Anyone here a Mechanical engineer?

[gazzaed]

Hey everyone,

I'd like to know if anyone here is a mechanical engineer, and if so, what is it like? I'm about to sit the HSC and have applied for Mech Eng at a few universities, and would like to know what sort of projects you are involved in and how satisifed you are with the profession.

Thanks in Advance,

GazzaED

[FordFan86]

I will also be reading thru this thread, my TER wasn't high enough to get into the course I did want, but "Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering" seemed close enough. However it is 2 + hours travel each day to that Uni. I'm going to try and swap courses to a closer Uni I hate phyiscs anyway, would much prefer the chemical side of things.

edit: the one hardest thing for me is actually deciding what I want to do, for practically the rest of my life. There are so many choices.

[gazzaed]

Fair enough. I'm pretty keen on engineering, I like a challenge and am very interested in how things work. Although it's a 5 year full time course, i'm happy to stick with it to achieve what I want. it will also take me an hour there and an hour back to Uni (UTS) but I don't mind too much, I can use the laptop on the train i suppose.

[Valknutr]

im doing mechanical engineering through tafe (so im on the workshop floors) and my dad is a mech eng (bachelor) one the projects he had to do was a design build. They started with a 300ml box 3 metres in the wair, get it to travel straight down without destroying itself or being damaged then get it to travel 3-4 metres straight across and stop exactly on a dot

[old_mate]

I sat 1st year of mechanical engineering, after sitting thru a bridging course at TAFE. TAFE was awesome, getting taught how to use a lathe, how to use CMC machinery, tech drawing etc etc. The maths and physics was half ok too

the uni stuff sucked the big one. Too many numbers for me (hence why i left...engineering needs numbers)

Ended up doing another year long course and now im a 3rd year aircraft maintenance engineering apprentice. Lovin it

[Mondie]

l am a mechanical Engineer, garduated in 1991.

ME is IMO the best stream to study as it is so adaptable to many industries, you are not specialising and in doing so, limiting your opportunities. It has helped me get to where l am now and the the skills l learnt are something l use many times a day, just not in the pure mathematics/design sense.

Hard to say what its like, it depends on what industry you end up in. l work in the Oil Industry and its this which determines what my job is like more so than what l studied. l really enjoy what l do, ME helped me to get there.

[73gscoupe]

I did mech eng at RMIT. about 3-4 years out now. Worked previously in manufacturing industry on process equipment, got tired of that and now am starting out in auto industry.

About a year into my first job, one of the senior engineers said to me "youll never get rich doing this, but it will be pretty good to you". So far ive found that to be pretty true.

Its worth keeping in mind theres a huge variety of jobs available after you graduate, some are mind numbing and merely more than data entry, others will have you hands on assembling and troubleshooting complex control systems. been there and done both ends of the spectrum myself.

Do engineering if it appeals to you, dont be put off by the math, you will hardly use it in the real world. you do need to be able to visualise things in your head, read drawings, communicate effectively, and have good problem solving skills. A good understanding of physics helps. But this all depends on what you end up doing of course..

Overall i'm pretty happy with engineering. can be stressful at times, but the satisfaction is definately there.

[Falcon Freak]

Originally Posted by Mondie

l am a mechanical Engineer, garduated in 1991.

ME is IMO the best stream to study as it is so adaptable to many industries, you are not specialising and in doing so, limiting your opportunities. It has helped me get to where l am now and the the skills l learnt are something l use many times a day, just not in the pure mathematics/design sense.

Hard to say what its like, it depends on what industry you end up in. l work in the Oil Industry and its this which determines what my job is like more so than what l studied. l really enjoy what l do, ME helped me to get there.

My recommendation is don't go into the auto industry.

FF

[M14A-Mclaren]

Originally Posted by Falcon Freak

My recommendation is don't go into the auto industry.

FF

Why? Cars will always need to be fixed.

[donno]

Not a mechanical engineer, I'm computer systems (nearly finished 3rd year), but if you're unsure see if the uni offers a first year general plan (well UQ does). You don't have to specify a major until the end of the first year, so just do the core subjects (maths etc) and with the others just do things that sound interesting in. Better still, go to the uni's website and read through some lecture notes and see what you like. By the end you'll have a good idea on what you want to do and you can pick your major.

[Smoked]

I studied in Mechanical for 6 months before transfering to Civil engineering in which im about to undertake my 4th year.

The course i did is heavily structured around design and analysis.
The Design side Involved alot of CADCAM (Computer Aided Design, Computer Aided Manufacture) using Solid Edge, NX and AUTOCAD software. There is also a a large amount of hands on drafting and design of machine components. Good drawing ability is an advantage

The analysis side covered things like fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, mechanics of solids (structures) and uses of mathematics and computer programing.

Dont let that put you off, sounds technical and whilst it is, you learn it fairly easily and quickly. I got put of by the amount of drafting, and i had a real interest in strength of materials, hence i now do Civil eng which covers this in far greater depth. From it have benefited in being able to create drafts of my civil designs with great ease using the software.

This is generally where the industry is set. Alot of maths is covered within the degree, but in the industry, different story, computers do it all for you.

Cant say much more other than good luck if you choose this path, engineering is an industry of more jobs than people, so jobs are a plenty and varied.

[gazzaed]

Thanks for the replies guys, It sounds pretty good, and it seems that the most productive and successful thing to do is to start a course, see how it goes, and possibly transfer to another type of engineering if it turns out that type interests you more.

[Dave_b]

I am a mechanical engineer (graduated 2 years ago), working for an automotive company, and I could not recommend it more. The work is really good, and there is a lot of scope for progression. Mech is also good because you can work in almost any industry. Another thing to keep in mind, if you get the chance to do a engineering/business double degree, have a good look at it, because a lot of guys are having to do them later on in their careers. PM me if you want more details.

[red_october]

I'm not a mechanical engineer, but graduated in communications engineering. Worked as a test engineer for a smartcard / mass transit ticketing company, now in middle management.

And yes, 73gscoupe is right - you'll never get rich in engineering, but it's fun and lots of job satisfaction (especially in my case - I get to break stuff). But the money is in engineering management.