civil or mechanical engineering?

Question

I'm currently applying to universities (in Ontario, Canada-- mainly McMaster and Waterloo)... and I can't decide between Civil or Mechanical engineering. I've done so much researching into both areas, but I don't know any engineers personally, to ask questions... Anyone have any pros and cons for civil and mechanical engineering? any advice towards which one is better? (to anyone with experience in the programs in school or in the work force) And being female, what kind of competition should I be expecting?

Answer 1

i am a mechanical engineer by training and I work at a civil engineering company. There are many crossover topics that fall into both categories. I think civil engineering is a little easier- except strucatural analysis can be very challenging. I would say you should check in to the area you want to live and see how many of each kind of engineering jobs are available. I'm glad I took mechanical and have had many rewarding experiences. there is an old joke that says civil engineers make targets (such as dams, roads, water infrastructure, sewer infrastructure) and mechanical engineers make weapons (missiles and what not). It seems to me that most civil engineers work for government entitites- roads, sewer plants, water treatment plants and mechanical engineers tend to work in manufacturing or other industries. You really dont have to decide now as the first few sets of classes will be the same for mechanical and civil- physics, strength of materials, statics, dynamics, etc...

As a group, engineers have done a miserable job encouraging women to enter the engineering field- only 19% of US graduating engineers were women last year. There is a shortage of engineers so if you can stick with it, you should have no problem finding a job. I work with 3 women engineers and one woman drafter at our 28 person firm. I applaud your effort and wish you luck in your pursuit of a great profession.

Answer 2

Nisa, Let us agree to the fact that, hiring shouldn't be a problem, as long as you are Engineer, no matter the discipling. I think what you should now do is to know exactly what you want to do. From what you are saying I am afraid you mean Architect not even Civil, here u've a considerable differences. I'm a mechanical Engineer and I've faced this choice before, actually Architect was my first choice (for the same reasonse you have said), but after I went through some book I,ve foud that this not what I really want to do. I advise you to know more about the different Engineering discp. and only after that you can decide what to do. And pls do not be afraid, work market changing every day, and you will never be able to predict the exact future trends after your graduation. Just do ur best and I wish u a good luck!

Answer 3

First of all, let me just warn you that, as an engineer, you will be hated by all the non-engineers in your field... That just comes with being an engineer i guess... lol

Anyways, mechanical engineering involves a lot of math and geometry, and science.
Whereas civil engineering is more about economics, logistics, and construction.

That's just my opinion though, and I'm merely a software engineer.

Answer 4

Good engineering joke:
Mechanical engineers build weapons.
Civil engineers build targets.

but seriously, its really up to what you want to do, mechanical engineers design machines, civil engineers focus on city and building layout. You just have to follow your heart on this