<p>Can someone describe to me what it would be like to work as a mechanical or aerospace engineer? I want to major in MechE but want to work in the aerospace or defense industry. I also want to design and I would like the idea of being able to work hands on with building things if possible. Any input will be appreciated.</p>
<p>bump10char</p>
<p>bump10char</p>
<p>it depends on whether you are a girl or a guy. As a girl engineer I did not prefer working in the field in harsh climates, wearing steel-toed boots, hard hats, and overalls so I was miserable during my last internship as a power engineering intern. Now as a new graduate I am aiming for full-time positions in consultant, IT fields where I will dress-up for work, work in air conditioned rooms, interacting with professionals etc. which I am happy at.</p>
<p>I am a guy, and what kind of engineering was this? I don’t think it would matter much if I was outside.</p>
<p>@girlengineer why would your working environment depend on your gender?</p>
<p>working environment depends on the gender because girls obviously encounter a rough time working out in the field compared to guys with all male oriented population out there. If you are EE you will have a bunch of male technicians working with you, CE a bunch of male construction workers working with you, I believe ME is the same and it is different only for ChemE, biomedical etc. And believe me many of these males are very sexist and it can be quite hard for a young woman out there</p>
<p>I am not a Mech E or Aerospace engineer but I do work as an intern for a federal contractor that specializes in defense and space and can give you some insight. The people on my team come from varioius backgrounds from physics to industrial engineering to mechatronics. We spend a lot of time getting hands on exposure with hardware in our factory. Some people get this hands on experience by testing the hardware and others get this hands on experience by assembling the hardware. In addition, many of the mech Es use design programs like autocad and solidworks both to design various pieces of hardware, test equipment, etc. I am mostly involved in the testing process which involves a lot of time executing scripts from a computer and looking at data. And this does not include the bureacratic process of the job, i.e. the amount of paperwork, tasks, and meetings that go on behind the scenes. Hope this helps some.</p>