Is EET just as good as EE?

spart2001 · 08-09-2009, 06:53 PM

I was just wondering if taking Engineering Technology looks just as good to employers as regular Engineering. I was looking over some Engineering programs and it seemed like a lot of math and science compared to ET. Is all of that really necessary? Do most Electrical Engineers have an EE or EET degree?

gstein · 08-09-2009, 08:15 PM

The two degrees are completely different and won't be hired for the same position - it's not about "how it looks to employers". Engineering tech. is much more hands-on than engineering. Try searching the forums as many threads have been made about this topic.

By the way, as you put negative emphasis on how engineering programs have "a lot of math and science", why are you interested in doing engineering if you don't like math and science? You'll be miserable if it's just for the money.

spart2001 · 08-09-2009, 09:26 PM

It seems like a lot of people here say that they are the same and you can be an Engineer with an EET degree. Some people have said that employers prefer the ET degree because they are more knowledgeable about engineering since they take less theoretical stuff. I just haven't seen many working Engineers post about it.

Batllo · 08-09-2009, 09:32 PM

From Wiki:Graduates from engineering programs are called engineers, while graduates of technology programs are often called technologists.
Engineers are the boss of technologists in most work situations.

silverbullet · 08-09-2009, 11:04 PM

AS EET grads are techs, where as BS EET grads are engineers.

EET grads get the same jobs as EE grads, but it really depends on the company. Some companies will discriminate between the two, some wont even accept you, and some simply wont care. I recommend going for the EE. Its more suited for grad school, where as EET suites you for a job

IMO if you really want to be a good engineer, you need to learn to love math and science ... or atleast appreciate it or find it fascinating, and want to continue learning. I've noticed many students in ET programs tend to not give a fck.

boneh3ad · 08-10-2009, 01:54 AM

Most ET students that I have run across just have a different interest than the more traditional engineering students. Most ET students I know get a similar education but more focused on putting the concepts to use than on the science and math that drives the concepts. The thing is, most engineers can do the job of an ET as well, or nearly as well, as an ET can, but most ETs cannot necessarily do the job of an engineer.

Am I generalizing? Yes, but this situation calls for a generalization. Bottom line, though, is go for the degree you want to get. I cannot stress enough how much more important it is to be in the right degree for you instead of the right degree according to everyone else.

PlattsburghLoser · 08-10-2009, 08:44 AM

I've never even heard of ET before. Take whichever route appeals to you more.

DeadMonkey321 · 08-10-2009, 02:16 PM

ET phone home? ...sorry, i couldnt resist. i'll show myself out.

spart2001 · 08-10-2009, 02:26 PM

It's just that I've seen videos like this: YouTube - Electrical Engineer

He said that most of his training was on the job and there was only two years of classes.

PlattsburghLoser · 08-10-2009, 02:43 PM

^^ That sounds like something from ITT Tech. Which, if you want to do, is fine but it's not the same thing as EE.

aarons914 · 08-11-2009, 01:06 AM

You just have to be careful about where you get your degree just like a normal EE degree. There are 2 year programs that will qualify you only as a "tech" as others have said and there are 4 year degrees that are very similar to traditional engineering degrees. Im in a Mechanical Engineering Technology program right now and compared to the ME at the same school I don't take Calc 3, differential equations or linear algebra, also the physics is algebra based instead of calc based. All the other classes are what you expect from an engineering type degree except you take more of them obviously to make up for the fewer math classes.

For the type of people who plan on going on to get a PHD or do research the EE is definitely the way to go. If you know for a fact you want to get a bachelors and enter the workforce and are a hands on type Engineering technology might be the way to go.

AuburnMathTutor · 08-11-2009, 01:28 AM

I fail to see how one could hope to do well in advanced engineering coursework without the mathematical and physical foundations to back it up.

Do the Engineering Technology majors just cherry-pick the topics that have less stringent prerequisites? Or are there similar-but-different classes?

EXAMPLE:

I'll take from CS, since that's all I know, really. IT majors take material that's fundamentally different from the material taken by CS majors here. How could the IT majors take any of the following classes:
- Algorithms
- Theoretical CS
- Artificial Intelligence
- Computer Graphics

Without a solid grounding in discrete math, logic, proof theory, calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra? Are they precluded from these sorts of courses? If so, how can one say that an IT degree is "similar" enough to a CS degree?

Are E.T. degrees closer to Eng. degrees than IT is to CS?

pandem · 08-11-2009, 06:39 AM

^Probably not, and comparing them to IT is probably accurate. That doesn't mean it's somehow inferior; personally, if I ever wanted to go the engineering route, I'd look into ET. It's actually what I like about engineering; hands on work fixing things, not theoretical and impractical stuff.

Not to say regular engineering is useless or boring. Rather it's too far from the nuts and bolts type work that attracts a lot of students to engineering.

boneh3ad · 08-11-2009, 09:17 AM

I don't think most people get into engineering for the "nuts and bolts" type of work. Most know that they will be doing something like design work or something else other than actual manual building or adjusting of engines.

Anyway...

I am an ME and I have a friend who did MET at Purdue, and here was my perceived difference. I took the higher level calculus and physics, and she took extra classes within her MET department that was a more in depth version of solid mechanics and metals processing and all of that sort of thing. It is stuff that is traditionally covered lightly in an ME degree that a metallurgist might more normally use. I am sure there are similar routes within the other cornerstone areas of MET also, but I can't comment because that wasn't her focus.

The ET side of things seems like it will prepare you for work out on the manufacturing floor working closely with the skilled labor force, while regular engineering prepares you more for a design role in the background. They aren't equal or unequal or any of that, they are different.

silverbullet · 08-13-2009, 07:01 PM

Quote:

I am sure there are similar routes within the other cornerstone areas of MET also, but I can't comment because that wasn't her focus.
...
The ET side of things seems like it will prepare you for work out on the manufacturing floor working closely with the skilled labor force

Manufacturing is just one field. There are other fields such as HVAC, robotics, IC Engines, Marine Engineering, Nuclear engineering and design. MET has more application based classes.

I kind of seeing it as the "quicker" way to become an engineer, but it give you a handicap if you want to get a Master in ME later on. They make you take extra preq classes.