Best field of engineering?

[Anonymous No.12533344]

What’s the best field of engineering to pursue? Salary, work/life balance, and the amount of interesting work available are all considerations.

I enjoy solving problems and thinking up cool shit, and am good with math and science. I enjoy working outside but don’t need to be out and about all the time.

[Anonymous No.12533692]

Bump

[Anonymous No.12533708]

>>12533344
Aerospace, high salary and you only do what you studied. The catch is that unless you're passionate, it's gonna be a hell of a ridel.

[Anonymous No.12533720]

>>12533344
One of the niche disciplines of civil like wastewater treatment or transportation. It allows you to live somewhere with a low cost of living and still make a municipal government salary. You won’t get rich, but your standard of living and work/life balance will be way better than the wagecucks in the city. Plus your coworkers won’t be retarded Elon Musk fanboys.

[Anonymous No.12533722]

>>12533344
>What’s the best field of engineering
EE
/thread

[Anonymous No.12533735]

>>12533708
You’re going to work for the military industrial complex. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing, but you have to make sure to you understand the ramifications of your career choice.

[Anonymous No.12533772]

>>12533735
Not all aerospace engineers end up in military complexes, some do civil stuff or research. Also working in the military complex pays really well as far as I know. If you wanna be ethical on stuff like "But you kill people" then become a doctor rather than an engineer.

[Anonymous No.12533777]

>>12533772
t. sociopath fuck

[Anonymous No.12533787]

>>12533772
Aerospace attracts the spergiest edgelords.
>Heh... I was bullied in high school...
>Now I design missiles for Lockheed to kill Palestinian children...
>Still think I’m a loser, Stacy?

[Anonymous No.12533813]

>>12533787
>NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO The hecking palestinians NOOOOOOOOOOO, HOW COULD YOU???
>YOU SHOULD HAVE REFUSED THE 100k JOB IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY NOOOOOOOOOOOO
If I will ever design a missile I want to be strapped on it when it's fired so I will die along with my creation in a blaze of glory.

[Anonymous No.12533823]

>>12533813
>excuses for mass murdering civilians
>b-but muh personal selfish interest
>basedjack
disgusting neocon fucks are the first to get the firing squad

[Anonymous No.12533829]

>>12533813
faggot

[Anonymous No.12533835]

>>12533823
>>12533829
Cope harder math/art fags, you can do all you want, you're not welcome on Mars

[Anonymous No.12533840]

>>12533813
You’ll never actually design anything. You’re a CAD monkey that will never make it to senior management.

[Anonymous No.12533843]

>>12533835
>you're not welcome on Mars
This is why everyone hates aerospace faggots. Nobody is going to Mars, retard.

[Anonymous No.12533844]

>>12533835
>you're not welcome on Mars
neither is your kind
being a selfish fuck is not a valid long term strategy, but once you finish being an edgy teen you will realize that
even without studying game theory at all

[Anonymous No.12533853]

>>12533843
Definately for people like you.

>>12533840
At least I'm comfy in my house while you're out working in the fields.

>>12533844
>Even without studying
I'd like some fries and a McRibs, also I shat outside of the toilet, go clean that up wagie.

[Anonymous No.12533858]

>>12533853
is this how the edgelord manchild copes?

[Anonymous No.12533884]

>>12533853
>At least I'm comfy in my house
He doesn’t even deny that he’s a CAD monkey lmao

[Anonymous No.12533898]

>>12533720
Yeah you can get a good job this way, but it might be a bit boring, so it's not for everyone. Government jobs can be a bit too lax for an ambitious engineer who wants to gain experience
But good work-life balance

[Anonymous No.12533908]

>>12533344
Do whatever apeals to you as most interesting and enjoyable. A lot of engineers do something related to what their dad did as a tradee, like if your dad was an contractor you might have an affinity for structural engineering.
Your gonna spend 2000 hrs/yr working in that field so you want to have interest in the field and work culture rather than choosing it for minor salary differences

[Anonymous No.12533930]

>>12533898
>an ambitious engineer who wants to gain experience
I think this is a fundamentally flawed approach to choosing a career in the same way that picking a certain college for “the experience” is also flawed. If you want a high-stress city wagecuck job then great, but just realize that you’re not the main character in some movie where you’re going to make these great networking connections and become rich because you’re working for some cool new company with a neat logo and fancy offices. You’re going to turn into this guy before you know it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_o7qjN3KF8U

[Anonymous No.12533947]

>>12533930
Not sure I see the connection.
Video seems to be making fun of soicucks. Doesn't really have anything to do with engineering.

[Anonymous No.12533964]

>>12533947
Your life isn’t going to be fundamentally different working as a junior engineer in the city (unless you do a lot of field work).

[Anonymous No.12534154]

35 yo boomer here.

First, you aren’t going to do anything exciting or cutting edge without a Masters+. The Supreme Tech Wizard positions are coveted and hard to come by in industry.

Second, you’ll never get rich working for someone else. If you want to chase paper, you are going to have to be at least a half assed entrepreneur.

My advice is to pick one of the three core disciplines (mechanical, electrical, civil) and get your PE as fast as possible. You can work a 9-5, side hustle rinky dink bullshit, and double dip your way to being a millionaire inside a decade.

[Anonymous No.12534310]

Thoughts on Geological Engineering? Allows you to get PG and PE

[Anonymous No.12534324]

>>12534310
If you like living out of a hotel for 300 days out of the year it’s pretty cool.

[Anonymous No.12534332]

>>12533735
I've managed to avoid that so far by refusing to get a security clearance. Unfortunately, working on commercial projects means having Indians do all the work while you check it and make them redo it over and over because of low quality

[Anonymous No.12534680]

>>12533708
>>12533720
>>12533908
>>12534154
OP here. All solid advice. Thanks anons, it helps a lot. The school I’m going to has a dual degree B.S./M.S. program in engineering, so I can definitely go for one.

>>12534310
My school choice/academic experience bends toward geology, so that’s definitely in the running. However, I’m not sure I want to spend *all* my time outside (some fieldwork would be sweet though).

[Anonymous No.12534697]

>>12534680
>The school I’m going to has a dual degree B.S./M.S. program in engineering

Kinda yikes there bud. Rule of thumb is you want to get your masters at a school that’s better than your undergrad. They sell those fast track masters programs to shitters who can’t sit the GRE or guys looking to stall an extra year when they flubbed the senior year job search.

[Anonymous No.12534713]

>>12534697
I should’ve specified, my bad. I’d get my B.S. at the college I’m going to (small but prestigious LAC) and my M.S. at WashU. Hope that clears things up.

[Anonymous No.12534762]

>>12533344
>work/life balance
Not wanting to be mean, but you're never gonna make it.

[Anonymous No.12534790]

>>12534762
It should be working for someone else/life balance. If you are putting 100 hours a week into your own hustle, yeah you good. If you are putting 100 hours a week into your salary job as an engineer, you are getting taken for a ride.

[Anonymous No.12536286]

>>12533722
>EE

Aka do everything

EE curriculum at my school was like an ADD kid that couldn't focus on anything.

It really should be split up into subfields. Silicon/Photonic, Signals and Systems, Digital Circuits/Computing, Analog/RF, and Power.

[Anonymous No.12536399]

>>12534762
>you need to dedicate your entire free time to being a successful engineer

[Anonymous No.12537307]

I'm in my early 30s and considering getting an engineering degree after working in finance for a while. I make good money but I'd rather contribute to society rather than sell financial products to make some rich guy wealthier.
I am considering civil or computer science atm. CS would only take me about a year to finish while civil would take three. The job market seems good for both but I am concerned about ageism and re-starting on a different career path.

[Anonymous No.12537346]

>>12536399
If you want to get rich, yeah.

[Anonymous No.12537352]

>>12537307
Do CS. An undergrad engineering degree isn’t going to change anything for you, your boss will see “finance” and put you right back into a finance position.

[Anonymous No.12537378]

>>12537352
Curious to know why this would be but I'm leaning CS anyway since I like earning money and don't want to spend too much time in school. Thank you.

[Anonymous No.12537444]

>>12537378
Most engineers end up as finance type bean counters. Once people get into industry and the problems become open ended or require creativity, most engineers shit the bed and are forced to retreat into financial positions because the problems there are the most similar to the neat puzzle box stuff they did in college.

[Anonymous No.12537506]

>>12533344
M.S. in Aerospace Engineering here. Unless you want to be working on designing the world's most advanced flap hinge, you need to get at minimum a master's from a top tier university if you want to do really ground breaking, sexy shit. Most of it happens in the big 3 (LM, Boeing, NG), so forget about it if you like weed or have any issues working for the Military Industrial Complex, because you'll probably need a clearance. Clearances also take months to years to get.

If you don't get a clearance you'll be working with a bunch of Changs and Pajeets and basically just running damage control because they fuck shit up constantly (Boeing 737 Max).

Once you're comfy in your engineering position, you need to start working towards another management type degree or continue your engineering education. Aerospace has a very "Up or Out" mentality.

[Anonymous No.12538063]

>>12533930
Lots of engineers are workaholics, so they don't want city jobs right away. They want the prestige they worked so hard for, and to work on big important projects. When they get older the city jobs will start to apeal more to some of them. I worked government jobs twice as an engineering co-op student and they both advised not to get a government job when I'm young, that you'll get bored.

[Anonymous No.12538072]

>>12534310
It's seems like pretty cool jobs, but most of the jobs are at isolated locations like mines and oil fields. That pays really well. The jobs that are closer to civilization are working for geological engineering consultants who do soil inspections for building foundations. If you like soil, rocks and minerals it might apeal to you. Less technical work than structural engineering, and lots of potential for travel. It appealed to me, but I didn't want to do so much traveling.

[Anonymous No.12538084]

>>12534762
Lots of engineers work 40-50 hrs/week in design offices. If your doing more than that it might be your a bit slow in your work, or not good at standing up for yourself to have your time respected. Just set boundaries on your personal time, and if you do good work they will respect it. If you work government jobs you can get 35 hrs/week.

[Anonymous No.12538094]

Factory Chad reporting in. I make six figs babysitting equipment from the comfort of my living room. Only pop in once or twice a week to put eyes on stuff or walk with a contractor. This past year I’ve done less than 100 hours of actual work. I hope COVID is forever.

[Anonymous No.12538181]

what is the best approach for someone in a PhD programme, who wants to work in industry afterwards? Like, how do you go about contacting people in the company in hopes they will take you on?

[Anonymous No.12538185]

>>12533344
Mechanical
Electrical
Civil
Everyone else.

[Anonymous No.12538407]

>>12536286
>i went to a shit school
>the field is shit
okay retard, solid fucking point

[Anonymous No.12538923]

Any opinions on chemical engineering? From what I have been researching, there isn't that much chemistry involved in the degree, and it seems to have more of a focus in fluids/pipes/heat. Nevertheless it still seems interesting. Any ChemE here who could share some experiences?

[Anonymous No.12539044]

EE or aerospace or CompE

/thread/

[Anonymous No.12539102]

>>12533823
dangerously based

[Anonymous No.12539104]

>>12533772
>doctor
>ethical
Male genital mutilation is legal.

[Anonymous No.12539152]

>>12533708
>>12533735
>>12533772
In industry, the military industrial complex is called the defense industry. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BAE are the big three. You will need a security clearance (secret, or top secret) to work there. So no pot

>>12533344
>>12533722
Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science. check those out OP. Also, consider the industry you are interested in and look at job descriptions.

[Anonymous No.12539844]

>>12533735
>work for the MIC
Would be cool to build something commercially that blows up "terrorists" lmao.

[Anonymous No.12539883]

>>12538063
>They want the prestige they worked so hard for
lmao what prestige? No offence, but a P.Eng is a P.Eng and as long as your stamp is valid nothing else really matters.

[Anonymous No.12539886]

>>12538923
You will be working in O&G

[Anonymous No.12539889]

>>12537346
If you want to get rich, don’t go into engineering.

[Anonymous No.12539917]

>>12538923
>there isn't that much chemistry involved in the degree
dude what
>>12539889
where then?

[Anonymous No.12539925]

>>12533344
I would choose one of the "big 4" engineering branches. So either ME, EE, CivE or ChemE. These are very broad so you don't have to make any big decisions yet. Just choose one you enjoy or think you will like to work in.

[Anonymous No.12539965]

>>12537307
CS and pivot into FinTech. Don’t be that faggot who forgoes Finance altogether because you had a little mental breakdown. Engineering “to make society better” at the expense of a pay cut is a cuck move. There are engineers who would kill to work in finance. I was one of them before doing something in FinTech.

[Anonymous No.12539970]

>>12537444
You’re retarded. Most engineers going into quantitative finance positions at investment banks and hedge funds. How that’s considered bean counting is beyond me.

[Anonymous No.12540118]

>>12536286
This
>>12538407
I went to a school with a highly ranked EE program but it was like that.

[Anonymous No.12540176]

>>12533708
Based
>>12533344
Hey anons I want to study engineering dynamics. What book should I use? Kasdin & Paley or O'Reilly? Can't decide which.

[Anonymous No.12540227]

>>12538923
Correct. ChemE is mostly plumbing. If you want to do chemistry, go Materials Science and get an R&D job.

[Anonymous No.12540347]

>>12538923
I am chemE. I took process controls path and now mostly do EE/Computer Science type systems engineering

[Anonymous No.12541035]

>>12538181
PhD engineer here. Networking is big. Speak openly with you PI and ask for some help getting into industry. I got clued into my niche industry field through a mailing list a bunch of the local professors in our university system post jobs in. Alumni in industry often contact their old professors for recommendations when seeking to hiring

[Anonymous No.12542816]

>>12539970
Quant at a hedge fund is not a bean counter. You made that equivocation. I’m talking about guys who end up as “cost engineers” or “project managers” and spend their time doing basic bitch NPV calculations. Those types of positions are innumerable and are a black hole of technically inept shitters.