alexithymia

So I'm currently in my sophomore year and I really need to decide by next semester if I'm going to switch to mechanical engineering. I'm currently declared civil. I'll list what I like/don't like about each field.

Civil: If I do civil, I think I'd want to do stuff with coastal protection works and whatnot. The structural part of civil (bridges,buildings,etc) doesn't really appeal to me. I think I'd also be interested in doing stuff within civil that deals with water resources and drainage systems, maybe. I think I might like transportation stuff as well.

Mechanical: My school offers an extra semester for mechanical where you take aerospace classes and then have a dual bachelors degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering. I think designing missiles, shuttles, etc could be really exciting. I'm also kind of interested in biomedical engineering and my school doesn't have a program for that yet, but my advisor said if I wanted to do biomedical, the best track would be to do 4 years undergrad mechanical then get my masters/phd in biomedical. I find it interesting, but I wasn't the best at biology :-/. As for the rest of mechanical, designing actual engines doesn't really appeal to me.

Other: I really like math and physics. Specifically within physics I pretty much enjoyed everything in physics I (kinetics, forces, torque, momentum, all that good stuff), physics II (electricity, magnetism, etc) I still find interesting but I don't like it as much as the stuff that's on the more macroscopic scale. When I took ap physics in highschool, I actually found thermodynamics kind of interesting. Also, HATED chemistry with a passion, so I definitely want to stay away from anything that deals with that. I'm not sure if this has any relevance to engineering, but I find extreme weather interesting (specifically hurricanes/tornados/storms etc) lol. But alas, my school doesn't have a meteorology program.

I say all of this with a large degree of uncertainty. I say "I might like _____" because I'm not entirely sure, I've never had an internship, and something that could theoretically be interesting to me, I might end up hating.

So what would you recommend for me? Also, how much more difficult is mechanical than civil? From what I hear, at my school, the mechanical engineering department will screw you over as much as possible and it's made infinitely harder than it needs to be. But that's just based off one person's opinion.

Calcozzo

Hardly the rest of mechanical...there's HVAC, manufacturing (though most people here will try to convince you that nothing is manufactured anymore), automotive (alright, this one actually is hurting), energy (solar, wind, nuclear, oil, and more), utilities, some transportation, naval, operations stuff, etc. There's far more to mechanical than just engines and bio-mechanical devices. The world is your oyster with that degree.

That said, civil engineers can find themselves in non-traditional roles too. There's a lot of structural work to be done in aerospace (hell, I've heard that they're more in-demand than aerodynamics/propulsion/weights guys).

At my school, mechanical is marginally harder than civil. I especially notice a lot of overlap between structural and mechanical. If it's abnormally hard/competitive at your individual school, though, then it's something to consider. At my school it comes down to mechanical majors having to take extra fluids and thermodynamics, along with some light programming and EE stuff.

As for which you would prefer, that's totally up to you. If nothing else, civil is said to be the field with more job openings over the next few years.

boneh3ad

I wonder if I could talk to College Mom and have her sticky a new post for me, the title of which will be "Mechanical engineering is NOT just engines and gears." It doesn't even have to have any text in the thread.

alexithymia

You can do aerospace stuff with a civil degree? Sweet.

I just remember someone else I met told me mechanical engineering at my school is ridiculously hard and they were lucky if they were even able to make it out on the weekend.. So that makes 2 people who've had less than positive comments about ME at my school.... I've met several older civil engineering students who said that while it was still challenging, they still had time for a social life. I don't want to take the "easy way out" but I'm just wondering if getting a mechanical degree instead is worth risking my social life for the next few years. I find certain sub-topics within both degrees interesting, I just think there's MORE I'd like to do in mechanical than civil..

boneh3ad

I suppose that a civil or two could wind up doing structures for aircraft, but anymore, there are a lot of aero and mechanical guys fulfilling that role. It is a growing role. There are entire research groups here in the aero department that are dedicated to structures and materials, so I think that as that becomes more prevalent, the chances of being a civil in an aero company will go down (though this is just my opinion, not a fact).

You should not base your choice of major on social life. The point of college is to prepare you for your future. Why would you risk having a job you don't enjoy as much in the future just so you can go out drinking on Thursdays or something? Or play video games more? Or go to the movies more? Whatever your preferred other activity is, it probably is fairly insignificant compared to the overall goal of college, which is to prepare you for your future. If mechanical interests you more, then, quite frankly, you would be daft not to seriously consider it. If you manage your time right, you should have ample time to spend with your friends, just maybe not during a test week.

aibarr

Ditto with "Structural engineering is the study of how forces affect materials, and you can get a job in aerospace, civil, structural, submarine, or automotive design with a structural engineering degree."

Coastal protection works, you say...? Just turned in a 609 page report on how to protect UTMB-Galveston from future hurricanes. Also looking at a few jobs where we'd be doing work to try to reverse the coastal wetlands erosion that's going on in the Mississippi Delta area, planting cedar groves and using wastewater to fertilize and reestablish the area. Two years ago, as most people around here know, I got job offers to do dynamic analysis on rockets, to design the new manned spacecraft with a major aero contractor, to design dead-silent submarine turbines for a government contractor, and to design skyscrapers and stadiums. Tuesday, I got promoted to project manager (oh thank you thank you THANK YOU gods of continued employment!!!) within the civil group, and I'm working on master plans for museums and hospitals, and becoming a floodproofing expert like I said, and other cool things.

You never know where you'll land. Don't dismiss structural engineering because you think it's too narrow. Both structural and mechanical engineering deal with how FORCES affect MATTER, which, as you'd imagine, is infinitely applicable. If you become at all familiar with finite element modeling, you'll end up as a hot commodity. They really do hire structural engineers for structural design of non-buildings/bridges.

Caveat: civil will get really difficult really quickly if you decide to go into structures and aim to get a worthy masters degree that will take you cool places.

boneh3ad

FEA is ridiculously useful... and some of the theory behind it is mind-boggling. When I took an FEA course in my undergrad, it started off pretty simple... then it got a little confusing but still made sense... then it got to the point where I completely stopped understanding why these ridiculous methods worked (like some of the obscure parts of Galerkin's method) and just had to have faith that it really did make sense. I guess you could say that FEA wasn't really my thing. And yet, it still got me a job between undergrad and grad school doing a lot of stuff with FEA. It is a VERY marketable skill to have, and if you have taken a class on the theory, it even more marketable still.

alexithymia

Airbarr:

Wow that all sounds really amazing. Everything in that second paragraph sounds like something I would enjoy doing (especially the first 3 sentences).

If you don't me asking, where did you graduate from? Did you get a masters or just bachelors?

boneh3ad

I know where she graduated from... Rice undergrad, UIUC graduate.... did I get it right? haha

aibarr

Yeah, see, I don't even have to say anything anymore.

boneh3ad

Do I win a prize? Ice cream perhaps?

aibarr

Ben & Jerry' S Raspberry Sorbet - 93176 - Recipezaar

I can give you a recipe.

Incidentally, this is the best iced dessert recipe I've ever made.

alexithymia

Sorry I'm going to be annoying and bump this. I'm just looking for some more opinions. After hearing what airbarr has done, maybe I should stick with civil after all. But I'm still interested in mechanical. Blah. I wish you could double major in engineering..

LongPrime

OP:
You are assuming that the course work is the variable and the student's capability is static.
Suppose the course work is static and the student is variable.

It could be that the students are not as bright in ME as they are in CE?

boneh3ad

False.

Wrong.

Incorrect.

Ignorant.