<p>If you have been following my threads, they explained that after a year or two, I was going to try to get an engineering degree as sort of a switch from the biology degree I will be getting soon. I was strongly considering civil/environmental engineering, because that could tie into my biology degree, but I want to carefully consider the other fields of engineering before I jump back in and try to get a graduate degree. My school offers civil/environmental, mechanical, and electrical/computer engineering. It is the cheapest four year school I can find. Does anybody know someone in this profession, and what each is like, and how I could use my existing experience to enhance this opportunity?</p>
<p>As you probably have noticed somewhat, there is a lot of overlap among the engineering divisions. Plus, they tend to also have subspecialties. These days there are a lot of blurring of the lines. Within mechanical, there are fluids, solids and robotics, all of which have bio applications. Mechanical engineers overlap a lot with civil/env, especially when it comes to computational modeling. Mech slides into ee/cs too. The hottest topic in engineering (any type) right now is micro/nano systems.</p>
<p>If you want the most versatile dept, it's mechanical. If you are absolutely certain you know what you want to do when you're finished, then work backwards from there. Check out the ASME journals at your school library; there's one devoted solely to biomechanical, but a number of the other transactions journals (there are 18) swerve into bio too. The one I work on, Journal of Fluids Engineering, gets a lot of papers on bio flows. Arteries are just pipes carrying non-Newtonian fluids, you know :)
PM me if you want to chat more.</p>
<p>bump, please respond thanks</p>
<p>I'm married to an engineer -- BS/civil, MS/civil, PE license, 8 yrs as engineer for large environmental firm, and then MBA. He was very happy to shed the hard core engineering and head off to business school. </p>
<p>Engineers are a special breed with a distinct way of looking at the world. The engineering training permeates everything he does. </p>
<p>If you think you want engineering, take your Bio degree and go work for an environmental engineering firm and let them pay for the engineering degree if you then want to do it!</p>
<p>Be prepared to jump around a little in this field.My brother is a mechanical engineer designer and the field is not like it was 30 years ago. All the big plants have closed, competition is steep, the profession has become very entreprenurial. My brother has had paychecks bounce and has traveled from one large firm to another all over the Northeast U.S..However, this all being said, this does not happen to everyone in the field. I have spoken with designers who love their job and feel it is stable and my brother has made the point that the excellent engineers never get laid off at the firms where he has worked. Just to let you know the profession is not like it was 30 years ago when you got a job at a big place, had a great salary and benefits and kept if for life. And there is much foreign competition.</p>
<p>collegegraduate-- I'm in the environmental engineering & consulting industry. Having a bio degree coupled with civil/env eng can make a wonderful combination. I like hiring people with this type of eclectic combination. I've been doing this for quite some time & have been with the same company for 20 years. Although I am very biased in my favor of the profession, I'll try to answer your questions as objectively as I can if you have anything more specific.</p>
<p>Bio and EE go together well. SMU has/had a major in BioEngineering out of the EE department.</p>
<p>I agree with the suggestions given here, and they definitely do deserve some thought. I do have some additional questions though:</p>
<p>1.) What do you parents and other onlookers think about CS? I had some programming courses in college, not enough to be considered a professional programmer, but I do have enough coursework to go to the MSCS online program at UIUC. If I was to do engineering, CAD work would be involved, and I did see that there is a lot of custom programming going on with this in certain places. If I could somehow get into this, it might be a source of supplemental income which I would probably need to be able to live more comfortably. What do you think?</p>
<p>2.) Papa Chicken, why do you like to hire people with the combination you mentioned? Why would anyone who would hire like to do that? What unique skills would they bring to the table that someone with just one does not have?</p>
<p>3.) What advantages would being a bio graduate be in the EE field? I've heard of biomedical engineering, but I don't know very much about it. I'd probably be more likely to do a traditional engineering field. Is there any specific advantage?</p>
<p>I do want to be able to practice my bio so I didn't waste my years in school for that, yet I yearn for the higher salaries of engineering. I would like to hear more. What do you parents think?</p>
<p>I'm part of an engineering family; one CS, one Industrial, one Civil, two Mechanicals, one Chemical, one Industrial and one Aeronautical. All have had rewarding careers, and each is respected by peers. FWIW, our consensus is that engineering is a calling first and a career second. The exacting and judgemental nature of the profession places the practitioner at a significant social disadvantage in many situations. (Engineering is not the only profession that suffers from this, but let's be realistic: Which sounds more appealing? "The Company Outing is being organized by the Marketing Dept" or "The Company Outing is being organized by the Engineering Dept?") There is much good advice presented above. But IMHO the key question is not "which engineering field is best" but rather "is engineering a profession you would enjoy and thrive in." Best of luck with your decision.</p>
<p>PS, I second cnp55's suggestion: Join an engineering firm as a Biologist and let THEM pay for your engineering degree!</p>
<p>Honestly, before you jump into another degree program...especially one as stringent as engineering...I would suggest you take a year to work perhaps somewhere related to the field you wish to pursue. Engineering study is not light (I'm married to the engineer)...it is challenging with virtually no elective courses. Unless you are absolutely positive you want to do this, don't do it yet. I agree with the above poster...perhaps there is a way to use that bio degree in a job position where you might be able to at least be partially paid to do that engineering degree. DH went to the University of Hartford going to school in the evenings. It took a while...he worked during the day, and went to classes at night. He also did their coop program so that he had some job experience during school....and some income. It helped him land his first job. I guess I have to ask...what makes you so certain that engineering is a field you are going to love?</p>
<p>This is most interesting and helpful.
Many of you have mentioned engineering as a calling for a specific type of person. </p>
<p>Could you elaborate on what would be a predictor of someone succeeding, in what many consider the most strenuous college curriculum?</p>
<p>At the risk of stereotyping the different engineering disciplines, could you give us some traits of a Chem E, EE, MechE, Civil E ect ?</p>
<p>The few engineers we know LOVE their jobs!! But, we don't know them that well, and any insight you can share is enlightening.</p>
<p>Absolutely top notch math aptitude along with physics aptitude is a primary requirement. Logical thinking. Making decisions based on hard facts and not intuition. Very hard worker. Not-distractable. Persistent. I do think there are engineers that are more math and data oriented and engineers that are more hands-on fixer guys. Both can succeed in engineering but even the tinkerer type need to be strong with numbers and data.</p>
<p>These are characteristics of the engineers I know. My dad was an aeronautical engineer, my husband is civil/sanitary BS and MS, my brothers are software engineers. </p>
<p>Your mileage may vary -- certainly depending on different engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>Strong math skills in general AND strong math application skills. Linear thinkers. Strong in physics. Ability to achieve in higher level math courses and science courses(differential equations is an example). Willingness to take engineering, and only engineering courses...not too many electives. Every engineer I know also has a phenomenal memory...for data.</p>
<p>Predictors of success in engineering:</p>
<p>You like to fix things, but only once for each thing because the fun is figuring it out. </p>
<p>You like to get your hands dirty. </p>
<p>You have your own set of decent quality tools. </p>
<p>You like to cook using recipes and ingredients you buy yourself. </p>
<p>You like to do calculations in your head. </p>
<p>You are the person in your freshman dorm who can hook up computers and repair bicycles. </p>
<p>You like to take apart something broken to see how it works before throwing it away, and to see if there are any parts that might be useful for something later.</p>
<p>You like logistical problems.</p>
<p>You like to find more efficient ways of doing things.</p>
<p>You like to make things last.</p>
<p>some traits of a Chem E, EE, MechE, Civil E:</p>
<p>Mechanical engineers design weapons, Civil engineers design targets.</p>
<p>Mechanical engineers are happy if their design moves, Civil E's are unhappy.</p>
<p>EEs cannot read a three dimensional drawing even if their lives depended on it. This is what draws EEs into their field, though you can never convince them of it as they cannot recognize they have this fundamental skill deficit. It is like explaining green and red to a color-blind person. MEs, CEs are naturally strong in this skill.</p>
<p>EEs don't like getting their hands dirty that much.</p>
<p>Oh...one very important characteristic about every engineer <em>I</em> know....they don't throw ANYTHING away...especially anything mechanical or electrical (e.g. old computers, old stereo equipment, etc...but NOT appliances). Also, most engineers <em>I</em> know feel that the only one who can do the job right is THEM.</p>
<p>You guys have described my engineer to a T. Detail minded, see most things as right or wrong, often musically inclined. Very handy to have around the house.</p>
<p>Ah but you all are focusing on the fixit kind of engineer. My brothers, my dad were the tinkering fixit engineers. They fit all of the characteristics of Post #14 ... as does S1. </p>
<p>My husband, he of the BSCE and MSCE, PE license and 8 years at one of the big environmental engineering firms, is not allowed to tinker with the plumbing, the electrical, the computers, the stereos, the lawnmower or the cars! He's more of a manager engineer and the sharp pencil get-it-done guy. Please do NOT ask him to fix the faucet or hook up the dryer. Been there, done that, and done it myself!</p>
<p>Of the list above in post 14 -- he can do the calculations, the logistics, and the more efficient ways of doing things. Please don't ask him to do anything else!</p>
<p>My brother and I are engineers. He is in his first year as practicing ChemE and I am a senior in MechE (soon-to-be engineer). Ever since we were young we were good at math and science and engineering/science always seemed to be the only career choice in our minds. I was in CompSci before switching to MechE. People always say I am smart but I have a very strong dislike of school. I struggled a lot for two years before I switched majors and got a better grasp of engineering. While I am able to understand concepts, I am not very good at taking engineering exams...especially if they are more difficult than the problem sets. It's hard for me to successfully navigate a very difficult exam problem within a 50-90 minute test period. My success comes through when doing project-intensive work where I am not pressured by such a small time period, although in business time pressure is always there.</p>
<p>Ive never been much of a hands-on person. For example, some of my classmates regularly dismantle their cars to tweak certain parts. I dont even change my own oil (Jiffy Lube does that for me). One hands-on area that I would like to get good at is indoor remodeling of homes since my family has had to fire every contractor we ever hired. Id like to be able to build my own home theater someday when I save up enough money. </p>
<p>I have a job lined up with an electrical utilities company after graduation. Its supposed to be intensive work that requires knowledge of engineering and business, and the work will allow me to get a PE license in the future. I cant wait to leave school and do real-world engineering.</p>
<p>collegegraduate--- here are my thoughts on the questions you raised.</p>
<p>"why do you like to hire people with the combination you mentioned? Why would anyone who would hire like to do that? What unique skills would they bring to the table that someone with just one does not have?"</p>
<p>Backdrop.....as an environmental consulting organization, we are looking for a mix of talents and skills that will ultimately serve to build good teams for our client work. We need professionals that can span being totally technical (i.e., conventional engineering as described above) to generalists, with a technical "do-it" background, who can relate to the broad client problems presented to us.
(1) Those professionals with an eclectic mix of technical backgrounds (e.g., biology & engineering) tend to make good consultants (e.g., can relate & communicate with clients who don't have just one type of problem). This is in contrast to the more highly-specialized professionals (potentially and scientist or engineer) who can be satisfied with staying technical, and who in general have less potential to ultimately become a "consultant" because they want to stay purely technical (and frankly don't have the communication skills to step into the broader roles). Not that many don't become consultants, but fewer of this group do, and in contrast the mere fact that an individual has an eclectic education shows broad interests leading to broader roles. Think of this like a liberal arts background in a way, just a bit more focussed in the technical areas most important to our business. So we look for people with eclectic backgrounds because they have greater potential to develop into "consultants" which are in shorter supply than pure technical folks.
(2) Much of the driver behind environmental consulting is to "protect human health and the environment".......someone with a biology background who ultimately specializes in a technical area other than bio (which will require a significant amount of work) has a big leg up on the motivation for the industry and their understanding of clients' motivations & the regulatory framework which is the basis for much of our work, which can prove very beneficial to their value in the company & the individuals' career satisfaction.
(3) We have a number of successful bio undergrads with env eng masters folks........who work primarily in human health & eco risk assessment....so they are doing mostly bio-related work in an environemntal regulatory and engineering context. These folks can do solid technical work and relate to all other aspects of the project, e.g., the technical solutions to protecting human health & the environment.
(4) Another technical facet: some of our projects are in the world of ecological engineering and restoration. For instance, designing an ecologically viable wetland & buiding it requires, obviously, a strong knowlege of biology, combined with an engineering approach to make it happen. Here, we almost exclusively look for hires with both engineering (civil/environmental) and biology backgrounds.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>