Whats the best engineering field?

FullNelson

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Sep 17, 2007
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I'm thinking of joining the military and want to find a field to go into with potential to keep learning. Maybe something like aerospace propulsion development. Anyways what fields have you guys worked in or wanted to work in?
 

gurley0916

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Mar 10, 2008
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i myself am a sophmore in aeronautical enigineering. I hoping that it will be a great field and the advantage to aero is that in a lot of colleges it is very similar to mechanical so if you wanted it would be very easy to switch, or double major.
 

ronnie4

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Nov 25, 2007
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rtrdpenguin;1209722 said:
Mechanical FTW! I chose it =)

It really is the broadest, and at least at NC State, it shares so many basic courses with other majors it's easy to switch in your first 1 or 2 years into other engineering majors without losing credits.

Mechanical really is very broad

Im a ME working in the Natural Gas Industry.
Another buddy designs locks
Another one designs satellites

As far as pay goes I think Aerospace and Electrical have the highest salaries, not that any of the others are low.
 

adampecush

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May 11, 2006
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If you want something specialized, materials engineering (metallurgy) isn't a bad field...(naturally, I am biased as thats the direction I chose). Otherwise, I would recommend mechanical or aerospace.

Unless you enjoy programming and an insane amount of math, avoid computer and electrical engineering.
 

FullNelson

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haha, yes, i feel like the training and knowledge i can get from the military outweighs any of its negatives. We'll just keep it between us, we wont want carlin rollin in his grave now.
Im kinda liking the idea of the double major in mechanical and aero. I have however had friends get into mechanical engineering and quit after three semesters, do you guys feel like any of courses come unexpectedly in terms of how hard it is to pick up and learn the subject?

What are the engineering fields you guys would want to stay away from?
 

HIDPLANET

89 1JZGTE
I work for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and its a rough field right now with jobs being cut and funding being choked. Like with some other industries, the satellite field is all being outsourced to India and China and other countries. NASA using gov fund wont do this obviously, but it shows you the state of jobs even in the high tech field.
 

ForcedTorque

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How about Chemical? My son is struggling with the choice of chemical and mechanical. We have 7-8 chemical plants within 25 miles of us, and I have rarely seen a wrench in his hands. So, the logical choice is chemical.
 

Doward

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Jan 11, 2006
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Why specialize?

I'm technically in Electrical Computer Engineering - yet I've studied classes in Mech, Chem, Aero and Electrical.

I think the hallmark of a true 'Engineer' is simply a love of how things work and interact :)
 

FullNelson

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Thats more why I was liking the double major, It would give me more diversity and let me apply myself to more opportunities. The reason stated as your Hallmark is the reason why I have leaned toward engineering in the first place, Ive felt like it is a field with endless education possibilities. With the way I learn, I need to touch hold and see things working, so I'm not sure how well I would be able to apply myself to chemical.

Has it been worth it to only study those other fields for the knowledge? Or do you feel like it could have been beneficial to have spent enough time in there to receive paper credentials on the field?
 

Doward

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I live to learn. I'm not even kidding when I say that - the day I don't learn something new is the day I die.

Personally, I think having a very broad area of knowledge makes me much more indispensable to my employer, and is certainly something I like to see in my co-workers!
 

Mk3runner

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Nov 19, 2006
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i was going for a electrical engineer career but I'm thinking more towards mech..

i spent a long time thinking on this.. at the moment im going head first into computer drafting. just need to find a version of autocad instead of using my gfs pops comp to learn lol.
 
FullNelson;1209963 said:
Has it been worth it to only study those other fields for the knowledge? Or do you feel like it could have been beneficial to have spent enough time in there to receive paper credentials on the field?

Hell yes. I've got like 30-something credits in random classes that I don't actually need, but what I've learned in those classes are well worth it, even without paper credentials. The paper credentials help a ton for jobs, but I don't actually plan on becoming a sociologist, so I stick to the engineering degree and just take classes I'm interested in.
 

sushi

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Sep 21, 2008
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I didn't go to college, but I was in the military and had a lot of training in nuclear engineering. I'm a big physics fan so that worked well for me.