jbtravers07

I have a couple questions concerning engineering, most specifically if I would be a good candidate for engineer. This fall i will be starting as a freshman at Purdue majoring in chemistry and will be doing undergrad research starting the first semester. I'm not sure if chemistry (or any pure science) is the right major for me because I am not really a big fan of labs, or at least I wasn't in high school. I remember i liked lectures in chemistry and bio and physics but not the labs, but probably cuz they were for the most part repetitive or dull. Right now my plans are either to go to grad school (but from what I hear, this isn't well advised because of a PhD glut) or med school (probably the MD/PhD path and try to get a position at a research university). If I end up hating the labs in college as well (i'm taking Bio and Chem so i will have plenty of experience), I would consider transferring over to engineering, then based on how I enjoyed it either just get a Masters in engineering or enter Med school and forgo the PhD.

I am a pretty math and science oriented person. In high school my favorite class was calculus, I have done well on standardized tests (ACT of 35 and SAT I Math of 780), and I have taken plenty of AP classes (5 on Calc BC, 3 on Chem, 4 on Calc AB, 4 in Stats) so I have some of the basic classes out of the way. I like trying to improve things, like recently I rearranged my bedroom to maximize open space (i know its nerdy but o well). However, i am terrible at drawing and do not consider myself very good at designing. Like, I am good at figuring out the easiest way of doing things, but I wouldn't consider myself one to draw a plan for an artificial heart or nuclear reactor or anything like that. The general impression is that one must be able to draw at least decently to excel in engineering - is this true?

Finally, if I do decide to enter into engineering, I'm not sure which discipline I would enter, although I am leaning towards Industrial b/c I like the whole aspect of figuring out the best and most logical way of doing things.

To sum it up succinctly, I enjoy figuring out the best and most logical way of doing things and I like math, but I can't draw and don't want to design products or reactors or anything like that. Is engineering for me?

weldon

First of all don't go into engineering just because you don't like labs. There tend to be a number of required labs in most engineering disciplines even into the upper-level years.
Your math background, apparent ability and enthusiasm seem well-suited to engineering. Just keep in mind (you already seem aware of it) that engineering is not math (would you be interested in an Applied Math or Computer Science degree instead?). Much of Engineering basically is involved with figuring out how things work, or should work so you can either design them, fix them, or make them better. Because you are often dealing with physical things, drawings are the means of communicating ideas. If by being terrible at drawing you mean using paper and pencil, you really don't have to worry anymore, most everything is done on CAD systems nowadays, and part of your education as an Engineer (at least a Design Engineer) would be to learn to use one of these applications. In actuality, in many working environments you would not even have to draw on the computer, you would work with a Designer (formerly known as a draftsman) to produce your work. What you DO need in this area in many cases is a strong sense of spacial relationships, or the ability to visualize shapes and features in 3D. This strength is not necessarily associated with good mathematical skills, so you need to ask yourself about that, but again the need for this kind of strength varies with specific specialties and types of tasks.
Then there is the issue of how "practical" you are. Are you a tinkerer? Do you like to take things apart and figure out how they work? Not all good engineers have this trait, but many do. The reason is that engineering is fundamentally a creative profession, and you can't usually come up with new ideas through mathematical exercises. You have to visualize a concept first, evaluate if it is realizable, and then think about how it could be brought to reality. Tinkering and otherwise playing with machines, devices, systems, etc. seems to provide a background for doing this kind of thing effectively. So ask your self whether you fit this description also.
I don't beleive there is any easy answer to your question, but this is some of my perspective anyway, and I hope it helps.

collegemom16

Weldon I may be nitpicking here and certainly there are some forms of engineering that are "creative." I think though that a better description is mechanical. Individuals who are mechanically oriented and like to tinker with things and figure out how to make them work better make good engineers. If you go to your account on collegeboard.com there is a personality indicator test in the myroad section. Take it and see where you land.

justinmeche

Or you could be an engineer like me. I have a degree in mechanical engineering but I never had much interest in tinkering with things. I am a power plant engineer and most of my job consists of monitoring processes for performance issues and doing a lot of contractor management and project planning and execution. I don't do much in terms of designing systems and processes. The engineers in the project engineering HQ do that stuff and I will eventually rotate through that office within the next few years.
I was not able to succeed in a college program that was very theoretical and required you to dwell a lot on assignments. I transferred to another school that was much more direct and to the point by teaching fundamental engineering skills without all of the fancy projects. The major part of my job is figuring out how to manage resources so that the plant can keep running.

weldon

jbtravers,collegemom16, justinmeche: yes, my description of engineering may have been geared a little too much to the design function, although I tried to make things less categorical by pointing out that things can depend a lot on your specialty or function. But, collegemom, I have to stand by my statement that engineering is fundamentally creative. Just as engineering is not the same as being a mathematician, it (should) also be different from being a mechanic- we have mechanics, millwrights, etc., to be mechanics. Engineers need to provide brainpower and leadership to solve problems, and the value-added comes when the engineer uses creativity to find novel solutions: if the solution is just a matter of turning a crank, there is really no need for engineering involvement in the first place (other than maybe legal, I guess). The quality of the solution also depends to a large degree on both technical and practical understanding. And justinmeche, I think maybe you don't give yourself enough credit. Solving problems as an engineer is as you know much broader than just figuring out how to design things up front. I think that understanding and solving technical issues related to operation and maintenance of equipment can demand as much creativity as designing the stuff in the first place. And, I have personally encountered a number of plant engineers who prove that routinely. You may have heard some of your colleagues at some point say that they understand the equipment better than the people who designed it. I hat to admit this, but there is sometimes truth in that.
Ultimately my answer to jbtravers attempted to convey that real-life engineering is not really predefined problems with predefined solution methods and all the required information, that you can rely on just math skills to solve. That sometimes seems to be the case in school.

Rabban

Solid Math background; good programming skill; first-principle based, good physical understanding of the problems

Also invaluable skills that can be complimented/supplemented during your college year are: Effective oral/written communication skill- yes, increasingly more important these days.

justinmeche

Weldon, you are definitely right about plant engineers knowing the machinery better than the designers. My power plant was built in the 1970's and although it operates at the same steam temperature and pressure, how it does so is very different from the 1970's. And lots of equipment operates in ways that designers may not have anticipated.

The creative aspect of being a plant engineer is figuring out how to accomplish tasks within a very strict time schedule and budget limit. My plant operates at full capacity 24/7. Any host of problems can affect generation and you need to know how to use the various resources to make sure the unit stays at maximum generation. Part of this is technical knowledge but a major part is dealing with other people. Dealing with people can be hard, especially when certain departments don't work well together and if the management and union relations are not good.