Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

I'm almost to the point where I need to make this decision also. Can anyone go deeper into what an EE does and what you learn about?

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

An EE degree, like an ME, doesn't lock you into much at all. It's a huge field and you could end up doing all sorts of things. I have a few EE friends. One is working on wind mills in New England developing weather logging equipment and another is working for a company that makes aircraft lighting products. Both use the same basic skills but have very different responsibilities.

I can tell you that your education will probably start with basic technical math and DC/AC circuits. From there you'll get into logic, microcontrolers, signals and programming. All the while you'll be taking more advanced math courses. By the time you graduate you'll have created a senior project that incorporates what you've learned, sometimes as a group. EE senior projects are often robotic in nature.

If you really are unsure of which one, a lot of technical schools offer a bachelors degree program in electro-mechanical engineering, or something similar. It's basically 2 associates degree programs, one in EE and ME, welded together to form a bachelors. Holders of one of these degrees are likely to end up in a very hands on position, perhaps in a supervisory role over a small team. Emphasis is on skills, experience and flexibility, and less so on high level theory. They have excellent placement rates and young people with this kind of degree are aggressively recruited. If you want a technical job right away with the opportunity to move up, this is a good option. In any case, it's a good opportunity for you to get a side by side comparison of the two fields.

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

Both fields are so broad, it's hard to limit what an EE does or an ME does - either one can do just about anything. The good news for those folks on the fence is that there is a lot of overlap in the math and theory when dealing with things like energy, power, and system stability, so you can pick a program or make your own mix from EE and ME for the first two years and then decide. The college I attended my freshman year (Cooper Union) had no difference between ME and EE programs in the first year - calc, physics, chem, thermodynamics, english, programming, whatever.

Every college has "suggested" courses to take at suggested times, but they all assume a single major and a four year stay. You don't have to do that - this isn't high school, and there's no time limit. You can try one thing and if it's not a good fit, try something else. You can change concentrations, majors, schools, or advisors at any time. You can try to get a co-op position for a semester to get a better idea of what's available. If it takes a semester or two longer to earn your degree, that's absolutely not a problem.

My advice is, first, second, and third: don't worry. It is a big decision, but it doesn't have to be made all at once, and certainly not all right now. Try one, explore it as much as you can, and don't be afraid to change your mind later. The worst thing that'll happen is that it'll take a little longer than you originally thought (and five years after graduation, you'll only be glad). One advantage is that you'll have a broader background than many of your peers. You should be free enough to tailor your course selection with your out-of-major electives to keep yourself interested. Relax.

Steve

P.S. I'm an EE, doing mostly circuit design since graduating in '85

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

Just adding a little to what a lot off other smart people have said, don't get too settled or worried about not be settled yet. Get started in a good engineering school and look for opportunities to Coop. Coop programs let students "try out" different careers. It also lets employers try you out. Its one of those rare win-win situations. It looks great on a resume when its time to get the real job as well.

Good luck!

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

I suggest doing a job shadow or two. Perhaps one of an ME and one of an EE. This will give you a little more of a visual of where you could be in the future. Granted, the odds of you having the exact same job as the person you job-shadow is very low. This is just meant to give you a little more data to consider when making your decision. I did something similar between an ME and an MET and found that I definitely wanted the ME degree.

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

I had a similar problem (about 30 years ago) and I picked EE, but took many of my electives in the ME department. My focus was control systems - EE had the therory and ME had the hands on. It worked for me.

For the most part the math and throught process are the same - same problem, different objects. (I have probably done as much informal ME as I have done EE in my career. Now I am in IT - Yikes!)

You might talk to the professors in each school and find one who 'inspires' you.

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

You can't go wrong with either EE or ME, especially if you go to a school that offers lots of options, and doesn't require you to choose until second year.

When I graduated from high school and went to the University of B.C., I had no doubt that I was going in to electrical engineering. None. That is what I was going to do.

After first year, however, it seemed like mining engineering was far more interesting, offered more opportunities to travel and get out from behind the desk, and was more "hands on". (Note to EE's... I'm not saying that it IS, just that it really seemed like it at the time.)

So I went into Mining, but after a year of that didn't really like it, so tried some civil and finally settled on Metals and Materials engineering. Meanwhile I got involved with a number of other activities, including chairing the Canadian Engineering Competition, working in the gas plants of northern Alberta, on the pipelines in Saskatchewan and ended up becoming president of the entire UBC student society. That was lots of fun.

Eventually I realized that for a variety of reasons I would probably rather teach tech studies than work as an engineer... so for the past eleven years I have been a high school teacher. Something that I never, EVER wanted to do when I graduated from high school, but it has been a pretty good career for the most part and is now opening doors into other interesting opportunities.

Likewise my wife, who earned her Ph.D in biotech and considered a career in research science has since discovered an entirely different opportunity to exercise her knowledge by writing patents for a major law firm.

My brother started out studying EE, then went into plastics then got his journeyman ticket as a plumber and now works on industrial and commercial heating and hot water control systems.

A good friend, who is taking a couple of FTC teams to Atlanta this year, started out as an electrician, then was an air traffic controller and is now a teacher.

Another, who started out in science and then got his law degree, discovered that he didn't want to work in a big law office, so co-founded a software company that now employs dozens of people.

In fact I know very few of my friends who are doing what they thought they were going to do when they graduated from high school. So my advice is that whichever option you choose you can't go wrong so long as you work hard and are honest and open enough with yourself to ask "do I still like doing this" and have the courage to take opportunities as they come along.

Make your choice wisely, and honestly, and never regret it... but remember that it will not define your life nearly as much as people might like you to think that it will.

Jason

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

Good advice, Mark.

Sri, college level study (in any field) is only as worthwhile as your personal drive to make it so. Facts and principles can be found in books or websites, but your own curiosity and perseverance are required to dig them out. An inspirational professor's guidance and encouragement can make the difference between becoming a true student, or just passing tests.
Eric is right, the real decision point is a couple of years into the engineering program.

Like Mark, I made the choice about thirty years ago. For me it was Electrical Engineering, and my inspirational professor was (the late) Bill Sayle at Georgia Tech. He inspired many engineers before and after me.

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

More and more schools are trying to move you away from declaring as soon as you enter. In my view this is a good idea since 18 year old kids don't know what they want to do in general. Most of the 18 year olds who do "know" what they want to do won't end up doing that. I went from a physics/english double major to math and history. And I *knew* I did not want to be a teacher even when I graduated, but that's what I ended up doing. It took actually trying it to make me understand that I liked it.

I personally think programs like Olin and Ohio State (those are just two I know about for sure, I know there are others) that try to give you an overview of engineering your first year are the way to go. But any engineering school you go to will give you the chance to switch once you have taken some courses.

One key thing to do, once you enroll at a school, is to talk to your advisor and lay out what you think you would like. He or she will help you pick courses to figure out what major to choose. Academic advisors can be a really big help if you let them.

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

Sounds like a lot of good advice on this board. Here are a couple of suggestions.

1) Read through the engineering journals and see if any of the products and designs inspire you. These journals useually have in them salary surveys and demographics of where the jobs are and what type of products and services they offer. You'll see a lot of cool designs.

Try "EE Times" for electrical and "Design News" for mechanical (use Google of course). I'm sure you can find many more.

2) The department of Labor has an "Occupational Outlook Handbook" ( www.dol.gov ). It generally describes the type of work and the demand projections for ME and EE jobs in the future. It will list all the occupations in alphabetical order. Click on "Engineering" and all fields of engineering will be shown.

3) IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) may have a local chapter in your area. See if you can interview some members to get their perspective of the job. Their websites should have contact numbers or e-mails.

One last thing. World of Warcraft may impact your grade point average. Play at your own risk.

Go Fast, Turn Left, Team Daytona (Team 2152)
dex

Re: Mechanical Or Electrical???
 

It truly depends what you want to do. I started off studying EE and then switched to ME. For me I really enjoyed developing and designing moving appendages and thats what initially caused me to want to switch degree programs.

However, ME is probably one of the most diverse engineering disciplines out there. As an ME student you will most likely take some kind of introductory programming course, solid mechanics courses (statics and mechanics of materials), dynamics and kinematics (understand mechanical motion), circuits and electronics, controls systems, and thermodynamics fluid mechanics and heat transfer (thermal science courses). These are the main subject areas that ME's focus on in school. It's because of this broad background that MEs are able to work in a variety of different areas upon graduation. Also, engineers at every school have to take technical electives. These are courses outside the core subject area, those mentioned above for MEs, where students learn about advanced topics. You can take these in various different subject areas. If you want to do ME and take some advanced electrical and controls courses, you can take those as technical electives. As I am about to graduate I will be working as a Controls Development Engineer. It's kind of a mix of various subject areas that I've studied in school.

Good luck on your decision. Most schools offer introductory engineering programs for the first year that let you decide what it is that you want to do. They expose you to different subjects and allow you to interact with faculty in order to decide what specific field of engineering to pursue. One thing to keep in mind is that no matter what engineering discipline you select you will learn how to think critically and solve problems. At the end of the day that's what a good engineer is...a problem solver.