/sci/ - Science & Math

by the way there are drinks and snacks by the wall

First off, what are some resources to get a good overview of the whole of engineering in general or the specific field youre interested in? Things that really spark a lifelong interest in engineering rather than just leading you to a qualification/job

>>4793009
It's going to depend on the institute you choose, but many universities have a general first yeah where you are introduced to the basics of most fields offered at that university.

Unfortunately since engineering is such a wide field in general I can't really give you a better idea of what you will do in real life. Even now after a relatively brief time in the work force I'm finding that what you do in school is fairly unrelated to what you do in real life anyway. Generally the best approach is to figure out what you want to do and then choose the related discipline.

>>4793009
don't be shy

what do you think about environmental engineering? a bullshit greenwash degree to get undergrads or something that's gonna be absolutely essential for future engineering projects?

>>4793021
what are you doing now and whatd you study?

Math BSc here.

Due to current economic debacles and lack of money on my end, should I go for a masters in engineering? I've been told to take some applied math courses alongside my engineering masters so that I would be double valued by potential employers. I enjoy mathematics(evidently since I have a BSc), and I wouldn't mind applying it to some interesting stuff. I'm looking at mechanical engineering, but I'm open to ideas.

Yea or nay?

>>4793033

I studied civil engineering and went on to complete a masters of structural engineering right nite I work as a junior structural design engineer. I do everything from foundations to bridges.

>>4793049
Does the civil engineering course cover water treatment and waste management? what do most people usually do into after doing civil?

>>4793040
I won't tell you not to, but keep in mind you will be in a room full of people who are either bachelors of sci in the field or practicing engineers and they will be setting the curve. You will have very little background in the practical aspects and you may struggle unless you pace yourself with courses. A masters level course is roughly 1.5 times more difficult than an undergrad course so adjust your course load appropriately.

>>4793053
Waste water management is generally an environmental engineering area.
Civil engineers end up in any of these:
Geotechnical eng
Water resource eng
Structural eng
Construction management
it's less likely but you can also do municipal engineering, but that one also really belongs to the environmental eng, there just happens to be a bit of crossover

>>4793069
Oh I forgot transportation eng

How is the cock market after graduation...

I know I took up engineering because, well, you know...but I'm worried about the lack of dicks in the market right now....

Any advice for engineers working now? Do you bring home a decent amount of semen?

>>4792997
I'm into BME (biomed engineering)

First year will be awful
you'll be basically doing your whole highschool again (with advenced stuff but it's the same)
i hated every single second of it heck i was in to make stuff and they handed me calculus, physics discrete mats, some stupid C course, chemistry and so on

Second year started with a BOOM, we started to do stuff that i was applying in a side project of mine, the surge eventually faded, stupid stuff is gone but still you don't get the fun stuff

Third year you get to work on real stuff
everything is super hard but time passes easily (you are doing what you like..remember?)

TL;DR
1st yr boring but easy
2nd yr kind of cool and kind of hard
3rd year it's cool but hard

expect no social life

>>4793069
I thought environmental was a new degree, so which degree covered waste water before that?

Anyone know any good books to read about engineering for someone who isn't really from an engineering background to get a feel for it?

Is it worth doing an Eng degree if you're not really that into it? I just wanna do something that's actually useful, pays well and which I'm at least moderately interested in

>>4793460
No, please don't be one of those asians that can only study and can't build shit. I can't stand those people just taking up space in my classes. I can't wait until they get a real job and then they get fired because they aren't handy at all.

AND LOL. OP EXPECTS A GENUINE ENGINEERING THREAD ON /SCI/? You must be new here.

>PhD in mathematics
>300k starting
>any job I want

>>4793460
no
engineering will be a lifestyle

there are plenty of other jobs to become financially sound.

>starting second year of chemE
>inb4 im a retard

Physics Bachelors standing by. Graduated May 2011.

Beginning my 4th year of computer engineering undergrad this fall.

Anyone have experience of graduate school in applied mathematics after an engineering degree?

>>4793428
Do you want to learn general engineering principles or knowledge that's specific to a field? Both are needed if you want to become a good engineer, but you'll learn a lot more of the latter if you actually go into a program. My first year consisted of one engineering principles course and nine science/departmental courses.

>>4793462
You mad bro? Actually, there aren't a lot of asians in my courses, about 5%.There are a lot more southeast asians, who aren't often referred to as asians but lumped together as brown people.

>>4793466
Today is the day. I feel it

>>4793480
I come from a background of biology (...) so I was interested in something (anything) that has some biological aspects but is actually useful and will lead to a career and not just a piece of A4 card with my name on it

I was thinking either healthcare or engineering but pure engineering turns me off, as a kid I was always more drawn to reading and learning about living systems than purely mechanical ones. That's why I thought enviro eng might be good since afaik it covers organic waste treatment and soil quality

>>4793462

No, please do not be one of those people who can build something trivial but do not for shit understand how it works since they did not pay attention in linear algebra and thermodynamics.

>>4793428

It used to fall under civil, and some courses tend to be retained, but new is a relative term depending on university and country. Here in Canada environmental has been around for about thirty to forty years. Maybe more, I'm not up on that history, but you can find sixty year old enviro eng who started there.

>>4793506
so is it actually a respected degree then? would there ever be a situation where someone with Env Eng was chosen over someone with Civil (greenwash and PR stunts not included)

>>4793496

Why dont you do medicine then? The body is a living machine and you could do ortho surgery. Most orthos I've met are very mechanically minded.

>>4793058
Will those with the B.E. be more competent than me, even though I have a Masters in the field of Mechanical Engineering? That's ludicrous, though, isn't it? At my lowest, shouldn't we at least be at equal levels of academic knowledge?

Also, wouldn't my mathematics background help me immensely on the job/in grad school?

>>4793497
Guess what! I can do both! Basically I'm what you call a competent (future) engineer!

>>4793511
Well, they're different degrees so realistically they would rarely at best compete for the same position. Like a civil water resource engineer is not the same as a enviro waste water engineer, so they wouldn't usually apply to the same job.

Enviro is fairly respected and generally in demand as Pendleton requires that environmental intact assessment and credit deficit be installed

>>4792997

>>479355

After you've done the masters you should be on par with other people who have completed the same masters.

The math background isn't going to help much though. most mathematics in eng are very straightforward equations, the hard part is practicality, geometry and conceptual. Math may help with the concepts but the other two are just as if not more important.

>>4793520
After you've done the degree then yes, you will stand on par with others holding the masters, it's just that getting the masters will be harder for you.
believe it or not, advanced math does not come up often in engineering unless you're doing highly theoretical modeling, bit even then most of the time that's all numerical. The hard part in engineering is conceptual, geometric and practicality.

If you're interested in Electronic or Electrical Engineering I guess you can look at this pdf of all our honours projects for this year. I study in South Africa at Stellenbosch. Our faculty lets you choose between Telecommunication, Robotics, Energy(Heavy Current), and Computer Science. Between these fields you can do a lot of things for instance: Automation and control systems, amplification, communication, building micro chips, BioMedical, embedded systems and designing power lines and supplies.

I like what I study because I get to build cool shit like amplifiers and robots and still get all the theoretical knowledge to one day design stuff we use every day.

http://courses.ee.sun.ac.za/Projek_E_448/files/ProjectE448_2012_TopicListAndGeneralGuidelines.pdf

>>4793496
Why don't you start in Bio-Science Engineering? I'm in my third year now and it's great, you apply your engineering skills on biological systems like wastewater treatment plants, (bio)-chemical reactors, soils, micro-organisms,...
On top of this, you'll learn to think in a way a civil engineer just can't, you learn to use engineering in a dynamic, ever changing system instead of apply it to dead structures without any great challenge.

>>4793620
Ouch.

In all fairness it's not do much can't as it is don't need to. Not to say I haven't donemy fair share of dynamic analysis, but seismic, and wind or water forces aren't really the same.

>In all fairness it's not do much can't as it is don't need to

>>4793626
>In all fairness it's not do much can't as it is don't need to

Nice thread....

EE reporting, after completing my bachelors got some job xp (1.5 years) with a small R&D based defense contractor. Now finishing up on my Master's degree, MEMS.

EE is not that difficult if you are really into it. I was int hobby electronics during highschool, that helped a lot. The basic theme is to get a deep and lasting intuition on whatever you are doing (circuits, process-tech, feedback control systems etc). I have worked with physicists, mathematicians and also biologists. Their approach is more formal and academic than mine which is pragmatic and intuitive.

As my electronics professor used to say,the concepts should be ingrained in your head so deep that if he was to wake you up at 4 in the morning with a problem, you should be able to solve it instinctively. (sounded much better when he said it...)

Anyway.. in engineering, if you know your stuff well, job/pay is never a problem.

>>4792997
>real engineering

fuck yeah!

>>4793673
>>4793635

Ahaha it takes all day for the thread to get started, but the second one guy makes a typo, two aspies are in here like some one announced free blow jobs in the bathroom.

Reported.

Back to >>>/hm/ or >>>/cm/

>>4793237
>BME

post graduation years: no jobs

>>4793926
Not that guy, but I've seen jobs for BMEs. I barely looked though because I am only interested in doing research. I suppose I'll take a look now out of curiosity.

>>4793715
>>4793715
>>4793715
There we go!
I was wondering when someone would attempt to turn this into a REAL engineering thread

How are the job prospects for civil engineering? Northern Europe specifically?

Senior in Physics, with a minor in EE reporting in.

whatever you do, actually work hard and befriend your professors during the latter years of your program.

I didn't, and ended up with no connections after college. You don't want that.

>>4793574
so hey, which one did you pick?

>>4793977
>civil engineering
>europe
http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/17-college-grads-who-arent-using-their-degrees

How is a materials science and engineering degree compared to a chemical engineering degree as far as jobs go?

Question for engineering master degree grads/students: do you write a lot of papers? You know, the 20 page stuff that humanities and arts majors are so familiar with.

I got into engineering partly it's more practical than some of hard sciences, also partly because I don't like writing papers. Don't get me wrong, I'm can write decent papers if I really tried, got A's and a B+ in all my high school english courses. I heard a masters degree will have you writing lots of papers along with research. If that's the case, I may just stop at a bachelors then get my professional engg certification.

>>4793927
Fuck you. Aero master race.

Currently helping professor gather data for next generation engines with combustion temperatures hundreds of degrees hotter than what we use now. Allow much more efficient and cleaner air travel,

>>4794058

Yes. If you get a masters and write a thesis expect it to be about 70 pages. That's what mine was.

>>4794075
The thesis is just a one-time thing right? You don't write any other long papers during those few years?

>>4793944
Well fuck, I guess BME jobs are pretty rare.

>>4794081

Yes it was a one time thing. Besides that for the most part there weren't papers. As an undergrad though there was a bunch of writing. My professors made us write 15 page lab write ups every week. I still get angry about how stupid all that shit was.

>>4794147
Haha, I know that feel. The lab report is the most bullshit thing ever. I often get deductions for not adhere to some of the most trivial guidelines in the lab manual. This would frustrate me to no end and I often spent whole days writing lab reports to make it perfect.

>>4794160

Yep this is exactly what I mean. You need name, date and then class. Not name, class then date. Also, this format I told you to do in lab but now forgot I told you was ok; well it's not ok now. -10