<p>OP - when did you enter the florida system?( start college?)</p>
<p>@Ghostayame</p>
<p>To give you an idea of what I mean by design and build the technology let me give you some examples.</p>
<p>Example 1: In the Iron Man movies, Tony Stark is an electrical engineer. You don’t get to see the man using the “CAD” systems and what not to draft the technology beforehand, but you know he does it anyway. However we then get to see him building the technology physically as well. Tony Stark gets to both literally come up with the designs for his technology and to build it as well. I would enjoy a career like this. Mind you I wouldn’t have to own my own multi-billion dollar company and become an industrialist such as he, but I wouldn’t mind for a company that does things like that.</p>
<p>Example 2: The engineer Q in the James Bond films gets to physically design and build weapons technology for the government as well. </p>
<p>How do I get a job that allows me to both design and physically build things that involve machinery, computers, electronics, and whatnot. Oh and before someone says anything, and tells me that I’m living in fantasy land, let me say this…I am well aware that these are fictional “movie” examples that I just brought up, but I tried to give examples that many people could relate to. </p>
<p>@MichiganGeorgia</p>
<p>I started college in Fall of 2009 and went through summer 2010. Then I quit for a year and became a traveling salesman and sold sports memorabilia for about a year, and finally went back to school in Fall 2011. I have been going each semester every since.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Outside of a few jobs where the engineers build prototypes, generally speaking, engineers don’t both design and build the physical thing (e.g. airplane or smartphone). The design is handed off to others who take the specs and build the thing in question. Some engineers might be on hand to supervise the construction, but generally speaking, their focus is far more on design.</p>
<p>@OP Tony had to know a bit of mechanical too, I saw him messing around with an engine design in the first Iron Man. </p>
<p>You probably won’t find a job that lets you do both tbh. You’ll design, have a hand at developing a prototype, then hand the design todifferent workers. But if you want to build your own personal projects you’ll be able to learn that stuff on your own actually. Like in ME you may be introduced to a lathe, but on the job that task will likely only be done by machinists. But, you can learn to operate a lathe through practice, and eventually use it for personal projects, I’ve seen machinists at my old job do this all the time.</p>
<p>@yagottabelieve</p>
<p>How do I get a job designing the product and building the prototype then? Also, what do these prototypes look like? Are they sort of like when an architect wants to build a huge skyscraper and they draw a design of it, and then build like a miniature model of it to show a corporate board room to convince them to fund it?</p>
<p>@Ghostayame</p>
<p>Well that’s pretty much what I figured. The schools will teach you how to design the stuff and you have to learn to build things yourself through reading things like books and such I’m guessing.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Basically, to get such jobs, you have to be able to do the type of work the companies expect. I found this product designer job posting on LinkedIn, for example, where the candidate would build the physical prototype, aided by various design tools. This isn’t my area of expertise, so i don’t know the particulars. I imagine that yes, some of these companies build miniature models based on drawings, design tools, etc., then demo them for prospective clients.</p>
<p>Perhaps you could contact GoPro and ask to communicate with one of their engineers about his or her background.</p>
<p>[Sr</a>. Product Designer/Mechanical Engineer at GoPro in San Francisco Bay Area - Job | LinkedIn](<a href=“LinkedIn Job Search: Find US Jobs, Internships, Jobs Near Me”>LinkedIn Job Search: Find US Jobs, Internships, Jobs Near Me)</p>
<p>@yagottabelieve</p>
<p>Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Also the smaller the company, the more you can interact with various stages of product development.</p>
<p>CS is not for help desk. Actually you will do 0% IT(which you can learn by your own if you like computers). Why do you want to do EE? You will only be able to work as an EE or a CS. They both make about the same money and CS has more jobs. however, both need dedication and determination because they are tough.</p>
<p>@lightnin</p>
<p>I want to do something in the engineering/computer science field. My goal is obtain a job where I am creating new technology. I have stated this previously in the thread. I was leaning more towards CS to begin with though because I am extremely poor right now and college that I am going to says that they often provide both CS and IT majors with programming jobs while they are in school. They really don’t do much for the engineers while they are in school. Oh and yes, it is true that I would like a high paying job and one with decent job security, it is even more important that I get a job that I very much enjoy doing, and I believe that I will obtain this by majoring in computer science or one of the engineering disciplines.</p>
<p>As of now CS has more jobs and better salaries than engineers. Look at this</p>
<p>[Highest-Paid</a> Bachelor’s Degrees: 2010](<a href=“http://www.cnbc.com/id/29408064/page/8]Highest-Paid”>http://www.cnbc.com/id/29408064/page/8)</p>
<p>Also go to monster.com or indeed.com and search for computer science. Look at the job numbers and then look for electrical engineering. You will see computer science should have more than 5x jobs than EE. Get a Computer Science degree and get a job so that it will help you pay for your classes when the gov stop paying for it. Also apply for scholarships and best of luck</p>
<p>@lightnin</p>
<p>Yeah, that was actually my reasoning exactly. I could easily run out of financial aid the way the government is going. They keep slashing and cutting back financial aid more and more so I want to make sure that I can get a degree that I can do something with as fast as humanly possible, and that’s related to engineering. Computer science so far, is all I can think of. The only thing that is making me apprehensive is the limited class times that my school has to take computer science classes. Check this out, it is a pyramid of the classes that I will need to take in sequential order to get the degree. It also has the very limited and few class times that are available. The link is pasted below, just click on the Link that says “Computer Science Track: Spring 2013 Schedule”. Then download the small pdf…</p>
<p>[UNF</a> Search](<a href=“UNF Search”>UNF Search)</p>
<p>The only way that I can think to work with such a strange variation of class times each semester is to do a work study program through the school which is what I will most likely do.</p>
<p>@Jnelsonmarka to explain the “150%” rule to you a little further (I had to learn this for the orientations I gave at my university):</p>
<p>If you have to take 60 credit hours to complete a degree, you’ll be funded up to 90 credit hours to complete it (in case you decide to take extra classes or repeat some for a better grade, etc).</p>
<p>As in, on THAT specific degree, you can only be funded up to 150% (+30 more classes on the 60 which is the +50 on the 100).</p>
<p>Now, here in Texas, financial aid can only be given to you for 12 semesters. So I would definitely go to the financial aid in your state and ask for explicit information regarding how long you can get financial aid and how many hours can you still take before you run out of it (if you can run out of it). </p>
<p>Make sure you don’t leave until all of this is clear to you, and make sure you stay on top of any decisions the state takes on financial aid for college students (because as far as here in Texas, financial aid rules are reviewed and some new ones written by every april or may, I can’t remember exactly).</p>
<p>@Berryswirl</p>
<p>Yes, I am well aware my friend, but I appreciate the advice. The problem is that they keep changing the 150% rule and slashing financial aid even further. For instance, the last time I went to the financial aid office, they told me that in Fall of 2012 they slashed it further down to 115% and next year it is going down to 110%. I’m almost considering going after a scholarship instead, because God knows how much farther they are going to slash financial aid.</p>
<p>There is absolutely no reason not to go for a scholarship. You lose nothing from having a scholarship on top of financial aid (except aid in excess of your estimated total need).</p>
<p>@NeoDymium</p>
<p>Yeah, I know what you mean. I could probably get one too. After all, I have a 3.41 GPA for God sakes! Does anyone know of any popular ones out there for STEM degrees? I’ve asked my financial aid and advising counselors about this and they know jack about scholarships.</p>
<p>When they change it, the change applies to new students I believe. You would be grandfathered for the year that you enter the institution and the year of your college catalog. </p>
<p>[Fastweb</a> : Scholarships, Financial Aid, Student Loans and Colleges](<a href=“http://www.fastweb.com%5DFastweb”>http://www.fastweb.com) is probably the biggest source of scholarships. Just be prepared for a lot of spam emails and crap.</p>
<p>@Lookin4ward</p>
<p>Ok I will probably check that out. Also, thanks for telling me about this. I will probably go and do a huge investigation on the issue right now.</p>
<p>Some community colleges are better than others when it comes to scholarships. Check the school financial aid website also. </p>
<p>When you get to a university, there are tons. Usually when you apply and have your FAFSA completed (early), they automatically screen you for merit scholarships based on gpa and major. But again check the financial aid website for the university you want to transfer to. Lots of good information available. </p>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>@Lookin4ward</p>
<p>Yeah, as of now my tuition is 100% paid for along with books: I was not only eligible for the pell grant, but also for a private hardship scholarship based on my low income. It’s just that I also need some steady income coming in to help me to pay for living expenses (rent, gas, electric, food, etc.) So in order to compensate for this I find myself consistently taking out loans. I need to find someway to relinquish these fees because I don’t want to get into too much debt.</p>
<p>Another question: I was thinking about doing my masters in mechatronics. If I do a master’s in these am I eligible for a PE license of some sort?</p>