Six_Speed, hi there.

 

If you have a degree in mechanical engineering, you shouldn't even need to touch CAD in the workplace, unless you really just want to do it. That is what we have drafters and designers for. Engineers get paid too much to sit around and do CAD drawings, we can find guys for $15-20/hr that do that very well. The engineering degree is far more valuable and secure than just a knowledge of doing CAD. I can use Catia and Solidworks very well, but I don't use either anymore.

 

Man that is so true. The professors usually know their subject well, but don't know how to teach a beginner. I learned more from other studunts and grad students because they were closer to my level of education than I did from "professors". Many of them are down right flakey.

Yep. I don't think a PhD is really worth the effort unless teaching is something you REALLY want to do. The PhD's in industry are usually the first ones to get laid off because they are paid more (and worth less )
I always hated that too. Its like spending the whole class time writing down someones 10 page derviation and at the end of it all your head is spinning round and round and then you ask yourself: did I really learn anything today? How about teaching me something that I can actually APPLY. If I wanted to crunch a 10-page derivation I would have been a math major!
BIG problem in the US. I can relate. But don't worry, the rules for being an ME changes COMPLETELY after you get out of school. And it gets better (and easier) the more experience you get.

 

Didn't have a chance to read the whole thread, but SJSU offers and Automotive Engineering Class. I have taken it. Alot of dynamics and themal dynamics.

 

I'm a 2nd year ME, and I completely agree with the comments about professors who derive too much and can't speak understandable English. As for a good base for automotive engineering, the mechanics classes (statics, dynamics, d-bodies etc) are probably most important for suspension work, and the thermo and fluids is good for engine and other automotive systems work. These classes are merely tools for you to understand automotive stuff. Your first few jobs will teach you to apply these skills to whatever application youre interested in. College gives you the tools, you learn to use those tools in the real world.

I have one required CAD/drafting class where we learn SolidEdge and drawing by hand. After that, there is only one more class I can take and this is the course description:
Computer aided design, analysis and optimization of parts and assemblies; solid modeling of complex surfaces, creation of detail drawings, dimensioning and tolerancing; assembly modeling, assembly constraints, interference checking; motion constraints, force and acceleration analysis, thermal analysis; part optimization for weight, strength and thermal characteristics using Unigraphics software.

All in all, not too bad of a background in CAD, but i wish there were more CAD/CNC classes.

 

I agree more CAD/CAM Classes should be taught to ME's. More practical in real life. G-codes, ProE, SolidWorks, Solid Edge, BobCad, etc..

 

+1

You guys are getting caught up in tech work and not engineering work. CAD is nice and so is CNC programming but if thats what you want to do then be a designer or a machinist. More than anything they're trying to expose you to this stuff.

As for the bitching about derivations, that kinda stuff starts to have an affect on you. Soon enough you'll start using logic and be systematic about problem solving, which is what engineers do. Not only that it lays a fundamental foundation on how the world works. No, you're going going to be doing that kinda stuff in the real world, leave that to the Ph.D's. Just hang in there, it pays off.

I design, cut, bend, weld etc on the weekends. During the work week I let the techs handle it. Trust me you're going to have to many other things going on to have time for that other stuff.

 

Just stumbled on this thread and wanted to say Hi to all the other FSAE alums and ramble a little bit to the current engineering students here. I was an ME at Univ of Texas (Austin, not Arlington) for 2.5 years before I realized I might actually have to use diff eq's and switched to Computer Science to bring my GPA back up, and ended up in the network security business. FSAE was a great experience, as well as any of the other SAE student design competitions (any other NGV Challenge or Sunrayce USA alums?). Or more accurately, it's a great opportunity for experience--you won't get much out of it if you don't put much into it. It has very little value for resume-padding--it might help get you an interview, but just having shown up a few times and bolted something together isn't going to impress an interviewer. Being able to talk about the design, why you did it that way, how it changed during implementation, what didn't work, and what you'd do differently will impress an interviewer.

Through the dotcom boom I interviewed several hundred system administrators and software engineers. The #1 thing I look for is someone who can get stuff done: skills, knowledge, and attitude. Some of the most value knowledge and skills don't come from the classroom--they come from experience. For the most part, I don't care where you went to school, unless you wasted a ton of money on a non-accredited for-profit school. It doesn't matter if a candidate graduated from Georgia Tech or Kennessaw State. What really matters is that you generally know what you're doing, have a good grasp on what you don't know (ie, if you're clueless about a topic, you know you're clueless and don't think you're an expert), and you can get stuff done. Experience helps a lot with all of that. The best thing you can do as an undergrad is anything you can do to get real-world experience. SAE competitions are great even though they are part academic/part real-world. Co-op/interning is awesome--when you graduate, you'll have a year or two of actual job experience instead of just a degree, and you'll have a huge leg up on other recents grads with no experience. Again, the experience is an opportunity to learn a lot of stuff they don't teach in class--what actually get out of it is up to you.

 

I didn't mean to suggest that CAD was more secure of valuable than an engineering degree, or that I wanted to do that exclusively. What I meant is that I at least want to get a grasp of at least the basics, so that if somehow my engineering options were limited and I didn't like it, I could always jump right back into designing or manufacturing, which I see as applicable in a very wide range of industries.

CAD/CNC/FEA/CFD all seems very useful to me, especially if you intend to eventually run your own business in design and manufacturing.

At this point my number 1 interest is split almost 50/50 between race engineering (race vehicle dynamics, race vehicle design and manufacture) and race engine development (fluids, thermo). I know some point very soon I'm going to have to pick one and focus entirely on it to get someplace really good (working for a team / company). The whole CAD thing complements both.

 

So how much experience do designers and drafters need to get those $18-$20 an hour jobs?

I ask because I am intending on transferring to UT(Austin) and would like to have a decent day job, part time if possible, as I continue working towards my masters. I would like to be able to squeeze in FSAE as well

 

I am in Mechanical Engineering Technology at Purdue. I am a super Duper Senior, aka 6th year. I am taking a motorsports class right now that we are working with IRL and Formula 1 cars. I have taken an ICE class but let me tell you, that class was Thermo 3. Our class was based off of MIT's ICE class.

What do I do for a living, I work for an engineering firm. I will soon be a Project Manager in Facility Management.

As far as CAD classes have gone. I am skilled on 6 different platforms and the most experience that I have is on AutoCAD. I an run ProE, Katia, Unigraphix, Solidworks, and IronCAD.

I have taken statics, dynamics, fluid power, materials, strength and materials, fluid dynamics, product commercialization, automation and controlds, and other engineering classes.

 

Why 6 years? Are you doing a masters degree?

What do you mean working with Formula 1 cars? You mean working on historic models for some USBOSS competitor?

I know Panther IPS has some deal going on with Purdue. ICS has none I believe.

 

Purdue got an Indy car last year and I believe we get another one this year. This class is a senior elective class and is only offered in the spring. There is a nice waiting list for it.

I am a 6th year student because I work for an engineering firm doing designs of hospitals and higher education buildings 30 hours a week so that limits me from taking 18 hours of class a semester to graduate on time. I have been working 30 hour weeks there since my sophmore year. It's where I am going to work after I graduate.

We are looking at the design of different race cars. Looking at the dynamic characteristics of cars. Looking at why a Indy car is setup to run at this track and it's different for another track. We also are looking at the same thing for Formula 1 cars and some NASCAR stuff. Another thing we are looking at is track setups and how the turns affect your maximum velocity.

Banking, where you apex the turn, radius of turns, ect.


For the class, we have to come up with our own project. Some have been testing safety barriers for high speed race tracks and some have been focused on head design, and one has been on N2O for drag racing.

 

Wow this is an awsome thread for anyone getting into any kind a ME degree. I just started my first year in a General Engineering degree and from what I just read I am blown away at how incredible it is to be in any kind of engineer position. Great thread guys.

 

Alot of my Freshmen Engineering classes were just weed out classes and didn't really deal with any true engineering work. I had one class that was just explaining what all the different kinds of engineering the school offers. They also talked about what kind of work you do.

 

I'm currently a junior at uiuc majoring in engineering mechanics, i've found every engineering class thus far to be extremely interesting and have found many correlations between them and my interest in cars/engines. I would definetly recommend taking some design courses, most of your other courses deal with just analyzing and are still interesting but not as fun as design. If you don't have any other engineering classes your school will probably require you to go through the basic statics,dynamics and mechanics of materials before you can take fluids, all are easy classes but just something to think about. You can also take gas dynamics which is similar to fluids and generally only has a prereq of thermo which would probably be a better route to take.

 

I have a question for all the engineers out there. I am currently a sophmore for a computer engineering degree. My original major was ME, and I have been taking classes for both subjects to allow some flexability. I am a gear head of course, and I would love to get into the automotive industry. I figured with the computer engineering degree I could get in designing computer controlled engine systems along with tons of other options in the future. This thread has made me think that I need to stick with the original ME degree to be around what I love CARS. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I just thought the CE degree would give me more opportunity and better pay in the future, but cars are my true passion so I do not know what to do. Oh and btw I am going to be attending Oklahoma State University. Thanks for the help.

 

Things have changed a lot in the OEM car business since the muscle car era when I was there. However, I suggest that if you want to work with actual vehicle design, development and test, you'll need the ME, and good CE ability. There are very few folks like Ron Sperry who get to do stuff like head design. Ron is from the muscle car era, and probably close to retirement now.

There are probably an order of magnitude of very capable CE's for every true gearhead. You probably can make more $ in CE. Too bad if you love the "hardware". I vote for the ME major (and CE minor).

My $.02

 

I like this idea of ME major and CE minor. I am just worried I will take the pay cut from CE to ME and then not be able to get a job working on cars like I had intended to so the whole thing would be pointless. Less money and still cant design cars haha Thanks for the advice I just might do that as it would still give me plenty of options.

 

In my experience, MEs know more about "how the world works" than most other disciplines, with the exception of physics majors. A couple of Particle Physicists I've met REALLY know "HTWW". I admire both of them.

Back in the day, it was ME and EE, because CE had not yet been invented. I choose ME and never had one regret. BTW, if you have time, take as many communicaton courses (written and spoken) as you can fit in. They will help your career a TON.

Good luck to you!