will it be easier or harder than college? like will you be solving equations and concepts on a piece of paper and sweat and have headaches or will you and some partners use a special computer with programs to do the job for you. im not saying it will be an easy job but will it be easier than studying at the library until 3 am in the morning trying to cram in 15 chapters for a physics final?
2006-12-10 11:01:26 · 6 answers · asked by wtfitsnguyen 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
My opinion is that college will be the hardest thing you do.
There is a lot of help and a lot of safety nets out there in the real world.
Think of college as a filter. College filters out those who don't seem to be able to do engineering type work (those folks go on to law school...)
Once you pass through the filter, then the work part of it gets easier. Not to say you won't still burn the midnight oil once in a while, but it won't be as steep a learning curve as college.
2006-12-10 11:45:47 · answer #1 · answered by www.HaysEngineering.com 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's all a test, but the good news it's an open book, talk-with-your-neighbor test. Because your time will be valuable, and you won't be the only one in the world working on that type of problem (at least, not when you just graduate), your company will (probably) buy software tools to help you with your job.
Most of the time, it's easier than studying, but sometimes it's harder, because there's no neat formula for the answer; you have to figure it out by yourself.
One of the keys to success is to ask questions of more experienced engineers and listen to and learn from their answers. Most won't mind helping you with something once, but they aren't going to be interested by attempt #3 on the same thing.
Always remember The First Law of Computing: GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) -- if the data or program is bad, the results will be bad, so learn how to make intellegent estimates as to what the answer should be (e.g. you do the exponents, let the computer do the mantissas). That way, when GIGO happens, you'll recognize it and re-examine the data/program instead of continuing on using garbage results.
You'll probably be given some fairly simple, boring work the first few weeks after you join your first company. Try to find out what part of the project that work relates to and why it's needed in the overall project. If you do that for all of your assignments, you'll start to learn the process of taking a set of ideas and producing a new product. Do a good job, too, or the more senior folks will wonder "If they can't handle that, will they ever be able to handle this?" If you want to do more interesting stuff, make the easy stuff look easy -- the bosses will always find a way to challenge you.
Good Luck!
2006-12-10 21:19:03 · answer #2 · answered by sd_ducksoup 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
College is definitely the tough part. I do chip design at the transistor level. We do all kind of designs that wind up on integrated circuits. I don't have time to sit around and run equations to figure out how a circuit will respond in detail to the picoseconds level. I do a circuit topography based on experience and then use device models and simulation programs to fine tune the circuit.
It's a lot more interacting with people too and solving creative problems and not just running equations. Hang in there; I enjoy what I do. I can still solve network stuff by hand but haven't done anything complex in years. I let HSpice or Spectre do the crunching.
2006-12-10 11:48:06 · answer #3 · answered by Gene 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It will be harder initially, then it will get easier. You will probably be working with direct supervision initially, and you will also probably be working with others to solve problems. Yes, the math will be used, constantly. Yes, you will be using computers, but they don't figure much out for you. You still have to do the thinking. There's quite a lot to learn the first few years; things like manufacturers, lead times, and customer complaints. And the biggest problem of them all; if you stuff don't work, and it won't, you have to make it work. Failure is not optional.
Sincerely,
Chris
2006-12-10 11:37:40 · answer #4 · answered by ChrisJ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Having a degree in engineering does not make you an engineer. Rather, it gives you the capability of becoming an engineer by instilling in you logical thought processes. College is harder due to the diversity of the problems to be solved. Employment should be easier due to the references and other tools available, like experienced co-workers.
2006-12-11 02:48:18 · answer #5 · answered by MustangGT 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
College is the hardest thing you will have to do, by a mile. Just keep it up until you get that paper on the wall, and you are home free.
Good luck, keep your chin up.
m
2006-12-10 14:11:28 · answer #6 · answered by Mukluk 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋