Hi,
I'm looking to study engineering at Penn State University. I applied, and got accepted to the College of Engineering (Mechanical engineering).
However, students don't declare majors until after the first two years, and the engineering curriculum is more or less the same in that time (chem, phys, calc, GEs, etc.)
Penn State has A LOT of options, and I'm not sure if mechanical engineering is enough, or if it's too broad. I'm really interested in getting into the energy industry- renewables, natural gas, etc. (not quite sure yet) and of course, I'd like to have good employment opportunities after college.... and good pay.
Basically, what I'm asking is what would be the best course of action. PSU has energy engineering minors (petrol/natural gas engineering, nuclear, energy, energy business/finance, just a general energy eng. minor, etc.) as well as energy engineering Majors, as part of the earth and mineral sciences college, not the college of engineering. They also allow dual majoring.
Should I switch majors from mechanical eng. to energy eng.? What about other conventional engineering majors (chemical, electrical, etc.)?
Or should I do mechanical with a minor or concentration in energy? What energy sector should I specialize in? What has the most growth and will be most attractive to employers? I know natural gas is supposed to be a booming industry in the next decade.
And for anyone who studied energy eng in school, or is involved in the energy industry, whats your job like?
Also, any other tips for a high school senior looking to study engineering are GREATLY appreciated (interning, research, etc.).
Thank you so much.
Best answer:
Answer by Sabotage
It depends on what you like to study. Because some people major in chemical engineering because they love both chemistry and math.
Can someone answer my question?
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Mechanical will allow you to work in almost any field ;)
ReplyDeleteAll energy, except solar and nuclear, is mechanical.
ReplyDeleteNuclear energy requres a lot of mechanical devices to safely extract the power and to handle the energy source, the nuclear fuel.
Solar cells have to be manufactured and installed. All mechanical.
Your first two years of engineering study are "generic" because you are learning the basics.
You need three semesters of Calculus, maybe one semester of Differential Equations, maybe one semester of Linear Algebra (big maybe).
You will take two semesters of Mechanics, one for Static (non-moving) and one for Dynamic (moving).
You will take one or two semesters of Physics, at a general level.
All of this stuff is a little more advanced that what you are not learning in high school, yet it is only a foundation for the junior and senior classes.
Meanwhile, try to find magazines, in print or online, about the energy industry.
Read those to absorb the technical jargon and buzz words.
Electrical Engineering is mostly circuit analysis (classes) and the labs are small devices, not the big things like the utility generators and substations - which are mechanical themselves ! Electrical Engineering involves a whopping lot of mathematics. But every electrical and electronic device is a mechanical thing, it has to be manufactured by mechanical equipment. And most machines have sensors, which are electrial or electronic devices measuring mechanical data like location, temperature, pressure.
Chemical Engineering is used by the petrochemical refineries and plastics manufacturers, at a huge scale, and by the semiconductor manufacturers at a small scale. Petrochemical refineries are huge, and the machines, the cookers, the towers, reactor vessels, etc are designed by mechanical engineers. Petrochemical refineries use a lot of electrical power and steam power.
So you are concerned if mechanical engineering is too broad ?
Alll the engineering fields are huge. I have just listed a few examples.
You have plenty of time for the first two years of college to read trade publications to get a sense of what the industry is like that is covered by a trade publication.
Whatever spare time you have, use it to take things apart and put things together. See what you can find from dumpsters or what people discard elsewhere. Cars, motorcycles, electric wheelchairs, hobby aircraft, toy helicopters, discarded electronics and computers, hard drives, DVD burners, etc. Take these things apart to see how they are made, see if you can put them back together and make them work again. The goal is to make the three-dimensional world of the mechanical engineer part of your visual knowledge and vocabulary.
And look for hobby groups, if you are in a large city there should be several. See what sparks you interest.
Nuclear engineering is specific to the nuclear fuel in the reactor. It is certainly possible for nuclear engineers to be involved in other sub-systems of the reactor system, but there are dedicated engineers for those sub-systems. If you are willing to get away from commercial nuclear power, nuclear engineering is involved in many different fields from energy research, nuclear fuels manufacturing, nuclear medicine, astro-physics, archeaology, health physics, nuclear chemistry, and various other fields.
ReplyDeleteThe daily experience of engineers varies, depending on the company. In some companies, engineers get deeply involved in the field working side by side with the tradesmen and other skilled workers. In other companies, engineers are relegated to offices where they perform analyses, run computer simulations, and attend meetings. There are a whole spectrum of positions that run the gamut between those two extremes. Nuclear engineers tend to find themselves in environments where they spend most of their time in the office. One of the reasons for this is that nuclear engineering tends to be paid better than other engineering fields. If you are making $ 60 to $ 70 per hour, management doesn't want you in the field getting dirty with tools.
Major in Petroleum Engineering or Chemical Engineering. They are the highest paid and most valuable in the oil field. However, petroleum engineers are more valuable than the chemical engineer in the oil industry and start out at a higher pay and job position.
ReplyDelete