Any Engineers/Engineering Students on here?

[Flat_White]

Hi guys,

today was my first day at uni, i have just commenced studying engineering. I have just taken a break from pulling all my hair out doing my homework and need some place to vent, has been one of the most stressful days of my life....


Someone please tell me it gets better...

Share your experiences in this thread.

[gst987]

It was 1981 when I sat in my first uni class. Since then finished my Engineering Degree, and went on to do 3 others ... so it can't be too bad ... but I have to say I'm glad I'm not back at day one!

[greenacc]

its not that bad mate. just keep up with what's going on so you don't get behind and you'll be sweeet. Make some friends too so you can help each other out.

[Bax]

It gets better and worse. Courses change.

The only advice I can give you is don't procrastinate. Knuckle down and knock stuff over as fast as you can. Do exceptional in the assignments and it leaves you with a good chance for the rest.

I'm 2nd/3rd year Electrical at USQ. Taking a little ciesta and thinking about taking a semester off to let my hair down. But work won't like the idea.

[Joey_21]

electronic engineering is fkn hard u will be doin shitloads of maths and java programs are freakn hard to learn i passed it though so im happy dont have to do it again although later subjects refer back to it which sucks lol

[tommo82]

Congratulations on your choice of Engineering.

I did electronic engineering - graduated in 2003. 3rd year was the killer for me. It gets better, don't worry about that. Wait till you experience the luxuries of an engineering career after finishing your hard earned qualification. The possibilities are endless. Myself and many of my university friends have travelled the world with our careers after only 5 years and ended up working for all different types of companies: Telecommunications, consulting, financial, mining, or themselves.

What sort of engineering are you studying ? The thing I most enjoyed about my degree was the second year project. You were free to design some sort of electrical system. We ended up taking an off the shelf remote control car and plastering infrared sensors all over it. We made some digital electronics to determine the direction of the incident light on the car and developed a primitive wireless modem to send the direction info back to a computer where we had a C program running to make a decision about which way to steer the car to follow the light. We learned the following semester that we could have done exactly the same thing with a $2 micro-controller

Edit: ahh, the memories http://www.tommo.org/lsv/

[Joey_21]

lol micro controllers are for lazy people we made a solar remote control car that would follow a track made from electrical tape it had sensors on the bottom folling the track not very fast on solar power though haha

[Flat_White]

Congratulations on your choice of Engineering.

I did electronic engineering - graduated in 2003. 3rd year was the killer for me. It gets better, don't worry about that. Wait till you experience the luxuries of an engineering career after finishing your hard earned qualification. The possibilities are endless. Myself and many of my university friends have travelled the world with our careers after only 5 years and ended up working for all different types of companies: Telecommunications, consulting, financial, mining, or themselves.

What sort of engineering are you studying ? The thing I most enjoyed about my degree was the second year project. You were free to design some sort of electrical system. We ended up taking an off the shelf remote control car and plastering infrared sensors all over it. We made some digital electronics to determine the direction of the incident light on the car and developed a primitive wireless modem to send the direction info back to a computer where we had a C program running to make a decision about which way to steer the car to follow the light. We learned the following semester that we could have done exactly the same thing with a $2 micro-controller

Edit: ahh, the memories Index of /lsv

Basically, at my uni we study a common first year and then choose the stream we wish to follow, at this stage im tending towards chemical, however any recommendations would be great.

I do thoroughly look forward to working as an engineer, as i have done many such work experience programs through rio tinto, i just did not expect the work to be such full on on my first day!

Ah well, it can only get better from here i guess.

[Philthy]

Basically, at my uni we study a common first year and then choose the stream we wish to follow, at this stage im tending towards chemical, however any recommendations would be great.

I do thoroughly look forward to working as an engineer, as i have done many such work experience programs through rio tinto, i just did not expect the work to be such full on on my first day!

Ah well, it can only get better from here i guess.

I just finished 2nd year chem eng and applied chem, and everyone in 4th/5th year told us the 2nd year of our course is the worst, and I certainly hope they were right.
It can be a lot of hard work sometimes, but a lot of the projects can be quite interesting - designing a waste water system for an indian orphanage, design a plant to produce x amount of wine, design a coffee processing plant, etc
Do you have any ideas what you want to get into when you graduate? Because chem eng has a massive range of industries you can work in

[Flat_White]

I just finished 2nd year chem eng and applied chem, and everyone in 4th/5th year told us the 2nd year of our course is the worst, and I certainly hope they were right.
It can be a lot of hard work sometimes, but a lot of the projects can be quite interesting - designing a waste water system for an indian orphanage, design a plant to produce x amount of wine, design a coffee processing plant, etc
Do you have any ideas what you want to get into when you graduate? Because chem eng has a massive range of industries you can work in

not really sure, i just want to move into a career which enables me to move around alot... whether it be internationally or domestically, i dont really wanna stay in the same spot for more than a few weeks at a time at most before returning home.

[minux]

lol, it gets harder..well if your juggling a full time job and full time work. Im back this year after deferring, 2nd time through(sorry not engineering, just thought id share), looking forward to these last 2 years. I think bax summed it up though, knock over everything asap.

[VrWagz1]

Im going back to school again this year, dont sign up till the end of the month. But im going onto doing my advanced diploma in electrical and hope to sit my in charge ticket with the dpi at the finish too. But thats nearly 4 years away. Cant wait myself, its gonna be fun i recon.

[saber]

Man, your already back at uni?? I thought March was the starting month for most unis.

Anywho, I've just finished my eng/sci double degree, 5 years of pain all over!
Nah, joking about the pain part, you will go through periods of pain (eg in the last weeks of the semester where your hit with assignments left, right and center, and have to begin to study for the final exam) but for the most part, uni is a pretty cruisy affair. All engineering degrees have a high amount of math content, so an aptitude for maths would is needed. But in saying that, if your already in the course, you would have done pretty well in high school maths.

From what I've gathered in my time, electrical engineering (which I did) is seen as the most hardcore in terms of math content.

But for me, those days are over, now its time to start my grad job and earn some decent dosh! That's sometime you will have to look forward to when your finished.

PS: I've got only 2 regrets when looking back. First one is failing some subjects. While it wont matter when I've got more experience under my belt, it was the time I had re-invest to redo that subject which was the killer. Spending your summer break redoing a subject while your mates are out doing other things gives you a good kick in the pants.

The second one was not living on campus during my first year. It's pretty dear to live on campus (Melb uni is $350 per week minimum, but may be cheaper at others unis) but to be 18, single, and chilling/drinking with the hotties on campus, think of the possibilities!!!

[adamc11]

Flat_White... here is my advice too you. It's harder than high school and if you want to do well or even pass you have to work your butt off. It's not like everyone says it is, that it's easy, because it's not. Make sure you go to all your classes (yes, even 8-9am starts) and make sure you stay on top of your work. Do this and you'll be fine. Oh and if you start fking up your subjects i recommend some time off, i needed a break from uni because it was all too much and it has done a world of good. Good luck with it

[michaelw]

Get a study group of friends together and arrange to meet regularly in the library. You will be far more effective in learning in a small group. For the next fours year or so you are going to have to work bloody hard, but it is well worth it.

First year undoes all the damage done to you in high school.
Second tear teaches you the facts
Third year teaches you how to be technical
Fourth year (and the rest of your career) teaches you how to be professional.

Oh and finally, if you act like a high school student you will be treated like one, if you act like an adult your lecturers will be more inclined to help. Never go and ask for help cold, it is far better to go with an attempt and ask where you have gone wrong.

[MasterOfReality]

The first and fourth year are the hardest.

First year because its a common year, and you have to do a broad range of subjects. It will do your head in, guaranteed. I remember when I started back in 1998, it was almost like I had finished the HSC yesterday and all of a sudden had to get back into it. Motivation for me was zero in the first year. Coincidently, thats when most dropouts occur.

Fourth year because you have to do a thesis. Unlike most degrees, engineering forces a fourth honours year onto you whether you like it or not, and even then you are not guarenteed to pass with honours.

My advice is to try and nail your subjects in the first 2 years. It sort of gets easier after the first year, but then really ramps up towards the end of third year.

If you want a career thats lets you move around a lot, most of the engineering degrees are fairly flexible. Australian educated engineers are quite well respected overseas. I'm biased, but you could try mining engineering. Graduates earn about $90k, in fact mining graduates consistently top the graduate earnings list. Thats why I laugh when I see the ads on tv that say why to go uni when you can earn more as a trade. Rubbish. With grads on $90k, and fully seasoned senior mining engineers on $160-$200k, you will be never short of cash. Overseas opportunities are endless as well, especially in Asia where you can earn around $300k tax free per year.

The career paths are quite good too. Anything from senior management, CEO, consulting, its all there. The upper level careers in engineering usually require postgrad qualifications, so be prepared to do something like that down the track especially if you want to move into consulting.

The way you can make the most cash in engineering is to open up your own consultancy. That takes around 20 years in the industry and a PhD is preferable. Most independant mining engineering consultants I know gross around $400-$500k a year. A civil consultant I know makes around $250k a year, and there are heaps of them around.

[jules]

i finished a mech. eng. degree a while back.

mostly good advice here, i would stress:
1. if you don't like maths, forget about it - it only gets harder as you progress
2. it's not school with a teacher looking over your shoulder and checking you've done your homework - start working from day 1 or you will sink under the load
3. get a study group - i failed my first try at uni after i didn't bother integrating and making friends. you need friends, and try to choose smart ones.

[bezz]

I'm finishing off my final year of computer/electronic engineering this year while working as an rf engineer at a defence engineering company.

[SKNOT9]

This will be my first year of uni. Im doing a degree in Mechanical engineering plus a degree in mathematics as a double degree at the Adelaide Uni. I went to a great school last year called university senior college. Basically it is yr eleven and twelve in the format of uni, it is a school Within the adeladie uni, great idea i think. My brother went to usc (university senior college) then went on to do a degree in mechatronic engineering and said the transition into uni is seamless, we have aleady learnt how to study independantly so it is not a big deal at the start of uni.

[dufus]

This will be my first year of uni. Im doing a degree in Mechanical engineering plus a degree in mathematics as a double degree at the Adelaide Uni. I went to a great school last year called university senior college. Basically it is yr eleven and twelve in the format of uni, it is a school Within the adeladie uni, great idea i think. My brother went to usc (university senior college) then went on to do a degree in mechatronic engineering and said the transition into uni is seamless, we have aleady learnt how to study independantly so it is not a big deal at the start of uni.

Have fun in dynamics with Gareth Bridges lol, he takes the whole independent learning experience to another level. Im not studying mech eng, but if you need help with any of your first year subjects (ive done most of them) shoot me a PM and ill help you out where I can.

[SKNOT9]

thanks for the heads up!

[Joey_21]

Im going back to school again this year, dont sign up till the end of the month. But im going onto doing my advanced diploma in electrical and hope to sit my in charge ticket with the dpi at the finish too. But thats nearly 4 years away. Cant wait myself, its gonna be fun i recon.

its crap waste of time wont get u a good job unless ur got work in wollongong lol id go to uni or do this course and do 2 yrs of uni will help u alot

[VrWagz1]

its crap waste of time wont get u a good job unless ur got work in wollongong lol id go to uni or do this course and do 2 yrs of uni will help u alot

It's enough to see me get an In charge engineers ticket. That will see me able to atleast pick up en electrical engineers job easy and go in charge to if i want too. Dosnt get much higher than that. Next step is mine manager.

[Joey_21]

haha thats alright then ur set

[MasterOfReality]

It's enough to see me get an In charge engineers ticket. That will see me able to atleast pick up en electrical engineers job easy and go in charge to if i want too. Dosnt get much higher than that. Next step is mine manager.

I assume you are talking about the coal mines in Wollongong?

You wont get mine manager unless you do some serious tertiary study in mining engineering and put in a bit of time at the face. You also need to satisfy a time requirement in several different positions in the mine. You need to be intimately familiar with longwall AND bord and pillar (doesn't matter if nobody uses it, you need to know the theory behind the method as its becoming an attractive alternative when it comes to mining under the Sydney Catchement). You need to have a sound working knowledge of mining geomechanics, ventilation and gas.

Don't want to make it sound shit to you, but I have never seen somebody holding an advanced dimploma in elec engineering end up as mine manager. I have seen it with someone that had a advanced diploma in mining - he went from miner, to deputy, to undermanager, to senior mining engineer, finally to mine manager. He was in his mid 40's when he got there.

In underground metalliferous it seems to be even harder. Without a bachelors degree in mining, you cannot sit for a first class ticket, only a second class.

Just a heads up.