<p>Good morning,</p>
<p>I live in Ohio. I have an AAS in Manufacturing Engineering Technology and 4 years of experience in manufacturing. 3 as a machinist running and completing setups (and some programming) on CNC Lathe, Mill and Wire EDM machines. The last year I have spent in quality as a quality engineer for a company close to where I go to school. I am involved in a lot of Continuous Improvement, 5S, SPC, LEAN, PFMEA, etc. at my current job and am getting quite the exposure that I hoped to get. I also gained quite a bit of knowledge with FAA and NADCAP standards since I am working in the aerospace industry right now. I do also have some experience with MiniTab, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, EdgeCAM, Vantage ERP, and other software used in the industry. I plan on earning many certifications this year as well such as the SME CMfgT, ASQ Quality Improvement Associate and ASQ Quality Inspector, ATMAE CMS, and Six Sigma Green Belt certification.</p>
<p>My ultimate goal is to (in 10 years) teach at a local community college or career center in the engineering technology or machine tool field after I finish grad school, and also run my own machine shop out of my garage, but I need a current career to pay my way through the next 3 years of school for my Bachelors and Masters, and a decent career afterwards to buy a house and shop someday to support myself when I first start my business. Most jobs that I am looking at require a BS in Engineering. I really want to work the next few years in Process Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, Industrial Engineering, or even a manager in Production or Quality fields.</p>
<p>Would someone with this following education and sufficient manufacturing/quality experience such as myself find a job in those fields or am I going to have a hard time find a job without a ABET accredited Bachelors in Engineering?</p>
<p>+AAS in Manufacturing Engineering Technology (Graduated)
-Minor Certificate: Supervision & Management</p>
<p>+Bachelors of Business: Operations Management (Almost Done)
-Minor: Manufacturing</p>
<p>+Masters Degree: Either MBA, Masters of Technology, or Masters of Applied Science in Engineering Management
^^^(All three of these are attainable with the coursework I did in undergrad and there are many distance learning programs or local programs in Georgia that I could go into with my Bachelors)</p>
<p>In the future I hope to get the SME Certified Manufacturing Engineer, Six Sigma Black Belt, ASQ Certified Quality Engineer, and AWS Certified Welding Engineer certifications and continue my education with even further coursework or study in manufacturing throughout my career and life. I do not plan on getting a PE so the need of an ABET engineering degree is not applicable to me, although I do believe it is attainable in Georgia with a Business degree anyways with enough experience.</p>
<p>I am hoping that with 6 years of work experience (after I graduate) and numerous certifications in industry and studies done in manufacturing, paired with my associates degree and bachelors would find me a job to pay my way through grad school. </p>
<p>Am I wrong? I am worried that without a Bachelors in Engineering that I will be stuck with a paper pushing job while I work my way through grad school.</p>