<p>I'm an up and coming second year Computer Science student at the University of Texas at Austin, and I'm just curious... Has anyone ever heard of or thought of a double major in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering? I know my job will most likely only entail one or the other, but is it something worth pursuing out of my own interest, even if it means sacrificing some time that I could be focusing completely on one?</p>
<p>Related to engineering... I'm done with all of my "core curriculum" classes, and I've taken Engineering Physics I, and Calc I - III. I'm also about to take some upper-division maths (Diff. Eq., Vector Calc, and Linear Algebra) next semester, some of which required by most of the engineering degrees here at UT. I am absolutely loving CS and all that it entails, but I also kind of have this craving to dive into some of the other more, say, "natural" areas in science, and I REALLY like the tangibility and more application-based courses of an engineering degree. Mechanical Engineering, more than any other engineering degree, has always sparked my interest. I'm sure CS and ME can merge in some amazing ways, as far as being well-versed and creative, both in industry and research.</p>
<p>NOTE: I have thought about EE, but despite being extremely fascinating, it's a little low-level for my taste. I'm not interested in designing Intel's next processor. More power to those who love that, though. Haha.</p>
<p>It’s funny that you find EE so “low-level”. They can do MUCH more than just design processors. In fact EE can become one of the mathematically intensive branches of engineering (signal processing for example). It requires physics way beyond the mechanical engineering curriculum especially when looking at fields like optics/photonics, electromagnetics, reactor physics.</p>
<p>One of our interns was MechE who had a late calling in CS. He got a CS minor and is now happily writing Android apps for a living :). </p>
<p>If you’re really into combining the two take a few classes in things like Fluid Dynamics, Thermodynamics, FEA, and the like (don’t bother with a minor) and shoot for a job in the MechE/CAD software business. I had a neighbor working in a CFD (Comp Fluid Dynamics) small company and the stuff they were doing was beyond awesome (think modeling of a soft drink bottle filling with Pepsi…)</p>
<p>@jbrussell93: The things that EE entails certainly push the envelope a little further, in physics, especially in those areas you mentioned. To be honest, I’m just a little inexperienced with actually studying (in-depth) some of the topics in EE, but I have been seriously considering taking a introductory EE class to get a taste for it. Maybe I’m thinking of things incorrectly… Maybe EE can help me bridge the gap between CS and applying it to physical systems? That’s been a big interest of mine: how CS can aid physical systems, such as in robotics, avionics, modeling, or even medical devices.</p>
<p>@turbo93: That sounds truly amazing! I think it’s so cool when more than one field (whether by means of multiple people or one person) merge together. I’ll definitely keep those examples in mind.</p>
<p>You guys are really getting me to think about EE. Haha. And I don’t know if I’d want to straight up do physics. I’m thinking that I would prefer to be able to also take more application-esque classes. Idk. I have yet to experience either (within physics or EE).</p>
<p>Sounds like you are interested on the hands on part of ME. I dont know why some recommended EE(it isnt straight up physics) but it doesnt sounds like you are interested in circuits or electricity or any other EE topic</p>
<p>CS degree is not that important. Google has more than 10% of engineers without degree. I know a kid intern for Apple who is not majoring in CS degree. The kid is very smart who knows programming already so he does not major in CS and double major something else.</p>
<p>EE != physics, tru dat. I’m a physics guy, and my “electronics for physicists” course was not always pleasant because it didn’t seem very physicsy.</p>
<p>You don’t get a CS degree to just be a code monkey. You clearly don’t have one and obviously you don’t know what you are talking about. CS is not just programming. It is a extremely broad field</p>
<p>You are welcome to refute what I said with evidence. The only thing that you can’t find out publicly is the intern.</p>
<p>I am not saying the degree is not useful. CS is one major that you can share your work on internet for all to see to prove your ability. You don’t need a degree when you can prove yourself. You don’t even need a resume. I don’t have one. The only time I prepare a resume is for lawyer needed for due diligence.</p>
<p>Coding is just a part of CS. You proved that you were a good programmer not that you have a good knowledge of CS topics such as Data Structure, Algorithms, Computer Organization, Operating systems, Databases, Discrete Math, Scientific Computing, Robotics and a few others. You don’t need to know all of that for a programming job. If you can do a job well, I don’t see a reason why they won’t hire a good programmer just because the programmer has weak CS knowledge if that knowledge won’t be used on the job. You can make a good Facebook like website without a CS background but making Google took a very strong background in CS (probably why the co-founders have a PHD in CS). Getting employed without a degree, resume and portfolio must be hard, so I am assuming that you are a good programmer and have been coding for years, but that doesn’t mean that you know everything that is taught in CS</p>
<p>I did not say you don’t need these knowledge. I am also not saying you don’t need a degree. There are so many avenues to learn today. I am constantly learning on the job. Are you saying one can’t just buy a book to learn these knowledge? </p>
<p>I am also not talking about the Google founders. They don’t have PhDs.</p>
<p>@irisss
“I did not say you don’t need these knowledge. I am also not saying you don’t need a degree. There are so many avenues to learn today. I am constantly learning on the job. Are you saying one can’t just buy a book to learn these knowledge?”</p>
<p>You can learn whatever you want and not go to school. The school however is a place, where you get a formal certification that proves that you’ve done the coursework and that someone has assessed your work. Thus, it’s a proof that you’ve heard about the stuff (and possibly really learned a lot of it as well).</p>
<p>“I am also not talking about the Google founders. They don’t have PhDs.”</p>
<p>Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed an early version and the theoretical framework of the Google search engine as their doctoral dissertation (source: [Larry</a> Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Page]Larry”>Larry Page - Wikipedia)).</p>
<p>I think you need to read the whole thing I said. The creator of Box2D, one example I mentioned, have a PhD degree. It is just the degree is not in CS. Angry Bird is based on Box2D. </p>
<p>The other thing I said was that there is another way you can prove yourself. You are welcome to tell me why you disagree with it.</p>
<p>I mentioned about 10% of Google engineers. I don’t know why people replied with Google founders who may be two in a billion. The fact is they are in a PhD program but they did not finish it. Sure, if you think they deserve to be called PhD, you won’t find disagreement from me.</p>
<p>My daughter interned twice at google. They told her they have 1/3rd with BS, 1/3rd with Master’s, 1/3rd with PhD.</p>
<p>The side issue of whether or not one needs a CS degree is pretty irrelevant to the discussion the OP started. Please don’t hijack the thread folks.</p>