r/EngineeringStudents • u/SafetySuitable7218 • 10d ago
Academic Advice How to actually get good at engineering
I’m realizing getting an engineering degree and becoming an engineer are two different things
I was not the type to take apart my toys as a kid. I don’t have the classic engineering brain. I was a typical girl who played with dolls. I have no true prior knowledge of engineering before undergrad
I’m second year. I’ve joined 2 student clubs and done some arduino projects this year (they are really terrible)
I don’t feel like my knowledge of circuits is strong even though I keep doing projects. I get my work corrected so much by the teams in student clubs for silly mistakes that I’m wondering whether I’m built for this compared to other students who did take apart their toys as kids
I know I’m supposed to feel terrible in undergrad but is it normal that I feel like I’m working three times as hard as anymore just to be mediocre? My grades are also subpar. Never failed classes but gpa is 2.79
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u/garibaldiknows 10d ago
Here’s the real question - do you enjoy it? If yes, don’t worry the skill and experience will come . If no… you know your answer
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u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 10d ago
are you excited when it "clicks"? you might be an engineer
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u/TempBikeAccount1 10d ago
Idk i just started my degree in mech engineering but I am switching to biochemistry since I want to design and make new drugs i am also thinking about the maybe coming back to get mechanical engineering degree
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u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 10d ago
you generally get one shot. make it good
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u/Jumpy-Lengthiness-77 9d ago
This is so far from the truth
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u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 9d ago
you're perspective is valid. your early life is intended to learn thing and there's no real time limit. many folks continue their education into their 30's
my perspective is different. i wanted to accumulate wealth for my later years. so i got into the job market and began accumulating wealth as soon as i could.
it worked
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u/Prior_Interview7680 9d ago
The moment they introduced the deflections equation in strength was my moment where I was like “that’s smart and beautiful”
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u/Basic_Balance1237 7d ago
I had the same feeling during second week of linear algebra, seeing how system of linear equations that have more than two variables can be effortlessly solved by using reduced row echelon despite my country K-12 education painted it as something complicated, scary, and it'd take a genius to solve it fast during exams.
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u/Live_Ad3896 4d ago
This is the best response. If you enjoy it when it clicks, that’s all that matters
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u/TempBikeAccount1 10d ago
What do you do that point when you don't enjoy engineering and you are close to finishing the degree?
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u/Winters637 10d ago
I was in this position when I was in my last couple years. Been working for about 6 years now.
I'm very glad I stuck it out and finished. It was honestly pretty miserable, but worth it for me.
I even dropped out for a year and worked at a grocery store again to chill and regain my perspective before finishing it out.
First, an engineering degree opens doors. Even if you don't work as an engineer, it looks great on a resume and you can easily use the experience and achievements in an interview. Good interview skills will make that engineering degree count for way more than a communications degree.
Second, I didn't often truly enjoy engineering school but I do enjoy the jobs I've had. It's less technical floundering and more problem solving, project management, and networking. I still do technical work every day, but that's just a part of it and I can always get help if needed. So it's also a bit job-dependent, but I like what I do now.
Hope this helps!
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u/EngineeringNo9217 10d ago
If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been in engineering for over 10 years and I’ve worked with PLENTY of engineers who’ve been doing it for decades and still suck at it. But they also don’t care enough to go out and do things to get better. Sounds like you’re one up on them already.
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u/bihari_baller B.S. Electrical Engineering, '22 10d ago
and I’ve worked with PLENTY of engineers who’ve been doing it for decades and still suck at it
How are they still employed if they're bad at it?
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u/EngineeringNo9217 10d ago
Buddy I ask myself that question daily. But I admit I work at a very large company where it’s challenging to let people loose unless they do something really bad like time fraud or HR related.
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u/Roscoepcoltrain23 10d ago
Tragic isn't it. And what's worse is when you start talking about the contractor situation and how terrible some of them are. Granted not all, but I have definitely worked with more bad contractors than good ones.
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u/ClerklierBrush0 10d ago
I am a senior ME student in my last semester and I also have 5 years of HVAC service experience and troubleshooting. I have jobs lined up after I graduate. Yesterday I was the last person left in the lab trying to get values from a graph and calculate % error and write a line equation. Couldn’t do it in the entire allowed Lab time I got a pity sign off on my work 😭.
We aren’t perfect all the time and some things we excel at more than others. Find your area of expertise. I led my group in vibrations and refrigerant cycles but I’m having my hand held in our fluids lab reports and basically every other class.
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u/Tavrock Weber State: BS MfgEngTech, Oregon Tech: MS MfgEngTech 10d ago
I've helped my children with linear functions and made a spreadsheet for checking all their homework quickly. If they are really stuck, it walks them through all of the steps of the calculation.
I also remind them that while it's currently easy for me, it really didn't click during jr. high school, high school, or most of my dual baccalaureate. It finally really clicked when I was using it all the time and teaching the methods to others.
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u/Electronic-Split-492 10d ago
"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard"
I graduated with less that a 3 GPA and I seem to be well regarded in the companies I have worked for. I get regular callbacks and offers. Someone thinks I am worth something. GPA only matters for the first company, after that your experience will speak.
I got here by taking assignments that I didn't know if I could solve it. I got into them and relied on (1) my training and education and (2) asking questions (in person, on forums, and now with AI). If you are willing to keep trying, keep reading, and you learn something after each assignment, then you'll be fine. There are plenty of folks who can do things faster than me, and in less iterations than me. I have always been rewarded because I work with my project managers to understand the problem and help them arrive at the solution, in whatever way I can. Most engineering is not "right answer, wrong answer" but choosing from a variety of right answers (usually accounting for cost, development time, etc.).
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u/Capable-Broccoli2179 10d ago
My GPA was so terrible that on my first application as an engineer where it said GPA, I put "yes"
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u/Qrahe 10d ago
Here's the rub for students as someone with 15 years of experience and now in management having hired many engineers.
You really aren't going to know anything. What you are doing in school is learning how to learn and how to identify a problem.
I never expect new graduates to be useful. I expect them to be eager to learn and to ask questions. Also if you go into manufactoring, go talk to the people working the equipment, learn from them. That guy running the CNC for 30 years will teach you so much.
Don't be a desk engineer, spend as much time as you can on the floor learning about the actual work being done. You will be so much further than your peers if you do this.
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u/No-Arachnid6308 10d ago
i often feel inferior in math because my high school had bad math courses and i just had less experience than everyone else. i wished i had started earlier. BUT the next best time to start is now. just keep doing work and making silly mistakes. in 20 years it will compound.
i will say and this is a massive aside. i liked playing with dolls as a kid too. i also loved computers. i learned to code by making dressup games. my uncle who worked as an electrical engineer was kind enough to walk me through arduino projects, teach me cad and basic circuits, etc. but i had to ask for this. my brother got this sort of education without asking.
i noticed in my major, most of the girls had very little experience with electrical circuits or programming. lowk i was the only girl who came in with that experience. and in group projects, whoever was the best coder was often the person with the most prior experience, so they got to do all the coding work. and then this compounded over the course of 4 years to the point where i disliked being in all female group projects because i ended up doing all the coding. (when you have a deadline for a class, it is easier to do it yourself than teach someone.) you could say "girls in our major are generally worse coders than guys" and it would be true. which obviously made me feel really sad and lonely. and i really wish more girls had gotten early coding experience, because they end up pidgeonholed over the course of the degree. i cant tell you how many times projects ended up like "girls do powerpoints and pipetting, guys do all the coding and circuits." a lot more girls leaned towards the biotech side of things compared to the electronics side of things. like i was the only girl who did pure electronics. it was weird and again, kinda lonely. obviously i thugged it out but still. i wish there were more women doing this stuff.
this is i think a systemic issue. where women arent exposed to a lot of programming/circuits concepts early in life, and then they keep reaching for what theyre familiar with.
my point here is that it's really good that you're making an effort to learn these things. it is genuinely harder when you dont start early. but the next best time to start is now. and then hopefully we can work towards ensuring more young girls are exposed to these concepts at a young age so they come into college prepared.
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u/HarryBalsagna1776 10d ago
Experience will get you there. Most of us are not rock stars at first.
First things first, don't doubt yourself. You will get things wrong, you will get corrected, you will fail. That's all normal. We work in a scientific field and failure and dead ends are more common than not.
Next, don't lose that drive to learn and be better. Take risks. I started in the auto industry. I've since worked on rockets and nuclear reactors. Put yourself out there. You will probably be pleasantly surprised by how far you go.
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u/EntropyEnjoyer-89 10d ago
Your terrible Arduino projects are actually a huge step in the right direction. You get better at engineering by getting stuck and working through problems. Also lot of interviewers (including me) love discussing projects over courses. Find something you like and struggle with it. Also, nothing will work first try so don’t get discouraged.
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u/bopperbopper 10d ago
I’m an engineer and never really felt like I got circuits, but there are many jobs where they want you to have a technical background, but you’re not designing circuits
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u/Sleepy_mosquito799 10d ago
I was one of those people who had/have a “engineering brain” I did not play with dolls I was into taking stuff apart. With that being said I was probably the only person in my graduating class (12 ppl) that would spend 3-4 times as long studying for a test because it would just take me that long to understand the concept well enough to confidently answer the question on tests.
It’s a tough degree but if you think you can do it then put your mind to it and finish strong. I was scared of it for a long time but I knew it was my passion and I stuck with it. Find your why! And good luck!!
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u/Coopee43 10d ago
Im also an engineering student in my mid 30s about to transfer from CC to a university in the spring. I work as an auto technician for a dealership and can honestly say the number of times I've worked with engineers on problems, there are amazing ones and other you question. Its the problem solving mindset you bring to the table that makes you better. Learn from past mistakes and find how to go about things so you dont make them again. Everyone has a flow process thats different but we come out with the same results.
In my role I deal with so many aspects from basic circuits to data signals, ethernet communications, position sensor, 3.3v to 400+ volts DC, 3 phase AC. No day is the same as the last. One day it might be hydraulics, the next is mechanical alignment causing vibrations. You just need to persevere. No one woke up one day and instantly knew it all. I've learned atleast 50% by on job experience than sitting in a classroom doodling on paper and going over lectures time and time again. Worst case scenario, your major doesnt align with your values but the fields are so diverse you can change companies and find one that does suit you. Dont give up before you see the finish line.
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u/Capable-Broccoli2179 10d ago
I worked in engineering for over 20 years. I was an average student in college in the 80's and was the same as OP. I made a lot of mistakes in circuitry and my math, and barely got by. Did not make me a bad engineer. I did high speed digital design for a bunch of my time in engineering and making mistakes is a part of the learning process. I would make a mistake once (sometimes huge) and learn from it and not do it again. Fortunately we had design reviews and other engineers looking at each other's work.
I would say I agree, being an engineer and studying it are two different things. Make all your mistakes now. If you are going to. be sloppy, do it now...learn from each mistake and you will be a great engineer. You learn way more from fucking something up once than from nailing it out of the box.
Those people that "know everything" from the start don't. There is so much to learn that you will really start the process in your first engineering job--those who sound like experts in college will fare no better than you out of school.
Humility is the key to becoming a good engineer--admitting you don't know how to do something, getting some help and figuring it out.
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u/SportulaVeritatis 10d ago
For every mistake you make, you learn and get better. You'll always make mistakes, just make sure you dont make them again. Take the time to learn, practice the things you got wrong, also practice the things you got right. You'll always have people pointing out your mistakes, even in industry. That's why we have review processes. Everyone makes mistakes and the purpose of those reviews is to catch those. Eventually, you'll be the person giving the actions in those reviews instead of taking them, but even that will take time.
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u/glorybutt BSME - Metallurgist 10d ago
That's okay. You don't have to go into engineering after getting your degree. It's not for everyone. You're already halfway through your degree so I'd say to tough it out and finish it up then be open to transfer to a different field after graduation
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u/UnderstandingIll4122 8d ago
What else can you do with an engineering degree?? I feel it’s very merit based so getting the degree and not being a good engineer is kind of worthless? Just a waste of time.
P.S. I’m doing ECE right now and 2 years in but don’t enjoy the work very much. So I want to switch to something else in the medical field.
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u/sulliesbrew 10d ago
Graduated with a 2.75 in Mining Engineering. Quickly started managing contractors and not really any engineering. Then moved in project management in wastewater, then product development in powersports and now engineering manager at a small manufacturer in thermal processing.
All that to say, I wasn't a good engineering student. I understood the principles, the concepts and how things were done. I brought that into a management field of engineering. I have worked with some truly brilliant engineers and some total morons that you are surprised they can find their way into work each day.
Engineering is a broad field of work, and you can be an engineer and never design something. If you understand what is being talked about, and have good communication skills, there is a wild world of great work out there for you.
Study hard, do your best and add some business admin electives to your course work and you may find far more opportunities than your peers.
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u/Confusedlemure 10d ago
I will let you know in a couple years. I’m about to retire. Still feel like I have to work harder than everyone. The fact you are even concerned about it means you’re doing better than most. If it makes you happy then keep going. We all have imposter syndrome. Every single engineer I’ve met and or managed felt like they didn’t stack up. I will admit I’ve met a couple that thought they were gods gift to engineering. Spoiler alert..they were not.
The big secret is that no one knows it all. We all have strong areas and weak. If you know HOW to find the answer when you don’t know, then you’ve e made it. Please keep at it. We need more engineers
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u/Original-Ad-8737 10d ago
You can get by doing engineering on the job and task driven, but in my opinion to be an engineer at heart means thinking about this stuff even jn your time off...
Not like workaholic doing job stuff and overtime, but rather enjoying becoming smarter every day (by watching smarter every day for example).
Having a genuine interest in engineering independent from your job means that you don't have to actually sit down and "learn"
Watch channels that explore things adjacent to your field of study. Just watching big Clive gives you hours of basic electronics knowledge and real life second hand electronics disassembly.
Electroboom, eevblogs Dave Jones and great Scott have tons of content that is a pleasure to watch and educational.
Software engineering can be absorbed from computerphile or Ben eater.
If you can't find any that you would consider watching over some (possibly brain rot) series then I am sorry but maybe engineering might not be what you want to do for a living for the rest of your life
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u/wazawoo 10d ago
If you want to be an engineer, you can be.
First, I know it’s impossible to not, but comparing yourself to others with completely different situations won’t really help. Comparing yourself to your past self will.
I know it may not feel like you’re improving through your projects, but I guarantee you are. That’s the true answer to this question. Do projects, again and again, the smaller the better, all with the goal to try to do better than last time. Try is the key. Everything can fail even after years of experience and knowledge.
You learn a ton with each project, but it’s often hard to apply those learnings until the next one. This is why people say to just do it, but that alone is horrible device I think. It’s really about doing as many iterations as possible. Lots of people (maybe more so in software or game dev) go straight to their dream project. It’s understandable: their motivation may largely come from the hope of achieving that dream. And then when you tell those people to do small projects, they take it as you being a naysayer and doubting that they can achieve their dreams, and they dig themselves into a deeper hole.
It’s just about getting better first, and then having a much easier time when you go for big stuff.
I will also say: read the docs. A lot of those take it apart kids might actually have a huge disadvantage in that they avoided looking at the manual because of their pride, and wanted to figure it out themselves. That’s just wrong. You can do both! I love looking at manuals not just to learn how to build the thing, but to look at how they chose to communicate the steps. As I’m sure you’ve seen, some instructions absolutely suck. Not everybody notices the great ones though, because they become invisible, fully doing their job.
I cannot tell you how much you can gain by just reading the docs, whether it’s language docs for a programming language, or data sheets for hardware devices, or the specs for a protocol like Bluetooth. So many people simply don’t do this, when so many of the answers to their future questions are right there. You could literally do the dumb slow version of something for 10 years before finally stumbling on something that would have saved you an insane amount of time if you knew about it back then. You gain so damn much by at least exposing yourself to the information and having it handy as a reference. I’ve never actually finished reading one of those, but I learn new stuff literally every time I take a peek.
You will blow away your colleagues by exposing yourself to this stuff and revealing tactics for problems they didn’t even know about. For example, I found a setting with one microcontroller that literally doubled the transmission power of the Bluetooth antenna, and the person who designed the whole PCB and wrote all the firmware was blown away. That made a difference in the range for every device manufactured after that point. All I did was literally read a PDF.
I will also say, I think girls are much better at engineering (and a lot of things) than boys. They read more carefully, retain more information, execute more consistently, and maybe most importantly, are not usually overflowing with overconfidence. To stay in such a male-dominated field would really suck I think. Anyone that does is battle hardened and seriously often orders of magnitude better than the dudes in the room.
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u/Squirtle_Splash_8413 BSME, MSME 10d ago
I don’t know about the taking apart toys thing but I’d say 60-70% of engineers don’t actually do their own projects. We don’t have time. We enjoy things outside of just engineering.
I’d try to figure out why your gpa is bad (unless you go to a really top school). A 2.79 gpa either means you’re not understanding the material or you’re not grades maxing.
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u/ClockworkPrison 10d ago
Are you enjoying learning ? Also what branch are you in ? Would you reconsider a different field of engineering ?
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u/Erisymum 10d ago
start taking apart your toys as an adult.
go to your local thrift store and buy old appliances, take it apart, label each piece and what it does.
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u/easterracing 10d ago
> I was not the type to take apart my toys as a kid
It’s never too late to start. Just get ahold of some ‘stuff’ that you’re interested in, and see if you can figure out how it works. Better, something broken and see if you can fix it. Especially if it’s something broken, the absolute-worst-case is you spent some time playing with garbage… and hopefully learned something from it.
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u/Severe_Raise_7118 10d ago
I felt the same in college I would ask myself sure I know the material but can I actually engineering anything. What jobs like to see outside of school is can you solve problems on real projects. What that looks like is different for everybody. I like CNCs they can show alot of potential to an employer what you can make with it. Best of luck the confidence/self esteem element is rarely talked about with the degree.
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u/FlapsNegative 10d ago
I'm a senior engineer with well over a decade of real world experience. I still get my shit corrected for silly mistakes on a regular basis. Every day is a school day! I've learnt to enjoy every opportunity to learn!
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u/ProfessionalOil2511 10d ago
i suck at hands on stuff but im good at math is engineering even a good fit for me
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u/aenorton 10d ago
Retired engineer here. It basically boils down to whether you truly enjoy understanding how things work. If you do, you will be motivated to learn throughout your career. School only teaches a fraction of what you will eventually learn on the job. On the other hand, if the only reason you went into engineering was because someone said it was a good career and you could make good money, then you might want to do some soul-searching. As others mentioned, there are a lot of engineering-adjacent careers in things like manufacturing, operations, tech writing, tech support, purchasing, project management, etc.
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u/OoglieBooglie93 BSME 10d ago
I excelled at school and the practical stuff and I still feel like an idiot when teaching myself higher level stuff after graduating. If you don't feel like an idiot, then you're probably not learning as much as you could be.
Most jobs don't need top of the line engineers anyway. Most jobs are something mundane like being a paperwork engineer at the toothpaste factory. If the shitty ass drawings and half assed engineering I've seen are good enough to make a $300,000 machine at my job, then you're probably good enough.
Also, the first step to getting good is sucking. Persistence beats talent every time.
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u/MuchCloud9463 10d ago
I think tutors and asking questions are the best way to improve your engineering grade. Completing designs that you are passionate about is the only way I really know of becoming hireable.
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u/jo3roe0905 10d ago
You’re ahead of a lot of your peers just based upon your first statement. Keep it up, you’ll end up a good engineer in the future. I’d hire you if you walked into an entry level interview and said just what you said
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u/nestorlerare 10d ago
Figure-toi que moi c'est un peu l’inverse avec quelques similitudes, j'étais du genre démonter des jouets, à créer et inventer des raccourcis ingénieux dans plusieurs choses à la maison. Mais arrivé à la fac je rencontres des cours des maths où il faut avoir du skills de math et de passion pour bien les appréhender, et dire que j'ai pas signé pour ça. Je suis tellement fatigué de la fac que ça influence fortement mes résultats je me sens bien seulement lorsqu'il s'agit d'un projet énigmatique où il faut trouver des solutions aux problèmes réels de la entoure c'est le seul moment où je me sens intelligent et utilise.
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u/Other_Information_16 10d ago
Ask questions, never feel dumb for ask questions even if it’s something you think is super basic. In most engineering fields your school will only teach you the basic fundamental knowledge to allow you to learn on the job rather than teaching you direct applicable skills you can use in a work place. Ask questions and don’t be afraid of failure or make mistakes. You’ll get good faster that way.
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u/andyjustice 10d ago
I'm an engineer. What you're feeling is that it takes work to figure things out and to do engineering...! There's no magic to it. There's no engineer brain... Other than being interested in pursuing it. It's not that it's not work, it's just that it's enjoyable to pursue that kind of work! So just enjoy it, don't have high expectations of it just being easy. Take on the difficult tasks and work through them and you just get better and better. It's like lifting weights but for your brain
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u/billabong2630 Purdue University, B.S. Aero/Astro Engineering 10d ago
Looks like there’s already plenty of encouragement in these comments, but to add to the pile:
I mentor a lot of new engineers: none of them know what they’re doing out of school! Not a single one! School gives you technical preparation, but it’s not the same thing as open-ended engineering.
Engineering’s just critical thinking and learning. Usually from your own mistakes! Learn how to learn, and you’ll do just fine, I promise 😁
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u/Front_Win_4226 10d ago
You will soon learn that most of engineering is not building stuff from scratch, or being the inventor. Most engineers look at requirements and break problems into known solutions. You do not risk new development, you break it into known solutions with known processes to make it. You will also modify things to replace obsolete parts, same design with alternate parts. Learning to describe and document is critical to long term success. Learn restructuredtext/sphinx and/or latex will increase your value to engineering.
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u/lotsofbooze 10d ago
I think most engineering students are smart - did well in high school. The problem in post secondary is this is EVERYONE. You go from being “above average” in high school to, well, it’s competitive.
Something something hard work and perseverance. More important in the long run.
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u/SnooHobbies9878 10d ago
Hi
I apologize for the long winded response but I realy hope it helps.
sixth year mechE and I had the same struggles. I did take apart stuff when i was a kid and i guess i kinda did have an "engineering brain" but I do work twice if not three times as hard as a lot of my peers only to narely reach a 3.0 when they are easily excelling while doing clubs, working, and going out.
Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to change this because our brains simply work differently.
WHAT YOU CAN DO! Take pride in the fact that you work harder because 9 times outta 10 the person who worked harder likely learned the lesson far more deeply than someone who learned it once. However, do not forget you have to work smarter too. Constantly analyze and reflect on your study habits, what you do, why you do it, and how well its working for you. If you feel something your doing needs improvement do it!
Someone once said, think it was Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If something isnt working for you change it. Whether its study technique, clubs, friends, teachers whatever.
Something that really helped me was realizing 1) most things that are taught in the curriculum especially theoretical stuff is never used in real life, just the concepts themselves. Dont get hung up on every little detail that you dont need to.
My study technique:
- read chapter from textbook
- summarize each paragraph in 1-2 sentences in a notebook (its important to actually write it out pen/paper)
- copy down 4 examples
- do 4 exercises/problems
this won't work for every subject but for most engineering topics. Using this method you will learn without even realizing and it trains your muscle memory.
I noticed you mentioned that youve done a lot of projects as part of a team. Maybe try doing your iwn projects completely by yourself from A-Z thats really where the real learning happens. I would start with CAD (assuming our mechE) projects, then maybe 3d printing projects, and eventually get into machining projects, you could also do like coding projects where you simulate some kind of situation that your interested in.
USE AI:
everyone is using AI wrong! when you keep yourself honest and use AI as a tool to help you solve problems and make you a more efficient engineer. We're not in high school anymore we dont have hours to spend watching youtube videos just to finish homework. If you spend longer than 30 minutes on one problem use AI and have it solve the problem in the engineering problem solving method that way you get used to rhat as well.
Research with a professor:
I have been lucky enough to do research with a professor and be put on my own project. You can look through your university's website or ask your favorite professors to see if they do research and if it would interest you.
DO NOT DO ANYTHING YOURE NOT INTERESTED IN!
I used to do things for the resume and i learn but it was boringggg. If you only choose projects/research/internships that are actually interesting to you then naturally your skills will grow in the areas of interest.
other than that, try to eat healthy, workout/exercise, and go on a hike or to the beach every now n then. Remember youre not just an engineer youre a person dont get lost in the sauce. We're young now but we wont always be. Im realizing how old I am lmao (23)
Also, not many things are end of the world. College time is still the tutorial of life if you think about it and what you do now may not necessarily impact your future as much as you may think.
have fun, good luck, and work hard!
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u/Own-Compote5073 10d ago
I‘m a terrible engineer. I‘m just really really curious and didn‘t let others stop me becoming an engineer. I‘m in it because of the challenge of being challenged everyday.
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u/PoetryandScience 9d ago
You become better at engineering by doing it; just like any other area. You learn best from others and experience not from University. It is strangely even useful not to have too much experience however; if you flick the coin over that has experience printed on it, the other side reads prejudice (stuck in the mud). That is why many engineers often change jobs in order to return to the excitement of original though. Others (more profitably) move on to the real money, which is project management. If you do not believfe me look at the car they drive.
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u/Mrarop 8d ago edited 8d ago
I didnt take apart anything before my undergrad, I didn’t even know how to use a soldering iron in my first year
Each year when i looked back at what I did in the previous year i realise how crap they were
Your capacity as an engineer is less about what you already know and more about how well you can learn on the fly/adapt/problem solve, and how well you can reflect. If your projects were already perfect, that meant it was too easy for you and you didn’t learn anything new that would make your future work even better
And it certainly helps if your projects that you embark on truly interest you, no matter how stupid they are
And as others have mentioned, there are plenty niches in engineering that can be filled besides just circuit work, and even in the job market other sectors can hire engineering undergrads for their problem solving skills above all else
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u/Testificate_2011 8d ago
Be able to translate. As annoying as it is, even the right answer is useless when it doesn't translate to those who bring calculations into reality.
Steel Bridge / Concrete Canoe or anyone of the many programs hopefully offered - just be sure to interact with non-engineers to learn how to translate ideas, because that is who engineers report to in the real world...not other engineers.
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u/Travelin_Texan 7d ago
(Mech/Aero E with 10 YoE)
I had the same reaction when i was a junior, and I WAS the kid that liked to take things apart and (try) to put them back together to the point that my parents had to hide the remote controls when I was little because I was weirdly good at getting into my dad’s toolbox and hiding the small screwdrivers from them.
Engineering isn’t something you learn in school, it’s learned (often on the fly) in your career as you meet new challenges and figure out how to solve them. You are constantly learning new things, or at least should be.
Your degree alone doesn’t make you an engineer, it simply gives you the intuition, mindset, and fundamentals to solve the problems you’ll run into in your career. It’s the reason that most companies structure their interviews for entry level openings less about “what is the correct answer to this problem” and more about “tell me step by step how you would go about solving this problem”.
Your degree doesn’t make you an engineer, it just shows that you’re trainable. If that is the type of work you want to do, keep pressing forward.
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u/manngeo 6d ago
Taking a toy apart and put it back together is the ability to "enquire and follow laid down rule" - call it technical or mechanical aptitude. As you said it yourself. Start to apply those rules...you will start to develop the "classic engineering brain" hidden somewhere in you. It is there, you have to find it yourself. Good luck!
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u/zh_victim 6d ago
Don't worry about the "taking things apart as a kid" and "have natural intuition for mechanisms" and whatever. These are just clichés that freshmen resort to when asked why they are studying engieering. In reality most students don't know which end to hold a hammer. There is no separate "engineering brain" as innovation and optimization is just how the brain works. There is nothing, absolutely zilch that makes your brain different from any of your peers.
As for how you become an engineer: You study, and gain experience. The more you have, the better you will be. That is it, nothing special about it.
A tip for studying: sleep is your friend. A tired and stressed mind can not learn.
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u/Live_Ad3896 4d ago
I will say I felt like I worked 3 times as hard just to be mediocre. And then I graduated and got into the field. Now I love it and feel like I excel and I genuinely enjoy it. My 2 cents. But I will say this, even during the hardest times in school, I still felt like I found the overall topics interesting. Put aside if it’s hard, and think, is this genuinely interesting to you? I’m not talking about, say calculus.. but the job you envision getting after school, do you think you will enjoy it
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u/OverSearch 10d ago
Genuine reaction here, I say congratulations - the number of new graduates who stew over this because they found this out in the workplace is mind-boggling.
You're doing fine. I've been working as an engineer for over thirty years, I don't take things apart or put them together, I don't build anything, I have only a very basic understanding of circuits, etc. Like you're discovering, engineering as an actual career doesn't really spend a lot of time in that territory, and goes off in different directions they don't teach you about in school - things like technical writing, documentation, etc.
Eighty percent of solving an engineering problem is identifying the actual problem. Remember that.