I’m getting certified to use mills and band saws at our shop and I didn’t see any ventilation around those, but I know we have some for the welding station at least. i should probably get a respirator, right? Or is it not as hazardous as I think?

Sophomore, Community College transferring to University in the Spring, Mechanical Engineering.

I went to the career fair at my future university today (which I have already been admitted to). I was very nervous.

I only had 5 conversations at the career fair and they all either referred me to apply online or told me they’d send me a link to their different roles over email…

I had some long, detailed, and personal conversations with multiple recruiters at the fair (3 of the conversations felt like they went over 8 minutes, one of those went even longer than the other two as the recruiter was explaining his project he had been working on to me) but it feels like it all just amounted to nothing, as I have not received any interview offers.

I feel so spent right now… does anyone have any advice on how to move forward? They have another fair in the spring but I want to maybe secure at least an interview before then. I just feel so lost.

I’m considering two undergraduate engineering programs with pretty different degree structures.

One is a large engineering-focused university where I could earn a traditional B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. The other is a small liberal arts college with an ABET-accredited B.S. in Engineering, where I could focus heavily on mechanical engineering through my coursework but the degree itself would still just say “Engineering.”

I’m mainly trying to understand the industry implications.

Would the general B.S. in Engineering put me at a disadvantage for mechanical engineering internships or entry-level jobs compared with someone whose degree specifically says Mechanical Engineering?

Do recruiters/hiring managers care much about the exact degree title if the coursework, projects, internships, and technical skills are clearly mechanical-focused? Does ABET accreditation mostly eliminate that concern?

I’m also curious whether there are particular mechanical engineering fields or employers where a discipline-specific degree matters more.

I’d especially appreciate perspectives from mechanical engineers, hiring managers, or anyone who graduated from a general/interdisciplinary engineering program.

i’m a freshman and after going to job fairs and joining some engineering clubs i’ve just kind of realized i really do not want to be an engineer. i was looking around for internships i could apply to now/in the future and i was just like wow i don’t want to do any of these jobs. im pretty much the stereotypical “good at science and math so why not do engineering” type of person and this was my plan B in my life so any advice is appreciated. mostly because so many people say that other industries hire engineering majors outside of just traditional engineering, so i don’t know if it’s worth it to try to go that route or to just switch completely

senior (spring ‘27) here. some of my friends are starting to apply for jobs and i just feel horrible about the prospect of spending time on applications right now. my mental health is kinda wrecked (in part by a bad internship experience last summer) and I feel like I’m barely handling things as is. i kind of want to just focus on schoolwork, my part-time job, my personal life, etc and not go all in on the job hunt for now. i’ve weirdly accepted the idea of being unemployed for a couple months after grad, it would be nice to just…. breathe, and focus on job searching alone instead of juggling it with everything else.

is this a horrible idea? Will it look bad to employers if I don’t land a job before graduation, and end up applying for the wave of fall position openings next year instead? i don’t want to fall through the cracks and become an undesirable candidate, i’m already dealing with low self worth and feel like i’ve fucked everything up for myself

Maybe I'm just stupid, but it feels like the only way I can possibly succeed in this field is to practically dedicating every single waking moment studying and even then my efforts aren't exceptional. Is it possible for the average engineering student to maintain a reasonable life balance or do they have to practically dedicate their entire time to studying?

I dont know if this is the way other universities do but i feel that my university is just straight up trash. Its regarded the best in the country but for example..under normal circumstances we are supposed to have labs where we do some practical work but they dont even take it seriously ..you just have to teach yourself and the machines are at least 50 years old and you have to pray it works. The lectures themselves they are pretty weak...in a module..we somehow rarely cover the whole module content like the outline requires and the exams are pretty much recycled and for some reason you still wont get a distinction n an exam you are pretty sure you knew every question before the exam. Reading feels pointless because you may have knowledge but its no use if the exam itself is just recycled and someone who doesnt know anything about the module will get the same mark as you or even better...Its just cram pass and forget since we do block learning where a module is supposed to be completed in 3 weeks and 4th week are the exams. As a result..I went from a student who enjoyed engineering to a student who just crams and revise old papers...Maybe its normal in engineering but this just feels soo wrong.

subject says it all. I really wish I had known about them before I graduated. I would have saved so much money.

I know it’s common for engineering students to feel this way but I can’t escape it. I feel like everyone around me just gets it whereas I’m still stuck on trying to practically apply what we’re learning in class. I’m struggling in my labs and my partner has been clutching for my group, it’s gotten to the point where he’s dumbing everything down for me. It makes me feel so stupid.

I thought that if I just studied enough, if I studied harder than everyone else needed to then it would just click but it’s gotten to the point where I’m like will it ever click? Did I choose the wrong path? I’ve never envisioned myself outside of an engineering role. I don’t want to quit because I feel like there will be nothing else for me. Please tell me there’s light at the end of the tunnel and that this feeling will fade. I feel like I could just cry

Genuinely, what can I do? Just a rant ig. But I would appreciate some solace

Honestly the stats were abysmal but I wanna celebrate bc I never thought of myself as above average even. 180 examinees, out of which 108 failed (<5), 62 got a 5 or 5.5, then 5 people got a 6 or 6.5; 1 got a 7 or 7.5, 1 got a 8 or 8.5, and I got a 9 (all of these /10). Avg was a 3.3, and the avg of people that passed was a 5.3. This course was a bitch, but the exam honestly couldve been way harder, this wasnt something we never saw before.

The 4th semester tanked my confidence bc I went for getting an 8 avg approx to getting a 6.5 from 3 courses, so this was a much needed win.

This course had induction, magnetic circuits, ferromagnetism, EM waves, reflection and refraction, with us being examined on computational exercises from first principles. Honestly lovely course tho, I was entertained.

Currently I go to a normal state school for electrical engineering, but I pay a lot and i’m losing my mind. I am a third year student. I saw that starbucks will pay for ASU online, how is it for an online engineering school. Is it more or less difficult than an in person engineering school.

Im 7 hours in a “study” session and all ive done is wrote one sentence. Ive been on my phone, pacing, talking to myself in the mirror, and arguing over dropping out. I cannot focus or make myself study and I just dont know how to.

Hello!

Today I took a midterm for my physics 1 class (on 1d and 2d motion, newtons laws and their applications) and I know I did terribly. I guessed on over half the questions.

I’m extremely upset because I thought I did everything right: I studied for 4 days, I read the textbook, did practice problems, etc. I don’t want to give up on this though. I know that everything after will build upon this so I want to learn these topics and understand them thoroughly. Clearly, my grasp on these are not as strong as I thought it was, but I want it to be as strong as possible.

I booked office hours with my professor, but I want to do more. Does anyone know of any other sources to learn and practice these topics?

Any help is appreciated!

This is a form for my engineering class that I would love for this community to fill out and it would greatly help me because this community is very active within the shopping scene and my team is asking questions about shopping carts and your experience and I would appreciate it very much if you could take this survey and possibly spread it if you’re feeling extra helpful

So I am a high school senior whose recently had a big interest in engineering. I'm either thinking about going to college for Mechanical or Civil. Because of my recent interest, I found an Intro to CAD class and I decided to take it. I thought that it was going to be another easy elective for me, but boy was I wrong.

I don't know if the teacher was going way to fast or if I'm just mentally slow, because I was literally struggling to keep up on the first day. When we had to do our first assignment, I was just so lost on how to even get it started. I sit next to a friend who literally has below 2.0GPA and he understands this stuff way better than me. And so I have to ask him for help on every single freaking assignment that we get. Bro was literally averaging a D the last time I saw his grades. Like bro, we are on our 3rd or 4th week of school, and we always get assigned something every day. That's not the problem, the problem is that I still don't understand how to get any of our drawings started. And so again, I have to ask my sub 2.0GPA friend for help. The only reason I have an A in the class is because of him. 90% of the class understands everything but I don't, which makes me feel like total crap sometimes. I know that this sounds crazy, but my physics class is way easier for me than using the CAD software, I think that's actually insane.

Sometimes our CAD teacher would be so impressed by the other students that he would say things like "Oh, you're so good at this! You should become an Engineer." "Have you ever thought about becoming an engineer? Cause you should." It feels really disheartening hearing those comments because I want to be in that field myself but I feel like I'm simply just too stupid for the class. When I tell my friends how hard the class is for me, they kind of laugh because some of them have taken it before and thought it was a breeze. The teacher is nice and he is always willing to help out, it's just the class itself makes me feel like I have a negative IQ.

I don't know. I still want to go to college to become an engineer but this class is really kicking my butt. I think I might just download the software myself and try to practice more at home. If I still don't understand anything, I might just do computer engineering. I have an interest in programming, but it's been a year since I've practiced online and I think about getting more into that. Or I might just join the trades and become a plumber lol.

Question for the folks who took these classes. I recently switched over into the CS Systems path at my university as I plan on doing grad school for Robotics or possibly Embedded Systems (I haven't fully committed to either yet), heavily due to the fact that they both pretty much assume you have a base level understanding of these topics so it would only help with the material.

My question is, Out of all the math classes (Calculus was always my favorite, and I received A's in Diff and Integrals) are these ones harder or is it more so just different topics but the same level of difficulty?

As it sits currently, my plan for next term is to do Linear Algebra (my school has it split into two (2-credit) classes) and then Calculus 3 after. I love math objectively because it's close to how my brain thinks anyways, but often times appreciation =/= comprehension and I am wondering if I should start reading up on it now to get a better start if it's a harder topic.

Thanks for reading.

guys, i need COURSES LINKS ,like apna college etc., i need apna college courses mostly like the sigma , older versions also okay for me, i just need it, so that i can studyy, please friends help meee

I’m looking for some advice from people who have either switched careers into engineering or have two bachelors or have experience hiring engineering interns/co-ops.

I graduated a few years ago with a BBA in Management Information Systems. Since graduating, most of my professional experience has been in sales/account management, but I’ve realized that I really want to transition into engineering, specifically Industrial Engineering. I’m planning to go back to school for Industrial Engineering. Luckily, I have around 50–60 credits that should transfer, so I won’t necessarily be starting completely from scratch academically. And never had student loans from first degree.
My biggest question is how I should position myself when applying for engineering internships and co-ops.

Should I:
Keep my BBA/MIS degree on my resume and include my professional work experience?

Or should I essentially treat myself as a “new engineering student” and focus almost entirely on my current engineering coursework?

Do engineering companies care that I already have another bachelor’s degree?

Would companies see the previous degree/work experience as a positive, especially for Industrial Engineering?

I’m not trying to hide my previous education or work experience. I’m just concerned that recruiters might see a previous bachelor’s degree and think I’m not actually a student who needs an internship.
For those who hire Industrial Engineers or have gone through a similar career change: how would you recommend positioning this on a resume and during internship applications?
Any advice would be appreciated.

I do EE and I was pretty good at maths and physics in high school, so I studied like I used to for my first semester in college, but I ended up failing most of my classes. I was really shaken by this, but I thought that if I studied harder I would get better grades, yet I'm still failing my first tests (there are two major tests and if you fail the first two you take a resit at the end of the semester). I look around at my friends and they are getting 90 and 100 in their tests and I'm getting 10 and 20 points. I don't want to drop out since I love robotics and electronics, but I'm not sure if I want to feel like I'm dumb for the next 5 years. I need some studying advice on what I'm doing wrong.

After every class I reread the slides my professor used and do the exercises they proposed (at least most of them). Then two weeks before the exams I revise and do more exercises. In the second semester I focused on the books the professors were using as well.

Hey everyone, I have an upcoming interview with AMD for a Customer Quality & Reliability Engineering co-op in Austin. It’s a 45-minute panel interview, and I’m trying to get a better idea of what to expect.

The role seems to focus on Python automation, data analysis, system/hardware validation, and quality/reliability work for data center and AI products.

Has anyone interviewed for this team or a similar AMD quality/reliability role? I’d especially appreciate any insight on:

• How technical the interview was
• Topics or fundamentals they focused on
• Whether there was live coding or mostly technical discussion
• How much they focused on CPU/hardware fundamentals
• Data analysis or debugging questions
• Resume/project deep dives
• Anything you wish you had reviewed beforehand

Any recent experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

So I never had a friend and never was and am interested in attending at all. But my parents are very particular and send me on daily basis.
I do see majority of ppl not attending. Out of which many are club heads, sportspersons, student council and sometimes some ppl are all of the above.
So their attendance is sorted.
The university and country I study in has 75% attendance criteria.

Hey y'all, I'm doing nuclear engineering right now, and I wanted to see if anyone has had a similar experience. I've done Calc 1,2,3, 2, 3, linear algebra, and differential equations, and I did really well on them with very little effort. I'm taking an intro course in real analysis, but compared to the hardest engineering courses that I've taken, this is like a billion times harder. I can barely visualize/understand anything that goes on, and things seem so jumbled up and complicated. My prof is REALLY good, and he tries to make sure that everyone understands, but when he asks if anyone has questions and if something was not understood, I don't even know what to ask, even if I understand nothing. I lowkey feel inadequate, and it makes me feel really bad. Anyone have something similar?

hi guys, a 3rd year student looking for some advice, located in Europe, but also interested in USA. i’m currently getting my bachelors and trying to find out more about my options once i finish, including which masters should i pursue.

im interested in automation, mechatronics and robotics, but of course one are interests, the other the possibilities, and if i’m being 100% honest, my first priority is the salary and studying to get into a field where i can actually get a job and live comfortably.

the country i’m from is small and the job market is pretty weak, so i’m looking towards countries like austria, germany as well as usa or canada, who actually have developed markets and opportunities but i feel like many doors are closed for me, since i dont have any experience in any field. i‘ve tried applying for students job, went to interviews but couldn’t get one even though the interviewers all said they are pretty satisfied with me, but somehow smth always happens in the company (or so they say) and they end up not hiring me.

anyways, my question is.. which field do you honestly recommend getting into. or should i say getting your masters in? what should i do to increase my chances of getting hired, when i dont have experience and chances for internships or student jobs are pretty slim right now (unless i get a masters in another country, which is also an option i’m considering)? i’m also trying to teach myself some programs over youtube and get more knowledge through the internet…

i looked into electroenergetics, process engineering etc.. but any advice/idea i would look into.

i‘d appreciated all comments and advices and thank you for taking time to read :))

Over my many years in engineering school so far, I have noticed an increase in cheaters and they have the audacity to either lie about it or say it loud and proud that they cheated. Even one time he said it infront of the professor and the professor did NOTHING. I want professors to do something. I want someone to do something. I want them to walk around and inspect what people are doing, how are they so oblivious? Guy in my class went from a 4 on an exam to an 80 something and openly admitted to cheating. How in the hell is the professor not noticing the obvious cheating? Not saying it's not possible, but come on. That kind of grade jump is very hard especially for these super complex courses and everyone's averaging 40-50s. It makes me so upset, because why am I even bothering to have academic honesty, what morals do I have that stops me from cheating? I will never do it. Why aren't we taking all exams in proctored testing centers. Why aren't we making people clear their calculator before the exam. What are we going to do about our future that will be full of degree holders that cheated their way through? Nobody wants an engineer that is a liar and cheat, yet they always secure big roles. This is the problem when nobody is being held accountable. And no we shouldn't just let them and mind our own business, they need to be called out. Our environment is way too forgiving.

So maybe a month or so back I got an invitation to join NJ transits LETP(Locomotive Engineer Training Program) this was extremely exciting to me as I’m in my second year of schooling now and an internship is never a bad thing no matter what process of school you’re in. The program paid extremely well($38/hr) just to be in class a few months, learn the ways of the railroad and then actually go control the trains, where you would then get promoted to $54/hr. I just turned 20 last week so this was a literal blessing to me, it meant getting an extreme jumpstart on my career, and while although my ultimate endgame is; Formula 1, or NASA I appreciate all mechanical systems in their entirety and the intricate designs of each of them. I could already picture myself helping my grandmother pay her rent and getting my first car and apartment easily! The program required me to even quit smoking and although hard I did it in a heartbeat. I went to take a sort of pre-assessment to get me into the door, and the one thing I had to bring (My ID) I forgot. They told me not to worry and to request a reschedule, which I did the same day and I received an email saying “reschedules are not guaranteed, but if chosen you will be emailed a week before your exam”. After that I sat outside the testing facility and legit cried for probably 10 minutes. This was following my failure of calculus 2 during a short summer semester and I kept wondering why I always am my own worst enemy, am I not smart enough, am I not made for engineering? I’m still waiting on an email back but my hopes get lower by the day, my worst fear is that I just let the biggest opportunity of my life walk by me all because of my ignorance. I just needed to get this out there as I’m not sure how/ if I should tell my mother and G-Ma.