engineers of nt .. ASSEMBLE

[brewcrewbux]

nt what is your experience like being an engineer

im 21 and finally decided i want to do civil engineering

i have taken a year off with math so im a little discouraged, but i start college algebra and trig tomorrow

then i got to take physics and as per usual the stats and dynamics classes 

thoughts on any of the classes

thoughts on what its like to be an engineer

or a normal day for you

 

[pythagoras]

Posting for info as well 

 

[lucho]

Civil Engineer checking in.

So far, awesome. Even though it took a while to get a full time job, it was definitely worth all the school years and hard work.

Don't be discouraged, instead be motivated. Civil is a tough major, but if you start off on the right track, you'll be fine. The pre-req classes (dynamics, statics, materials, math, etc) are the most important once i think. The more you understand the material early on, the easier it will get in your core classes later on. From personal experience, i wish i would have put it work from the beginning. Probably would have made the last couple of years easier than they actually were.

Classes get interesting once you start getting into the civil material. I would suggest taking a broad approach to see what you really want to do with your degree. That way you will have a little bit of knowledge on each discipline. The projects are cool cause your actually dealing with real world situations and makes the material that you are learning much easier to understand.

I'm a state regulator for wastewater discharges into waters of the US (rivers, creeks, lakes) from treatment plants or collection systems. I am in charge of 6 counties and over 20 treatment plants. Tasks include reviewing monitoring reports, inspecting treatment plants and collection systems, assess penalties for violating permit conditions, and make presentations when needed. Mixed between office work and field work. I still apply knowledge from certain classes that i took in college and i've had to learn things that i never heard about. I work 8 hours a day, have great benefits, pay is more than enough, and my schedule is flexible. The private sector is different. That is where you would would do more of the designing aspects of civil engineering. Each side has its pros and cons, just more of a matter of preference really.

If you want any more info or have any other questions just holla. I will be more than willing to help a fellow engineer out.

Good luck and all the best in you.

 

[young halo]

^^^ over my rep limit but i got your later on

very informative post

makes me regret i never went to school

 

[imapizzaguy]

Currently in my second year as a Civil Engineering major at Cal Poly. I've finished all of the calc/chem/physics series, a couple of GE's, and some very basic CE courses which weren't too difficult but only made me want to take more CE-specific courses rather than gen ed. I took statics last quarter which I felt was the toughest class I have ever had, but being in week 3 of dynamics now, dynamics is definitely more difficult. This quarter I'm taking five classes (mechanics of materials, dynamics, macroecon, kinesiology, materials engineering I) and a materials lab for a total of 18 units. Not too excited about my classes right now but I'm looking forward to having 3 CE classes next quarter if things work out.  

 

[af1 1982]

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Student here at PSU. I'll just post the advice I gave in a similar thread:

Currently a double major Engineering major. Mechanical and Nuclear. I started off as Mechanical and added the nuclear option last semester. I did this not because I thought Mechanical was easy, but I felt like I had the potential to do so much better. A lot of times, getting that extra degree doesn't compound your workload each semester. It just increases the time your in school (4 years vs 4.5 years)

I highly suggest looking into a double major. Mechanical and Nuclear are the most common. I know Bio and Mech are also offered as well. A lot of times, the extra degree requires ~20 more credits or another semester, depending on how you arrange your academic plan. To me, the Nuclear degree is very worth it. I plan to use my Mech E degree (I want to be in the automotive industry) and use the Nuc E degree as my "backup", because you are pretty much 99% guarenteed a job outta school with a Nuclear degree, especially now.

Some advice I can give

1)Time management. Go hard with your studies during the week. Study during the day during the weekends and you'll be gravy. I still am able to go out and drink/party Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays every week. Except when I have an exam on a Monday the next week, then I usually stay in.

2)Pay attention in class. Turn off the phone or leave it at home. I'm still trying to figure this one out. I can't sit in front of a dude and listen to him talk for an hour. I do a bulk of my learning on my own and I KNOW that this is going to bite me in the *** sooner rather than later.

3)Sleep. Everything revolves around sleep. If you don't get enough sleep the night before, you'll be groggy the day after. You won't be able to focus in calss which requires more time outside of class. You'll end up taking a nap or drinking coffee and then taking a nap when you crash, further wasting more time. Get a solid 7 or 8 hours a night, and you'll be straight. College students know the importance of sleep but they don't understand that it is ESSENTIAL to success

4)And the most important piece of advice I can give you is push yourself to your limits both mentally and physically. If it seems that you can do more, pick up another major or even a minor. Fulfill your potential. You're paying a ton of money so you might as well get as much possible out of it.

Also, have fun, You will not survive if you do not allocate a couple hours every week to relax and have fun. You will get burned out, you will lose motivation and your grades WILL suffer. I can guarentee that. If anybody has any questions, feel free to PM me. I'm still in school as well but I can safely say I've figured out a good "technique" to it all

 

[af1 1982]

One more thing:

Take pride in being an Engineer .We are what helps make the world go round. Everything around you was done/built/designed/etc. by some sort of engineer. And also take pride that you are studying one of the most difficult college majors to master. 

 

[youngdante]

I wish I hadn't messed around so much.
I had it too easy in high school, and college was not forgiving
Hopefully I can get an engineering degree later in life but for now I want to graduate and work

 

[da hen]

Mechanical Engineer here.

It's been an awesome job, I applaud all of you because it's not easy work. It's a very rewarding career, i've been very happy with mine. Advice that I'd give would be to get work experience under your belt as soon as you can and keep those grades up. You don't think those As and Bs will go anywhere but they will pay off. I remember going to school and having very little free time, i hardly ever partied or went clubbing, most of my time was spent in a lab. One thing you gotta realize is that college professors arent there to teach in undergraduate work, just to guide. Like the one guy above said, you do most of the learning on you own. Hopefully you can get a good graduate advisor and start doing some really interesting work. If you have the time, go for your master's degree or beyond.

Mechanical engineering is so diverse, so normal days are hard to describe. Lots of meetings, office politics, and some cool projects.

keep up the good work fellas and ladies.

 

[adobecs4]

Posting for later use. Will be majoring in Mechanical Engineering once I finish at CC.

 

[ccastro02]

edit

 

[wearinthefourfive]

I'll be graduating with a Civil degree in the Fall from Cal Poly SLO. All the advice given in this thread has been spot on, I agree with everything Lucho and AF1 said.

A couple other things:

1) Get an internship ASAP. You probably won't be able to find much after your freshman year of college, but still go to whatever career fairs your school offers just to get used to the process and to get your name out there and network a little bit. I've had 3+ years of school, and I'm just now getting 2nd interviews for internships. If you know ANYONE that works in the field (an uncle, cousin, 3rd cousins brothers wifes uncle) try to get them them to get you a first internship.

2) Join engineering clubs/groups on campus. I know most engineers are lame, but you can learn a lot from club meetings and they usually have good networking events.

3) If you're a freshman, I can't emphasize enough keeping your GPA up. Most job ads you'll see require at least a 3.0 GPA. Also, if you try really hard in those early calc/statics/mechanics of materials classes, you'll be cruising by the time you get to upper level CE courses.

If I think of anything else, I'll post them here; let me know if you have any questions or just want to chop it up about CE.

 

[getyashinebox]

nt what is your experience like being an engineer

thoughts on what its like to be an engineer
or a normal day for you

EE working in the power sector. 2yrs of experience, already have a ridiculous amount of projects under my belt ($10m+). Fortunately my company gives junior engineers a lot of responsibility right out of the gate. Love the problem solving and amount of creativity I get to exercise in designs. Also love that one day I'm shirt and tie in the office, the next I'm in FR clothing in the field. Hate the paperwork and reports. But relatively low-stress environment and office is pretty laid back (lots of characters to keep it fun)

Typical day is 8-10hrs, meetings, designing, coordinating, meetings, project management, budgeting, meetings, training, networking, and meetings. Every day is different (which project I'm working on, who I'm working with, which project is going to construction, etc.). Perks too, like traveling (chicago, amsterdam), vendors dropping by for lunch/dinners. But good looking girls are FEW AND FAR BETWEEN (at least in my office, 4/10s look like 8/10s to me)

I work with civil engineers and their experience on the job is very similar to mine.

The degree is MATH INTENSE so if you don't like math, consider moving on to something else.

But really try to get over a 3.0 and at least 2 summer internships. This will help ALOT (saw our hiring process, these were big deals). Other than that, if you're meant for the job, stick it out in college because it will be worth it and oddsare the job will be easier than your undergrad.

Oh, sidenote once you get a job: NETWORK, stay neutral in the office / avoid gossip, be accommodating/helpful (you're all on the same team) and be courteous to your coworkers (even if they dont deserve it, it is very important to be well liked)

 

[mrnasty]

any industrial engineers on NT

 

[cquan05]

Currently studying Construction Engineering in Canada.

Hoping to get my foot in the door this summer by starting off as a junior estimator with a firm.