<p>Ok. So I'm a freshman engineering student and the more that I look at my options, as far as careers are concerned, I'm less clear on which engineering field I want to pursue. I declared mechanical as my major because from everything that I read, it was the most diverse, and offered the most opportunity. But if I'm honest with myself, I've never been a good "mechanic" in the automotive sense of the word. My work background has been in the manufacturing/fabrication industry which lead me to believe maybe I should go after civil/structural. I'm good at the math, and have 8 years of work experience in fabricating metal structures. Help me.
P.S. I would like to work in a field that's as economically immune as possible (energy, defense)</p>
<p>Energy and defense are two of the first words that come to my mind when I think of MechE. BTW, a lot of MechEs work in the construction industry (HVAC), which also tends to be very stable, but this latest recession brought pretty much everything to its knees.</p>
<p>I think the great thing about majoring in mechanical engineering is the fact that you can get jobs in a lot of different industries, and if you choose, in an economically immune industry. So, in essence, I think there are a few engineering disciplines that have applications that are spread pretty wide, mechanical engineering being one of them.</p>
<p>However, I do think that if you believe you are a better in materials science & engineering or civil engineering, then you ought to be doing that. Being best at something is what really makes you ‘economically immune’. Though you say fabricating metal structures, and if I’m imagining that correctly, it sounds like you could be interested in structural engineering, which I know for sure has to do with civil engineering as well as aerospace engineering, and this may be true for mechanical engineering as well.</p>
<p>hadsed, i was thinking structural. my experience is in fabricating architectural pieces, sometimes as small as keyboard, and sometimes as large as a building. because of my experience my brain is geared more towards structural. but i do know that in school, no matter what discipline i choose, i will have to learn all of the math and physics to back any subject matter, there by making making my limited knowledge pretty much useless. for that reason i considered the broader field. at the end of the day, i believe i would do better at civil. i guess i just like the idea of working in energy or defense, because those are two very strong sectors, especially in the years to come.</p>
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<p>I wouldn’t say that. There are three stages of knowledge: what, how, and why. All three are necessary to master a topic. </p>
<p>“What” means that you know “if I do [this], [that] will happen”. For example, you might know that if you turn on your car, it goes. That’s an important thing to know as it enables you to operate a car and do all the things that necessitate a car.</p>
<p>“How” means that you understand beyond the basic cause and effect relationship and understand why a car turns on. Maybe you understand what parts are in the engine and what role each part plays. This allows you to diagnose problems and fix things and is important to know if there is a problem with your car.</p>
<p>“Why” means you understand the fundamental principals at play. You can do more than look at an engine and figure out what each part does - you understand the principals of why it does what it does, and can design, construct, and combine parts to make the car more efficient. Further, you can build new engines entirely from scrap that look nothing like existing engines because you know fundamentally what’s going on. You can answer “what if” questions: before the engine has ever been started, you can calculate the expected horsepower, can identify where problems will lie, and can correct those problems before there is an issue. You can answer the question “what if I double the size of [this]?” before you’ve had to spend time and money doubling the size.</p>
<p>Working in industry generally introduces you to the “what”, an MET program will give you the “what” and some of the “how”. A good engineering school will teach you the “why” (with the assumption that if you know that, you can figure out the “what” and “how”). If you know the answer already (the “what” and “how”) then learning the reasoning (the “why”) can be easier. </p>
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<p>Keep in mind that some mechanical engineers will specialize in rotating equipment (engines, motors, compressors, pumps, etc.) and some will specialize in stationary equipment (heat exchangers, reactors, eductors, furnaces, etc.). The latter is not so much like being a “mechanic” in the automotive sense of the word and would be a good fit for a fabricator. You might want to look into that sub-field.</p>
<p>Thanks G.P., that was quite helpful.</p>
<p>does this work ???</p>