i’m currently a junior in high school. I spent my childhood taking toys apart(action figures) and making my own personal action figure using other toys’ parts(knees, arms) and i always told my parents that i wanted to invent things when i’m older. In my 8th grade, i made a solar/electric car for science fair. I attached solar panels on the top and made all the necessary adjustments for it to work, but it also had an electrical option. There was an on/off switch connected to a long wire, so it was kind of like a remote control car that could only go forwards though. Anyways, i like the idea of designing the body of a car, but i also like the aspect of how it works electrically(battery), as well as mechanically(engine). I also like the idea of designing weapons, how to increase fire rate, etc(however, i do not condone war/violence, i just like the mechanics behind firearms). I had an interest in medicine for a while, and i love the idea of designing prosthetics, but i also like the idea of mechanical hearts, brain controlled prosthetics(signals, etc), as well as drug delivery. I’m very sorry for going into so much detail, but could anyone give me some ideas of what kind of engineering suits me, or any points to help me decide? i’m not too sure about the types of engineering out there. thanks in advance!!
***my favourite thing in math is trigonometry, and my favourite part in physics is kinematics(if thats relevant at all?)
Mechanical Engineering sounds like a good match.
Your interests seem to most closely align with mechanical engineering, with a little bit of electrical engineering. Mechatronics engineering exists, but is probably a little more niche than you’d want. I’d especially advocate for mechanical if you like trigonometry and kinematics, because that’s like 80% of your coursework.
The case for electrical would be that, well, it pays slightly better, and noticeably better at the upper salary range. It’s also usually harder though.
How good at math and physics do you think you are?
I’ve been reading up on mechanical engineering and it looks very interesting! I’m better at math than i am at physics, but I still understand concept in both courses quite easily. If i find a topic that is a bit challenging, some extra practice usually gets the job done. What exactly does electrical engineering focus on? I know it obviously relates to electricity, but what exactly can an electrical engineer work on?
In many engineering programs, you don’t need to decide which type until sophomore year. Most freshman classes are same across the departments. I’d suggest you tentatively select Mechanical Engineering but go somewhere that enables easy switching.