<p>Hello guys! I’ve just completed my freshman year engineering classes at OSU, have a 3.57 GPA. I’ve been looking around as to what engineering to get into. I originally chose BME, but after realizing that a BS in BME wasn’t that useful, decided to switch to MSE with a focus in biomaterials and a minor in BME so that I could still get into the BME field but also have a broader undergrad degree with more options. Then I could potentially return and get my MS in BME later.</p>
<p>Recently though, I’ve started looking at the Welding Engineering program at OSU. It’s arguably one of, if not the best undergrad program for WE in America. But I was wondering, is there a great demand for WE? What’s the job placement vs. an MSE degree? Would a BME minor still make sense with an WE degree or do biomedical companies not have a need for WE’s? Also, is an undergrad WE degree too specific? We do take some MSE, ECE, and MechE classes but I’m afraid employers will see it and go “oh he just knows different types of welds, that’s all” and it will limit my future advancement potential, specifically if I want to one day get into management.</p>
<p>Any feedback or answers to the questions would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Mechanical Engineering wasn’t really a degree I wanted to pursue. I considered it at one time but I think I want to get more into the biomedical field.</p>
<p>I don’t have any firsthand experience with welding engineering but I’ve heard it is fairly in-demand, but I can’t imagine it overlaps hardly at all with the needs of biotechnology companies.</p>
<p>Where I worked we did a lot of welding and so we had many weld engineers. The ones that I knew their educational backgrounds were all materials engineers who happened to, on the job, specialize in welding. I don’t recall any that graduated from a specific welding engineering program. This isn’t to say that a weld engineering program isn’t a good program, maybe just a little too specialized at the college level IMHO.</p>
<p>Although we had several weld engineers and we did very high end, cutting edge stuff, I do not know too many other companies that have similar job opportunities. There are plenty of other companies that do welding, but a lot of them don’t seem to need or have any full time weld engineers. Can you study materials engineering to give a more general background (and therefore more job opportunities, if necessary) with a minor in weld engineering?</p>
<p>@HPuck35 I don’t think I can minor in Weld engineering, as both programs are offered by the same department at OSU (the MSE one) and they don’t offer a minor in welding engineering. I could continue with my MSE degree and take a couple of metallurgy classes though, is that similar?</p>
<p>Yet based on the current petroleum boom, projected pipeline and rail expansion, I think it is worth more research. Masters in civil, structural, robotics, petroleum, and mechanical engineering also allow for the same play in pipeline and infrastructure without being too specialized.</p>
<p>@Sohoist Welding engineers aren’t necessarily going exclusively to companies who build welding equipment. As I understand it, it is more about understanding the metallurgy involved with the welding process and how to use that to design better welding processes and other similar tasks.</p>
<p>@boneh3ad if Lincoln Electric or other companies in the welding supply chain were on a downward trend would you think the companies that use there products are thriving. Good news is Lincoln Electric stock price has gone from the teens to $70 in the last 5 years. That spells growth at one company, now find out if a dozen other companies support that hypothesis. Understanding metallurgy and process is insignificant if the industry not growing or production is overseas. </p>
<p>Welding is an old technology, don’t expect dynamic changes unless you include robotics which is really a different engineering discipline.</p>
<p>I have had welding certs, on a separate note the supply of good welders outstrips demand for welders.</p>
<p>Robotics is a different discipline, but the roboticists are not the ones who are figuring out how best to perform the actual weld, such as the feed rate of the weld material or the heat required or what material is best to use. For standard welding those questions are easy, but high performance parts require a lost more thought. There are also “newer” techniques that have been developed, such as friction welding. electron beam welding, or laser welding, all of which would be relevant to this discussion which were pioneered not by welding companies, but manufacturing companies such as Caterpillar.</p>
<p>Don’t make the mistake of calling a field stagnant just because it is old. You never know what sorts of things human ingenuity will concoct.</p>
<p>@Sohoist It’s hard to find a job with just an undergrad in BME, often you have to go on to get your masters in BME to get entry level positions in the field.</p>