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Oyvind
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 29, 2007
Posts: 6
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 Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:04 pm Post subject: Which engineering degree is best for an aspe? |
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I am looking at mechanical engineering and it looks really fun, but going into structural engineering in civilengineering also look really fun.
I really enjoy doing math and ohysics at my own, but I think cooperation will be okey as well, my social skills when it comes to work isn't that bad.
But does anybody here know the main differences between structural and mechanical engineering? I am pretty sure I want an analytical job that requires me to do calculations and analyse things. What do you think about this?, is mechanical or civil best? |
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Space
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 03, 2006
Age: 25
Posts: 1605
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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| maybe you should talk to a guidance counselor for the engineering dept. of your college, they would probably give you the most help and knowledgeable advice. |
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Oyvind
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 29, 2007
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Space wrote: | | maybe you should talk to a guidance counselor for the engineering dept. of your college, they would probably give you the most help and knowledgeable advice. |
I shoudl probably yeah, but the university is in another city from where I live now. |
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Zsazsa
Phoenix
Joined: Apr 20, 2007
Posts: 600
Location: Upstate New York, USA
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:26 pm Post subject: Engineering careers |
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Do you think you would like building bridges and roads...because that is just a few things that Civil Engineers do. My niece has
a Mechanical Engineering Degree and works for an industry that designs medical equipment for surgeons to use in their surgical
procedures as well as other types of general medical equipment.
If you can't visit and talk with a career counselor, check out the career books in the library to learn more about which Engineering specialty you might prefer. |
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Tilkor
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Nov 22, 2007
Age: 34
Posts: 56
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| Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:30 am Post subject: |
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Unfortunately, the only thing I can advise about regarding engineering is not to get into Electronics. It's got very little job opportunities (based on experience and location).
But I don't want to discourage any form of engineering. Obviously, there's going to be a HUGE BUTT LOAD of mathematics involved. One example I found in electronics was the "Fourier Series of Infinite formulae" (which can be indirectly used in describing signals in filters).
Also, if it helps any, the higher up the scheme of things, the more people you have do deal with. Engineering level careers tend to have the most people to deal with, where Technologists or Technicians tend to have smaller roles with people (hate to sound harsh here, but sometimes NT's can be idiots when it comes to technology).
Just curious, but have you also tried concidering computer science (such as programming)? Just an idea to consider, but my understanding is that allot of Aspies tend to do REALLY well with that area. |
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iamnotaparakeet
Alan Grant in Space
Joined: Aug 01, 2007
Age: 22
Posts: 10270
Location: 44.7N 93.6W
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| Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:12 am Post subject: |
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| Tilkor wrote: | Unfortunately, the only thing I can advise about regarding engineering is not to get into Electronics. It's got very little job opportunities (based on experience and location).
But I don't want to discourage any form of engineering. Obviously, there's going to be a HUGE BUTT LOAD of mathematics involved. One example I found in electronics was the "Fourier Series of Infinite formulae" (which can be indirectly used in describing signals in filters).
Also, if it helps any, the higher up the scheme of things, the more people you have do deal with. Engineering level careers tend to have the most people to deal with, where Technologists or Technicians tend to have smaller roles with people (hate to sound harsh here, but sometimes NT's can be idiots when it comes to technology).
Just curious, but have you also tried concidering computer science (such as programming)? Just an idea to consider, but my understanding is that allot of Aspies tend to do REALLY well with that area. |
I'm going to be training to be an electronics technician starting next year. Would there be fewer jobs for that than for engineering in that field?
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UncleBob
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Jan 09, 2007
Age: 37
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Civil Engineering is probably the best bet. My brother started off in Mechanical but made the switch to Civil as there was far more demand for the latter. |
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m91
Snowy Owl
Joined: Nov 18, 2007
Posts: 174
Location: London, United Kingdom
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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I am planning to do electtrical engineering myself, as anything eletrical fascinates me (aren't we all weird hehehe?)
Structural engineering is about building bridges, and other *structures*  , while mechanical engineering is about manufacturing machines, which can range from anywhere from a machine like a bulldozer to the simple mechanism of a clock.
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Pandora
Cat Lady
Joined: Jun 18, 2005
Age: 47
Posts: 4684
Location: Townsville
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| Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:06 am Post subject: |
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Not that engineering was ever an area I aspired to but if I had the necessary maths skills and the inclination, I would have liked to go into civil engineering. But as I said, I wasn't interested in anything that involved lots of maths and my marks in that area weren't so good so I did a humanities degree instead. Plus, it was almost unheard of for women to do engineering degrees in my neck of the woods back in the early 80's.
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LVBen
Toucan
Joined: Jan 08, 2008
Age: 27
Posts: 257
Location: Las Vegas, NV
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:08 pm Post subject: Re: Which engineering degree is best for an aspe? |
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| Oyvind wrote: | I am looking at mechanical engineering and it looks really fun, but going into structural engineering in civilengineering also look really fun.
I really enjoy doing math and ohysics at my own, but I think cooperation will be okey as well, my social skills when it comes to work isn't that bad.
But does anybody here know the main differences between structural and mechanical engineering? I am pretty sure I want an analytical job that requires me to do calculations and analyse things. What do you think about this?, is mechanical or civil best? |
I'd suggest software engineering (or an equivalent degree like computer science). It uses a great deal of logic, which, like me, many aspies excel at! |
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QuantumCowboy
Phoenix
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 708
Location: Calgary, AB
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| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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As an (out of work) engineer myself, I would offer the following advice.
Civil engineering is probably the most social orientated of all engineering disciplines. There are numerous interactions with contractors, foremen, &c. I am not saying that there are no civil engineering positions that do not have little social interaction, there are simply fewer of them. Estimators make very good money, but the stress may kill most aspies.
Mechanical engineering is not a bad field to get into if you enjoy that sort of thing.
Manufacturing engineering is a dying field. I would not recomend it.
Petroleum engineering is rather demanding. However, if you can handle it, the requirement for the specialists will likely make up for a candidate's aspie-ness.
Geomatics engineering is very math orientated (even for engineering). If you enjoy this. There is need for those with this specialized field.
Electronics engineering is (in my opinion) the most fascinating. However, there is not as much demand as there used to be for this one. Number of reasons for this. The result is that there is an overabundance of people with more experience than you trying to get the same jobs as you are.
Electrical engineering can be alright if you don't mind designing electrical systems for large buildings, plants, or even electrical grids.
Engineering in university is very difficult. They will try to bury you under an impossible work load. There is not way that anyone can handle all of the assignments or required learning. You must prioratize, and find others to share knowledge with. The first year is the most difficult. If you can manage it, it will get better.
As a final note, It seems that in the last decade the jobs have shifted from the higher tech to the lower tech engineering fields.
Hopefully this may help those considering which discipline of engineering to get into.
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zapnpow
Emu Egg
Joined: Jan 12, 2008
Age: 36
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:43 am Post subject: |
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I have to comment that being an engineer requires that someone effectively communicate their design or product to their supervisor, the public or their customers, there is no way around this - I know from experience. There is also a lot of arbitrating an haggling between the customers, vendors, other engineers and agencies.
I enjoyed the hard math, evil problems and computer programming so I thrived (yes, sick, I know) as a student Mechanical Engineer. The social aspect was my achilles heel and I didn't find that out until I worked after graduation as an ME. When someone becomes an engineer they become very accountable. This means my boss and coworkers will at times invade my space and yell at me and be PO until I give them the most correct answers in the least amount of time - this is not somethings Aspies are typically good at dealing with. This doesn't jive well with me, thus I am looking for a new AS oriented career --> meltdown  .
Remember this, if a person does decide to persue engineering, they will earn an esteemed degree that is transferable to many other career fields besides engineering and that is a good thing. It opens a lot of doors.
Just remember - Mechanical Engineers build weapons, while Civil Engineers build targets  |
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Metal_Man
Toucan
Joined: Feb 04, 2007
Age: 40
Posts: 293
Location: A higher state of existance
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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Do not go into electrical engineering, that is a totally dead field. Manufacturing engineering is dying but process engineering isn't too bad. Civil engineering is highly in demand but does require a lot of social interaction. Mechanical engineering can lead to the widest variety of jobs but that us fading away. Most of the engineering jobs have been sent to China and India. I wouldn't discourage anyone from studyibng engineering but it is not the ticket to an upper-middle class lifestyle it once was.
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Oyvind
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 29, 2007
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Metal_Man wrote: | | Do not go into electrical engineering, that is a totally dead field. Manufacturing engineering is dying but process engineering isn't too bad. Civil engineering is highly in demand but does require a lot of social interaction. Mechanical engineering can lead to the widest variety of jobs but that us fading away. Most of the engineering jobs have been sent to China and India. I wouldn't discourage anyone from studyibng engineering but it is not the ticket to an upper-middle class lifestyle it once was. |
Thanks you very much everyone! But I have a question for you metal man. I am not from the US but from Norway. Here at the technical universities the engineering studies are 5 year master programs. One of the programs is marine engineering, it is said that the norwegian technical university is one of the best in marine engineering. And the department of marine engineering has exchange programs with Berkeley and MiT in the US. Now, does China and India have good marine engineering departments so that this work can be outsourced aswell?
I am really thinking of doing marine engineering instead of structural or mechanical since Norway is really good at this. What is your opinion of an aspie going into marine engineering?(I think the most "aspie-friendly" profiles in this programme are marine structures, marine hydrodynamics or marine cybernetics.) |
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Metal_Man
Toucan
Joined: Feb 04, 2007
Age: 40
Posts: 293
Location: A higher state of existance
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| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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There s very little marine engineering in the US so I know very little about it. Even the US Military now outsources most of it's engineering to foreign countries. This should make all Americans feel real secure. (This is being said VERY sarcastically) If you are good at what you do you can be successful at it. I really don't know if the plague of outsourcing is as bad in Europe as it is in the US.
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