How much do Electornics/Computer companies want Mech Engineers?

engstrom0304

engstrom0304

engstrom0304

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Hi Guys,
I have only a couple of weeks before my UCAS university application form needs to be in.

I am thinking at the moment of applying for mainly mech eng courses.

here is my shortlist:
Oxford - General Engineering (allows specialism in 2 or more areas)
Imperial College - Mech Eng
Bristol - Mech Eng
Southampton - Mech Eng / mechatronics
Bath - Mech Eng

I am thinking mech eng because I feel it is more academic in many ways than electronics, and more broad / has more interesting topics.

On the other hand I have always liked the idea of working for a company like Apple, Sony, Samsung etc etc. How much to companies like this want mechanical engineers?
 
You could hedge your bets and apply for some more general courses (cough come to Durham cough) if you still haven't made your mind up?

I'm sure you'll find other aspirations if you do graduate in an area that the companies mentioned aren't in particular need of though. I wouldn't base my choice of degree on it. Then again if these feelings are very strong then maybe I would.
 
engstrom0304 said:
Big companies surely need people who arent just electronic engineers... Things like cooling and vibrations, acoustics etc etc...
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They're fairly basic concepts in engineering. You don't need to be a specialist mechanical engineer to be well versed in that. Besides, it's all done via numerical modelling these days.

I'm sure those companies (and similar) do hire people with a mechanical background, but they will be dwarfed by electrical engineers, and product design specialists etc. Most of the mechanical engineers will have some inter-disciplinary experience.
 
engstrom0304 said:
Hi Guys,

I am thinking mech eng because I feel it is more academic in many ways than electronics, and more broad / has more interesting topics.
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How do you make that out? I'm in final year Electrical/Electronic Engineering at the moment and it is incredibly academic. In my course we also cover many mechanical engineering concepts and have had various modules in mechanics of materials, mechanical vibrations, thermodynamics, heat transfer etc also.

Electronic engineering is very broad. I'd be much more inclined to study it than many of the other engineering disciplines at the moment. You will also cover quite a bit of programming which will also make you very attractive to potential employers. There is a massive shortage of software engineers at the moment.

From what you describe, electronic engineering seems to fit the bill much more closely than mechanical.
 
cork-spotters said:
How do you make that out? I'm in final year Electrical/Electronic Engineering at the moment and it is incredibly academic.
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Hardly the most balanced perspective then :p

The nature of the course will vary from Uni to Uni, though on the whole, mechanical engineering tends to be somewhat more "academic" (more mathematics, more fundamental physics), whereas electrical engineering tends to have a larger practical component. On the other hand you may learn a fair chunk of quantum mechanics in electrical engineering, which you are unlikely to touch in mechanical, and it doesn't get more fundamental than QM.

In the broad scheme of things, both subjects are fairly "academic". You're better off going for the subject matter which interests you most. There are plenty of very interesting employment opportunities in either field, which you will learn more about as you progress through your degree.

For what it's worth, the average salaries are very similar, with mechanical engineering being very slightly higher (mech, elec).
 
I would say not very much, from my experience of dealing with various engineering students and getting involved in some career guidance.
 
engstrom0304 said:
I am thinking mech eng because I feel it is more academic in many ways than electronics, and more broad / has more interesting topics.
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I don't think you can label any engineering discipline as more/less academic than any others.

MrMoonX said:
mechanical engineer in electronics riiiiggghhhht
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That's pretty ignorant. I'm an electronic/electrical engineer and I work with loads of mechanical engineers on mainly electronics projects.
 
I struggle to see how you could get a specialist electronic/computer engineering job with a mech degree. A more generalist job, or something more on the business side would be fine though.

I can't agree with mech engineering being more academic though. Fourier transforms and signal / network mathematics get very academic indeed. I guess you have fluid dynamic calculus to balance it out though :p
 
lemon2 said:
I struggle to see how you could get a specialist electronic/computer engineering job with a mech degree. A more generalist job, or something more on the business side would be fine though.
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But he's not asking about specialist electronic/computer engineering job, he's asking about working for a company like Apple, Sony or Samsung. These companies undoubtedly employ thousands of mechanical engineers. Who else designs the various cooling and heat management systems, enclosures, engineers the innovative materials etc?

But yeah, transferable skills. I graduated in electrical and electronic, but I work in automotive. Go figure.:)
 
Of course companies like Apple, Sony, etc employ mechanical engineers. And chemical engineers, physicists, chemists, design engineers. And managers, accountants, marketers, etc. The question is do you want to be a mechanical engineer in such a company or is it specifically the electronics that interest you and you'd want to be involved with? Choose your degree based on what interests you the most. Certainly don't choose one discipline because you think it's more academic. That's wrong anyway - there's plenty in electrical engineering that could make mech engs cry :).

If you're not sure the Oxford course sounds good if you could get in - keeps your options open a bit more. Any engineering degree will teach you core transferable skills - maths, problem solving, application of analytical techniques, etc etc. The exact topics you study are less important - even at degree level your modules will only touch the tip of the iceberg of many different fields, and hopfully let you discover what your interests really are allowing you to specialise and go off on your career path.

Or you could be like me (who was also torn between mechanical and electrical at school), choose electrical, wish you had chosen mechanical, bum around a bit after graduating, then end up pretty much becomming a mechanical anyway getting into hydraulics research, prototype design, qualification testing, computational modelling, and now offshore installation engineering - you name it. Nothing is set in stone, even after you have chosen - the best advice I can give is to always follow your heart and to keep your studies general and your options open unless/until you truly identify a specialisation that interests you.
 
Hi,
From working in the electronics industry for the past 18 years

Yes they need mechanical engineers as well , who do you think designs the cases / enclosures for devices ?
 
UncleRuckus said:
Anyone in the industry know if it would be possible for a computing grad, to come over to robotics or electronic engineering, purely programming?
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Sure... Programming is a highly transferable skill.

You won't "transform into an engineer" yourself or anything, but skilled programmers are highly sought after in many engineering-related projects.
 
Duff-Man said:
Sure... Programming is a highly transferable skill.

You won't "transform into an engineer" yourself or anything, but skilled programmers are highly sought after in many engineering-related projects.
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Ah great, I don't really have an interest in engineering hardware, but the idea of programming the hardware really interests me. Any links you could suggest to me? I'm a long way off graduating yet, however it could be useful to see what would be required to transfer into that industry. :)
 
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