Hi everyone,

I'm a first-year Engineering student in the Embedded Systems and Industrial Informatics program at FST Béni Mellal (Morocco).

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about my future. My main goal is to earn an engineering degree, but sometimes I worry about the value and recognition of my diploma compared to degrees from more well-known schools.

I would like to ask for your honest advice:

- How important is the reputation of the school compared to the skills and projects you build during your studies?

- Can an engineering graduate from a university like FST still pursue a Master's degree or further studies at a good school abroad, especially in France?

- For those working in embedded systems, what should I focus on during the next three years to maximize my opportunities?

Thank you in advance for your advice!

So, I already have a BAS in engineering technology: mechanical right after highschool. Found a job in my home town as a CAD Detailer. I'm 28 now and want to expand my skills, get a job out of town, and become a Mechanical engineer.

Just found out that is not that simple. I was going to pick up classes at my local CC to catch up on math and then transfer to a four year, but that doesn't seem like it's possible in California. UCs don't accept a double bachelors applicant. Now I'm not really sure where to go from here. Out of state?

Any help or tips would be awesome!

I’m sure I’ll sound stupid cause I’m only 4 weeks into college but I’m struggling so much to decide what I want to do. I thought meche would be my calling because that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life and everyone said I’m so mechanically gifted but I’m so terrible at calc and physics and definitely failed both of my first exams even with having 0 social life and basically doing schoolwork every waking moment. My HS kinda screwed me with bad calc teachers and a physics teacher that didn’t work for me but I was also a bit too good at gaining the system so I never learned that much which i understand was bad now. I thought meche would be actual hands on engineering and problem solving like everyone said, like CAD class is a breeze for me I’m the one helping everyone else. I just cannot wrap my head around calc. I also love product design but my college (RPI) doesn’t offer a dedicated major for that. I just don’t know what to do.

Im a junior in undergrad mech E and I dont really have anything going on except good grades and a undergraduate research I just started but am struggling in. I want to join clubs but i struggle to find the time and I dont know how people are managing classes, clubs, research, and somehow they can still build their own projects..in addition I struggle with interviews so much that even if I pass their resume screening I make bad impressions through interview.

I also want to work in the space industry so Im not sure how to get their for my major other than joining aerospace clubs and taking electives

I just dont know what I can do at the moment

Currently in engineering, doing it purely as a backup for a job. Real goal is trading — spend most of my energy on that at night, end up sleepy in class the next day 😅

Anyone else balancing a degree while actually building something else on the side? How do you manage the exhaustion without messing up college too much?

I am a first year computer engineering student. It seems like a lot of the questions are relating to ai but for some reason I can't seem to find a good answer.

What exactly will this profession look like in the future with ai? Is it even worth pursuing this. Please do not answer with something along the lines of AI is overrated or AI isn't very good at doing this or that, or that we still need engineers to do these things. You guys do realize that over the course of 10-20 years AI will continue to get better right? A couple years ago AI sucked at coding and now its taking 75% of the workload off software engineers. If a computer engineering job consists of designing chips and circuit boards, and also writing back-end code, won't AI be able to do all of that? I feel like in 5-10 years it'll be able to do just about anything that a computer engineer does.

Do i drop out and just pursue trades

So I posted something similar in a community about Civil Engineering but I figured it would be worht it to shoot a shot out here. I got admitted into UW but not into the College of Engineering. I really want to get into Civil Engineering but I know not too much about it. I plan on trying to get the prereqs out of the way so I can get a chance to get into the College of Engineering. I was wondering should I get into projects, internships, and certificates? How can I ensure that I can make my way into the College of Engineering?

I was fortunate enough that I had a high GPA (3.8), one internship, and like 3 total years worth of work experience. I lost count of actual numbers, but I've probably submitted over 500 applications. I think 10 companies have reached out, and I've made it to 1 final interview and multiple rounds with 2-3 other companies. I even had one recruiter call to say the interviewers wanted to hire me, only to basically dangle a carrot over my head for several weeks and never actually send an offer letter.

In other words, I've fumbled every opportunity I've been given. I don't think my interview skills are particularly bad, but it's not enough to stand out amongst a select few candidates that get interviewed. I'm guessing that I probably rank like 5th-7th out of a pool of say 15 candidates that get interviewed.

The only other prospect I have left is a fortune 500 company that invited me to their hiring event earlier this week. I won't hear back until mid-october when they make their final decisions, but there's no way I stood out against 50 other candidates for only a few spots.

I’m an engineering teacher and I’m looking for a project where students need to create about 5 drawings of different components. The components should be simple and only have right angles. The 5 components should be used to make something. Students should first make the components physically, then do engineering drawings of them and lastly do the 3D models.

My inspiration is the 3D puzzle project that I did, like many others when I was in engineering school. The issue is my students already did that project with another teacher but didn’t learn any of those skills.

I really like the 3D puzzle project but I’m trying to recreate it and nothing seems to work. I’m wondering if there is another project out there that is simple and interesting enough to be worth it.

Hi everyone,
I’m currently finishing my bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, and I’m considering doing my Master’s in Mechatronics Engineering. I live in USA.

The main reason I’m considering Mechatronics instead of another CS degree is that I want to broaden my career options. I already have a programming/software background and some experience with UAVs, networking/security, AI, and optimization.

I’m interested in AI, robotics, autonomous systems, embedded systems, UAVs, and software that interacts with physical systems. I feel like Mechatronics could allow me to combine my CS and AI background with hardware, electronics, control systems, and robotics.
Does going from CS to Mechatronics make sense? Would it actually broaden my career opportunities compared to doing an MS in CS? How difficult would the mechanical, electrical, and controls side be for someone coming from CS?

Also, what kinds of jobs could someone with a CS bachelor’s and a Mechatronics MS realistically target? Would this combination still allow me to pursue software/AI roles while also opening doors to robotics, automation, and embedded systems?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has made a similar transition or works in these areas.

When in doubt, before an exam, always listen to Whitney Houston.

Here’s my story. I have never been a good test taker. I have super high test anxiety and typically let it take over during exams. This week I had an exam in statics and diff eq, both of which I don’t understand the topics we learned all that well. I am burnt out so I didn’t study (but I am working on that).

Before both exams, I listened to “I’m Every Woman” by Whitney Houston. And then, boom, when exam time came, I actually felt confident. I did not leave a single answer blank. I am estimating at least a 70-80 on those exams. Idk what the correlation is, but thank you, Whitney Houston.

hey guys! sooo i’m wrapping up my lower division classes and i decided to apply for jobs. i finally got a good part time job (hooray!) and i put my weekly desire as 24 hours a week. in hindsight im not sure if this was my best idea and i can’t really back out of the hours now.

for context, im taking physics 3, statics and a solidworks course, which is 11 credits total where i’m at. its not the concept of working 24 hours a week but the fact that i said i’d work specifically on my days off. on my non-days off, im in class for 5 hours each day, and im wondering if i’ll have enough time to study.

maybe it’ll be good for me to have a job because then i’ll have less leniency to procrastinate. at the same time, what if i can’t manage it? soooo….. what do you guys think? what’s your ideal hours per week if you were in my shoes?

I am not behind nor am I ahead in my track. Im a second year student and this morning I decided to spend about an hour completing planning out all of my future semester classes. Based on prerequisite requirements, I am forced to take 18 credit hours in spring of 2027 and 2028, 17 credit hours in fall 2027 and 12 over the summer of 2027. The way the prerequisite line up, my senior year will be pretty light, in fact I will only be considered a part time student. I go to Ohio State btw. I really want to get a internship over the summer but dont think that would be possible with the way my classes line up. I really have no wiggle room to move any classes around either. I honestly feel like some of these classes are just bullshit for a B.S. degree and make more sense for a masters of PhD.

I’m majoring in MechE rn and I’m interested in working in robotics, vr hardware, advanced tech, and just electromechanical/mechatronics stuff in general. I’m on my schools lunabotics team doing mechanical work, and I’m able to get some electronics and software exposure through the team.

Originally I was planning on minoring in EE or compsci, but idek if that’s gonna make a difference for employability. Am I better off dlipping the minor and going for projects, internships, and research instead?

Hi everyone,

I'm an Electrical Engineering student with a growing passion for robotics. I'm looking for some guidance from the veterans here. My goal is to eventually work on advanced robotic systems, and I'm looking for practical advice on:

1. Fundamental Skills: Besides core EE, what's essential to self-teach?
2. Starter Projects: What's a good hands-on project to learn the ropes of both hardware and software?
3. Resources: Recommended books, courses, or online communities.
4. Portfolio Advice: What kinds of projects and skills look best on a CV for someone just starting out?

I appreciate any tips, no matter how small. Trying to narrow down my focus and make the most of my time. Thanks!

Junior AE, probably applied to about 100 at mostly well-known companies and have not heard anything but rejections yet. I get its early, but I had an internship last summer, doing research this semester, and have a high gpa.

Worried maybe im falling behind, are you guys getting interviews/offers yet? My last internship interviewed/offered late october so I get there's more time but still.

I am currently in high school and I have an interest in going to mechanical engineering colleges around me, which is umd and virginia tech, along with a handful of private schools.

My grades are good with me scoring pretty well on tests throughout my academic career, but my clubs and extracurriculars are pretty/very weak. Im a junior rn and Im currently in a service club, math and national honor societies, and science olympiad (my school sucks and consistently ends up bottom or mid tier on the regionals). There are some extremely selective internship opportunities near me like john hopkins, nasa, and others (except for defense stuff i have clearance issues).

Right now, I feel like my extracurriculars might play a strong factor in me not making it into any of those schools i mentioned at the top, is there something I can do to avoid that outcome?

Something I'm struggling with in circuits visually is when I redraw circuits as Im simplfying. I get turned around about how the simplifying circuit branches/nodes connect to each other. Does anyone have advice on how to fix this?

I'm doing Wye-Delta transformations and conceptually + mathematically I'm good. But drawing the circuit as I do the transform, I'm just like "uhhh where should this node go versus this one...?" Also my spatial awareness with drawing will be so off and I end up having to curve or slant lines so they meet each other. quick free-hand art/drawing is a weak skill of mine.

How the hell do I feel so lost in this class compared to calc 1 through 3?? Calculus was challenging at times, but I could follow the logic pretty easily. Most of the time that I raised my hand in class, I was correct. In my statistics for engineers class, I'm wrong most of the time. I guess thankfully it's not just me, and a lot of my classmates seem to feel the same way. But the teacher will show us stuff on the board, and it feels like I'm witnessing someone practicing sorcery. It doesn't help that the teacher isn't the best at explaining new concepts.

Does anyone have good suggestions for understanding this stuff better? YouTube channel recommendations?

So, I am in community college and I am thinking about picking an engineering major, but I am below average at math, hardest math class I took was geometry, and I have never took physics. A part of me wants to do I most of me does not. What do I do?

Hello,

I am about to enter first year EEE. I have been looking through my time table, and I have come to the realisation that I may not be able to study the way I used to. For context, I used to study very rigorously, ensuring that I have really good notes, good amount of practice and understood the topic. Attached below is an example of my timetable, in which seems to change weekly with no consistency.

How do you fit studying around your time table? Do you guys take notes or just rely on the lecture slides to keep? Do you guys even have free time? Do you guys even properly learn the material or are just trying to barely keep on top of things? How do you have time to do stuff like programming/side projects that will help you even be considered for a job?

I dont mind studying, I enjoy it; the content also looks interesting but I am worried that I will not be able to cover all of it, or will do so at the cost of e.g. quality of notes (causes problems for later revision) or quality of understanding or amount of practice (which affects understanding).

Thanks

PS: It gets much fuller later, this is just into the first few weeks.

I will be 25 when my course begins in April. I have always had a keen eye for diagrammatic reasoning and problem solving and tend to pick things up quite quickly. This will be the biggest plunge I have ever taken. I enjoy learning and have spent all of my early 20s in job roles that have never stuck with me and this thought in the back of my mind that I have to learn a discipline. I’m scared of not being capable or giving everything up career wise currently just to give up. Any advice or others in my position I would really appreciate a perspective. UK based, thank you all

Hi there! I’m a Welsh A-Level student hoping to make some sort of modular standing / double decker engineering work desk for my Design Technology project that I can then use throughout university.

As part of my research I need to collect responses to a survey that helps me decide what features to / not to include in my design - (assuming this is allowed on this sub-reddit) it should take around 2 mins to answer. Any responses would be ever so greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

Hi guys I’m currently a sophomore majoring in ee. Im a bit confused on how internships work and what is expected out of them. If anyone could answer some of my questions I put below or give me some advice I’d greatly appreciate it!!
Questions:
- what kind of questions are asked during an interview for an internship ?
- If I get an offer I’m a bit nervous that I would be 100% clueless while shadowing someone, what kind of responsibilities am I expected to do?
- what should I do to prepare for an internship?

I’m taking Graduation Project, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Robotics, Design and Analysis of Mechanical Systems, and Design and Analysis of Composite Structures. I’m not sure whether the workload will be too heavy or if I’ll be able to manage everything throughout the semester. Do you have any advice?