How does civil engineering compare to mechanical engineering?

Question

I'm applying to UMO, and I was wondering what the major differences between the two majors would be.

Answer 1

Civil engineers work with roads, contruction site work, steel construction, drainage, architectural things, and concrete and such. Mechanical engineers work with the equipment and machines inside of the structures. For instance, I did furnaces for a living. The Civil guy would do the building, the foundation, and the structure of the furnace. I would do the combustion system, hydraulics, pneumatics, and the air circulation and heat transfer of the furnace. Both can be as challanging as you want to make them.
Another for instance in a greenfield plant, the civil engineer would assist in the site selection and do the engineering for the site, the building and so on. The mechanical engineer would be designing the fire protection, services for the building like gas, water, and compressed air. And he would be looking at the process that was going to happen in the plant to start to buy the equipment the plant would need to produce the product. Industrial engineers would be looking at the plant layout, number of pieces of equipment, work standards(manpower and productivity), and Electrical engineers would be designing the power supply to the plant along with a control philosophy to the equipment that was to be installed in the plant.
Go to a local engineering house and ask for a tour and spend an afternoon. Or try a local manufacturing company and go to their plant engineering department. Most will allow you to visit and show you what they do. Good luck!

Answer 2

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 structural 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...

I applaud your effort and wish you luck in your pursuit of a great profession.

Answer 3

Civil Engineering is a lot more static, whereas Mechanical Engineering is more involved with materials in motion. Where I came from, the civil program was considered "easier" than the mechanical program. However, please don't take this to mean that any engineering degree is "easy".

Pumps, HVAC, Fluid flow, Heat Transfer - Mech Eng

Structures, concrete, earthworks, etc - Civil Eng

Understand that there is a lot of overlap between these two disciplines, but I hope this helps.

m

Answer 4

Civil engineering focuses on static structures and environmental impacts. Mechanical engineering is more concerned with moving parts, and the various dynamic stress and loading issues. They both cover the standard fluid dynamics, stress analysis, and other basic engineering courses. I'd try out a bunch of different courses (usually freshman engineering students all take the same classes) and then go with what you find more interesting

Answer 5

Many University have the courses like civil and mechanical engineering. One of the university is IGNOU. More information - http://www.ignou-guide.in/2013/09/doctor-of-philosophy-in-civil-Engineering-and-Mechanical.html

Answer 6

decide for Civil all the way. the two my dad and mom are civil engineers and that i'm majoring in it ideal now. Civil engineering is plenty extra reliable. funds sensible, mechanical engineers make slightly extra. it form of feels that throughout the time of your concern, civil could be extra constructive suitable for you. it could take extra contraptions, inspite of the undeniable fact that it will be quite worth it. Engineering businesses are all over the cities, do no longer situation approximately that.

Answer 7

If you are a civil engineer, you will be doing stress analyses on houses and different structures, working with architects and/or surveyors, planning roads, etc (I'm not one, so a civil engineer could probably be more specific).

Mechanical engineering is very broad. If you are an ME, you could be doing anything from CAD work, robotics, aerospace, assembly line and manufacturing automation, or programming.

As we MEs like to say, mechanical engineers build weapon systems, and civil engineers build targets. :-)

Two points: As a civil engineer, you could easly live anywhere you like, whereas a mechanical engineer is more constrained. However, mechanical engineering is very broad, and you can move from area to area more easly than you could as a civil engineer.

I suggest you talk to as many different engineers as you can. See if they like their jobs, and if what they do sounds interesting.

Answer 8

I'll ask you some questions: What are your interests? What are your hobbies? Why do you want to pay the dues to be any kind of engineer? I was a "motor head" with the dream of designing THE American sport car. I aimed for ME at Cornell - and failed calc. My Dad was a CE with Kodak and became the head honcho of all the engineering disciplines there. Your future will be founded upon your abilities. What "flavor" engineer you become will be less important than what quality engineer you grow to be.