Thinking of going into engineering

[Opara]

Hello, i'm currently studying Maths and Physics with a view to going on to studying engineering at university next year.I've been reviewing various courses and to be honest, am finding the sheer number of options within engineering daunting.

For anyone in the field are there any sectors you would recommend or advise avoiding getting into, or even something outside of engineering altogether you think would be more worthwhile.

Any opinions are welcome.

Thanks

[rog007]

Opara said:

Hello, i'm currently studying Maths and Physics with a view to going on to studying engineering at university next year.I've been reviewing various courses and to be honest, am finding the sheer number of options within engineering daunting.

For anyone in the field are there any sectors you would recommend or advise avoiding getting into, or even something outside of engineering altogether you think would be more worthwhile.

Any opinions are welcome.

Thanks

You need to list your preferences then run a Pros and Cons list. Consider your predicted grades, which Uni you'd like, costs of the various courses, and most importantly, what sort of engineer do you want to be; electrical, mechanical, electronic etc. Only ypu know which ofmthese you are most interested in. Good luck!

[navier_stokes]

What are you interested in and what are your predicted grades?

My advice if you are not sure is to go for a mechanical engineering course, that way you will get a bit of everything (fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, design, electronics, advanced maths etc etc...) and you can specialise further down the line. I would avoid going for a course based in a narrow field as this may narrow your career options.

I would also aim for the top rated universities - they carry weight within the industry.

Either way, good luck! The UK is dying for good homegrown engineers right now.

[Lotus Notes]

I see that you are based in Leeds, why not contact the engineering faculty for an informal chat?

As above, do not generalise or specialise, keep with the traditional core subjects. Mechanical engineering will go with your chosen subjects as would Controls engineering.

Look at what vacancies are available with the large engineering contractors, this will give you an idea of roles.

PS Rotating machinery engineers are like gold dust....

[bucksmanuk]

Lotus Notes said:

PS Rotating machinery engineers are like gold dust....

Are we?

Make sure you do a proper mechanical engineering degree, complete with accreditation. Product design degree, err - no... most of them are shocking...

[bitwrx]

1. Go to the best university you can get into.
2. If you're not sure what type of engineering you want to do, choose a university with a non-specialised first year that allows you to choose what to specialise in from yr 2 (or even three [Cambridge ??]) onwards. Don't choose your course on which option you perceive to be easiest. Equally, don't choose your course on what you perceive to be most useful. Do what you enjoy most.
3. Make good use of your non-studying time: get into a club; get an engineering-related summer job/placement/internship; sex many girlies.
4. Apply for jobs before Christmas in your final year, even if you've been offered a job from one of your summer placements.
5. Do Erasmus.

Apart from Erasmus, this pretty much reads like a list of what I didn't do at university.

[ATTAK Z]

Get a degree concerned with getting stuff out of the ground ... move to Australia ... get a job concerned with getting stuff out of the ground ... live happily ever after

[Lotus Notes]

bucksmanuk said:

Are we?

There's always the exeption

[bucksmanuk]

Lotus Notes said:

There's always the exception

I guess I must be...

[BigBen]

I would recommend going into engineering 100%. I am an electronics engineer and love it.

The suggestions of going somewhere which does general engineering for the first year is a good one, it should give you an idea of which direction you want to go in.

Ben

[mondeoman]

Engineering gives you a great grounding in a whole host of topics and teaches you how to think clearly and logically.

I'd say visit your local uni (proper one!) and have a chat with the faculty staff, see if you can spend a while there having a good root around and talking to other students, then JFDI.

[custardkid]

+1

Good engineers are very employable in Engineering and any business!

As they tend to be problem solvers, logical, independent, used to project based environments, used to working hard / long hours and IT literate

- choose the poshest uni you can (it makes a difference when people read your CV)
- Choose a course that is rounded with a modules in management, foreign language, Marketing etc etc as well as the usually thermo / fluid dynamics
- If you like cars do Automotive at Loughborough - designing JCBs is more interesting than sugar cube sorting machines IMHO
- do a placement year, having done real work in a company helps loads when interviewing for a grad job.
- apply for placements / jobs in the October the year before its needed... about 50 applications should give you some options.

my history is:
Automotive at Loughborough
to Engineering Bentley Motors
to HighStreet Banking Analytics
to Management Consultancy

Custard

[GroundEffect]

Engineering is basically a more real-world version of physics and maths, from my own experiences.

If you are wanting to go in to engineering, a Mechanical Engineering degree is probably the one to go in to as it's the most broad. I did my undergrad in Mechanical and then did a Masters in Aerospace just to give me a little more specialisation (and I was really interested in Aerospace). I currently work for Ford as a Powertrain Engineer, and I love it.

[-Ad-]

1. Do Engineering at uni.

2. Get into either Oil & Gas or Finance/Banking.

3. Profit!!!!!

[Mattt]

Pretty good advice above, some of my friends went and did some study overseas - which they enjoyed and worked well for them as a way to stand out.

Remember though that a lot of UK engineering jobs have a pretty poor reward ratio to the skill & effort involved.

[Eviltad]

bitwrx said:

1. Make good use of your non-studying time: sex many girlies.

Which is more difficult when studying engineering!

[naebodycares]

go for mechanical, chemical, electrical...... stay away from civil, structural

mechanical then into oil and gas. its where the money is and no shortage of jobs

[hidetheelephants]

naebodycares said:

go for mechanical, chemical, electrical...... stay away from civil, structural

mechanical then into oil and gas. its where the money is and no shortage of jobs

The IMechE comic said a while ago that ChemEng was in demand and attracts the best grad wages atm, but you can't go wrong with a plain vanilla mech BEng; an 2.1 from a good uni will get you work anywhere from the north sea to the City.

[Mattt]

hidetheelephants said:

you can't go wrong with a plain vanilla mech BEng

Well, unless you want a decent job - then you'll need a MEng

[hidetheelephants]

Mattt said:

hidetheelephants said:

you can't go wrong with a plain vanilla mech BEng

Well, unless you want a decent job to spend another year drinking in the Union and knobbing freshers - then you'll need a MEng

EFA