Spasteak

Hello, I'm pretty certain that I want to go into an engineering type of field, but as of yet I am undecided into what type of field I would like. Also, I do not know some of the huge differences between all of them and what are some of the things you would be doing in that field. If you could describe what they do briefly I would appreciate it, and maybe compare them to others and what the differences actually are.

ken285

The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center

That website has a wealth of information, especially for people unfamiliar with engineering. You should go through it, and if you have specific questions, I'm sure there'll be plenty of people around here to answer them.

ExplorerCY

mechanical - think things that move (robots, air conditioners, etc)
aerospace - airplanes, missiles, spacecraft, can also work mechanical
electrical - circuits, electricity
civil - bridges, buildings, roads
chemical - self-explanatory
industrial - systems, efficiency
computer - hardware, like electrical but with some programming and more specialized

my preference is aero. it just sounds cool. "yeah, i'm a rocket scientist."

Spasteak

Ok thanks for the quick replies, if you have more keep it comming.

mydegisunacred

heres some not listed

electrical- electronic devices, computer hardware and software, communications devices, electrical power systems, automation and control systems, nano/microtechnology related to electronic devices, signal processing, information theory, programming languages, microprocessors, IT

materials science- theory and processing of polymers, ceramics, metals, biomaterials, and electronic materials. Thermal, chemical, mechanical properties of these materials, and laboratory techniques for their characterization


Engineering science/physics - basic grounding in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry, and physics, with a chosen concentration


biomedical engineering- biomechanics (mechanical properties applied to the human body), biomedical electrical devices and measurements, biomaterials, instrumentation and imaging, bio chemistry and med school preparation

ElectricTech

Organized by areas of interest:

Physics (Mechanics):
Mechanical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Physics (Electricity and Magnetism):
Electrical Engineering
Computer Engineering

Engineering focused more on math:
Industrial Engineering

Bio/some Chem/Physics:
BioE/Biomedical E

Chem/Physics:
Chemical Engineering

SportsMama

Ken, thanks for the website. It's got a lot of great information. I bookmarked it to share with my daughter. Finals are this week and she will be home next weekend.

VeryHappy

What about Operations Management?? Does that fall under the engineering category? I know Columbia's Fu School has a specialty in that.

nshah9617

Operation Management is usually tied with Supply Chain and is typically a business school subject.

Operations Research on the other hand is linked with Industrial Engineering.

ken285

What is the difference between operations management and operations research? When I was at Columbia, one of the courses I was thinking about taking was about supply chain management, which was in the industrial engineering department.

nshah9617

ken285,

It varies by department and college. There is a huge overlap between Industrial Engineering/Operational Research/Operation Management and Supply-Chain.

Traditionally, those taught in the engineering school tend to focus more on the statistical, quality-assurance, optimization and quantitative aspects (markov chains and stochastic processes). While those in the business school focus on the logistics, inventory management, scheduling and supplier negotiation.

Spasteak

So, going into college without the idea of what I want to be, is that good or bad? There just seem to be so many different areas of engineering that I got lost in the blur and don't really know what I will enjoy/like. Should I really go into depth and study what the differences are, or should I go and get my hands dirty so to speak and experience them first hand in class. Am I the only one who feels like this?

ken285

You're not alone. There are *plenty* of people who change engineering majors. If you're trying to decide which field to try out first, you have to ask yourself what drove you to engineering in the first place. From there, you can probably pick a major to start off.

toblin

ChemE:

The most theoretical, and the least hands on.

The least understood, and the most paid for.

And the least more understood why?

nshah9617

Spasteak,

I'm a graduate student and I STILL don't have a clear idea what I want to do. Take random classes that interest you, talk to professors, research, changes majors, fail (well I hope not) a class or two--it is all part of your college.


Your degree doesn't really matter, it is what you do with it that does.