I’m new here, just signed up today. I’m currently taking classes at a community college and I’m in my 4th semester. Back in High School I didn’t care about anything other than video games but somehow I still passed with a 3.4 gpa. Now things have changed and I’m actually trying to do something with my life. First of all, I will have to stay at this college for another year (3 total, 2 done), since I slacked off in high school and didn’t take any physics classes or high level math past Algebra 2 and Geometry so I have to make up for that now.
Anyways, I just have two questions.
Now, I’m sure this has been asked a million times, but I would like to ask it one more time.
What is the difference between Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics and Robotics?
From what I’ve managed to dig up, Mechatronics and Robotics are both subfields of Mechanical engineering. Mechatronics deals with automated systems while robotics deals with autonomous systems. However, for Mechanical and Computer Engineering I can’t tell the difference. I want to major in something that will allow me to work with robotics, hardware like the oculus rift, etc… I want to create things like that and I’m not sure whether that path is through Mechanical or Computer Engineering. The college I am planning on going too, only offers Mechanical and Computer Engineering Majors, no Mechatronics or Robotics Majors. Though they are offered as concentrations under mechanical engineering, however I’m not sure if that is the same as majoring in them.
The second part of this topic is how should I study for my engineering classes? As of now, I have only been taking General ED, Math, and Physics courses. General ED is done and now I’m focusing on my Math and Physics. It’s not too hard but it is certainly different than my other classes and my current study habits are not adapting well to the new courses. Specefically I’m taking College Algebra (Math 102), Trigonometry (Math 103), and Intro to Physics (Physics 100) and a politics class
The classes aren’t hard (My GPA as of now is 3.9926), it’s just I don’t know how I should study for them as I’ve never really cared about studying much and overcoming those habits is difficult to say the least. I don’t play video games much anymore (maybe 1 hour a week if even that) but all my spare time isn’t being used productively. I just don’t know what to do, I seriously wish I’d never gotten into video games.
From what I’ve seen computer engineering is specifically focused on computer hardware and is usually some combination of electrical and computer science and is often offered through a combined electrical/computer engineering department.
Mechanical engineering is a very broad field with subtopics that include solid mechanics (static and dynamic), fluid dynamics, and heat transfer with applications in nearly every industry.
I think the best thing you can do to study for engineering (and math and science) classes is to do lots of problems. If you aren’t getting the material, then do extra problems. In any subject, if you don’t understand something thoroughly, go to office hours and ask. The vast majority of professors are going to be more than willing to help if you demonstrate that you have genuinely tried before asking. This also assumes you don’t wait until the last minute to start doing the work. Start early when homework is assigned.
A second recommendation is try to read the material on the syllabus before the lecture. It will make the lecture much more accessible and then you can ask the questions that will be of the most benefit to you (and probably everyone in the class).
Yes I agree that you should go with a broader field. Many companies tend to have a desire for computer science, electrical/computer engineering, and mechanical engineering. Computer engineering is more like a focus area of electrical engineering, and mechatronics seems like a focus area of mechanical engineering. Robotics is quite interdisciplinary.
Community college courses do not tend to have nearly the level of rigor compared with at a highly ranked engineering program. Some of your classes may seem like a joke right now, but once you transfer, you will likely notice the difference fairly quickly. Still, you are going to want to ensure that the program you transfer to is ABET accredited, since many companies highly prefer candidates with a degree form such programs.
So I’m a high school student at a community college. I’m taking Pre-calculus (Math 111), General Chemistry (Ch 221) and General Physics (Phys 201) at the moment so I can qualify for actual engineering courses. I agree that community college is hilariously easy. The trick is to have a good study schedule . You should have exams, quizzes, homework assignments, and projects on a syllabus. Get a calendar, no phones or laptops and put all those dates in there. I color code by class and type of due date. Then put in when you think your going to get that assignment done ( not the day before). Than give yourself at least two hours for every credit hour for each class for studying. I find I don’t need that much for my lower level classes except around midterms and final. Put your personal stuff into the calendar too so you can really see where you can get studying into. This really works for me and the group of people that are in the study group I lead. hope this helps!
Great advice @elena3142. The only things I’d add, both Cal Newport Study Hacks ideas, are the concept of time arbitrage and pseudo studying.
Studying before five is known to be more effective than after five. Relaxing after five is probably more satisfying than relaxing before five. Since an hour studying during the day is as efficient as say two hours at night, you can “buy” two hours of relaxation in the evening by “selling” one hour of study time during the day. That’s arbitrage, simultaneously selling and buying for net gain. Long story short, blocking time to study between classes is very powerful.
Pseudo studying is when you are texting, facebooking, emailing, etc. while studying. Put your phone in airplane mode, which will not only block your access to all the distractions mentioned above, but will ease your anticipation of said distractions. Then set your timer and study in 30 to 50 minute blocks. It’s pretty well established that we can’t deeply concentrate much beyond that. Then take a mandatory break for the bathroom, to text, to FB, whatever for 5 to 10 min. Repeat until done.
