Was wondering if there were any mechanical engineers here. Had some questions.

 

The hours can be long.
The trips can be longer.
The pay is ok most of the time unless your out of the country for 6 months.

 

Thought you were looking fo Quincy ME lol

 

yup, mech eng here too

 

Any one work for a big name(just wondering) also does school get an easier in the last year or two(currently have been in college 4 years, 2years in to the engineering program, currently taking Dynamic, Mechanics of material, diff Q and Linear Alg) and it sucks. How important are internship, how bad or good is the job market(looking for opinions on the last one).

 

30 years ME, machine design, automation equipment, aerospace, batteries, automotive products.

I have used every engineering course I ever took at school. Plus the English, tech writing, public speaking, marketing, business law, accounting and even art appreciation.

Getting good grades will help you at the job. There are lots of guys (ME's ??)that have forgotten everything from school. They have even forgotten how to treat people. haha sorry

I don't think the classes got any easier, they just became more technical as they were based on your previous class knowledge. As they told us....."get used to it, pal".

There are lots of jobs out there but getting in the door at one is the problem. I would say get all you can of Cad. Solidworks is pretty strong, Pro-E would be great, Inventor is so so, Catia is strong in the automotive field. Any good FEA will be a plus but I haven't seen a lot of specific FEA guys. I spent a some time with fluid dynamics however is was very job specific. It is math intensive.

Contracting is pretty good if you don't mind traveling and you can manage your money carefully during the times you are not working.

Expect to get down-sized occasionally.

 

classes don't really get any easier. I took an FEA class my senior year, not run well - we convinced the prof to give us a take home final, i knew people that had 20+ hours into it. i ended up with a B in that class.
I actually enjoyed Controls, but spend more time studying and getting help from the prof then in any other class (i even tutored a friend of mine who was in a sorority - she made A's on the tests while i made C's???). Anyway, because I met with the prof every week he knew i was trying so he was a bit more generous when it came time for final grades. So get to know your profs well.

As for an internship, DO IT! i spent 8 months on mine, then came back to school and joined the ROTC because i was bored in my internship. I'm working for a big company now and i think my internship really helped me out during the interview. Consider doing ROTC. I spent 5 years in the service, got to go all over the world and work on some incredible projects. Because of that I had 3 solid offers, 3 i knew were coming and some more that were possible when i did accept my position. The military is recession proof and you can go from about 35k to 70k/year in just 4 years (can't double your salary in the private world too easily)

 

Not an ME, but an EE here. Second the "DO IT" on the internship. The job market is tough and having an internship can be a big discriminator when a future potential employer is down selecting candidates.

And DiffEq will never be easy
Good luck,
~Rob

 

Wow Thanks for the info, Its not so much hard per se for me, its just long some times when it come to doing homework(my math teacher is a ****). Good to know on the internship, I will defiantly look at doing one.

 

Im not one yet but going to school for ME as we speak...about a year left at UC (university of Cincinnati). Internships are def worth it, I am currently working for GE aviation here in evendale and let me tell you, the amount you learn in an internship is way greater, atleast for me, than anything learned in the classroom, practical knowledge is much more valuable I think, it also helps out in the classroom. Plus you make alot more money for modding the truck . Also, the world is always going to need engineers no matter what the economy does...also as far as graduating pay no other major, other than other engineering majors are going to come close, just stick in there man, i know what you are going through , remember 8/10 people get a business or related degree, so we are the minority, which helps greatly when seeking a job after school, and the experience you gain via internship or co-op will help even more...Im takiing some pretty cool classes this next quarter that i am looking forward too, internal combustion engines, and the other is turbocharging, should come in handy..

 

ME here as well. X3 (or whatever) on the internships. It was a requirement at my old college where I got experience at two tier 1 automotive suppliers which coupled with some machining experience greatly helped land me my first job. It can surely make a difference and help you stand out as a candidate.

The job market may be a little soft right now, but it's certainly better than when i graduated.

 

Not an ME but I am a CE grad and licensed Professional Engineer in Kansas.

IMO, classes got easier my last 5 semesters as opposed to my first 4... my reasoning is that I finally got into the classes that were geared towards my future career(structural engineering of bridges) opposed to the general engineering requirements. Though I thought calculus and diff EQ were easy, I couldn't stand chemistry and Eng. Physics was murder. Dynamics probably would've been easier if I could've understood my foreign national instructor.... fluids sucked hard too.

Internships are the absolute best thing you can do. Can you get a full-time job without one?? I'm sure of it but you will be better served by working an internship, developing relationships with your future peers, getting some real world experience to make sure you've chosen the right career... you probably get the picture. And if you're lucky, someone will pay you large sums of cash and pay all of your housing to move for a summer internship... Denver rocked....

 

an internship with a GOOD mentor will teach you LOADS of things about how to handle yourself, other people, situations, funding, budgeting (time, personnel, assets)

and that's probably the closest foot in the door you can get.

(p.s. : i'm not a Engineer - i just had some good mentors)

 

Ok, how do you guys work for it you don't mind sharing.

 

The first question is tough. It doesn't get easier per say, but it does get more interesting. The classes will grab your attention a little better and things start falling in place. I wanted to quit more in the first year than the other three.

I cannot stress enough the need for students to take the time to do an internship or better yet a co-op. I was hired straight in to the job I'm at now with the company that I did the internship with. Two close friends worked for 2 years before they found decent jobs. People want to know about your experiences outside of the classroom since that's where the real "learning" takes place.

I think engineers are still in high demand right now. I have interviewed with 2 different companies in the last 6 months and they were very interested in finding people. I can't really comment on entry level though.

Keep your head up.