Practical ways to test whether I'd enjoy working as an engineer?
May 2, 2017 5:54 PM Subscribe
I'm considering going back to school for engineering. I've narrowed down possible BS degrees to computer hardware engineering, electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering. I'm good at math and science in general, but how can I test whether I'd actually like doing the day-to-day work that's expected of engineers in these fields? Is this an impossible request?
I'm an artist (graphic/web designer, illustrator, some 3D modeling), and I'm playing with the idea of returning to school to work as an engineer, under the assumption that it'd be more mentally stimulating and challenging. Art tends to be very tedious--the end result is cool, but there's lots of dull, repetitive, mindless tedium to get there. I'd like to do something that lets me think more.
Problem is, I don't know how to test whether I'd like working as an engineer. What I'd love to be able to do is spend 2-3 weeks on each of the three engineering areas listed above (computer hardware, electronic, mechanical)--learning rudimentary concepts and science, learning the basics of a few tools of the trade, and doing some hands-on work on a few projects using the just-learned basics. I understand the things I'd learn and do might be a vast oversimplification of the careers as a whole, and of their scientific and mathematical underpinnings. But it's better than simply imagining whether I'd like doing the stuff I'm reading about in the hand-wavey and rah-rah-rah descriptions of the careers. For electrical engineering, e.g., I was imagining at a minimum that I might try reading through Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery, and then buying some electrical stuff to mess around with (breadboards, other components). But maybe even those are too rudimentary--I don't know. Hence this post!
As an example, if I heard that someone wanted to get some hands-on experience with what graphic designers do in general, I'd design a 2-3 week program for them that might look something like this:
1. Basic training (1-2 weeks)
A few example projects: a logo, a business card, a poster, a magazine spread, a magazine ad that requires both typography and photo editing. Maybe their friends could play-act as clients, being either easy-going, or picky pains in the ass.
The above is very doable, and would give someone a very good idea of what designers do on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute basis, and would help them decide whether they like the experience and want to commit to more education. Again, I understand the various engineering disciplines are very complex, but still, I imagine it's gotta be possible to throw together something like this, to give people considering them a basic idea what it's like to be an engineer in general. I'd be up for buying some basic supplies, up to a few hundred $$$ total.
I made a post on here earlier about getting into robotics, and I got some good advice about that, but I'm wondering about the above three engineering specialties in general. Before anyone suggests it: I'm kind of in the boonies, so shadowing engineers is out.
I'm an artist (graphic/web designer, illustrator, some 3D modeling), and I'm playing with the idea of returning to school to work as an engineer, under the assumption that it'd be more mentally stimulating and challenging. Art tends to be very tedious--the end result is cool, but there's lots of dull, repetitive, mindless tedium to get there. I'd like to do something that lets me think more.
Problem is, I don't know how to test whether I'd like working as an engineer. What I'd love to be able to do is spend 2-3 weeks on each of the three engineering areas listed above (computer hardware, electronic, mechanical)--learning rudimentary concepts and science, learning the basics of a few tools of the trade, and doing some hands-on work on a few projects using the just-learned basics. I understand the things I'd learn and do might be a vast oversimplification of the careers as a whole, and of their scientific and mathematical underpinnings. But it's better than simply imagining whether I'd like doing the stuff I'm reading about in the hand-wavey and rah-rah-rah descriptions of the careers. For electrical engineering, e.g., I was imagining at a minimum that I might try reading through Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery, and then buying some electrical stuff to mess around with (breadboards, other components). But maybe even those are too rudimentary--I don't know. Hence this post!
As an example, if I heard that someone wanted to get some hands-on experience with what graphic designers do in general, I'd design a 2-3 week program for them that might look something like this:
1. Basic training (1-2 weeks)
- Inspiration: spend time looking through various design websites; finding work you like; finding designers to look up to; getting a feel for what good design looks like; exposure to various styles, types of work (publications, posters, identity packages, logos), etc.
- Fonts: learn basic font anatomy; learn the basic font categories; get familiar with a set of about 20 classic, widely-used fonts.
- Color theory, style, other basic concepts (gestalt, contrast, mood, etc)
- Sketching and ideation: thumbnailing, brainstorming, looking up references.
- Software: the very basics of Photoshop, Illustrator, and maybe InDesign, using free demos of each
A few example projects: a logo, a business card, a poster, a magazine spread, a magazine ad that requires both typography and photo editing. Maybe their friends could play-act as clients, being either easy-going, or picky pains in the ass.
The above is very doable, and would give someone a very good idea of what designers do on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute basis, and would help them decide whether they like the experience and want to commit to more education. Again, I understand the various engineering disciplines are very complex, but still, I imagine it's gotta be possible to throw together something like this, to give people considering them a basic idea what it's like to be an engineer in general. I'd be up for buying some basic supplies, up to a few hundred $$$ total.
I made a post on here earlier about getting into robotics, and I got some good advice about that, but I'm wondering about the above three engineering specialties in general. Before anyone suggests it: I'm kind of in the boonies, so shadowing engineers is out.
Response by poster: Nice, thanks, those both look awesome. I'll try them out later this week. It's funny--I was wondering earlier whether there were games / VR that simulated these careers. Kinda like Job Simulator, but y'know, halfway serious.
And yeah, I'm aware engineering involves hardcore math as part of the degree. That's fine, I'm good at math--I got up to calculus in high school, and will pick it back up in college if I decide to go. But I've heard from a number of engineers that their math edu felt like hazing in order to gain entry to the field, and they don't actually use much math on the job itself, which is why I asked for more practical ways of trying out engineering. I plan on blasting through Khan Academy's math and physics classes, but they won't tell me what it's actually like to be an engineer, unfortunately.
posted by pableaux at 8:02 PM on May 2, 2017
And yeah, I'm aware engineering involves hardcore math as part of the degree. That's fine, I'm good at math--I got up to calculus in high school, and will pick it back up in college if I decide to go. But I've heard from a number of engineers that their math edu felt like hazing in order to gain entry to the field, and they don't actually use much math on the job itself, which is why I asked for more practical ways of trying out engineering. I plan on blasting through Khan Academy's math and physics classes, but they won't tell me what it's actually like to be an engineer, unfortunately.
posted by pableaux at 8:02 PM on May 2, 2017
Chemical Engineer here, so just to give some insight on general, all-around thinking that I do as an engineer:
in production scenarios:
* everything is working OK, how/where can I optimise to keep the same output but save costs or simplify the process without increasing risk or decreasing quality?
* everything is working OK, how/where can I change things to increase/improve the output without unduly increasing cost, risk, or decreasing quality?
* something(s) are not working OK, how to I breakdown the troubleshooting so as to minimise the production impact and solve the issue(s) in a timely fashion? Also, how do I solve the issue(s) in a safe way?
The above points break down into a swarm of smaller points, but, basically, it's just keeping your eyes and mind open and working through the data step-by-step. Being careful of assumptions, and being able to work with other engineers, technical people and business-side colleagues that all have their own "language". The hard-core math will help, but more will the "I get the process" so that you can make the cliche, back of the envelope calculations and be close enough to have a working model.
posted by alchemist at 11:41 PM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
in production scenarios:
* everything is working OK, how/where can I optimise to keep the same output but save costs or simplify the process without increasing risk or decreasing quality?
* everything is working OK, how/where can I change things to increase/improve the output without unduly increasing cost, risk, or decreasing quality?
* something(s) are not working OK, how to I breakdown the troubleshooting so as to minimise the production impact and solve the issue(s) in a timely fashion? Also, how do I solve the issue(s) in a safe way?
The above points break down into a swarm of smaller points, but, basically, it's just keeping your eyes and mind open and working through the data step-by-step. Being careful of assumptions, and being able to work with other engineers, technical people and business-side colleagues that all have their own "language". The hard-core math will help, but more will the "I get the process" so that you can make the cliche, back of the envelope calculations and be close enough to have a working model.
posted by alchemist at 11:41 PM on May 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
So I am an engineer with an engineering/project management job. Your part about "Art tends to be very tedious--the end result is cool, but there's lots of dull, repetitive, mindless tedium to get there" can apply to engineering. Most engineering problems are not eureka moments and require a lot of tedious work to get to the solution. Some are just changing some parameters and see what sticks.
Honestly it sounds more like you want apprenticeship than going back to school. If you are getting into Make culture, find a makerspace or hackerspace near you and you can meet like minded folks that can help you. DIYers are freindly and need to show off... so they will help and show how their things works. If you are anywhere near a large city, there are makerspaces that will teach you more than going back to school in terms of practical knowledge. Going to school and being good and math and science is good for understanding the concepts but may not be what you are looking for if you want to get away from tedious work.
posted by radsqd at 7:44 AM on May 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Honestly it sounds more like you want apprenticeship than going back to school. If you are getting into Make culture, find a makerspace or hackerspace near you and you can meet like minded folks that can help you. DIYers are freindly and need to show off... so they will help and show how their things works. If you are anywhere near a large city, there are makerspaces that will teach you more than going back to school in terms of practical knowledge. Going to school and being good and math and science is good for understanding the concepts but may not be what you are looking for if you want to get away from tedious work.
posted by radsqd at 7:44 AM on May 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
As far as a direct answer to your question, I'd consider networking any and all acquaintances who are engineers. College/university alumni groups would be a good place to look. Maybe you can get some plant tours...
I'm not an engineer, but there are several among my family and friends. Experience varies. We have one friend who got his degree and then a job with a local industrial manufacturer. His job involved developing specs for boilers which was done entirely by looking stuff up in printed tables. He lasted about three months.
My father-in-law was a CE @ Dupont beginning approximately 1948. Late in his career, he did a little teaching at Lehigh U and the U of Delaware. His comment was "CE education is all math class now". My experience is don't say you are good at math and science until you've taken physical chemistry.
My own father was a CE @ American Cyanamid. He had one project as startup manager of a facility to make a complicated organic chemical. The pilot plant work had been bad, and the project was failure. There was a lot of pressure there.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:32 AM on May 3, 2017
I'm not an engineer, but there are several among my family and friends. Experience varies. We have one friend who got his degree and then a job with a local industrial manufacturer. His job involved developing specs for boilers which was done entirely by looking stuff up in printed tables. He lasted about three months.
My father-in-law was a CE @ Dupont beginning approximately 1948. Late in his career, he did a little teaching at Lehigh U and the U of Delaware. His comment was "CE education is all math class now". My experience is don't say you are good at math and science until you've taken physical chemistry.
My own father was a CE @ American Cyanamid. He had one project as startup manager of a facility to make a complicated organic chemical. The pilot plant work had been bad, and the project was failure. There was a lot of pressure there.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:32 AM on May 3, 2017
I'm a project engineer for an aerospace component manufacturer. My job is roughly half design and half manufacturing support. The design aspect pretty closely follows "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration"; somebody has an idea, we spend time in the lab, make a prototype, do some basic tests, yay fun! Then the work begins. Market, application, price, profit margin? Manufacturing tolerance, performance, assembly, test, QA? Qualification requirements? Either things work the way we expect (in which case it boils down to "document everything"), or they don't (then it becomes "try a bunch of crap and document everything").
Manufacturing support follows the same structure. Our Widget C line is running at nominal. Somebody has an idea that could increase productivity by 2%, but in order to do that, we'll need to invest $x. How do we get the company to pony up? By doing a 6-month-long study, crunching a bunch of numbers, and documenting everything.
That tedium you describe is actually the scaffolding that allows you to do what you do. Even in the absence of regulatory requirements, my job would still be largely "faster, better, cheaper", and the only way to do that is by grinding out the work. So I don't think it's possible to really get an understanding of the job without doing it. You can tinker and Make and code all you want (and you definitely should), but that's unrelated to the bulk of actually being an engineer.
You could call up the college you're thinking of attending and ask for the names of any graduates who are working in those industries, then reach out to them. I'd be more than happy to spend a few hours of my life talking with someone about my education, career path, and day-to-day work activities, both the good and the bad parts (I really liked my school but I got fucked in transferring, so you need to get things in writing BEFORE taking classes; I was needlessly picky in job searching and it severely limited my options; I kind of enjoy the documentation but oh my crap some of these people just refuse to actually read stuff and I have to repeat myself SO MUCH).
Please do MeMail me if you want more specifics. I'd be happy to tell you a lot more about the jobs I've held, and maybe we could come up with some "example projects" that would be approachable and yet still give a good idea of the actual daily job.
posted by disconnect at 10:21 AM on May 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Manufacturing support follows the same structure. Our Widget C line is running at nominal. Somebody has an idea that could increase productivity by 2%, but in order to do that, we'll need to invest $x. How do we get the company to pony up? By doing a 6-month-long study, crunching a bunch of numbers, and documenting everything.
That tedium you describe is actually the scaffolding that allows you to do what you do. Even in the absence of regulatory requirements, my job would still be largely "faster, better, cheaper", and the only way to do that is by grinding out the work. So I don't think it's possible to really get an understanding of the job without doing it. You can tinker and Make and code all you want (and you definitely should), but that's unrelated to the bulk of actually being an engineer.
You could call up the college you're thinking of attending and ask for the names of any graduates who are working in those industries, then reach out to them. I'd be more than happy to spend a few hours of my life talking with someone about my education, career path, and day-to-day work activities, both the good and the bad parts (I really liked my school but I got fucked in transferring, so you need to get things in writing BEFORE taking classes; I was needlessly picky in job searching and it severely limited my options; I kind of enjoy the documentation but oh my crap some of these people just refuse to actually read stuff and I have to repeat myself SO MUCH).
Please do MeMail me if you want more specifics. I'd be happy to tell you a lot more about the jobs I've held, and maybe we could come up with some "example projects" that would be approachable and yet still give a good idea of the actual daily job.
posted by disconnect at 10:21 AM on May 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Something to consider: a remarkable percentage of electrical and computer engineers end up working in software jobs after graduation. I went the CS route, but I work with a lot of people who have underused engineering degrees.
I've been told it's because of relative job market conditions (tl;dr: lots of positions for software developers, relatively few positions for hardware), you may wish to look into that in more detail.
posted by ripley_ at 11:26 PM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've been told it's because of relative job market conditions (tl;dr: lots of positions for software developers, relatively few positions for hardware), you may wish to look into that in more detail.
posted by ripley_ at 11:26 PM on May 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for the extra input, everyone. I appreciate it.
@disconnect: I'm debating whether to bug you to take time out to come up with example projects. I'm leaning towards mechanical eng with an eye towards working in robotics or biomedical engineering, but even that I'm waffling on. Also, your work sounds more like manufacturing engineering, aka mechatronics? Am I wrong? I know that mech eng spiders into lots of different sub-disciplines, so different mech engineers do lots of different types of work.
@ripley_: that's very interesting to know, thanks for the scoop. I know that the EE job market is experiencing flat growth, and that computer engineers have fewer jobs available to them overall and they tend to be clustered around very specific geographic areas. Re: programming, I was decent at it in the couple programming classes I've had, and I've done some light coding for a web design job I had for a while, but in general programming doesn't really grab me. It's fun in short bursts, but I don't see myself doing it full-time, sadly. I like working through problems and working out ways to accomplish things, but I think skimming thousands of lines of code all day would drive me nuts. I tend to need to work with visuals, too--form, etc. (Which sucks, because programming is very self-teachable, and fast and cheap. I wish I could flip a switch and force myself to like it.)
posted by pableaux at 1:09 AM on May 4, 2017
@disconnect: I'm debating whether to bug you to take time out to come up with example projects. I'm leaning towards mechanical eng with an eye towards working in robotics or biomedical engineering, but even that I'm waffling on. Also, your work sounds more like manufacturing engineering, aka mechatronics? Am I wrong? I know that mech eng spiders into lots of different sub-disciplines, so different mech engineers do lots of different types of work.
@ripley_: that's very interesting to know, thanks for the scoop. I know that the EE job market is experiencing flat growth, and that computer engineers have fewer jobs available to them overall and they tend to be clustered around very specific geographic areas. Re: programming, I was decent at it in the couple programming classes I've had, and I've done some light coding for a web design job I had for a while, but in general programming doesn't really grab me. It's fun in short bursts, but I don't see myself doing it full-time, sadly. I like working through problems and working out ways to accomplish things, but I think skimming thousands of lines of code all day would drive me nuts. I tend to need to work with visuals, too--form, etc. (Which sucks, because programming is very self-teachable, and fast and cheap. I wish I could flip a switch and force myself to like it.)
posted by pableaux at 1:09 AM on May 4, 2017
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However, there is a lot of fairly serious math and logic to learn if you want to get a degree.
posted by empath at 7:27 PM on May 2, 2017 [3 favorites]