Any engineers here?

[THE "10" SILVERADO]

Just wondering, how many of you out there have a degree in a type of engineering?

I'm graduating in about 6 weeks and heading off to college. Going to the University of Texas at Arlington for mechanical engineering. Looking forward to it but now that it's coming up I'm starting to get a little nervous about some of the classes. Don't really have anything to compare too so it's all new. What where some of the classes you had a hard time with in college? How'd you get through it?

[Kerry P]

ME from U of I, Chicago. Several classes were tough (for me at least). Don't get behind in your math skills. I found higher math to be the key to the upper classes. That's the reason new engineers have trouble in the work place. The stuff that is so important in school is typically not so important in the real world. Good Luck.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Civil, Clemson University. The ONLY class I ever completely bombed was dynamics, and it was more not understanding the professors teaching style than the class (about half the class had a D or F, clemson requires a C to consider the class completed).

At clemson, all the engineering students take the same freshman year stuff, then you move into the discipline of your choice. I took ME classes my first sophomore semester, thought it was too difficult, and switched to Civil. I wish I had stuck with it. People with ME degrees, at least in my area, have had much less of an economic impact than civil, and the pay is surprisingly better as well.

Make a good group of friends. Not the party idiots, but the ones that actually study, you can hang out with the party idiots on the weekends. There are always old tests somewhere. Someone will have them somehow. I didn't fully utilize this until my jr year. Makes life much easier.

Also, another regret... DO AN INTERNSHIP OR CO-OP. Don't wait until your jr/sr year, try to get one right out the gate after your freshman year.

Have fun. There will be hot chicks everywhere... except in your major

[MadManAndrew]

Ha! I'm doing the exact same thing after I graduate next year. See you there, man! UTA is by far my favorite school that I've seen, plus it's only about an hour and a half from home. My dad has a lot of mechanical engineer's at work that aren't exactly the brightest bulbs, so I'm sure we can do it.
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[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by MadManAndrew

My dad has a lot of mechanical engineer's at work that aren't exactly the brightest bulbs, so I'm sure we can do it.
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Very very true. I've run across quite a few people that I have no idea how they got their degree. And I'm not talking about difficult design stuff... just every day common sense things...

[THE "10" SILVERADO]

Originally Posted by MadManAndrew

Ha! I'm doing the exact same thing after I graduate next year. See you there, man! UTA is by far my favorite school that I've seen, plus it's only about an hour and a half from home. My dad has a lot of mechanical engineer's at work that aren't exactly the brightest bulbs, so I'm sure we can do it.
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Well I guess I'll see you there in a couple years

[THE "10" SILVERADO]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Civil, Clemson University. The ONLY class I ever completely bombed was dynamics, and it was more not understanding the professors teaching style than the class (about half the class had a D or F, clemson requires a C to consider the class completed).

At clemson, all the engineering students take the same freshman year stuff, then you move into the discipline of your choice. I took ME classes my first sophomore semester, thought it was too difficult, and switched to Civil. I wish I had stuck with it. People with ME degrees, at least in my area, have had much less of an economic impact than civil, and the pay is surprisingly better as well.

Make a good group of friends. Not the party idiots, but the ones that actually study, you can hang out with the party idiots on the weekends. There are always old tests somewhere. Someone will have them somehow. I didn't fully utilize this until my jr year. Makes life much easier.

Also, another regret... DO AN INTERNSHIP OR CO-OP. Don't wait until your jr/sr year, try to get one right out the gate after your freshman year.

Have fun. There will be hot chicks everywhere... except in your major

Thanks for the tips! I also got accepted into their FIG program (freshman interest group) which means I'll be in a group of 15 that are roomed around each other and take the same classes. That way we can help each out and stuff. I'd love to get an internship at Lockheed or Bell Helicopter or something. They've got some sort of program with UTA to give internships out to students there.

[vectorit]

Been a software engineer for most of my adult life.
Focus on math... I like to think I am pretty good, but the guys/gals I secretly admire are the ones that can calculate serious mathematical problems on the fly. I'm talking about the type of engineer that can rattle off correct equations on a white board in front of 20 senior engineers.

Oh, and don't brag about being an engineer to women hoping to impress. Take it from me, it's the kiss of death.

[PAWS 72]

Congrats bud.I dont have one but it wouldnt help me now if I did. Study hard and if you dont understand sometime go to the professor and make him explain better. Alot of the times(I think) are the teachers not the individual.

My son wasnt good in mathand hated it until his 7th grade year.I asked his teacher to watch him for a few days and help if needed and he did. He took up time with the ones that needed helping. Tyler loves math now.

[ERASER5]

I do alot of horizontal engineering. Does that count?

[Kerry P]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

I do alot of horizontal engineering. Does that count?

If it pays the bills

[MadManAndrew]

Originally Posted by THE "10" SILVERADO

Thanks for the tips! I also got accepted into their FIG program (freshman interest group) which means I'll be in a group of 15 that are roomed around each other and take the same classes. That way we can help each out and stuff. I'd love to get an internship at Lockheed or Bell Helicopter or something. They've got some sort of program with UTA to give internships out to students there.

Sounds great. My dad used to do contract automation work for Bell, but he has his own firm now. They're in the UTA Summer internship program too. Look at nTact, they do some pretty cool stuff.
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[hounddogs!]

BSME, Kansas
MSME, Georgia Tech
Both before the turn of the century

Couple of good things already called out:
--Find a dependable study group. Between the three or four of you, you'll figure out how to break down a problem into its manageable components. Being able to do this consistently is much more important than having access to old exams.
--Do an internship if you're wanting to do something besides research/academia. Summers are OK, but I would have rather done some working semesters as well. A project that runs from June to December (summer + fall semester) will have more meat to it than the typical 10 week jobs in the summer.

Every school will have its courses that are known to kick your a$$. KU had Engineering Mechanics from the Physics dept, Tech had E-magnetics I-III and I remember an Aggie friend hating "thermog-ddammits".

Keep up with the math requirements, but to my mind they're a necessary evil and no more. In 20+ years of industrial engineering (ME by training, IE by trade) and project management, my math needs really haven't gone beyond algebra II and solving simultaneous equations.

Get some experience with professional software packages. Depending on your interests, this could be finite element, CAD, or even Project Manager and Excel.

Do something outside the engineering complex that will be an interesting topic at a job interview. Minor in history, play intramural basketball, hike the Grand Canyon...

Good luck.

[Chris4x4Gill2]

Mechanical Engineer - Univ of Alabama Huntsville

Hardest for me was probably the higher maths. Diff Eq 2 was harder than 3. Linear Algebra was Bleh. Hated Circuits - The old Russian EE professor liked making it hard.

I enjoyed Dynamics - even though i made a 27 on the final (yes, out of 100) - I was warned not to take that class from the Dean of the dept but i didnt listen.

Make good friends with others in your major, you will have alot of classes together. Share notes, study groups and Co-Op at any opportunity. One it pays great, two it will set you up for after graduation very nicely.