<p>I don't know which I should choose, ME or IE. Please from the pay, job placement and whether it interesting, give me some of your advice</p>
<p>I don’t know about pay or job placement (but I know one very reliable and informative source which has that information. Do a Google search for BLS OOH - short for the bureau of labor statistics occupational outlook handbook - and go to ‘E’ and go to the ‘Engineer’ fact sheet… trust me).</p>
<p>As far as interest goes, those are two very interesting degrees, from my understanding. I think that the deal breaker will come down to which of the following two things interests you more: physics (specifically, mechanics, as in classical mechanics) or mathematics (specifically, probability & statistics and optimization). Being a CS/Physics double major, I’d actually lean on the side of IE if I were in your shoes.</p>
<p>up up up, looking for more advice</p>
<p>Trying to predict the job market 4 years from now is generally a futile effort. Stuff like the BLS OOH will give you some direction but you never know what might happen.</p>
<p>I’m more of a pure science geek so I’d go with ME, especially since I find alternative energy to be fascinating (although there are plenty of ChemEs and EEs in that field too). If you’re also interested in the business/management side of things, IE is a great field to be in too, although it’s my understanding that engineers of all flavors can find themselves doing IE-like work.</p>
<p>I’m not an expert on IE but from what I know/have seen, Industrial Engineering has a curriculum strong in probability, statistics, stochastic processes, optimization and decision-analysis. It seems to be the most “business” oriented degree in the sense that you would be able to get positions with optimization, supply-chain, quality-assurance and maybe manufacturing and design. </p>
<p>IE is heavy on math/statistics rather than physics.</p>
<p>ME is very broad and covers any mechanical system, from the gears of a bicycle, the fluid flow of a jet-engine and all the way down to nanotechnology devices. ME will get your typical engineering jobs–thermal/fluid systems, CAD and manufacturing, product design/development, material science and dynamic systems.</p>
<p>I would say that ME has more job opportunities than IE but it really depends on your school and the state of the economy in the next 4 years. Pay-scale follows the same way.</p>
<p>If you are a freshman or so don’t sweat it–you will need to take the engineering core anyway. Talk to your professors and take a few classes in either discipline and see which one is a better fit for you.</p>