan Atkinson has an MSEE as well. (Mr. Bean)