Is anyone here an engineer?

[garvice]

Hey garvice, I'm on track for a mining engineering degree, what do you deal with in reguards to mining? I've heard that australia is the holy grail for mining engineers.

 

I work for a Engineering Consultant. We do the design for capital projects. At the moment the project I am working on is a Copper/Gold processing plant in the phillipines, doing the electrical design from the point of supply to the final drives.

 

The only mining engineers I have come across is the ones on the actuall mine sites. There are plenty of mines over here, but most are in remote areas. (Working in a design office we work out of a major city and only go to site for visits or construction/comissioning).

 

At the moment in Australia there is a huge lack of engineers over here, especially in Western Australia. Send us a message if you want to know anything specific.

[Pop N Wood]

Everything I read says EE have higher average starting salaries than the other engineering disciplines. Occasionally Chemical engineers will outdo the EE's, but that usually varies with the condition of the oil market.

 

The value of a PE license really varies by field. I don't have one and neither do any of my coworkers. Seems like majority of the defense industry places little value on them. I remember the university really pushing the EIT exam when I graduated. Glad I didn't listen to them.

 

90% of the challange of getting an engineering degree is just having the preserverance and in many cases opportunitiy to finish. Have to echo what the others said about them showing ability as much as learned knowledge. We prefer to hire people with EE degress, but some of the best real time programmers have physics or chemistry degrees. When the market is fat it almost doesn't matter what type of degree people have. But in a tight job market having the right degree makes all the difference in the world.

 

In my field advanced degrees are very important. It is not uncommon for us to offer a starting salary in the 70's for an MSEE right out of school. What really sucks is when they turn us down for a better offer.

[SHO-Z]

Evan if you do not need a PE in the field you are working in now it will open a lot of doors. I got mine and really have never used it in my work; there was nothing on the test that even went with the industry that I am in. I am in the construction industry working petrol chem. Projects. The design drawings are all stamped by a PE. One of my professors in college said his PE is for his retirement so he can do contract work at a high rate. If you want to go into any type of consulting business using your engineering skills the state engineering boards will require a PE.

 

Another professor put engineering this way “We Add, Subtract, Multiply and Divide, Look in up in the book, understand that the answer makes sense and am able to tell someone else about it.

[JustinOlson]

I'm a junior in mechanical engineering at Portland State. I'm going to get my masters in project management once I'm finished with the BSME.

 

Justin

[JIM73240Z]

 

Another professor put engineering this way “We Add, Subtract, Multiply and Divide, Look in up in the book, understand that the answer makes sense and am able to tell someone else about it.

 

:lmao:

 

good one

 

jimbo

[Flexicoker]

I can't stress enough how much of an advantage Formula SAE, or mini-baja will give you over fellow freshly graduated engineers. I think it was someone from Lockheed that told me that they count on a recently graduated new-hire taking 2 years before actually becoming productive. But Formula SAE people are productive from the get-go. FSAE instantly puts your resume on the top of the pile.

[baddriver]

I've been on this board about six years, and I am not at all surprised to see that there are dozens of engineers here. I might have even been able to guess who was an engineer based on the answers they give to posts.

 

I am currently working as an electrical engineer, designing ECU software for an offroad diesel engine manufacturer. I've been an engineer for 2 years now, having spent 6 years as an environmental specialist when I got out of school, my degree is in physics.

 

In our department, we have ME's working as EEs, EE's doing CE stuff, and CE's working as EEs. I agree that the degree you get does not lock you into a specific type of work, but it does give you a little advantage when trying to land your first position. After that, it's all about what experience you have. Do what you enjoy the most, and you won't go wrong.

[katman]

In all honesty Katman, I know the real reason why you chose Aeronautical Engineering...so when some cute girl says:

 

"What are you, a rocket scientist or something?!"

 

you can say: "Why yes...Yes I am!" (lol...just kidding...)

 

Actually we aeronauticals think rocket science is easy- if you survive the launch everything else is gravy. Usually just a one way trip. No thunderstorms or clear air turbulence in space. Making a C-130 last 40 years is a lot harder. Of course that's what we think, I'm sure real rocket scientists beg to differ.

 

And my favorite lame pickup line, since I went to school with a bunch of pilots, is "Has anybody seen my jet keys?"

 

How do you tell if there's a pilot in the room? Don't worry, he'll tell you.

[Michael]

I went the exact opposite route from starting my own business - got an undergraduate engineering degree (aerospace), then got a government job and the gov't paid for my grad school degrees (also in aerospace) - piled higher and deeper. Now my job consists of a mix of in-house research, program management and administrative stuff. The job isn't bad, but the location is very contrary to my preference. And being a very narrow and deep specialist, relocation is not an option; you become married to your lab!

 

From my experience, there is very little difference between school and the "real world". Nearly every day I open at least one of my old textbooks. A large part of my job is running experiments, taking notes, reading and reviewing technical literature, and writing papers. If I were to change jobs, the logical alternative would be academia.

[hughdogz]

I can't stress enough how much of an advantage Formula SAE, or mini-baja will give you over fellow freshly graduated engineers...

I would love to have devoted more of my time to Mini-Baja. But every year I'd find myself having to sacrifice studying to keep up with MB. After a couple months I'd have to drop MB. But in those few months, I really did learn a lot. Some stuff you'd learn before the profs explained it in class! With FSAE you'd be lucky to drive the car since there are so many students working on it (at least where I went to school).

 

...Nearly every day I open at least one of my old textbooks.

78280z, if you're still reading this don't sell back your old textbooks to help finance a keg (or whatever)...you might need them later. Not quite every day, but I still need to use mine on a monthly basis and my co-workers borrow them too.

[MrFancypants]

Im probably the only mining-mechanical engineer here

 

Can't say I've directly used much of my degree except maybe doing consulting grunt work the first year out of college. After that I ended up moving into the computer hardware/software side of mining and later into project management and now soon to be marketing/business. I pretty much figured out that your college degree is often nothing more than proof that you know how to LEARN, how to think analytically, how to meet deadlines, etc. Very little of it has to do with applying booksmarts that your future employer doesnt already have. Of course there are always exceptions to this (like research fields).

 

As for the PE - Im in agreement with Pop that it's a waste of time. That of course may vary by discipline. It also depends greatly on where (geographically) you plan to end up. PE's are issued by state, and aren't going to help you much internationally. For example, the PEng certification in Canada is more about ethics and years of experience than the technical apprenticeship/EIT format in the USA. Having a PE may draw a greater salary but that comes with the risk of YOUR ass being on the legal line.

 

And then there's the Australian mining industry. Typical supply and demand situation. If you wait 5 years it will be just like it was 5 years ago where you couldnt get a mining job in Oz without organizing your immigration requirements yourself. Now they will do anything to get a qualified engineer and pay big bucks too. But they have high taxes and VERY remote placements. Luckily a lot of them are fly in fly out.

 

All in all, dont make your decision on discipline based on job availability. Find out what interests you and study that. The other stuff is far too difficult to predict. I chose mining-mechanical because I realized in 2nd year that the EE road wasnt for me and (at the time) graduating ME's had a 25% unemployment rate. The mining industry was doing great, so I got half a ME degree with better job security. Or so I thought. By the time I graduated the mining industry was headed towards a major slump and ME unemployment rates were no longer an issue. Now 10 years after graduation the mining industry is on fire again and jobs are everywhere.

 

 

 

- Greg -

[datsun40146]

You are not the only mining guy here by far, both myself and garvice are involved in "underground" operations...OK so there are three of us lol. Miners UNITE!

[rxsleeper]

Actually we aeronauticals think rocket science is easy- if you survive the launch everything else is gravy. Usually just a one way trip. No thunderstorms or clear air turbulence in space. Making a C-130 last 40 years is a lot harder. Of course that's what we think, I'm sure real rocket scientists beg to differ.

 

I know I am coming to this thread a little late, but damn that is funny Keith. I am going to tell my better half (and team owner that one). She is, no lie, for real, a rocket scientist for NASA. She just received a patent the other day for an electrodynamic space tether.

 

Ditto on the rest of the comments regarding the degree. My background was in physics but I retired from Law Enforcement after 25 years. My degree is in Criminal Justice but now I am a lead system integrator for a radio/satellite communications program.

 

It was the degree that made the difference, didn't really matter what in. BTW, my oldest son is a junior in the Wireless engineering program at Auburn. I think he is going to be able to select who he wants to work for and for how much as opposed to just finding a job.

[zero]

I am a Junior Mechanical and Aerospace Engineer a princeton... I love it

[Lukaniuk]

You are not the only mining guy here by far, both myself and garvice are involved in "underground" operations...OK so there are three of us lol. Miners UNITE!

 

4 miners! Expected to graduate from University of Alberta (Canada) very soon.

[007max]

I just transfered to Arizona State University as a junior in Mech E. I got an associates in Engineering Science at a community college so I did not have a chance to be a part of clubs like SAE during my first two years, but plan to sign up soon at ASU. I love the field and want to get into automotive engineering when I graduate. I'm also pledging at Theta Tau this semester. Are there any members on this board?

 

 

Oh, anyone got a hookup for an internship in AZ this summer

[rudypoochris]

I am studying ME at UC Davis... I am a second year. I am planning on doubling in Aero though since it is only 1-2 more classes.

[MatMan]

I have read through this whole thread and there are many good examples here of what the "real world" is like on the 'outside'. I hold a BS in Materials Engineering. My first job was with NEC electronics as a product engineer, failure analysis mostly. Although it sounds neat, my internship was failure analysis of AlliedSignal/Garrett turbochargers was quite boring, actually. One fatigue failure is just about the same as them all. When the tech market bubble popped, I had to fall back on my upbringing and get a job in the construction industry. Although I do believe that my degree helped me with negotiating salary, and to maybe even a greater extent demonstrated that I can jump through hoops and deal with the BS to solve problems, I do not believe I have used anything from my time at college, except for the best friends of my life.

 

As my favorite engr. prof once said, "don't let your education get in the way of your learning."

[lowrider]

I just transfered to Arizona State University as a junior in Mech E. I got an associates in Engineering Science at a community college so I did not have a chance to be a part of clubs like SAE during my first two years, but plan to sign up soon at ASU. I love the field and want to get into automotive engineering when I graduate. I'm also pledging at Theta Tau this semester. Are there any members on this board?

 

 

Oh, anyone got a hookup for an internship in AZ this summer

 

im a senior in high school, your way of going about an engineering degree is what im wanting to do. if you were to do it over again would you do the same thing over again (get your associates degree first)?

[007max]

im a senior in high school, your way of going about an engineering degree is what im wanting to do. if you were to do it over again would you do the same thing over again (get your associates degree first)?

 

Sure would, for the simple reason that CC is much cheaper than any university.