Any Engineers here? (Not Plumbers/Mechanics/Fat people in overalls)

I did an MEng in Electronics and Communications Engineering and I design radio frequency comms equipment mainly for the mobile market.
 
On my second year of my degree doing Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Should *hopefully* have a job sorted when I graduate though in the power industry. Took a year out before uni and found a decent firm to work for who want me to return so its all good so far. Some of the stuff is interesting but a lot can be mundane, same for everything in life really :)
 
Currently doing a HNC in electronic and electrical engineering, considering doing an MEng after it.

Sorry for going o/t (i did post a similar thread before but nobody replied to it :( ) but, do the electrical guys reckon it's worth doing the degree rather than stopping with the HNC/D and getting experience during the time I would have spent at uni? Was your degree worth it ?

Freefaller said:
I did Electronic & Electrical Engineering when I was at uni. However I'm now a senior manager in the security industry! :confused:
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Was that by chance? Or lack of jobs? I see loads of jobs on offer on the net, but I doubt you'll be able to know what the market is like until you actually start applying for those jobs.
 
Im an Aerospace Design Engineer for a huge engineering consultancy. Graduated from university of Hertfordshire from the BEng Aero Eng. course in 2004.

Worked on some Airbus aerostructures (wing) on the A400M and the A350 (pre XWB re-launch) before moving on to a Rolls Royce Naval Marine reddesigning parts of a gas turbine for a ship application.

Interesting work and I love the work culture we have whilst being exposured to the latest industry projects with our clients, Ive even been to India recruiting engineers for another office we have in UAE. Possibly go contracting a few years as my take home pay would double.

Shame the value of the $ is leading to the big players here having to make cuts and pulling ambitious projects.
 
Ricochet J said:
Hi! I'm currently through my Second Semester of my Mechanical Engineering Degree. I love it to bits! You learn new exciting stuff different days although sometimes it can be boring as hell!
I've currently touched the units Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Stress Analysis, Mathematics and Dynamics.

I was just wondering if anyone with a Engineering qualification have done anything interesting? What field of work are you in? What kind of breakthroughs have you come across recently?

Do you recommend any engineering/science type magazines?

Thanks!
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Nice one, good to see someone else enjoying their engineering degrees - most people I talk to just complain about how difficult they think it is :p

I did aeronautical engineering at uni, though for the first year most engineering courses are similar enough - I loved any and all fluids related courses - and hated (with a blooming passion!) anything structures related.

I was lucky enough to get a job as an aerodynamicist at Renault F1 in the final months of my course and I've been working there since (19 months now). I absolutely love it and thank the powers at be for giving me the opportunity of working where I do. I get to sit down every day and think about the car - I work in a team of 20 people responsible for making the car as good as humanly possible (aerodynamically speaking anyway).

What you will pretty quickly find in nearly all engineering jobs post uni is that there is very little need to remember any complicated maths or derviations, unlike probably for every single exam you will take for your course. I know its hugely cliched, but its all about learning how to think properly and realising that nearly all technical problems you'll face in the world can be solved with a little logical thinking and know-how.

In terms of magazines I can only really mention of motorsport aerodynamics publications because those are all I am familiar with - and if you are interested the best one in my opinion is called Bernoulli.

Jokester said:
A mate of mine at uni got a job at Benetton and jacked it in after about a year.
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What did he do? Any idea why he quit?
 
Jokester said:
Well I did Electrical/Electronic engineering at uni, mainly focussing on VLSI design and comms before graduating with my Masters. Tried to get a job in electronic design in the oil industry but didn't have much luck, so managed to get myself on KBR's graduate scheme as an Instrument and Controls Engineer.

Basically do pretty much anything to do with control systems and intrumentation on offshore facilities and refineries/gas terminals. Jobs can vary from sticking an orifice plate in a bit of pipe to complete control system upgrade jobs so it's pretty varied stuff, covering process control through to safety systems. A large part of my job is managing vendors that I buy equipment from.
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Would you do the same degree again if you had the chance?
 
silane said:
Was that by chance? Or lack of jobs? I see loads of jobs on offer on the net, but I doubt you'll be able to know what the market is like until you actually start applying for those jobs.
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Change of career as I had had enough where I was in and the technology had run away a bit without me keeping up. I still love it and find it interesting, and do have an analytical and "engineer's" mind, however I don't think I'll go back to being an professional engineer again. Though the skills you pick up are invaluable. :)
 
In first year at Heriot Watt doing Automotive Engineering. Enjoying it however sometimes it takes me ages to get my head around stuff and feel like packing it and and going to be one of the aforementioned fat people in overalls. But I'm sure eveyone feels like that from time to time. Will get there in the end. Dropped out of Geology at Edinburgh last year and don't want to do it again. Would get a reputation as a quitter (which may be slightly justified I guess). Think it should get even more intersting next year. Apparently we get to build kit cars and stuff.
 
Ricochet J said:
Hi! I'm currently through my Second Semester of my Mechanical Engineering Degree. I love it to bits! You learn new exciting stuff different days although sometimes it can be boring as hell!
I've currently touched the units Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Stress Analysis, Mathematics and Dynamics.

I was just wondering if anyone with a Engineering qualification have done anything interesting? What field of work are you in? What kind of breakthroughs have you come across recently?

Do you recommend any engineering/science type magazines?

Thanks!
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Good choice - Mechanical engineering can bring you into any job in any field.

I wouldn't bother starting to read journals or such etc - you have far too long left doing the degree, you don't want to peak too soon!

Just make sure you do well in your 3rd and 4th year. First year isn't hard and means nothing, Second year is just to route out the people who aren't cut out for it.

a lot of jobs will look at 3rd year results also when interviewing for your graduate job.
 
Have you joined the IMechE? Good to join as an Affiliant whilst you are studying and sometimes there will be free local lectures. Recently i went to a Honda F1 composites in chassis design lecture at the Honda Uk plant. The Professional Engineer magazine is a good read covering a wide range of various products and innovations aswell as job adverts in the back.
 
so for people that have come out with elecXXXXX ENG, or MEng, whats has pay been like for the jobs you d now, and are they related to the course you did?
 
I'm no 'engineeer', but I work in engineering as a CNC operator/programmer for a structural steelwork company. Amongst other things we are currently doing the steelwork for the ORION project. We are basically fabricating the steel 'skeleton' for the massive concrete encased 'path' that the laser travels down.

To give you an idea, this 'sleleton' is devided into modules, and each module is about half the size of the average 3-bed house. We have fabricated around 30 of these modules so far. That's quite some laser :eek: :eek:

Greenpeace aren't too happy about the project:

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/tags/orion-laser

Some of the lorry drivers have came back reporting that the tree-huggers have been lying in the road tying to stop them getting into the site....
 
2nd year civil sat up doing soil mechanics work at the moment. my god it's boring. worst. module. ever.
 
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