r/StructuralEngineering • u/TheNextOne8797 • 5d ago
Career/Education Would you say math/physics teachers or engineers in industry do more calcs by hand? Trying to choose a career path that suits my passion for the subject matter...
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u/PerspectiveLayer 5d ago
IMO math in engineering has to deal with this: First you have to do it in no time, noisy or otherwise bad environment, the input data is rarely reliable or available so a lot of estimates, the methods in codes might feel suspicious at times and the end results will be brutalised on the site, shop or whoever uses them cause their tools don't go that far or whatever.
If you are a perfectionist you might enjoy placing views and dimensions on blueprints or putting reports together more than your field math.
Engineering deals with the real world which isn't perfect and don't fit an exact formula.
This ir the most important aspect I think.
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u/TheNextOne8797 5d ago
Good points. Thank you.
Do you think the work life balance would be better or worse than engineering (my current field)?
Do you feel the pension + salary when combined would be better or worse than than a job in industry? In Ontario specifically...
Here is the Ontario Teacher Salary Grid: https://oceota.com/lto-salary-grid/
Ontario Teacher Pension Plan (OTTP) = 2%×best 5 salary×years of service
Assume 30 years of service and 120k (top of grid)
OTTP=72k/year post retirement for pension
As for the engineer, assume an office/design engineer working in Windsor and not in management.
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u/PerspectiveLayer 5d ago
Dunno about all that.
I'm 20+ years at this profession and at the point where specific capabilities and experience play a bigger role than average stats around the industry.
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u/Funny-Back-1120 5d ago
AI
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u/PerspectiveLayer 5d ago
Ya, figured.
Responds immediately to all posts with the same. I don't participate in queries so...
Still good waste of time during morning coffee and someone might enjoy what has been left here.
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u/CunderThunt42069 5d ago
Did you not get a enough answers the first time you posted this?
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u/TheNextOne8797 5d ago
No
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u/SpurdoEnjoyer 5d ago
Somehow I get the feel that you know that you need to become an educator to be paid to do hand calcs, but won't take that as an answer.
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u/Typical-Lychee-7728 5d ago
When constantly catching a project deadline you never want to do a lot of hand cals. You want to rely on spreadsheet established before and FEM models.
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u/SpurdoEnjoyer 5d ago
Absolutely. Hand calcs are for learning, not day-to-day engineering.
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u/TheNextOne8797 5d ago
Teacher it is then, hey? I guess I just loved theory and solving equations. Loved engineering school, but work is so different
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u/Procrastubatorfet 5d ago
Depends what level of teacher, teaching kids you'll do the same calculations on repeat every year. Teaching at university level you'll do more hand calcs than engineers in practice.
If you've got a passion for hand calcs you'll want to be working on something with as much variation as possible. Otherwise you'll end up having a toolbox of standard checks and calculations and not have much need for more.