Mechanical engineers

[Twoply 0]

Are there ways to attain one of these degrees without having to take all the unrelated classes like literature and ukrainian history?

Pm's if you like.

THanks

[jakee 1,489]

Do it in Britain.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[n23x 0]

F that, do it in Colorado!

.jim

"Don't touch my fucking Easter eggs, I'll be back monday." ~JTFC

[jakee 1,489]

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F that, do it in Colorado!

I've never been there, but having seen pictures and read On The Road I'll say that Colorado is probably slightly nicer

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[skydiver30960 0]

ITT Technical Institute!



Elvisio "meanie" Rodriguez

[DJL 235]

It's basically par for the course for an undergrad degree. The reason is that a college degree isn't just about learning how to make air hot or cold or make engines work. It's proof that you can function on a higher level. Sheit, I had to take a phys ed course in college along side my military, and social sciences courses to get my Mech E degree.

Why Mechanical Engineering? As a carpenter you'd probably do better in a Construction Management degree since you have a knack for how things come
together.

Edit: Oh, but you'll still have to take the history stuff.
Edit2: And a Mechanical Engineering degree from Lincoln Tech isn't look at seriously in the professional world. Does that even exist?

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[BGill 0]

from an accredited university... most likely yes. i did for my biomedical engineering degree.

[kschilk 0]

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Are there ways to attain one of these degrees without having to take all the unrelated classes like literature and ukrainian history?

Pm's if you like.

THanks

I checked into a degree in structural engineering, back in the '80s. Though courses like Metallurgy, Welding, Trig, Mechanical Drawing, etc. were offered, they didn't pay credits toward the degree. Courses like English Lit, Sociology, Golf, Tennis and Art Appreciation....did!?!

"T'was ever thus."

[SarahC07 0]

Probably not from an accredited university... but you can get around that crap.

www.pickaprof.com is a site that will let users (fellow students) rate and review professors and will supply grade distributions by class and professor ... this is AKA tracking down the easy A profs.

Very useful for avoiding 20 page comparative research papers comparing state tax law/policy - which believe it or not I had to fing write.

[waltappel 1]

In Texas it is a state-mandated requirement that each student must have 6 semestester-hours of English, 6 semester-hours of government and 6 semester-hours of history to graduate with a college degree. Beyond that each institution has its own requirements for non-core course, e.g., liberal arts courses, physical education, etc.

I think that any "serious" school is going to require a lot more non-core courses that you want to take.

I would suggest that you contact the board responsible for licensing professional engineers in your state and ask if there is a combination of education and experience that is considered equivalent to an undergrad degree in engineering and proceed from there.

Walt

[davedlg 0]

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F that, do it in Colorado!

.jim

I got my civil engineering degree here in Colorado (CU), and I had to do my fair share of that stuff. I think I took deviance in US society, History of Jazz, along with a few others. I cant speak for what the kids down the road at Mines were doing though.

[rmsmith 1]

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Are there ways to attain one of these degrees without having to take all the unrelated classes like literature and ukrainian history?

Don't waste your time on an engineering program that is not ABET certified. Most employers specify it as a requirement too. It's a long tough road -- expensive too!

http://www.abet.org/

[nopurpose 0]

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Are there ways to attain one of these degrees without having to take all the unrelated classes like literature and ukrainian history?

Don't waste your time on an engineering program that is not ABET certified. Most employers specify it as a requirement too. It's a long tough road -- expensive too!

http://www.abet.org/

Exactly. The non-certified programs are usually listed with the word "Technology" at the end. Like Mechanical Engineering Technology. Its basically a watered down version of a real ME program. So you'll get half assed training and eventually half assed pay.

As an example, while still in college, I walked into a lab and saw students smearing play-doh on a toy Hummer. I asked them what class this was and they said Fluid Mechanics. I didnt realize until afterward that they were ME Tech students. Now when I took Fluid Mechanics we never left the classroom and everything was out of a text book. In the technology program you get idea behind the theories by conducting Mr Wizard experiments, you dont actually learn them.

If this seems like a better alternative to you than maybe you should consider not being an engineer.

[DJL 235]

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Are there ways to attain one of these degrees without having to take all the unrelated classes like literature and ukrainian history?

Don't waste your time on an engineering program that is not ABET certified. Most employers specify it as a requirement too. It's a long tough road -- expensive too!

http://www.abet.org/

Exactly. The non-certified programs are usually listed with the word "Technology" at the end. Like Mechanical Engineering Technology. Its basically a watered down version of a real ME program. So you'll get half assed training and eventually half assed pay.

As an example, while still in college, I walked into a lab and saw students smearing play-doh on a toy Hummer. I asked them what class this was and they said Fluid Mechanics. I didnt realize until afterward that they were ME Tech students. Now when I took Fluid Mechanics we never left the classroom and everything was out of a text book. In the technology program you get idea behind the theories by conducting Mr Wizard experiments, you dont actually learn them.

If this seems like a better alternative to you than maybe you should consider not being an engineer.

That's not a very good example. We (VMI) did the same thing but took the results back to the classroom to figure out what shapes had the least drag. Can't be an engineer unless you know how to apply the book to the real world.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[darwin143 0]

For my Mech-E degree I had to take a few "General Education" classes, but it really isn't that many. I was through all of them in less than a year, but that was while taking the engineering classes at the same time.

Also, you will end up taking more "gen ed" classes if you start at a community college and transfer to a university (at least in my experience). Everyone I've known that's done that has had to catch up on their engineering classes for about a year because their community college made them take more gen eds.

Have you ever taken any college classes? Those classes are pretty easy to subsitite.

In Florida you also have the option to take a test instead of the class. So if you know a lot about Ukrainian history, take the test instead!

[Freefly710 0]

I'm not familiar with how other countries educate their students, but I'm pretty sure that in the U.S., you will probably have to take classes unrelated to engineering no matter where you go. While studying for my degrees in Mechanical Engineering and also Aerospace Engineering, I've had to take 6 hours of a social science, i.e. sociology or psychology, 6 hours of composition classes, and 3 hours of literature classes. I also had a major project which was based on a subject outside of my major(s). I ended up doing some field research in a latino community as part of a cultural anthropology class.

Now, would these classes help me as I work toward getting the new Ares rockets into space? Probably not, but they do make me a more "well-rounded" and well educated guy.

Until the Masters and Ph.D. level programs, you're probably going to be stuck taking at least a few classes outside of your major.

just my 2 cents... cheers...

[nopurpose 0]

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Are there ways to attain one of these degrees without having to take all the unrelated classes like literature and ukrainian history?

Don't waste your time on an engineering program that is not ABET certified. Most employers specify it as a requirement too. It's a long tough road -- expensive too!

http://www.abet.org/

Exactly. The non-certified programs are usually listed with the word "Technology" at the end. Like Mechanical Engineering Technology. Its basically a watered down version of a real ME program. So you'll get half assed training and eventually half assed pay.

As an example, while still in college, I walked into a lab and saw students smearing play-doh on a toy Hummer. I asked them what class this was and they said Fluid Mechanics. I didnt realize until afterward that they were ME Tech students. Now when I took Fluid Mechanics we never left the classroom and everything was out of a text book. In the technology program you get idea behind the theories by conducting Mr Wizard experiments, you dont actually learn them.

If this seems like a better alternative to you than maybe you should consider not being an engineer.

That's not a very good example. We (VMI) did the same thing but took the results back to the classroom to figure out what shapes had the least drag. Can't be an engineer unless you know how to apply the book to the real world.

How exactly did you try and figure it out?

A little more on this subject that I forgot about earlier. A lot of the Tech Institutes lead students to believe that what they are getting in a Tech program is just as good. The problem is that they don't teach much theory, and by that I mean you will not get into the mathematics that are used to predict the phenomena that you are studying. In your career, you will probably not even use a tenth of this knowledge. But if you decide to get your Professional Engineers License, you will shit a brick when you see the test.

I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with a Tech degree. People can do whatever they want. But you need to think about what you want to do after you get that degree. Bottom line is, with the Tech degree you will struggle severely to pass the PE exam, you most likely won't be able to complete a ME Masters program, you will lose out on jobs to people with regular ME degrees, and you will not make as much money starting out.

Think about it. And good luck.

[nopurpose 0]

Well now I realize that I was completely off subject.

One class I took that fulfilled english requirements was "Technical Writing." It was somewhat boring but I improved on a skill that as an engineer is very important. I also took "History of Nazi Germany" that was taught by a guy named Schwiezer. Awesome class but I questioned whose side the Professor was on.

Anyway, there are some decent classes you can take. I'm sure you can find something that interests you. Also, a break in all the math is sometimes a good thing.

[Freefly710 0]

I've never thought about it because I've never been in an engineering tech program, but as far as i know, to even be qualified to take the P.E. test don't you have to have to be a degreed engineer? not a tech?

[wmw999 2,439]

15 years after college a huge proportion of engineers aren't doing exactly what they thought they would. They're writing more, maybe programming more, and working with teams of people who have differing interests and abilities.

Being well-rounded to some degree will help you in those environments. You can pick courses that are fairly relevant (technical writing, speech, political science, current history) and can give you the ability to communicate better with others, and be intelligently interested. Which is how you get them to be productive on whatever you need them to do.

Not all work is what happens at your desk, and not all work is well-defined assignments that are exactly in your range of competence. And being a manager doesn't mean that you just tell the guy to do it, and he does it. Trust me on this one.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[DJL 235]

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How exactly did you try and figure it out?

We had an arm in the wind tunnel that registered the amount of force on the object. I think the point of it was to determine the coefficient of friction (drag) on various shapes. One specifially was a truck that we tested just bare, then stuck clay onto it, one was a ball, then a cube, a model F16.

Edit: I think this was for my Aeronautical Engineering course, not Fluids.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[nopurpose 0]

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I've never thought about it because I've never been in an engineering tech program, but as far as i know, to even be qualified to take the P.E. test don't you have to have to be a degreed engineer? not a tech?

In NJ they let Techs take the test. I'm assuming it is the same throughout the country.

[Ian84 0]

I'm not sure how useful this is for you but I'm in my final year of an aerospace engineering degree in the UK and have never undertaken a unit that wasn't related to my degree subject. I'm baffled as to why you would be made to study arts subjects as part of an engineering course.

[BGill 0]

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I'm not sure how useful this is for you but I'm in my final year of an aerospace engineering degree in the UK and have never undertaken a unit that wasn't related to my degree subject. I'm baffled as to why you would be made to study arts subjects as part of an engineering course.

This is where American universities differ from others. They believe taking these courses creates a more well-rounded individual who, in addition to their technical expertise, can also appreciate the arts, culture, diversity, history, etc. I think you're either a well-rounded individual or you're not. The extra classes are a waste of time and money IMO, but I took them because I had to.

[DJL 235]

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arts, culture, diversity, history

We have to be able to talk to the marketing people.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher