<p>I really need to know what I’m on. I’m studying mechanical engineering(2nd year) and I just cant help my self to think that in today's world mechanical engineering is somehow loosing its grip. I mean I cant say that I don’t enjoy it that much, but I feel that today knowing how to program and understanding electricity is just more important than the mechanical subjects like mechanics or thermodynamics. I also got the sense that the EE guys get more respect from society and better job offerings. I have a few friends who are already elec. engineers and they work on cool things like robots, biomedical machines, programming bank applications etc.. And the few guys that I know who are mech. engineers have crappy jobs and do some primitive design of some nuts and bolts and get really bad salaries compared to the EE friends. It just seems like the EE field is full of opportunities today with everything being electro driven apart from the ME field which had its golden age some time ago. I have to admit that before I enrolled I didnt know which path to choose because I got accepted into ME and EE, but apparently chose the wrong one, since I take a lot of Elec. Classes and programming. But I am writing this to know from you guys, what is your experience, do you think that the difference isn’t so big and that it doesn’t matter that much? Do you also find the EE having more options ? Thanks </p>
<p>PS: Im from Europe, things might be different in the US.</p>
<p>I looked at our state flagship school and the average starting salary for ME was a little over $1000 higher than the starting salary for EE. So not a big difference. Pick the one you think you will enjoy the most.</p>
<p>Just because computers are everywhere doesn’t mean the laws of mechanics don’t apply or aren’t important. Even in your own examples of robotics and biomedical devices mechanical engineering is incredibly important.</p>
<p>Don’t base your conclusions on a couple of friends. That is not a representative sample.</p>
<p>Anecdotes don’t tell the whole story. You could listen to a 100 stories about how great electrical engineering is, and then be completely horrified as to why you chose mechanical engineering. Then you could hear 1,000 stories about how great mechanical engineering is. Of course, the disparity isn’t that big but just look at the statistics if you want the “whole story”.</p>
<p>BLS.gov says mechanical engineers make average $80,580 per year, electrical engineers make average $91,810 per year.</p>
<p>They are both very broad disciplines of engineering, and to be honest if I really liked mechanical engineering, an salary of $10,000 after being in the field for 15-20 years or so wouldn’t really bother me. All the engineering disciplines have their purposes and mech eng is in no way “dead” or “dying out”… tons of interesting subfields like biomechanics, aerospace, astrospace, rocket science, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to spit on the ME degree, its just that I feel and hear from people that the EE + CS is way stronger and has a brighter future. I have a friend who just finished a PhD in ME and is teaching and told me that a lot of people he knows from the EE have better job opportunities, larger pay, more complex work etc. Like I said I dont hate the ME or anything, just maybe should have gone with the EE path, because I really am not as interested in engines and manufacturing machines as my class mates, so Im trying to atleast have a masters in EE, here in Europe the masters is a must apart from the US</p>
<p>Again, “hear[ing] from people” is not a valid way to judge a greater trend. You need a representative sample for that. It sounds to me like most of your friends and acquaintances in ME are just taking jobs in areas that aren’t as exciting (to you). However, engines and manufacturing machines is a very small subset of what a mechanical engineer can do. Mechanical engineering isn’t just about machines, it is about the engineering associated with the entire science of mechanics. I know mechanical engineers (and aerospace engineers, which are basically just specialized mechanical engineers) who are working in robotics, biomedical, spacecraft control systems, aerodynamics, materials testing, fluid power systems, and a host of other jobs that are different than “engines and manufacturing”.</p>
<p>The bottom line is, though, why don’t you just switch to EE if you are so worried?</p>
<p>Rockwell Collins (avionics company that supplies communication/navigation equipments to Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, US Department of Defense, and etc), still hires mechanical engineers despite being a mostly electronics company.</p>
<p>One of their senior engineers said, “Mechanicals at Rockwell are the folks that figure out how to turn 5 lb into 1 lb, or fit 5 gallons of liquid into a 1 gallon bucket”. He was referring to that someone still has to package all of the circuit boards and wiring into components.</p>
<p>More important than fitting all those electronics into a small packages is figuring out how to effectively dissipate the heat generated by those electronics so they don’t fry themselves while operating in that small package. That task falls under the purview of mechanical engineers as well.</p>
<p>Thank you for your experience, I really appreciate it :). But I guess that at the end of the day the most important thing is what the person actually likes and I have to say that for me it’s just the EE that wins over ME, I find it more interesting, challenging and more practical today. Unfortunately I can’t switch to EE anymore or not at least in undergraduate, I would have to start all over because catching up the two years would be really hard and I would end up finishing my bachelors in like five years, instead of three. I will try to switch to EE as a master though.</p>