What Type of Engineer Would You Want to Be?

[Texashiker]

If I were to go into engineering, I would want to be a biological weapons engineer.

 

[pcgeek11]

I wouldn't want to be an engineer. I heard that it is painful when they remove half of your brain...

 

[DrPizza]

I chose "I wouldn't want to be an engineer" - I was on that path, and quit engineering right before the last semester of my senior year at college; I went through a couple more years majoring in applied mathematics instead. (After an internship, I found engineering to be a little... boring.) However, as a physics teacher, I take students back to that university (Alfred) each year to check out the engineering program & to get to do a few fun experiments. I am absolutely blown away at what ceramic/glass engineering is working on these days. The ceramic engineering program requires quite a bit of mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering. One of my former students is working toward biomedical applications. The field is huge - I'd say on one end, you have this and on the other end you have that, but it's broader in more dimensions. Space shuttle tiles, gorilla glass, little glass things that you put against someone's skin and it diagnoses certain diseases via non-invasive methods, superconductors, better replacement bone/teeth, wine glasses that can be dropped onto a concrete floor from about 5 feet up and just bounce,...

 

[Schadenfroh]

I wouldn't want to be an engineer. I heard that it is painful when they remove half of your brain...

Only the illogical half, once you become a sociopath, accumulating wealth and power becomes much easier and no sleepless nights!

 

[gorcorps]

I chose "I wouldn't want to be an engineer" - I was on that path, and quit engineering right before the last semester of my senior year at college; I went through a couple more years majoring in applied mathematics instead. (After an internship, I found engineering to be a little... boring.) However, as a physics teacher, I take students back to that university (Alfred) each year to check out the engineering program & to get to do a few fun experiments. I am absolutely blown away at what ceramic/glass engineering is working on these days. The ceramic engineering program requires quite a bit of mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering. One of my former students is working toward biomedical applications. The field is huge - I'd say on one end, you have this and on the other end you have that, but it's broader in more dimensions. Space shuttle tiles, gorilla glass, little glass things that you put against someone's skin and it diagnoses certain diseases via non-invasive methods, superconductors, better replacement bone/teeth, wine glasses that can be dropped onto a concrete floor from about 5 feet up and just bounce,...

Ceramics are a cool field, and fairly high brow at my school as well. There's a new professor at my school who has been getting a lot of awards for his work on ceramic filters for fuel cell applications. The biggest problem is most of the ceramic professions are research based and require doctorette work before even bothering with you. You definitely have to be committed to get a decent position in anything really new and fascinating.

 

[FiLeZz]

The Old Lady is a ME from Georgia Tech. Her best friend from the tech days is a EE.

 

[mmntech]

I wouldn't want to be one. My dad was a civil engineer for 30 years. The amount of bullshit you have to put up with is staggering. I remember the nights where he was up to 4am trying to fix something somebody else had screwed up. Usually the government/civil service, and they don't take kindly to being told they're wrong.

If I had to choose, I'd say broadcast engineer. Closest to what I've been trained to do.

 

[gorcorps]

What's the non-douchey kind? Oh sorry, never met one of those kinds of engineers.

Serious, I'd want to design stuff I could see everyday. "See that bridge right there? Go ahead, jump on it, its not coming down anytime soon."

I'm excited in that the stuff I do is seen and used by almost everyone. I'm new so I probably won't see anything I've been a part of till next year, but it'll be out there and seen in some fasion. It's kind of an odd feeling to know how widespread our stuff will get

 

[sunzt]

You forgot to add Systems Engineer....

I'm not talking about IT systems admin or Industrial Systems. I'm talking about Concept design, requirements analysis and development, making sure your solution fits with the big picture, coordinating how different systems interface together to make the right solution, performing trade offs with analysis and back of the envelope calculations, doing costing, evaluating alternative solutions, and basically piecing various subsystems (or systems) together to fulfill your customer's mission.

Of course, you need one of the listed engineering backgrounds to be a useful systems engineer hehe. In that case i'd vote EE (am one) since it has the most job opportunity and flexibility.

 

[AeroEngy]

< ----- Aerospace Engineer

FYI,
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
B.S. in Aerospace Engineering
M.S. in Systems Engineering

 

[IndyColtsFan]

TalonStrike appears to have vanished from the thread -- note the numbers now.

 

[Wanescotting]

he engineered an escape!

 

[Locut0s]

I chose "I wouldn't want to be an engineer" - I was on that path, and quit engineering right before the last semester of my senior year at college; I went through a couple more years majoring in applied mathematics instead. (After an internship, I found engineering to be a little... boring.) However, as a physics teacher, I take students back to that university (Alfred) each year to check out the engineering program & to get to do a few fun experiments. I am absolutely blown away at what ceramic/glass engineering is working on these days. The ceramic engineering program requires quite a bit of mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering. One of my former students is working toward biomedical applications. The field is huge - I'd say on one end, you have this and on the other end you have that, but it's broader in more dimensions. Space shuttle tiles, gorilla glass, little glass things that you put against someone's skin and it diagnoses certain diseases via non-invasive methods, superconductors, better replacement bone/teeth, wine glasses that can be dropped onto a concrete floor from about 5 feet up and just bounce,...

Don't we call this field Materials Science? It does seem like a very interesting field, one that is evolving VERY fast, and one with a huge number of practical aplications.

 

[iGas]

Don't we call this field Materials Science? It does seem like a very interesting field, one that is evolving VERY fast, and one with a huge number of practical aplications.

In the late 80s, early 90s it was called Composite Engineering in WA (a good friend of mine was in the program). I don't recall Materials Science in BC universities, however Apply Physics, Apply Math, EE, ME, and CE may take some composite courses.

Composite/ceramic was my main interest when I studied Industrial Eng (I should have gone the ME or CE route).

The most exciting thing for me was that I got to visit Rockwell, and its microchip manufacturing arm.

 

[ussfletcher]

Computer Engineering, I get to take EE classes and software engineering / compsci courses.

 

[zinfamous]

fembot engineer

 

[TalonStrike]

TalonStrike appears to have vanished from the thread -- note the numbers now.

lol really? I actually have a life and don't sit around internet forums all day. Also, you are no one to talk Mr. I have an EE degree yet I have an IT job and hate it even though I think EE is better than IT. Seriously, go back to EE if you think it's so much better.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

lol really? I actually have a life and don't sit around internet forums all day. Also, you are no one to talk Mr. I have an EE degree yet I have an IT job and hate it even though I think EE is better than IT. Seriously, go back to EE if you think it's so much better.

Aw, someone is all hurt.

 

[TalonStrike]

Aw, someone is all hurt.

I'm not hurt. I'm just pointing out the obvious fact that you are a hypocrite for constantly bashing IT even though you personally chose IT over an EE job, which you were qualified for, and could have had if you wanted it. You are throwing stones from an awfully big glass house.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'm not hurt. I'm just pointing out the obvious fact that you are a hypocrite for constantly bashing IT even though you personally chose IT over and EE job, which you were qualified for, and could have had if you wanted it. You are throwing stones from an awfully big glass house.

Excuse me? I said I hate my particular position -- I don't constantly bash IT. I took a gamble and accepted a new position within my company and, well, it hasn't worked out like I hoped. This company, unlike my last one, provides training and I am taking full advantage of that to move on.

My "bashing" of IT has more to do with companies not giving it the proper respect, not providing ample training for their employees, and not resourcing projects properly. I looked at my resume the other day -- the last company I worked for provided 1 (ONE!) class in the 5 years I was there. Pray you don't end up at a company like that.

 

[TalonStrike]

Excuse me? I said I hate my particular position -- I don't constantly bash IT. I took a gamble and accepted a new position within my company and, well, it hasn't worked out like I hoped. This company, unlike my last one, provides training and I am taking full advantage of that to move on.

My "bashing" of IT has more to do with companies not giving it the proper respect, not providing ample training for their employees, and not resourcing projects properly. I looked at my resume the other day -- the last company I worked for provided 1 (ONE!) class in the 5 years I was there. Pray you don't end up at a company like that.

Which company was this? What type of work was it?

So, EE jobs are better in this regard then?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Which company was this? What type of work was it?

I won't mention company names on here (even former ones that I worked at), but suffice it to say that while I actually REALLY liked the people there and the job was great for the first couple of years, you really saw a HUGE change when the first round of layoffs hit. It really did destroy the department and only 3 (IIRC) people were laid off out of around 20 in the US IT operations. The lack of training, I think, really hurt me but fortunately I jumped ship before it became too bad.

I still keep in contact with former coworkers from that company and we still have a good laugh. And even though I didn't get much training, one thing I DID get was tons of awesome experience including designing a global AD domain and traveling to many countries around the world to implement it.

So, EE jobs are better in this regard then?

Every job has shit involved, it is just different shit. Every job also has good points, some of which you may not realize until later. You'll eventually see this if you haven't already.

The big difference between many EE jobs and IT is that in most companies, IT is seen as a cost center and nothing more while EEs, in many companies, are making the products that sell. Sure, there are exceptions, but how a department is perceived by upper management goes along way towards the respect it gets and money it gets. My last job had virtually no training budget; this job, I get to take 2 or 3 classes per year.

The real reason I hate my position isn't because I don't like what I do; it is because I don't REALLY get to do my job. Instead, I spend most of the time putting out fires and babysitting instead of getting done what I am supposed to be doing -- namely, Sharepoint app development and architecting our Sharepoint 2010 farms so we can move our Sharepoint 2007 applications to it. It is constant stress and constant work -- you don't get to sit down and test things in a lab, for example. And of course, you have your high maintenance people who consume inordinate amounts of your time and no one above you will tell them no, so you're the one that gets screwed. Just wait, it will happen to you if it hasn't.

Looking back, I think I should've stayed in my old position, got some more VMWare training/certs, and moved on. Yes, you can make serious cash in Sharepoint and maybe I will stick it out. When I have time to sit down and properly do my job, I actually love it.

I actually like you TS. I don't know much about you, but I think you're young, probably new at your job, and you seem passionate and at the same time, naive. These things will likely happen to you at some point so be prepared.

 

[TalonStrike]

The big difference between many EE jobs and IT is that in most companies, IT is seen as a cost center and nothing more while EEs, in many companies, are making the products that sell. Sure, there are exceptions, but how a department is perceived by upper management goes along way towards the respect it gets and money it gets. My last job had virtually no training budget; this job, I get to take 2 or 3 classes per year.

and wouldn't that be the same for software engineers?

 

[Locut0s]

fembot engineer

Remember you want them to be as realistic and lifelike as possible. So make sure you get out there and umm... collect real world data... :sneaky::sneaky:

 

[IndyColtsFan]

and wouldn't that be the same for software engineers?

It really depends on the company. If you work at Microsoft or Google -- yes. If you build software used internally at a manufacturing company -- no.