But I mean, the protocol is very useful, especially the math, and you will become proficient at what you were taught to do, but I by no means have a more valuable opinion on anything outside of electrical engineering just because I am learning the protocol behind it.
I would argue you do NOT need an engineering degree to be an engineer. You spend so much time in classes like advanced math, learning about other disciplines you don't care about, and of course all the fluff of a "rounded university education."
My view is there should be a 2-year fundamentals covering the basics, including some math theory but not sorting through ridiculous equations/calc/etc - computers for that, but need to know what you're calculating at least type of thing, then apprenticeship type deal in discipline you want to work in actually on the job.
Edit: I realize I'm not really answering the comment but off on a tangent. Yes, from a "worthwhile you'll probably have a job" standpoint they are worth getting vs most that are truly worthless.
Depends on the type of engineering you want to do. You need way more than basic math to do, for instance, the aerospace type engineering, or electrical engineering.
Maybe. I still say engineering degrees are vastly bloated things where you learn a ton about stuff you don't need to know about. E.g. you don't really need a chemistry class to get that corrosion is basically dissimilar metals plus an electrolyte. Who cares about the exact reactions and solving them and stuff type of thing. I still say a couple years of the fundamentals then specialize on the job is still best.
Edit - something like basic concepts/terminology (things like what "stress" "current" etc mean), basic classes in each area (circuits, statics/dynamics, materials, manufacturing processes), enough math to get what math needs done... Don't waste time with classes like diff EQ where you just solve hardass equations, who cares. Example: 2 weeks of thermo is enough to understand what you need to know about it for most things without learning every damn possible cycle and doing all kinds of complicated crap that you'll probably never use let alone remember.
Engineering education should focus on learning how things work generally and how to learn more/research/etc, not having you come out as some kind of generalist who could do almost anything in it but after your first job you simply most likely won't.
The Degree is a certificate that states you passed a baseline knowledge bar in Engineering. That’s it.
It’s really just Step 0 in your path towards a profession in Engineering.
Are there better ways to learn the fundamentals? Yes.
Any kid with willpower will find a way to learn all this stuff, and seek teachers/mentors, etc.
All the best students I was surrounded by were already freakin smart before they walked into class. They already knew the material, had a grasps of the concepts and were just there to get the ‘paper’ so they can move on.
So what do you do when the computers are down and you have to do calculations manually? That is the stupidity that dumbs us all down.......relying on computers rather than your brain.
as someone with an engineering degree, yes, it is worth getting - IF you want to do engineering and want to live in an area where the kind of engineering you want to do is done.
Otherwise, you gotta be real careful now deciding if college is really worth it especially with so many good opportunities in trades that don't require any college at all.
I was lucky back in 1970 to have the UK government pay my university fees (and I didn't have tp pay them back). My course was Electronic Engineering but they taught me many other subjects including how a car engine works and economics! Now, 52 years later, I'm fucking brilliant - I know absolutely everything - and I'm modest, too! ;)
what's nice about engineering is you have to learn how to learn because there are some complicated things you have to learn to get a degree. The things you learn in school can become outdated or useless but since you also learn how to learn you'll always be an engineer, solving problems and figuring out new things, thinking logically and recognizing patterns.
100% on make sure you can get the job you want where you want. They really should tell people this on the way IN to engineering school, and they don't. (They also don't tell people that half of mechanicals end up in mfg even though they didn't want that degree for a reason.)
(These two factors figured heavily into my eventual switch from ME to SE.)
lol yeah I'm an ME and have a long resume, I've done mostly design of some sort in various industries but a lot of machine design lately, because - naturally - there's a lot of that around here.
Manufacturing (as in Manufacturing Engineer) and quality just seem so .... boring, but a mechanical degree applies to so many fields you can do a LOT of different things.
Yeah I basically didn't know the importance of First Job so I didn't get a design job right out of school. I did liaison/"MRB" engineering at Boeing which is like watching painters paint, then after that couldn't get a design job so ended up in mfg. BLECH, process shit etc, so watching paint dry.
I switched to software as a fresh start that would get me back to problem solving but with creativity in the mix/satisfied, as well as less (basically no) geographic constraints and nice-to-haves like WFH, flexible hours etc.
I have heard that engineering degrees are one of the few worth getting.
Excluding Civil Engineering lol
But I mean, the protocol is very useful, especially the math, and you will become proficient at what you were taught to do, but I by no means have a more valuable opinion on anything outside of electrical engineering just because I am learning the protocol behind it.
Hey now, civil engineers build great targets.
I would argue you do NOT need an engineering degree to be an engineer. You spend so much time in classes like advanced math, learning about other disciplines you don't care about, and of course all the fluff of a "rounded university education."
My view is there should be a 2-year fundamentals covering the basics, including some math theory but not sorting through ridiculous equations/calc/etc - computers for that, but need to know what you're calculating at least type of thing, then apprenticeship type deal in discipline you want to work in actually on the job.
Edit: I realize I'm not really answering the comment but off on a tangent. Yes, from a "worthwhile you'll probably have a job" standpoint they are worth getting vs most that are truly worthless.
Depends on the type of engineering you want to do. You need way more than basic math to do, for instance, the aerospace type engineering, or electrical engineering.
Maybe. I still say engineering degrees are vastly bloated things where you learn a ton about stuff you don't need to know about. E.g. you don't really need a chemistry class to get that corrosion is basically dissimilar metals plus an electrolyte. Who cares about the exact reactions and solving them and stuff type of thing. I still say a couple years of the fundamentals then specialize on the job is still best.
Edit - something like basic concepts/terminology (things like what "stress" "current" etc mean), basic classes in each area (circuits, statics/dynamics, materials, manufacturing processes), enough math to get what math needs done... Don't waste time with classes like diff EQ where you just solve hardass equations, who cares. Example: 2 weeks of thermo is enough to understand what you need to know about it for most things without learning every damn possible cycle and doing all kinds of complicated crap that you'll probably never use let alone remember.
Engineering education should focus on learning how things work generally and how to learn more/research/etc, not having you come out as some kind of generalist who could do almost anything in it but after your first job you simply most likely won't.
The Degree is a certificate that states you passed a baseline knowledge bar in Engineering. That’s it.
It’s really just Step 0 in your path towards a profession in Engineering.
Are there better ways to learn the fundamentals? Yes.
Any kid with willpower will find a way to learn all this stuff, and seek teachers/mentors, etc.
All the best students I was surrounded by were already freakin smart before they walked into class. They already knew the material, had a grasps of the concepts and were just there to get the ‘paper’ so they can move on.
So what do you do when the computers are down and you have to do calculations manually? That is the stupidity that dumbs us all down.......relying on computers rather than your brain.
Horse shit
as someone with an engineering degree, yes, it is worth getting - IF you want to do engineering and want to live in an area where the kind of engineering you want to do is done.
Otherwise, you gotta be real careful now deciding if college is really worth it especially with so many good opportunities in trades that don't require any college at all.
I was lucky back in 1970 to have the UK government pay my university fees (and I didn't have tp pay them back). My course was Electronic Engineering but they taught me many other subjects including how a car engine works and economics! Now, 52 years later, I'm fucking brilliant - I know absolutely everything - and I'm modest, too! ;)
what's nice about engineering is you have to learn how to learn because there are some complicated things you have to learn to get a degree. The things you learn in school can become outdated or useless but since you also learn how to learn you'll always be an engineer, solving problems and figuring out new things, thinking logically and recognizing patterns.
100% on make sure you can get the job you want where you want. They really should tell people this on the way IN to engineering school, and they don't. (They also don't tell people that half of mechanicals end up in mfg even though they didn't want that degree for a reason.)
(These two factors figured heavily into my eventual switch from ME to SE.)
lol yeah I'm an ME and have a long resume, I've done mostly design of some sort in various industries but a lot of machine design lately, because - naturally - there's a lot of that around here.
Manufacturing (as in Manufacturing Engineer) and quality just seem so .... boring, but a mechanical degree applies to so many fields you can do a LOT of different things.
Yeah I basically didn't know the importance of First Job so I didn't get a design job right out of school. I did liaison/"MRB" engineering at Boeing which is like watching painters paint, then after that couldn't get a design job so ended up in mfg. BLECH, process shit etc, so watching paint dry.
I switched to software as a fresh start that would get me back to problem solving but with creativity in the mix/satisfied, as well as less (basically no) geographic constraints and nice-to-haves like WFH, flexible hours etc.