Help. Electrical or Mechanical Engineering?

[ginosoprano09]

Hey everyone,

I’m currently a freshman in college, but I need some advice regarding my career interests. Given that I’m a robotics enthusiast by heart (like many of you are), I’m certain that that’s what I want to do for a living. However, I feel like I only have two choices in order to pursue this: electrical or mechanical engineering (Computer Science is there too, but programming is not my thing ). I'm currently an EE major, but that is obviously subject to change.

I’m aware that robotics requires a multidisciplinary approach, meaning that I have to pick which side I want to be on. I looked around CD and other sites (Yahoo Answers ), but they fail to provide an in-depth discussion regarding the roles that electrical and mechanical engineers individually perform when it comes to robotics. “Electrical engineers deal with the electronics, and mechanical engineers deal with the mechanical aspect of the robot,” that’s as far as they go. It seems to me that mechanical engineers design and build the robot, while electrical engineers simply wire it up. Am I right? I tend to enjoy being involved in the design process and doing the drafting. Having that said, which discipline suits me better?

I’m fairly certain that many people involved in FIRST have been in a similar situation, so I’m hoping that this thread can serve as future reference for many. In fact, current high school students have come up to me with the same question. Needless to say, I failed to provide a thorough answer .

I would really appreciate it if current engineers and/or college upperclassmen can provide some feedback. I’m looking for a list of what tasks electrical and mechanical engineers perform when it comes to robotics. Suggestions are more than welcome too. If the question is too broad, I'll be more than happy to clarify.

Aldo Cruz