Engineering: To take or not to take

[Mutated Moose]

I'm currently a high school Junior interested in Engineering. Knowing the forum-goers of the Escapist to be all-knowing, I propose a question.

What are the basics of Engineering? What pre-requisite classes would be suggested before moving onto the college-level stuff? Will I be able to find a job after college?

Pretty much just asking anyone who has knowledge in the subject to clue me in a bit.

 

[Aeriath]

The basics will vary depending on which area of engineering you mean.

As for classes, maths is absolutely essential so make sure you're very comfortable with it. Physics is also a very good choice for most types of engineering. Beyond that it really depends on the area of engineering. If it's civil or mechanical engineering then knowing how to to do technical drawings will probably be worth looking into (I'm in the UK, and I learned technical drawing from a Product Design class). For the other kinds it's mostly in the name - take chemistry if you want to do chemical engineering etc.

I can't imagine that you'll have too much trouble getting a job with a engineering degree, but its been a while since I looked into the job market.

 

[capper42]

If you're interested then I say pursue it. At your age, hopefully by the time you graduate college the job market should be on the rise, or at least in a better state than it is now. As a sort after specialist skill, engineering should lead you to a job.

As for which classes to take, I don't really have specific knowledge of engineering, but Aeriath seems to have covered it. It's very important to study something that actually interests you though, so I say go for it.

 

[SckizoBoy]

I'm currently a high school Junior interested in Engineering. Knowing the forum-goers of the Escapist to be all-knowing, I propose a question.

What are the basics of Engineering? What pre-requisite classes would be suggested before moving onto the college-level stuff? Will I be able to find a job after college?

Pretty much just asking anyone who has knowledge in the subject to clue me in a bit.

'tis a tough road you'll have to walk, but ultimately it's quite a secure future once you get your first job.

For high school, you kinda have to take maths, whatever your equivalent of additional/further maths is, and physics. Maybe chemistry for chemical engineering, though there generally isn't that much of it unless you do materials science at uni (in the UK, that's weirdly classified as engineering... *shrug*) and maybe biology but for the most part, not really.

Go to uni and specialise in... whatever you want to specialise in, broadly: mechanical; electrical & electronic; computer (basically TripleE only more specialised); chemical; biomechanical; aeronautical; and civil.

After that if you have a good grade then you're pretty much set. In generally, MechEng is the least specialised of the lot and you can adapt from it with relative ease. And most engineering companies (that I'm aware of at least) will pay to get you a chartership provided you stick with them. And if you have the letters 'CEng' after your name, even now, jobs will be quite easy to come by since there are so few chartered engineers around.

 

[Cazza]

Learning AutoCAD for doing drawings on computers. Im doing residential drafting and I found the ability to use CAD's to be more important then drawingboard skill.

 

[DarkFenix]

Hey I'm at uni taking Health physics/Rad sci and I share about 80% of my course with the nuclear engineers and about 65% with the other engineering types (mech,electrical,ect). Only difference is that our final years everyone begins to get more specialized.

For a highschool student taking every math available will help. Calculus is a must!If you cannot do calculus your going to have a very tough time finishing any engineering degrees.Also every science class you can take is another must! Depending on the type of engineering you want to do the order of importance will shift but generally physics is the most important, then chemistry and finally bio. Also as mentioned any design software such as AutoCAD, Open inventor,ect are all very useful to know.

Also I'm not sure how it works at other universities but a normal course load here is 5 classes per semester and all engineering based students are encouraged to take 6 so they can graduate in 4 years. So there is a ton of work to do at any given moment so you should get into the habbit of finishing assignments early because if you don't it will likely overwhelm you.

Here's a quick look at what classes we had for first year so that you can decide what classes you should take.

**note that any classes that say "for engineering" are 2 semesters stuff pushed into 1 so they move very very quickly**

Semester 1

Linear algebra for engineering
Calculus I
Physics I
Chemistry I
Communications for engineering (aka teach you how to write tech documents and not get sued)
History of science in society

Semester 2

Introduction to nuclear technologies/physics
Physics II
Chemistry II
Biology for engineering
Introduction to programming (C++ for 99% of it)
Calculus II

As for job prospects I can't say with 100% certainty that you will get a job but co-ops and internships help a good deal. Overall though its driven by supply and demand. So depending on your specfic field you may have an easier or harder time finding a job.

If you want an example of that I can use my own program. There are 3 Universities that offer essentially the same program I'm in and only this university offers nuclear engineering. In my first year there was approximately 50 in my program and about 100 or so nuclear eng students. As of second year second semester there are 6 in my program and about 35-40 nuclear engineers left. Normal graduating class sizes for both are 5 and 30 respectively so we still have some trimming to do in the next 2 years if we are going to hit the average. Though the upside to all this is that the university gives out a report card for itself each year and approx 95% find jobs in their fields within a year of graduating. So I'd say you have a good chance to get a job!

Good luck

TL;DR

-Take all maths and sciences possible
-try to learn a design software
-Very good chance to find a job

 

[Elamdri]

I'm currently a high school Junior interested in Engineering. Knowing the forum-goers of the Escapist to be all-knowing, I propose a question.

What are the basics of Engineering? What pre-requisite classes would be suggested before moving onto the college-level stuff? Will I be able to find a job after college?

Pretty much just asking anyone who has knowledge in the subject to clue me in a bit.

Take as much math and science as possible. Going into college with some chemistry, physics and calculus under your belt will not hurt you.

 

[RaffB]

Engineering 101: If it moves when it shouldn't Duct Tape.....If it doesn't move and it should, WD40....


Seriously though, engineering is one of them jobs that is almost always needed somewhere.

 

[deathninja]

Prereqs? Applied Maths, Physics is good too, plus Chem for Process Engineering.

Just make sure you pick a course that accredits, the one I'm on has been de credited so I've had to switch, real PITA.

 

[Pinkamena]

Pretty much math and physics. And material science if you can take that before going to high school.

 

[teqrevisited]

Maths and Science are the two main ones. You'll need English too. I wouldn't have been allowed to even train without covering those three areas. Non-curriculum skills that will also help a great deal are the ability to solve problems logically and efficiently, be able to communicate clearly and have a ton of patience.

 

[renegade7]

I'm currently a high school Junior interested in Engineering. Knowing the forum-goers of the Escapist to be all-knowing, I propose a question.

What are the basics of Engineering? What pre-requisite classes would be suggested before moving onto the college-level stuff? Will I be able to find a job after college?

Pretty much just asking anyone who has knowledge in the subject to clue me in a bit.

I took an intro to engineering class in 10th grade. If it's Project Lead The Way...well suffice to say the nickname among my school for that class/organization is now Project Run Away.

I would only recommend it if you know for certain you intend to major in engineering in college, and also if it is worth college credit (I know some engineering courses are funded by college organizations). Engineering classes in high school don't really compare to ones you take in college, since it's really just mostly school and very little hands-on experience (IE a lot of lessons and worksheets and very little doing what engineers actually do, namely, engineer things).


Really, the best high school courses to have for engineering are higher math (Calculus at the least) and physics. Some computer and technology courses will definitely help as well.

 

[the random]

i took an engineering course and hated it, i fought it would be fun and id do a mix of theory and practical but instead it was just BS theory all the time, learning really boring crap like health and safety or government legislation nothing interesting at all and i lost all interest in it meaning all the work i actually bothered to do was shit and eventually i just dropped out of school (i re-starting in september at a knew school) because i couldnt take it anymore.

make sure you speak to people who did the course previously and see what they think about it, im not saying all engineering courses will be like that but mine was

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Stuff falls down = bad engineering

Stuff stays up = good engineering

Unless you are making some stuff that's supposed to fall down, in which the statements are reversed, but I don't want to confuse you too much, that's crazy Phd nonsense there.

 

[mysecondlife]

Learning AutoCAD for doing drawings on computers. Im doing residential drafting and I found the ability to use CAD's to be more important then drawingboard skill.

Could give me specifics on what you're doing? I'm currently in engineering school and I might have same interest as yours.

 

[ElPatron]

Physics physics physics.

You also need to handle maths well, and know something about chemistry.

Basically everything you do is based around physics unless you want to be a Software Engineer.

Even electronics are based on physics, you have to understand that the classic Mechanics isn't all there is to it.

I am in Mechanical Engineering, this semester I am taking General Physics II, Technical Mechanics, Applied Chemistry, Vectorial Analysis and Differential Equations, General Electrotechnics and Mechanical Drawings.


And never forget:

ERTW

 

[irani_che]

Math, loads more math and physics

computer skills are good too

Mechanical engineers can work in everything

 

[Cazza]

Learning AutoCAD for doing drawings on computers. Im doing residential drafting and I found the ability to use CAD's to be more important then drawingboard skill.

Could give me specifics on what you're doing? I'm currently in engineering school and I might have same interest as yours.

In my course I'm learning to design residential dwellings (Houses) that comply to the national construction codes and residential codes. I would draw up site plans, floor plans, roof & ceiling plans, elevations, sections, general details, stair details, electrical plan, window schedules, building materials etc. That's just the construction component.

Im only doing drafting so unlike an architect I won't be able to sign off on the major drawings. They would need to be signed off by an engineer or architect.

Then there is the design component. Major parts of design are summer & winter sun, natural ventilation, energy rating, room relationships, living spaces, shadows, privacy and housing style & history.

Then there is all the local council stuff (paper work) like planning approval, building approval & estimation.

I have learnt to do my technical drawings on drawingboards but everyone just uses CAD programs. I mainly use AutoCAD, ArchiCAD & Revit.

The subject is very extensive. So I have most likey missed something. Im not sure how related these terms are to engineering. Researching any of those terms should give you a ton of information or you could just ask me.