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Going Back To School, Potentially Looking for Career In Engineering.

Former Member

I have watched a lot of Ben Heck in the past, so I figured this forum may be one place to research what I want to do with my life. I've been looking into degrees in engineering for a week or so. I have a degree in Digital Animation and Game Design with a focus in 3D Modeling currently. I honestly haven't done anything with it in the 3 years since I graduated. I've always been interested in computers and I'm frequently the person friends reference when building or fixing their own. I understand however that this is a very different skill set than engineering, but it also doesn't pay as well as it used to and the jobs that pay a reasonable amount require certification and extra schooling anyway.

I have an analytic mind and I've always idolized many historical and fictional figures who have used engineering skills to change the world. Henry Ford invented the car and now everyone owns one, Alan Turing built the first programmable computer, now software exists for tasks as simple as sending a message to one's as critical as simulating sending people to the moon. Tony Stark (My Personal Favorite Marvel Character) invents new technology to revolutionize technology, communication, and health for his world. I've actually had a dream to build an Iron Man like suit within my lifetime. 

There are many areas I'm interested in as well. Automotive, Aerospace, Computer, Mechanical, and Robotics. Would anybody here happen to know where to start more research? There's a "Beginners Guide To Engineering" series of books for sale on Amazon I'm planning to look into. I'm also going to call the school I attended to see a few counselors for different programs, but I don't want to fully rely on the opinion of someone at the school that benefits from me signing up. Does anyone have tips for someone starting out in the field? I am grateful for any information or tips guiding me in the right direction. I'm so excited to get started!

  • 0

    Hi David,

     

    As I understand, the first year of any degree in an engineering related field will cover broadly similar topics, such as math, one or two computing languages relevant to the field, materials or silicon devices, and so on.

    So, if you change your mind after the first year, I suspect you could transfer a lot of credit and not have to necessarily repeat a year. It's a guess though - perhaps that would be worth checking at any school you're planning to possibly study at.

    The courses will have book recommendations, so again it is something to ask the school. A beginner's guide to engineering series doesn't seem suitable unless it is just to gain some high-level interest before beginning the course.

    For example, "Beginner's guide to engineering: Electrical Engineering" in the Amazon preview shows some basic theory and then some pages with a photo of an electrical pumps, another with household switches and some

    pages on microwave ovens. In reality, an electrical engineering degree course is a lot more theoretical (you might never study a pump or a microwave oven), with any practical element done as lab experiments or end-of-year projects for example.

    The Beginner's guides look more suitable for a secondary school education (pre-degree) perhaps.

    Sometimes you can get a job doing what you want, even if your degree isn't traditionally the best choice for that career. So depending on if (say) you covered math and some scripting or programming languages in your digital animation degree, then

    that may be enough to get some jobs where traditionally they may have hired someone with a computing degree. This is because any degree kind-of teaches you "how to learn", and when you're at work you can use that skill to identify what new

    skills you need, and what courses you might want the employer to pay for, to get you up-to-speed. As an example, employers often pay for as many textbooks as you may need and the occasional formal training course.

  • 0 in reply to shabaz

    The book would be to see if I'd have interest in going to school for said degree and getting a rough idea of careers offered. I looked at the books for Mechanical and Computer Engineering, as well as a few 'For Dummies' math books for Trig and Pre-Calc to learn the basics as I struggled with trig in school and I want to make sure I can grasp the math before I get in too deep.  I wouldn't be looking for any book to teach in depth until I get into school. Those all seemed pretty expensive to me (between $50-200) but that's school books for you! I'd be afraid to spend up to $200 on a book I won't use or grasp. As for getting work in Engineering or a related field, unfortunately I went for a more creative focus in my degree program. I learned some HTML, but otherwise I took mostly Modeling and Video courses aside from my general education. I was offered classes in more advanced Flash, Java, and C++, but opted for more video courses instead.  Silly me with my head in the clouds.

  • 0

    David,

     

    There are a lot of books, programs and certifications available in the engineering field. But there's an easier way to determine if you are interested in a career in engineering: list 20 companies you have heard about and might be interested in ultimately working for. Then, contact the company and say something to the effect: I am a student and I am interested in a career in engineering. I am interested in your company. Do you offer tours or could I talk to someone in engineering briefly about her/his engineering career or job? The honest truth is: companies LOVE this and they will generally bend over backwards to assist a student. The bigger companies will have community outreach departments to contact. But when I did it when I was a student doing something on robotics, I called the company and said I was a student and was doing a project on robotics and wanted to talk to an engineer. Boy, I got the red carpet treatment! And it was very informative. The engineer gave me his number and invited to call him back if I had a question. Until you really see a 'day in the life of an engineer' you won't fully know if it is a career for you.

     

    Final suggestion: start taking math courses. Engineering is about math. One needs to get through Calculus I, II, and III, linear algebra and differential equations in order to understand engineering concepts: V = L(di/dt)

     

    Randall