<p>Not a noob thread asking for info on the various majors, more of a discussion thread to learn about what makes a chemE or mechE major tick.</p>
<p>I'll get the ball rolling. I'm going for engineering physics with a specialization in EE/CompE and maybe also a full-fledged CompE double-major. I want to work on quantum computing and really cutting edge stuff like that.</p>
<p>I’m a ChemE major and I really want to get into biotech process development, scaling up processes and working with bioreactors and separation systems like chromatography columns and membranes. I completed a degree in Biochemistry a few years ago and worked as a bioprocess tech at a large biopharma corporation for a couple years after graduation. I really enjoyed using and learning about all the systems and unit operations used in biologics manufacturing. My job began to get really monotonous as bioprocess techs are really just button pushers and really nothing else.</p>
<p>I found myself wanting to do more problem solving and troubleshooting, and after befriending a couple process engineers I decided I’d like to become one of them. However, every PD position I saw required a BS in ChemE. So, I decided to go back and get it. I was accepted to NJIT and will be starting their BS ChemE in January.</p>
<p>^just curious, did you company provide you tuition reimbursement?</p>
<p>I was never offered tuition reimbursement. However, I know that some managers had theirs MBAs fully paid for by the company only if they promised to stay for two years after completion. Regardless, that job paid well enough to take a big dent out of my student loan balance.</p>
<p>I am an Electrical Engineer, but I did not start there. After being interested in a couple of other majors, I went into Aerospace Engineering but did so poorly that I was kicked out of school. Towards the end I realized that Electrical would have been a better choice (I had worked part-time as an electronics technician, and knew I could do it and had interest), and when I was allowed to return to school several years later I entered into that major.</p>
<p>Since graduating, I got a job with a defense contractor. I tried out a couple of positions in the company and was after a couple of years allowed a privileged opportunity to shadow a senior systems architect for a few months. These are the guys responsible for the overall design and construction of multi-million dollar pieces of electronic equipment. He liked me and I liked the work, so he got me a permanent (if unprecedentedly junior) position in that department.</p>
<p>My ambition at this point is to rise to a similar position in systems architecture. Prior to that rotation I had been looking at a position as a component specialist, wherein I would have been responsible for the design of a narrow set of RF/microwave components, but I liked this opportunity more. As a result, I will spend the next decade or so working on senior design teams, hopefully taking on more and more duties until I am ready to actually step into a senior design role.</p>
<p>As a bonus, Not only do I like the work more, but it also has greater opportunities and perks. My company paid for a masters that I started a few weeks after I was hired and completed 3 years later, and while I had been interested in a PhD I had been told that this was not going to happen anytime soon, if ever. Once I joined the systems architecture department, my new boss (prodded by my mentor) was able to get permission for me to go for the doctorate. I have yet to regret that decision at all!</p>
<p>Well Im a ChemE major and have interned at an oil refinery so that’s probably where Im gonna try to end up if I can get into Finance/IB in near future. And I chose the major because I was good at chemistry and math in high school so it seemed a pretty natural choice.</p>