<p>Currently being a freshman, I am considering doing Mechanical Engineering, and I sort of have an idea of what I want to do. I'm thinking about working for a car company (Obviously like Toyota, Honda, etc.) but I don't know if it is a good idea. I would figure that due to this economy, the car "industry" (not sure if this would be the right word) is in any good condition right now.</p>
<p>However, conflicting this, aren't cars working on hybrids and being much more fuel efficient? So wouldn't this be sort of a good opportunity over the next few years? I just don't know how long this would last but I am kind of assuming that it would last for many years until a pure electric car will be made.</p>
<p>I don't know if this would then further lead into Electrical Engineering. Or maybe it's some other study such as renewable energy. I really and honestly don't have any idea. I would like to ask anybody out there who is knowledgeable of this information or is currently working with in the car industry.</p>
<p>I currently attend CUNY Queens College and at this school here, they offer a program that allows me a 3-2 year dual degree. I get a BA in Physics here at Queens College, then finish my engineering degree at Columbia for the last two years (Here's a link Undergraduate</a> Program ). Would this be a good idea?</p>
<p>And also, would maybe minoring in Computer Science be of any help if I choose to pursue this career field? Speaking of career field, I'm wondering if the car industry in 5 years will be any stable.</p>
<p>A Mechanical engineering degree will prepare you for future work in the automobile industry and much more if you change your mind. It will be a good hedge on your bets in the future. </p>
<p>Furthermore, there is a lot of research within Mechanical (and chemical/electric) on alternative energy and especially hybrid, so I feel that either way you’ll be well prepared for the future.</p>
<p>A quick summary of American economic history: the worse the recession, the better the recovery years are. When my parents graduated college, unemployment was worse than it is now and the country was in a nasty recession. However, a few years later when I was a kid our country was in its longest period of economic growth (the 90’s). Thats the natural cycle of an economy.</p>
<p>Another interesting fact: there are over 307,000,000 people living in America. By 2050, our population will be well over 400,000,000. </p>
<p>Gas is on the rise again. Which means that it is often cheaper for foreign car companies to build some of their cars in the US. Example, Toyota assembles the Camry within the US. Which means jobs for US workers.</p>
<p>So, you have an economy that is starting to pull out of recession, you are living in the third most populous country on earth, and by the time you graduate the economy will have started producing jobs again. What more could you ask for?</p>
<p>Lastly, we still perform most of the worlds leading research. While some on this forum are prediciting America’s decline, fact is that the number of graduate students from other countries in the US has nearly doubled since the late 90’s, which suggests that “emerging” countries still are greatly lacking in their research capabilities.</p>
<p>So if you want to work on research or be more involved in the production side of vehicles, I think that America is still the place to be and the automotive industry can still be a good career path.</p>
<p>If I do major in MechE and go into the car industry, I suppose either production of cars or research, what will I generally have to have? Will I be required to have a Master’s? And which specific courses will I most likely have to take? I plan to do one of the 3-2 year plans with Columbia and I’ll only be taking physics classes and a mechanics class until I go to Columbia, so I’m just wondering if there are any electives that I should take.</p>
<p>Also, just wondering if anyone knows or if someone could point me in the right direction to the answer of this question. Where could I work that’s in the US that would be producing cars/research? I know there are many different car companies but personally I would prefer in the area around New York City (upper New Jersey, lower Connecticut, or just New York City). I don’t know if this is possible.</p>
<p>Also, no one has answered if taking a Computer Science course or minor would be helpful. Just pointing that out because I’d like to know D:</p>
<p>If I were to focus my studies in MechE in research/car production, what would my working options be? I don’t want to be a car mechanic or something like that.</p>
<p>Instead you would be most likely put in a R&D or design team to figure out how to optimize a current model or how to make a new model.</p>
<p>Though you could major in MechE at Cornell or another school in the region, Michigan’s Automotive Engineering program is among the best in the nation. I think if you are really serious about Automotive engineering, you should go to Michigan for a BS or maybe a MS.</p>
<p>What other kind of career could it lead to if I focused in the mechanical automotive area? Like I said before, I don’t want to be a car mechanic…but I can’t really think of any other job other than those two. Obviously the automotive area would mean cars, but what other focuses are similar? Basically I’m looking for alternatives.</p>
<p>By majoring in Mechanical engineering and automotive engineering specifically, you would NOT be a car mechanic, in fact you probably would be overqualified (or under qualified in a way) to be a car mechanic. I repeat, the vast majority of car mechanics do not hold college degrees in Mechanical Engineering. </p>
<p>Automotive engineering coves a wide range of topics. They could include</p>
<p>Combustion/engine engineering: designing new ignition or more efficient cycles
Fluid mechanics: aerodynamics or body or fluid mechanics or inner piping
Controls/Electronic/sensors: There are a ton of sensors in the modern car, you could work on thesse
Fuels: Hybrid engines, bio fuels, lower emissions or more efficiency</p>
<p>Thank you for all this information and it certainly does look like there are plenty of alternatives, but keep in mind that I would want to stay in the New York City area…I’m not really expecting you, specifically, to know if there are plentiful jobs in this area, but I do want to know. Even though I live in New York City, Queens specifically, I do not have any connections and my school does not have an engineering school either. I sort of figured that asking on here would be asking a larger number of people.
-I just don’t want to end up having trouble finding a job in the area where I live, and working in another state would be preferably not too far of a travel (meaning driving distance). I know that having a solid gpa should make it less difficult to find a job, but I’m just being precautious.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m going to be passionate about automotive engineering YET. I say yet because I don’t really know much about it, I just want to try it out and if I like it, and maybe grow a passion for it, then great for me I guess.</p>
<p>Well there’s plenty of ways you could get involved with it before cementing it as a career choice. Most MechE departments seem to have a FSAE club (google it). If you find yourself enjoying that, a summer internship at an automotive company would be your next step.</p>
<p>Your best bet is to major in Mechanical engineering at Columbia (Fu Foundation SEAS) or CUNY. If you are further interested in automotive, go to Michigan for your Masters.</p>
<p>Yes, that is what I intend on doing, but not so sure about the Master’s. Like I said in my first post, I plan on doing the 3-2 year plan with Queens-Columbia. When choosing whichever engineering, I have certain requirements I have to complete before I go to Columbia, and the requirements for the different engineering studies are nearly all different.</p>
<p>I’m just really nervous about whether I can get a job in this field around where I live anywhere, and whether it is anywhere near close to plentiful as it is in areas such as Michigan or where ever South, or the West, etc. I’ve once considered further studies of MechE such as nuke or aerospace, but I then realized that job opportunities are most likely to be far away, so I am sort of pulling away from the idea. Do you happen to know the likelihood of job offers that would be in my area (NYC)?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Like I said, my school doesn’t have an engineering school, but if I go to Columbia, then I will definitely look into it. However, I did look at the FSAE on google and it definitely looks like something I would try out if I get the chance. But as of now, I’m just really asking the CC for as much info as I can get.</p>