A new house - made of gold.

really i would like 1. work on designing bridges and buildings 2. work on developing stuff such as robotic arms for human prosthetics. maybe something to do with a weapons guidance systems for air crafts or maybe design the whole Air craft. you see i really dont know. all i know i wanna leave in arizona when i get older and that i want to do something as far as either building or designing stuff such as weapons systems or maybe machines such as the prosthetic hand or maybe something like that i really dont know what i build if i could build something right now i prolly be if i have the know how a machine that drew in static charge from the air inorder to great a useable amount of electricty

1. Look into civil engineering for bridges and buildings

2. Look into biomedical for prosthetics and mechanical for robotics.

3. Aircrafts are usually aerospace or aeronautical engineering. Some schools offer these specifically but they are actually just branches of mechanical engineering. Weapons systems is mechanical and possibly electrical engineering as well. In my limited experience in an aircraft company, you will need at least a Masters degree to get design jobs (or at least a job with cool designs and calculations). My suggestion, without knowing what college you plan to attend, is go to college for a B. S. in mechanical engineering and then go to a grad school that offers aerospace engineering.

haha, good question but I am afraid that whatever you build you will need electrical, mechanical, acoustic?, manufacturing! , etc etc.... Although it will narrow the search a little bit... but it is a hard question being that there are so many great products to do...

I would first make a plane to get the hell outta here, then a house ... then some weapons to protect my riches... then grow my own food... then make a cool car for the ladies... haha

chem is a big interest for me along with math and building machines such as and maybe soft ware for airplanes and such that would be interesting i would either want to 1. design buildings and bridges stuff of that nature, computer software for airplanes maybe weapons systems or something of hat nature i know with our economy it would be bad to go into a job building briges or buildings at present though.

Do we really can choose our career distinstively? I got a phd on control engineering of thermal systems, end up I am working in medical product manufacturer. I don't think there a subject in the colleage that you take can forward you to a particular career like aircraft, missile of such things.. of course your major project done may can help you to start with particular field, but not for long.

GA for that.

You could not get a better hint from even your nearest & dearest relatives either.

This is so true what Dutchy try to convey across to you that if you ever follow his advice you just cannot go wrong in life.

Do not worry about your friends if they look down on you sometimes for not hanging out with them because stuck with your subjects, especially the ones Dutchy pointed out to you, as they will benefit you sooner or later.

And yeah, join a club if you can to take up something that might interest you!

Furthermore, don't be shy to get back here whenever you feel like to ask questions, whatever they may be (even if you wanna build an electric chopper).

I know personally, it is hard at your age what to choose or where to begin as all engineering fields are specialised these days and it takes a while to know which one to pick or where you might end up.

g. luck

Dutchy, I give you a Good Answer. This is how I got in where I am today. The most important thing is to get hands on and really learn how to work things.

Lao once out of school with what ever degree you get there is a good likelyhood that you will end up in another field albeit related. As stated early, learn the basics, explore, and do

"you are at school to learn how to learn"

Exactly!

Chemical engineering is considered today to be the hottest area of study since it seems to be a base for all the environmental studies and development of means to care for our planet. Due to this it also has turned out to be the highest paying engineering field, where new graduates are being offerred twice the salaries than any other field if they studied chem. engineering and environmental technology. Advanced degrees in the field are paying huge amounts to entice people into the field. Today it is the going thing. It is also a study of alternate technologies such as alternate fuels, alternate energy, clean up, efficiencies in manufacturing and on and on.

Which ever field you embark on it might be wise, however, to learn some basics in writing, spelling and communications. These will help you in getting that high paying job.

Yes, tell us about hobbies, what books you read, anything at all like that. I'll even ask some questions (you don't have to answer) to see if these ring a bell.

Do you work on autos?

Do you play a musical instrument?

Do you write computer programs?

Do you watch TV shows about astronomy?

Do you help any adult with house repairs?

Do you have a part-time job?

Do you like chemistry lab? Or biology? or physics?

Do you read science-fiction?

Do you have a ham radio license?

Do you work puzzles like Sudoku or crosswords?

Do you play chess?

Do you make pottery, woodcrafts, or paint?

What magazines do you read?

i dont work on autos

i mess around with musical instrument while im not very good i'd like to be

as far as computer programs i would LOVE to know how to script and program but i dont know how to learn.

astronomy interests me very little

I would help build houses if ask or repair it would see fun

i have a part time job i work in a dish room at a resturant

chemistry biology and physics i love from what i've had in high school

yes i read science fiction alot

whats a ham radio license?

i cant stand crosswords and idk what sudoku is well i do but i've never tired it XD

i do play chess from time to time not very good but i do like to play

pottery i have never done woodcrafts i'd like to but never done also and paint i cant paint or draw very well at all XD

i dont read any magazines if you have any good ones you'd recomend i'll check them out thought xD

urvin62

Engineering is a pretty precise business.

Please do not take offense, but take some advice from an old f***. Write English, use the spell checker, correct capitalization, apostrophes and punctuation, because when you design that bridge or prosthetic hand, the person reading your description needs to have a very clear understanding of what you thought it was that you had said.

Good luck in you quest - Engineering has been great fun for me for over 40 years.

I know ,but being as this is just a blog i really didn't care enough to even try to do grammar and spelling

Engineering is not just a job, keep that in mind.

You should you know because this is an engineering forum and many of us are engineers and scientists taking the time to help out others.

You wouldn't go to a job interview without wearing pants because you couldn't be bothered would you? Do you think they would give you the job, no they wouldn't. Same thing here, if you appear that you are not really interested then people are unlikely to spend the time helping you.

It's always worth the time to check spelling and grammar, especially if you are as bad at typing as I am...

No matter what field of engineering you decide upon, from my point of view, you're not a real engineer unless you can build at least some of your stuff yourself. If you haven't already, take some basic classes in metalworking/machining. Depending on what's available, that could mean jewelry, plastics, or even woodworking. CNC machining combines the programming with machining, and could get your foot in the door in almost any field.

Good luck!

I don't want to encourage him in keeping is bad grammar but most engineers don't write very well.

Grammar is generally not based on logic but on historical events. You have to learn most rules by heart. The fact that his grammar is not so good is a clue that he is one of us...

Nevertheless, we all had to improve our communication skills over the years as it is very important to be well understood since we have so much to teach the world...

I can feel my head inflating...

GA for that.

Fortunately problem solving isn't directly related to grammar, regardless what lingo it is, unless you wanna become a 'pencil pusher' type engineer. In that case grammar will be your best weapon in life.

If you look at wild animals they too have problem solving skills; some of it through basic instinct but some of it through logic, I'm sure, without even being able to communicate on a high level language.

Whereas some humans when it comes to logic and problem solving are more hopeless than any living creature on the planet. What's more these creatures even brag about it, without realising they are just admitting how dumb or stupid they are, while their com skills can be said as one of the best.

Remember, some of these seemingly conflicting comments are all part of engineering; full of possibilities and probabilities and you, as a would be engineer, must make up your mind which path you wanna take to achieve what you want.

I agree with you. I have to edit the drawings that come through me from the engineers. I have one especially that misspells words constantly. It's just a matter of paying attention to detail and that lack of paying attention to detail could be what costs you from landing a job.

"as far as computer programs i would LOVE to know how to script and program but i dont know how to learn."

Sounds like you might be interested in becoming a software engineer . Check your local college for IT courses . These courses are also taught in specialist computer schools and even community clubs .

Given the profile described, consider a course in Chemical Engineering, and then maybe broaden from there, perhaps?

Urvin62,

Thanks for the reply. This is just a "shot in the dark", but take a good look at Bioengineering. There are a lot of subspecialties, such as the prosthetics you mentioned, and you might find something that's just what you like.

You'll need decent grades in school, particularly in math and science. If you need, you can always start at a community college and then move on to a university. But, the comment about communication skills is spot on. It'll help if you form the habit of using reasonable grammar and punctuation now; it'll be expected in the workplace.

Probably the best approach to scripting (as opposed to programming) is either Python or Perl.

Both are well supported, both have strong user communities where you can get help, both have strong tutorials, and both have ALL the tools - free.

http://docs.python.org/tutorial/

http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2000/10/begperl1.html

I meant to ask, any reason for Arizona?

Or any particular place in Arizona?

Don't know what prospects are for Chemical Engineers are in AZ (not my field) but many of your other interests are practical there.

But unless you are looking at family ties or a particular town, Arizona looks a lot like west Texas, like southern Utah, like east California, like all of New Mexico and southern Colorado and that range pretty much widens your career choices to...everything.

Hi Urvin62, one thing to do is visit your local library and school library and browse through some books. It is easier than browsing sites like this, which often rely upon you knowing what you are looking for. Biomech excludes nuclear, excludes metalurgy etc, so you have to be careful on your choice.

Also speak to your teachers in the science dept, they can direct you to books that will explain the basics of topics that might be of interest to you, maybe even help you contact local businesses or with a local mentor, so you can visit businesses.

I don't know what your school is like but we used to melt metals for models, build bridges, planes and hovercraft after lessons, so getting a club can be good too.

regards

For Biomed. I worked at St. Jude Inc. CRMD until 1997 as a Senior Staff Scientist designing Cardiac Pacemakers. I was a IC designer and Software guy. They do Mechanical Engineering also. This is the home page. http://www.sjm.com/ It is very interesting work since your design is implanted into the human body pacing a sick heart and giving people a better life. The web site describes much more than I can here. Under Products/Bradycardia you will see a pacemaker called "Affinity". I was the creator of that product and wrote the technical spec. on how it would work. I believe most of the pacemakers after Affinity are using the same design that I worked on just different software and a new pacemaker name. This is called a platform design which can support many products buy changing the software to do different functions.

Regards,

maveric_manic

Easy enough to make this happen once you have interest in the subjects you seem to be interested in. After HS, if you can afford college or are lucky enough to get a degree go after the most basic "engineering" degree. Once you have the basic degree or are on the road to making it happen, you will figure out more exactly what you want to do.

I would suggest using the degree to develope something useful and putting it into USA manufacturing (so you can have other people hired on and help fire up an economy that will most likely be recovering from this Obamanation for decades.

Someone has to pay his debts... Why not make a fortune and help the country while doing it. If your not Aemrican... Do the same in your country and blame it on the 'tax and spend politicians'.

JL Mealer
Mealer Companies LLC
America's Next major Automaker
http://mealercompanies.com

urvin62,

I could appreciate your advanced planning attitude and futuristic goals.

Remember, the very curriculum of schooling is meant for preparing you with sound basics of scientific knowledge so that you can proceed in a step by step manner. Pay due attention and keep correlating to your observed knowledge and consult frankly with your gurus. For every individual, whatever be the age, a field of concern will inspire to indulge and contribute. Thoughts are like sown seeds in the deep mental faculty, they grow unknowingly, get matured for a timely delivery of performance.One got to simply keep feeding inputs of knowledge and nurture it. The concern on energy, water and environment was of a curiosity to me right from my childhood, I kept grooming the outlook in all possible ways and today I am a field worker and a researcher. The same is applicable to you also, focus on today, and strengthen your foundation and specific goals.

Best wishes and nice of replying to you.

Hi urvin62,

FIRST, it's great to see you here. One of the first and best steps in any career is to realize that "no one is an island". Surely, none of us can know all there is to know, but the wisdom that will always surpass all you can learn is the drive to 'find' the answers. The key to success in any field is not just knowing the 'mechanics' of that trade, but how to solve problems ... how to find out ... how to accomplish the task. It often comes from associations in the field and elsewhere, and CR4 is one of those 'elsewhere' places.

At the risk of sounding TOO OLD, I can remember my perspective of 'engineers' and 'scientists' when I was in High School ... I was sure that all drafting rooms (and now you will know my generation) were filled with rows and rows of drafting tables staffed by guys in white shirts and skinny black ties. My perspective of 'engineering' was that everyone wore lab coats, and were surrounded by banks of electronics, or glassware filled with colored and bubbling liquids.

How shocked I was when I took my first job as a 'draftsman', learning that the 'engineers' really weren't, and the only drafting table was in the corner of the 'engineering' department.

Of course it depends on the company and the environment, but my idea of real engineering is ... well ... educated PLAYING. Certainly, playing with a purpose, but it is a creative process of problem-solving. I know some 'engineers' who rarely do more than very limited and selective tasks and never know the overview of what they are working on, but I would hate that. I would rather get my hands dirty, build things, break things, occasionally blow something up .

The other think to know is, regardless of education and training, there is always more to learn. Anyone who either by their own desire, or by the dictates of their circumstances refuse to think outside the 'box' called 'engineer' are really cheating themselves. For me, I am lucky in the environments I have been in because I have had some freedom to grow and learn and explore. That's what keeps life interesting.

Okay, a final note (for the moment). Get your education, find a job where you can begin to really learn, then BE PATIENT. Despite the enticements of the educational folks, you are not going to hit the ground running either financially or positionally. It takes time, and you have to 'pay your dues'. Try to look at every experience, both the good ones and the not so good ones, as just another piece of the education. Use the time wisely to learn your craft, gain experience, and most of all, to learn about the world. Business is tough. Employers are not always fair. Co-workers are not always kind. But it's all a part of learning and growing.

Thanks for the great post, and wishing you good success in your adventures.

Kind regards ...

It's nice to now that literally we don't have to take projects back to the drawing board.

I recommend any high school student interested in getting into the engineering field to get a jump on it and learn programs like AutoCAD, Solidworks, Visio and even Microsoft Project and Excel. They aren't that hard to learn and it will make it much easier for getting through his studies at what ever engineering school he attends.

Take a challenge...

http://techchallenge.thetech.org/

I work with a a team of High School students in the Adirondacks of New York and in the last two years we have built;

1. A water powered pump to lift water to a village.

2. A device to remotely land sensors in a volcano.

We competed with all the other (290+/-) teams in San Jose and San Diego live via web cam, and were the only team from outside of California. We built our own test rig, like the ones they use at the the Tech Museum.

You will need to get a team together, analyze this year's problem, build a device to solve the problem, document how you developed your solution, demonstrate your solution, and be judged by answering questions via web cam. And it's a lot of fun to see how other teams solve the same problem you were working on for so long.

At the end of June, most of the team is going to Cornell U for some hands on demos of engineering classes like "Strength of Materials". They like to break things.....

And the team has been invited to attend a four day New England Tech Challenge conference, at the University of New Hampshire in July. That's going to cost $2400 for everyone so it might be out of reach, but we will try anyway.

I'm sure my team, the CR4, and Tech Museum will help you to compete, if you want to try. The team is already advising someone in Quebec on how to build their own river powered water pump. Youngest consultants I know of...

Next challenge is:

International Space Station Mission: Space Junk

Confucius say. "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." You need to find what you are passionate about. You are just in beginning stages and need to explore what interests you the most. Like these guys said, you need to focus on the basics to start. Just navigating through these early stages will give you some indication where your interest lie.

From my perspective, being a mechanical engineer probably gets you the most flexibility as you can work for just about anyone that owns or builds a machine. I am a chemical engineer but for the first 6 years of my career I was in a plant where it didn't really matter what degree you had, you just needed to be able to solve problems and think on your feet. Now I am doing "real" chemical engineering and enjoying it as well.

You will need to learn computer programming, it is a requirement once you get into college (I had to learn Fortran, blech) and it is something that you will probably use once you get out of school.

As others have said, engineering school really teaches you how to think in a logical and structured fashion and doesn't really prepare you for a specific career. Once you get into a field out of school, then you can get your feet wet in a specific area. My advice would be to pick a general engineering field (chemical, mechanical, civil, electrical) and see what floats your boat down the road. You don't really have to pick from the general fields until after your 1st year in college so if you are uncertain between those, that is fine too.

If I may be so bold as to steer you to my alma mater, they have a pretty decent website that can give you a basic idea of the course loading for the first general part of the undergraduate degree and then you can look at specific fields' sections if you wish. I'm sure other schools sites have similar information, but this is one that I am familiar with.

www.mines.edu

Did my time in the army as a combat engineer. Got out used GI bill and college fund. Graduated with only $5,500 in student loans. Now working as Senior Environmental Engineer. I would suggest college first, then military. The military has been paying off student loans for a 6 yr contract and in the army, there is officer candidate school for those with BS degrees.

Hello urvin62,

Thank you for joining and I hope your general Engineering interests continue! :-)

Your list of interests is very large so may take some time for others to come along who know exactly what they are talking about with regard to each subject. So be patient OK?

Other view the Mechanical Engineering threads but, it may pay you to draft more specific requests for the other parts on CR4.

Do not be put off OK?

It is just if you post your thread/s in the relevant parts of the site, post in all if you wish, perhaps start with Mechanical Engineering, BioMed, and Electrical Engineering.

Maybe soon, say over the next year or so, you will get an 'itch' to look more closely into the 'Engineering' type which interests you? To some degree it depends on whether you like working outside part of the time, or if you feel you could handle the inside stuff like, BioMed?

Can I also suggest you perhaps use the school Library to do your own research?

Take your time and you can ask any other questions you want to OK?

Take care and good luck in what you decide. A-N-D- You did the right thing in joining for sure!

The people are friendly and helpful, especially if you 'do your homework', (sorry for the pun) and are seen as 'serious'.

The other advice I would give, is to ask definitive points and or requests. I am beginning to sound 'heavy' so will just say good luck OK.

babybear

The best thing for you to do since your engineering interest is somewhat broad and wide is to look at maybe doing Mechatronics(Mechanical and Electrical Engineering combined). This program also incorporates, computer sciences as you will have to do a log of programming. At your age you should also see how you and perhaps your school can get involved with first robotics competition. There are regional and nationals competitions each year. With first robotics, you learn programming, mechanics, building construction, etc.

Try to narrow do your engineering interest to a couple of areas and them take all the math, physics, chemistry and biology you can handle in high school. After that, seek out a college that offer you focus programs...

Good luck

My name is Jeff Peck. I am a Civil Engineer working for a company in Lexington, KY. I am also one of the directors for the local chapter of KSPE. I am the chairperson for Project Lead the Way (PLTW). www.PLTW.org My email is jeff@jrma.com How can I help? I have lots of information too numerous to mention. May I ask where you are at?

My advice to you would be to start looking for summer jobs which can give you a taste of what engineering can encompass. This will help you get a better idea of which type of engineering you might be most interested in, while also giving you some relavent work experience colleges and businesses look for - in engineering sometimes the work history has a far greater impact on where you can get employed then where you got your degree from.

If you think you might be leaning towards mechanical, civil, or aeronautical engineering and design (and I would lump biomed prosthetics in here too), a great way to start cutting your teeth would be to get a job at a local machine shop. There, you'll get hands on knowledge of materials, how to read prints and handle other deign documentation, understand design notations like dimensions, surface finishes, tolerencing, etc, and get a more precise understanding of manufacturing processes.

If you think you might be leaning more towards electrical, computer systems, or software engineering (sometimes these 3 go hand in hand), I'd look for a summer job at a local electronics repair shop (TV's, radios, DVD players, custom computers) to gain understanding about basic electronics components, circuit theory, and reading electronics diagrams.

Engineering disciplines like chemical, industrial, and nuclear, are probably something you arent going to find in a "mom and pop store" capacity. These disciplines are usually tied to large scale manufacturing or high end (typically government funded)research.

For materials engineering, sometimes you can find small, independant materials testing labs which can do either destructive or non destructive testing. If you want something fun, go destructive, if you want something a little more mathematically and scientifically rigorous, go non-destructive.

Whatever you decide, you should be prepared to work hard for crap pay. Any honest engineer typically starts out this way (I got my start cleaning out chip bins in a machine shop untill I was black with old oil and grease from my fingertips to my armpits, now Im a process automation engineer for a fortune 5 company at thier R+D center), but you have to think long term and think of whatever job you get as an investment towards your future. It might mean you dont have the hottest car, nicest clothes or newest gizmo, but its worth it in the long run.

Avery Montembeault

You've received some great advice and direction to follow in this post. I am a civil engineer myself. I really enjoy my job, but I think one of the most important things to consider when choosing a profession and even a job within that profession is:

How do I want to spend my workday?

Design engineering at times can be like studying for 8 hours (or more) a day...40 (or more) hours a week. Is that an acceptable work environment for you? Do you like computers and math and CAD and programs? If not, perhaps design is not the place for you. Albeit there are meetings and some site visits that may supplement design time. If you like to be more hands on, consider construction engineering, studying civil engineering with a construciton focus. Then you could work on a specific project site, being involved in day to day construction of a project with a variety of positions from field engineer to scheduler to project engineer to construction inspector moving on into project management.

There are various roles involved in both design and construction which vary from these simple scenarios, however, my advice is to think of how you would like to spend your day and what interests you most, if you do choose to go into civil engineering, to help give you focus in your studies and subsequently the job market.

Engineering is a great career choice!! A little research, thought, and a few college courses will hopefully point you towards the discipline of your choice. Good luck and stick with it, even if things are challenging at times.

Welcome urvin62.

If you have a strong desire to know how and why things work and like to solve problems - engineering is definitely for you. No other education will teach you a disciplined and creative way to think which can benefit any career.

You have received much good and varied guidance of which only you can be the judge. The most important I believe is to keep your mind and options open until you find your passion. Try not to base your choices on what is popular right now, because by the time you finish college (if that is your choice), technology will have changed, career demands will have changed and most importantly you will have changed.

For example, in High School I wanted to go into commercial art, but because of the demand, economic potential and my interest in math & science I earned a BSEE. Loved all the challenges, but in 10 years I had to know more about how business worked and how to solve business problems. Today I and my partners own and manage businesses, when all I wanted, starting off, was to be an engineer!

Once you have found your passion pursue it intensely, but keep interested in other technical areas to keep perspective and enrich your chosen field. If you stay in touch with this forum, you will be amazed at the wide areas of interest many of the gurus possess and the personal rewards it bring them. Most of them make a living with their knowlege and experience, but I believe they would all continue their chosen passion, in some way, even if they won the lottery and did not need to work another day!

In the beginning try to expose yourself to as many varied aspects of engineering as possible and you will gravitate toward the things you enjoy and that challenge you. Try not to limit yourself to a particular geographic area, because it could limit your options and once you have found your passion, it will be of lesser value to you.

Best Wishes on your journey!

GA on that one rosento, some really excellent points you have mentioned.

As you put it the other day, at Why Full Scale Helicopters are not using Electric Motor Tail Rotor Unit? forum, just an inquiring mind. Indeed, you should have an inquiring mind at your age if you're interested in engineering or anything for that matter.

This is the forum where you can come to find some answers and help to your questions but, you must have perseverance if you want to be a practicing design engineer!

Otherwise you can also become a pencil-pusher (with little interest what goes on a PCB behind a panel or inside a box) and that is a waste of talent.

As the saying goes - the choice is yours!

"One of the most important skills anyone can possess is a mastery of the English language."

I could not agree more, GA to you ron. Comunication is key. If you speak well, and write well, you can go far in life.

I have no first hand knowledge in this, but ROTC sounds like a very good way to go. Does anyone in the CR4 comunity have any experience with this?

Dear urvin62, On CR4 you may well get a good picture of what's out there by nosing around in the Sections.

If you go to the Forum Index you can find many threads in their Sections.

It is likely if you nose around in the Sections, you will get some ideas about what directions in the field of Engineering, you want to take.

The Threads: The Most Important Science/Technology Books that Made a Difference, is one I would suggest for it is a reading list.

Another reading list you may find of interest is under the title: What Reading List Would Enable the Rebuilding of Civilization?

I myself think magazines such as Scientific American ought to be more used in classrooms, since often they are more up to date than textbooks.

As far as advice of a general educational nature that I am common to give to people of your age, What is Practical for you, may not be practical for anyone else, and don't be afraid of doing what comes easily to you.

I also say: Live where you've got a job... Finally, though there is no shame in honest work, when you are young and attempting to build a career, I suggest getting some sort of job doing something more in line with what you want to be doing.

If you ask your School Counselor if they can help you get a job with say, a Civil Engineers office, they may well be able to help.

Hang out where you want to be, and learn to play well with others. Since I am not an engineer and have mostly learned what I know in the streets, I am very aware of the need for certifications, some of which come from simply taking a test and passing it, even in this day and age.

From my experience this is still most common in Aviation, but some others may know of other certifications tests you would be wise to prepare for.

I'll post a Thread Question on that subject, and see what others might put on for a list like that.

The best free career job and career information is available free from the U.S. Department of Labor, at the "Occupational Outlook Handbook." This may sound dull but it is really interesting because it tells what you do in each kind of job, under the title, "The Nature of the Work." It also tells training requirements, how many jobs are available, and how much money you can earn. You can access it at:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/

The handbook is very accurate and is updated every two years. Use the search function to type in "Engineer" or any job you think might be interesting.

Good luck!

URVIN62,

After you read some of these comments you might be thinking, "wow, what a bunch of jerks!"... Other than the fact that most people are jerks, and you just happen to hit a large group of us in one spot, for the most part the advice here is simply meant to cut back on you going through what annoys other people and to avoid our mistakes.

I suggested get one (a basic) engineering degree so you can better decide where you'd like to be placed as far as the work world. Typos are part of life and spell check is for people who care... but as you've been reading, it bothers a lot of people when they read them or the abbreviated typing. Personally, I could care less as long as I can read the sentence.

The key with the basic engineering degree is that it is good for ANY job and in ANY category. Add to it and you qualify for any other line of work, except you have the special stamp to always be looked at as the one with the skills to take care of any problem that the job can throw at you. *From an employers standpoint, anyhow.

There is nothing big, bad or scary about the schooling, training or the time you put into work. For the most part, you are given a project and complete it with the skills you are taught or you freshen up the study skills each time while looking into new solutions and complete the project. There's no guessing unless you are doing something new and then your guesses come from experiences of past engineers' results. [And you can never blame them.. You just get to pick up the pieces of whatever you miscalculated].

Just don't feel insulted from answers where you sense anger or pandering to you due the HS status.

All jobs you ask about entail utlizing training and studies from your schooling PLUS being able to research, comprehend AND apply new things you learn on your own research time with whatever project you are doing. of course, many engineers just follow the books to a TEE and never stray from what they are taught... Which is why some people never grow in their field.

USA needs engineers, before we lose all sense of growth as a nation.

JL Mealer
Mealer Companies LLC
http://mealercompanies.com

When I was just 4 yrs old (1962) the way lights were switched "ON" or "OFF" interested me a lot. One thing I could understand that whether battery torchlight or a filament bulb required two wires. At that age I was very clear that two wires are reacquired to operate "A valve radio" "A fan" or " A bulb". One great memorable day I have learned myself lit a small bulb with the help of two wires and a discarded battery cell. I just cannot explain my happiness for successfully lighting a small bulb for my self. Still I remember that wonderful day; the white Eveready "A" size cell the two white wires, and that cute threaded bulb! My mother did not understand the reason for happiness but she was also happy because I was happy. Probably she thought I made some thing very good.

Later on I went on doing various experiment while other boys spend on playing, going to cinema halls and home studies.

I made some breakthroughs by inventing electrical effects of magnetism while I was 8 years. I made my first motor within one week from the day I came to know that enamel coated (insulated) copper wires are available.

No books, no Internet, my teachers could not answer my most my doubts about things. I had to enter illegally in to far away by Degree College library to access science books. My classmate nicknamed me "Doubtla Babu" (a boy of many doubts/ queries); I never mind for the nickname given to me. In the high school I met "Mrs. Sushila Teacher" who tried to clear my doubts by consulting university professors.

I shall give one example: I was very much interested in electrical things and so electro chemistry. I did not have access to Sulfuric Acid but could get small parts of sulfur from railway goods stockyard. So I have collected sulfur that fell down between railway tracks, burn it collect the smoke in a bottle, then add some water and mixed it well. When I have tested the solution with a litmus paper in was acidic. My happiness stayed only few hours, as I could not make a cell out of it. My favorite Sushila teacher after lot of effort and consultation told me that I made H2SO3 and not H2SO4 and I need to study more.

Why I write all this is I suffered a lot to get information guidance and money to experiment. I belonged to a very poor family and small town where eating food two times itself was very great.

Now I am 51yr old with grownup children. I working as Elec. Maintenance head and I am enjoying my job.

What the first thing made you to think of engineering try to remember and follow it. There is lot of information available everywhere. One thing you must remember is the technology, methods, everything will keep on changing; but basics remain same! Hence be strong on your basic. Wish you all the best.

Hello kvsubramanyam

I like your story and the feeling given to you as you found things out!

GA to you Sir.

bb

Hello urvin62,

With reference to the way to answer a post on this 'blog',....................

I understand that 'messing' with upper-case and 'proper writing' is inevitably ignored when you answer remarks and questions on sites where you answer as the question is typed in, there is not enough time.

On here there is no rush, you are answering a single post at once, and writing in a proper English Language type of way takes no extra time.

When and as you reply to posts, when you are a 'proper' Engineer, you will be expected to explain properly and fully explain any ideas or answers you have, simply to made them understood. If you start as you mean to continue and write English in proper sentences, it will become second nature to explain properly.

This is not 'getting' at you but trying to pass on how your answers can be misunderstood if you do not punctuate for instance.

Take care and please continue to ask any questions.

I wish you luck in what you do and hope you find an Engineers job that suits what you want to do.

babybear.

Most institutions would have open day session/s to the public to let them see what courses are available and to give you some hints what field you might like to get engaged in.

I am sure some schools would be more than happy to help in that respect.

Interesting thread.
I'd say most 'stuff' these days has some electronics in it, so electronics (includes programming) is V uselful.
All stuff has maechanical parts, so Id say get hold of any old mechanical stuff from toys to motorbikes and take it appart to mend it/play with it/see how it works, you will soon start to find what interests you.
Look at everything you see around you, it all has to be designed and made. If you work in a 'dish room' look at the machines there. You say you are interested in building, well look at wow the various services (water electricity, gas etc) work in your home.
You will soon start to find which of these areas interests you.
I feel you are well on the way merely by having asked the question.
good luck.

Del

BTW All jobs will entail dealing with people from top to bottom, treat them all with respect, as you will learn as much from the guys at the bottom as the guys at the top.

Lots of good comments above. Let me use my shotgun to spray out a couple more:

1) I was told in school that "Engineering is the application of science to do something useful. If there is, or will be, more than one person involved then you must be able to communicate well or you can't engineer." (NOTE: if someone is paying you then there is more than one person involved.)

2) Most of us are born engineers. We go to school to get the qualifications to get paid to do advanced forms of the same types of things we would do at home for a hobby. If you can find some "engineering type things" that you like to do then "go for it". If you can't find some "engineering type things" that you like to do then you might want to review other careers.

3) Get your hands dirty. Build, break, modify, program and get involved. If you don't like to "do" then you will end up with "pointey hair".

4) DILBERT IS NOT FICTION. Read Dilbert daily. Dilbert is the official journal documenting life as an engineer.

Speaking of Dilbert, I just Gotta present this again. It is just soooooooo good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw

Bill