Engineering Student

I'm not an ME, but I see no one else has responded to your questions yet, so I'll make a few comments.

You sound like you are still in high school. Assuming this -- If you are good in Math and are interested in Science then you have the right direction of interests to be an engineer. Being creative is also very important. As an ME you will have to keep good notebooks and generate numerous reports and technical emails, so cultivate an interest in writing, being mindful of spelling and grammar.

Diversify your interests. Be sure to take classes in electronics and software engineering.

Study hard, and plan on putting in lots of evening and weekend hours. Find a professor who is working on projects you like and offer to help. Your grades and reputation as a hard worker will do a lot to help you get a job after college.

"Mechanical Engineering" is a Broad term that fits many sub-disciplines. investigate them all and find the one that fits you best.

The following is a list of, and links to, articles on the various engineering sub disciplines. General information can be found in the engineering, engineer, and engineering society articles. Alternative names and sub-fields are in parentheses.

• Aquatic and environmental engineering
• Aerospace (Aeronautical) engineering
• Agricultural engineering
• Applied engineering
• Architectural engineering
• Automotive engineering (automotive systems engineering)

• Bioengineering
• Biochemical engineering
• Biomedical engineering

• Chemical engineering
• Civil engineering
• Computer engineering
• Construction engineering

• Ecological engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Environmental engineering
• Fire protection engineering

• Genetic engineering
• Geotechnical engineering

• Hydraulic engineering

• Industrial engineering (includes production engineering)

• Landscape engineering (landscape architecture)

• Marine engineering
• Materials engineering (includes metallurgical engineering)
• Manufacturing engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Mechanical engineering technology
• Mining engineering

• Nanoengineering
• Nuclear engineering
• Petroleum Engineering
• Power Plant Engineering
• Quality engineering (quality assurance engineering)

• Radio Frequency Engineering

• Safety engineering

• Security engineer
• Software engineering
• Structural engineering

• Traffic engineering

• Vehicle engineering

• Wireless engineering

My field the last 55 years has been Process Plant Piping Engineering and Design. Everything you eat or drink, wear, drive, fly in, lights your way, powers your appliance's, medicines that cures you ills and many more involves Piping Engineering and Design. Investigate it too.

Good luck and best wishes to you in the future

sir,

I am a fresh engineer. just now i have enterted into piping. what are all the things i need to learn to shine in this field. please do reply

I would just like to say thank you to you who replied and provided the information, I greatly appreciate it, Just to give you a little background, Im a freshmen attending University of Arkansas, I am cringing over what im interested in, and what engineering is really about. I really love science, math i moderately enjoy, but when I started I thought my goal was to get a CS or BSCE, but I am just realizing computers I don't think is what I want to spend every waking hour working on, or typing code, or whatever it is. Plus I feel students that are interested in similar fields are lightyears ahead of me as far as information and up to date programs, and such, mostly because I have a family,work full time, and go to school full time, so I'm not researching the curve like the rest of the brainiacs. I get above average grades, but I feel Im 28 years old and Im just not a computer geek. I went to see a career counselor and they told me i had high science and mathmatical interests but I should look into mechanical engineering or civil engineering. SO...here i am just trying to see what you guys do out in the real world. Maybe if someone could reply and tell me what made them think they wanted to be a Mechanical engineer or any type of engineer for that matter..thank you again...!!!

Despite chemistry being a strong subject, the thought of spending a career path based within arm's reach of a chemistry lab seemed a bit gloomy, so Chemical Engineering was the correct choice here.

There is a great advantage to studying an Engineering discipline while surrounded by peers - one learns from others in the area. If opportunities are limited by personal circumstances, make those opportunities count.

Don't worry excessively about computers. Like a screwdriver, they are just another tool, only quite a bit more useful.

And do persist! A person who is diligent and secures an Engineering qualification while coping with personal circumstances that differ from most other undergraduates is likely to stand out as more employable than them when the time comes.

Welcome to CR4, BTW.