What degree should I take on?
 

Well guys, looks like I am going back to school in order to add a couple of more letters to the end of my name and to add some credibility to the practical and applied knowledge I have gained over the last 20 years.

I want to make this hobby a career and would love to keep it in the transportation industry.

Now I know its Engineering, but which field of engineering would be best to tackle the challenges of alternative fuel and / or the transportation industry.

Thanks for the help.

Mechanical! I could get you in at the Thayer School up in NH, *winkwink*

I was leaning that way .. however relocation is not an option. I have to stay in S. fla, so it looks like FAU is the place for me to be ...

Alrighty then Mechanical so far ... anyone else agree or disagree

Any engineering degree will work. You've got two years to decide after you start.

What do you want out of your degree?

A lot of it is how you focus the degree. I just finish my mech e degree and I am not fit to change my own oil yet. With that said, I know enough to be doing design work for NASA. Mechanical engineering is way to big to just do that.

I think Mechanical Engineering is a whole lot cooler because it is a much broader field of study: Materials Science, Mechanics & Dynamics, Mechanics of Materials, Fluid Dynamics, Control Systems plus maybe more depending on your school. Mech Eng types have a better understanding of the word because they are a jack of all trades. That said, the future of the world is in electronics and 95+% of M.E.s are pretty clueless on that subject.

To me the ultimate would be a 2 year technology in electonics and a M.E. degree on top of that. Since nobody would commit the time to that, do the E.E.

By the way, I have a degree in M.E.

Mechanical and see if you could pull a double and get one in Electrical as well.

Most modern mech programs require a good deal of electronics. I took two circuits classes, an electric machinery course (transformers, motors, etc), two programming courses (one higher level and one asm on a pic) and these were the bare minimums. The old guys may not know it but the new ones are going through programs stressing inter-disciplinary skills and that requires a strong EE background. Of course, your mileage may vary with those lesser known institutions.

I graduated in 2001 and I had DC and Fortran programming in 1rst year, AC in Second year, a EE elective in 3rd year of either basic electronics or Power systems and two classes in Controls in 4rth and I took an elective in programming a microcontroller that year as well. The 3rd year electives only teach you very simple analysis, the controls was 100% theoretical and the microcontroller class was way too short. From my year at least, we were left with a minimal understanding, completely short of designing anything and god help you if you had to build something. I liken it to asking a EE to talk about materials/manufacturing or dynamics of mechanical systems or heat transfer, they know what each are but don’t have a deep enough background to competently do anything with them on a mechanical system with any degree of complexity.

I will agree that new M.E. programs are trying to focus more on the inter-disciplinary stuff, but doesn’t that cheapen your abilities WRT what you could know about mech systems?

Go w/ whatever suits ya and add in some courses from other engineering programs such as signals and systems if you're ME, etc... Also, if you can stand it, getting a double w/ some engineering major and pure math would look muy bien. And it's not like it's hard either, there was someone w/ a MS in EE and another guy w/ a PHd in ChE in my undergrad analysis classes.

Another thing to keep in mind is that with most mech. eng. degrees, you can dual major in Physics with only a few extra classes. I say get the mechanical, the only other two that would have anything to do with alt. fuels is electrical eng. or chemistry.

I don't know how FAU is but some schools you can duel major Mech/Aero Engineering which would be excellent. I personally am an Electrical/Computer Systems Duel which isn't bad for this stuff but because more of it is airflow/drag/friction it's a little more Mech/Aero. If you're decent at one of the fields already (been a machinist for 10 years or an electrician for 5 or whatever) you might want to take courses in the field you are less familiar with to expand your knowledge base.

I'm starting out college, first year done at community college and another year to go before I transfer to UCF.. I want to use my degree like how Trik wants too... :)

edited.. wrong thread... lol

However mechanical engineering and some Areodynamics cources could come in really handy..

Thank you for yor input guys ... It just frustrates me because I have over 10 years of in the field experience in both motorcycle and automotive design. Meaning I can fabricate just about anything for any vehicle, plus have the aptitude to make it beautiful, and functional.

And while I would like to think that I have the potential to influence this emerging trend of fuel efficiency, I feel like an unheard voice because I do not have a plaque on the wall behind me signed and stamped by a college.

When I come out of this tunnel from the other side I should be dangerous. A degree (Or multiple) plus 10+ years of applied experience should raise me above the rest emerging in this field.

I'm an ME, it so happend that my career ended up with transportation... first aircraft, now submarines. I must say in the post manufacturing world they are the same.

Anyways, if the environment is your concern, and want to have a degree with the most impact... go to LAW!!!

The machines will follow specs the Law makers dictates.

If you want to improve machinary, i suggest The a BS in Mechanical, and then go to Law school. You can get into transportation, alterante energy etc

If you want to improve the environement other ways, prevent deforestation, protect endangered species... then maybe BS Enviromental Science, then go Law school

Or go into politics

Congratulations on the decision to go back. I plan on doing the same thing after I graduate the first time :rolleyes:. I wanted to be an engineer in high school..got to college and did the typical 12 different majors the first year and now I'm a junior in accounting :confused: Anyway my wife is with a company that has been franchising out and she looks to be pretty well set up in about 2-3 years. So I figure I'll work for maybe a year or two after that and go back to my first love. I originally wanted to do aero but I'm wanting to do more mechanical now. Finding this site sparked my interest again. Thanks for that guys :thumbup:

I suggest Mechanical... I'm a M.E. got hired for and Aerospace position. M.E.'s can pretty much get into anything that the Aerospace guys can, and a bunch more of stuff. ex i'm in submarines now.

The curriculum is almost exactly the same... except the examples in there text pertain to aeroplanes. M.E. can be bicycles, powerplant turbine etc.

I suggest you go after whatever interests you most. Thats where you'll be most happy.

I agree with the majority here...ME is the way to go (that's what I did). I specifically agree with Red, try get EE stuff where possible and if not a double-major, at least try to take numerous classes in Control Systems or engineering electronics. It wouldn't hurt to do another focus on fluid dynamics, but most universities a more pushing toward fluid machinery (jet engines, rockets etc) rather than vehicle aerodynamics (with the possible exception of airplane design).

I know you said relocation is not an option but not knowing what options are available in your area, I'll mention that I know at least the Naval Academy has a degree called Systems Engineering (not to be confused with Industrial Systems Engineering or "manufacturing efficiency engineer") that focuses on the practical integration of multidisciplinary systems. System integration is where the rubber meets the road so to speak, and where many businesses fail to "pull it all together" and make a successful product. It wouldn't hurt to look into that, but outside of the military academies I'm not sure who offers such a degree.

I wish you luck but I'll warn you about some college professors. I'm sure you've learned lots of reasons why certain things are done in practice, but a lot of PhD types don't care about practice and expect you to know the fundamental theory driving why things are done. A wise man (fabricator) I once worked with would say "In theory, theory and practice are the same. But in practice, they aren't" and most PhD types either don't care or refuse to believe that.

That has gotten me to this point, however I want to back it with official blessing from a higher learning institution and like many of you have stated, their isn't really a degree for the real world teachings I have absorbed.

THerefore I applied today to FAU and we'll see, I am going to take on Mechanical engineering as my degree field and try and suppliment that with as many related electives as I can get my hands on ..

Thanks again ..

My only suggestion is that you try to get as deep into the major as quickly as possible. Remember that you'll be breathing mathematics for four years. Grand visions of changing the transportation infrastructure will die out the day you get a professor that makes learning as much fun as sticking your nuts in a vice. :p

It's not that the material is hard, it is that you need to make sure your passion is aligned with your goals. If you can keep your motivation up and get involved with extracurricular programs (FSAE, etc.), you'll have an awesome time.

- LostCause

I LOVE that! Can I use it? Please? Please?:D