<p>For you engineering majors' is it common to do research as an undergrad? Most life science majors do research as undergrads, and it's fairly common, but is it also the same for engineers? </p>
<p>if so, what is, or what was your research duties mostly composed of? For example biology labs are usually composed of tedious "bench" work.</p>
<p>I heard Engineering research topics are somewhat similar to Science ones like Physics and Chemistry.</p>
<p>It is very common. In fact, as of today’s job competitiveness, research experience has became a common entry on anyone’s resume. </p>
<p>Moreover, you get paid for participating in research program (if it is federal-funded).
Beside research, you also want to look for internship, whether it’s unpaid or paid.</p>
<p>I definitely agree with yg7s7: engineering research is like any research in any science. Simply put, research is the summation of reading, writing, scientific experiments, and presentation.</p>
<p>Very common, and most programs are going to have you do a research project as a capstone potentially involving lots of lab work.</p>
<p>what exactly is a capstone project? I know I have to do one senior year.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m currently in a BME lab at another school back home this summer (it’s a biomechanics lab). Most of the engineers I know (not just bme’s) have spent some time at least doing research.</p>
<p>A capstone project is also commonly referred to as a senior project. It typically a project done either by yourself or in a small team, that involves applying much of what you learned in your major courses. Mines did not involve research, but we had a separate course during senior year for a research project within our major.</p>
<p>Johnson, what school do you attend and what school did you get a research job at?</p>
<p>Son will attend an OOS school, but we were wondering if he’d be able to get a research job at a local uni during the summer if he doesn’t attend there full-time.</p>
<p>He may have to take some gen ed courses locally next summer, but there is no local engineering school. </p>
<p>Is research experience in a field outside of engineering helpful when applying for grad school or internships/jobs?</p>
<p>This is the NSF search site for Research Experience for Undergraduates for programs by major. These programs are typically 10 weeks long in the summer and they frequently provide housing for students that aren’t in the local area. Pay usually runs about $400/week.</p>
<p>[US</a> NSF - REU - Search for an REU Site](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm]US”>Search for an REU Site | NSF - National Science Foundation)</p>
<p>There are lots of other ways to get research jobs during the summer or during the regular school year. They usually involve contacting professors about any research opportunities that they may have. Sometimes professors will ask a student if they’d like to be a research assistant if they show aptitude in the area. Sometimes research internships are found through parental connections.</p>
<p>Tnanks, BC, for the link. We’ll check that out.</p>
<p>Montegut- I’m an undergrad at WashU, home for the summer (~700 miles away). Just finished my sophomore year.</p>
<p>The school I’m working at this summer is the only school with engineering, so it was my only option.</p>
<p>I looked at the website online, and found a prof who had work I was interested in. Emailed her in November, she said to email again in March when she’d know about funding. I did just that. Unfortunately, she couldn’t pay undergrads for the summer, but I was willing to work without pay (living at home, so only expense would be gas).<br>
I figured that if I wanted to come home for the summer that badly, it didn’t matter if I was paid or not. I also figured that I was essentially being paid in experience, since I’ve never worked in a lab like this before. And it’s good for the resume.</p>
<p>Thanks, Johnson. I was wondering what year you were in, as my son will probably have to take classes next summer. But definitely want him doing something in the summer no later than sophomore year, paid or not. </p>
<p>That was great that you found a professor that was open to you working with her even though you were not a student there. </p>
<p>Good for you for taking the initiative, especially as early as November, wow, to seek something out.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and thanks for the help!</p>
<p>What would research be like in the electrical/computer engineering field?</p>
<p>[MIT</a> Haystack Observatory: REU Information](<a href=“Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) - MIT Haystack Observatory”>Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) - MIT Haystack Observatory)</p>
<p>I haven’t yet done any research as a computer engineering student entering my second year. However next year I will be working with a team to design a program, which fundamentally is like research in the steps you take and the organization you need, however nothing is really innovative.</p>
<p>This year I had to work with two groups of engineers to design projects. I think this is more what engineers will do in their line of work. Leave the experiments to the scientists and engscis.</p>
<p>I would like to do research during my undergrad, however I don’t know how to go about it, I certainly was fooled into thinking undergraduate research positions would be plentiful. I just email profs doing things that interest me, and then never hear from them. :(</p>
<p>I wonder if obese’s experiences are more the norm. Sure, schools tell you there’s lot of research available for undergrads, but really, with 28K undergrads, how can everyone get to do research? And I bet, too, that profs don’t respond to the hundreds of requests to do research that they probably receive. </p>
<p>And my son may get to do some kind of research for free at a local uni, but how will that translate in the job market?</p>
<p>I wonder if real life engineers don’t have the same attitude of, leave the experiments to the scientists and engineering scientists.</p>
<p>But it seems that in order to get a job as an engineer, no matter where your degree is from, the companies want to see experience. But how do you get the experience?</p>
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<p>I think that most undergrads aren’t interested in research outside of
a few majors. At my son’s school he knows of a student that hasn’t had
the best of grades but she has had several semesters of research work
in her resume. Her advisor brings in a ton of grant money and has a
fairly large staff of Phd candidates working for him and they need
assistants. So that’s the luck of the draw.</p>
<p>Yes, professors probably discard lots of email requests for research
work. In REU applications, they want transcripts, resume, essay, and
usually at least two recommendations from your professors. They don’t
know anything about you and will not be doing an in-person interview
so this is the minimum to determine if they will hire you.</p>
<p>If you ask a professor if they have research work, you should have
some familiarity with their work and have some interest in what they
are doing. Perhaps the professor knows you because you are an
outstanding student in her class or perhaps you are well known to the
faculty in your department because of your coursework. There is some
benefity in getting to know your professors. Outside of this,
connections may be helpful.</p>
<p>One of my nieces did research work during her freshman year and the
summer between her freshman year and sophomore year on campus. She
worked with rats in a lab - something that most students are a little
squeamish about. She’s published in journals and has had research
jobs every summer (she will be a senior this fall). I do not know how
she made the initial connection with the lab at her school but I did
get the impression that it wasn’t a popular job.</p>
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<p>We do applied research where I work and we expect grads to have some
research experience.</p>
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<p>There are non-research internships too.</p>
<p>REU’s are a great way to get research experience if you can’t find a UG research position at your university. Most REU research internships are very competitive though, the people I have met had GPAs of over 3.75 (although not all were from big schools).</p>
<p>To get an undergrad research position, just show interest to the professor who is responsible for the lab. Persistent contact in person, perhaps being a student in his/her class, and a high GPA will help.</p>
<p>In my experience, obesechicken’s experience is more normal. Undergraduate research is fairly common, but it is far from ubiquitous. There are still a lot more undergrads than there are research positions open in labs. At both my undergrad and grad school, it was common but not the norm.</p>
<p>Generally, undergrads do the grunt work to start out. A lot of manual labor (if your field requires it) and/or coding or otherwise things that us grad students can push off onto the undergrads while we try to fry bigger fish. As time goes on and the undergrads become more useful and used to the lab and project, they get more interesting tasks. We have one guy in our lab who is good enough that he essentially functions on the same level as a Masters student. The only difference is he doesn’t have his own project and still just helps out a ton on various other projects. He pretty much has his ticket punched into the PhD program should he want it.</p>
<p>Since I was a biology major, I’m familiar with the typical, washing test tubes job, but is there something analogous in the engineering field?</p>
<p>And if son is an engineering major, but is interested in biomedical engineering, should he try to get a test tube washing job in the college of arts and sciences just to have some kind of research experience, or would engineering employers think that was a useless waste of time?</p>
<p>We live in an area where there are no jobs available, even for adults, much less part time students, so son has no work experience. We’re hoping that college will offer him an opportunity at some kind of work experience, paid or unpaid.</p>