Engineer Survey: Engineering Vs Engineering Technology

[Steve Shade]

I just graduated form the University of Maryland at College Park (GO TERPS!) last spring with my bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. UMD does not offer and Electrical Engineering Technology program. At my company, we have over 85% Electrical Engineering type people. The people with engineering degrees do more design work than those with Technology degrees.

I also chose an engineering program because of my love for math. Like Chris, I use higher math on a daily basis (advanced calculus and linear algebra) and I also use a significant amount of EM theory beyond the intro physics classes. Most of EE is very math intensive and the combination of systems theory and EM is one of the things I didn't really see until I was out in the real world.

I love my job developing computer models, so it was well worth struggling through the math specifically in the EM classes to have this opportunity. Your choice really depends on what you want to do with your future.

[ChrisH]

I graduated from the University of California, Irvine (Go Anteaters, ZOT!!) with a Mechanical Engineering Degree. The University system did not offer an Engineering Technology degree but the Cal State schools did, so I could have easily transfered if I wanted.

I went to Engineering school to learn how to design things that wouldn't break. Either curriculum would have provided that. But at the time my perception was that ET was more of a "cookbook" approach. They taught you what formulas to use or what books to look in to find the approach to a given problem. This is fine as long as you stay with stuff that's in the book. But if you want to go beyond the book, then you have a problem.

Since I was interested in doing things that weren't likely to be in the book, I took the harder way. The only time I regretted it was my sophmore year, when I was struggling with the math and almost flunked out. Fortunately an upper classman in my dorm cleared up a few things my professors had apparently forgotten to mention and saved my butt. It is amazing how much you can learn in a conversation that takes less than an hour. Once I understood the math things went better.

Now I've been in industry for better than two decades. I rarely if ever use the math I struggled with, most of the figuring I have to do relates to volumes, weights and masses. The "analyze" function on CAD systems is a wonderful thing. But it is reassuring to know I could do it the hard way if I needed to. If I do any "higher" math, it is related to building BeachBot.

One thing I've noticed is that ET graduates, the few we have where I work, seldom rise to management. The highest they ever seem to make is lead, and usually because they are the person people go to for help in that department. There seems to be an invisible ceiling above which ETs are not allowed to go. That may or may not be important to you. It isn't to me personally, I'm not a management type. But it is something to consider for the future.

I like to keep options open as long as possible, and an ET degree may be closing some off prematurely.

[petek]

I graduated with a degree in electronics engineering technology a very long time ago. At the time it seemed the right way to go - as others have posted, ET's generally spend more time doing hands-on work, which is what I was most interested in. I have gradually worked my way up to engineering management (which I found I also like), but my progress would have been much faster with an EE degree.

Though I have been successful with my ET and have gotten to do more hands-on engineering than the EEs and MEs I worked with, if I had to do it over again, I would definitely go for the full engineering degree. It gives you much more room for growth and more respect from management. Basically, I have had to work much harder to get where I am than if I had the "real" engineering degree.

As with most things, there is a qualifier here: if you really like working with your hands and really hate paperwork, meetings and project management, the ET degree may be the way to go. Just be aware of the professional growth limits which may confront you down the road.

[Andrew]

I received my Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of South Carolina (Go, 'Cocks!). I liked the math and there was not Technology alternative.

I went on to pursue my Masters in Controls (MIT) where the math was quite beneficial. After a stint in industry where I actually did occasionally use the calculus, I went back for my PhD (RPI, again in Controls with a little mechanics and acoustics thrown in for interest).

If you want to go to graduate school, you had better pursue the engineering path. Almost ever graduate program is going to hit you pretty hard with the mathematics.

If you think you might want to do advanced development or research, then engineering is your best path.

We do have some ET people pursue graduate degrees in the program where I'm working. They mostly do fine. However, many have to go back and take the calculus sequence in order to be successful.