I am a US citizen looking to do a career change into mechanical engineering, With possibly an aerospace emphasis down the road. I have been looking at ABET accredited institutions outside of the US, and while there are a few, I’m worried that despite the reputation of these schools locally, my degree will end up not meaning anything in the US. Does anyone have experience hiring mechanical engineers or aerospace engineers with degrees from places like Turkey, Germany, Norway, or Singapore?
Thanks for any help or resources anyone can offer!
A foreign degree is certainly a disadvantage, but being a US citizen offsets that a bit. A US graduate degree eliminates most of the disadvantage. Of the 12 engineers sitting by me, there is a German, a Canadian and a New Zealand degree holder. I know many other engineers with foreign degrees. That said it is a risk. I work for a very large company so we are pretty open to very good engineers, wherever they graduate. I am sure that many are not so open.
Why do you want to pursue a degree at a foreign institution? There are some very highly regarded Canadian universities that send a considerable number of graduates to the US every year, that is probably the lowest risk.
It also depends pretty heavily on the industry and the type of position within the industry. If it is an entry-level position for those with just a BS, it’ likely more of a disadvantage than, say, a positions looking to hire a PhD engineer.
ABET has mutual recognition with similar organizations in other countries. They may accredit the programs you are interested in.
http://www.abet.org/global-presence/mutual-recognition-agreements/