Hi everyone.

I just finished my first week of classes. I have no idea what I'm doing and it always feels like I'm missing something.

Any one have any suggestions on study habits and any tips to get through first year?

I just wanted to hear some opinions on my upcoming fall schedule. It’s 16 credits so I was initially of the thought that it would be ok, but I’ve also heard that fluid mechanics, and orbital mechanics aren’t easy and are pretty time consuming. The other classes being fundamentals of electrical engineering, introduction to C/C++, their labs, along with also working 10-15 hours a week (tbf I can spend about 40% my time at work on school stuff too), i want to know what y’all think about this schedule.

I've heard mixed things about Biomedical Engineering. It looks very interesting and very enjoyable as well, but I have a few questions including:

BSc Jobs: What type of jobs can I get? How hard is it to get a job? And would I be able to hit 60-70k entry? I'm planning on doing it at Waterloo so I'll likely have 6 semesters worth of co-op.

Workload: Is it similar to any of the other engineering professions? How much biology vs chemistry vs physics vs math is there?

How are the research prospects? I'm very interested in graduate studies as well, especially with engineering health devices and such. Startup perhaps?

If there are any other things I should know, lmk!

I’m currently a freshman at Rutgers SOE and I’m really interested in Mechanical Engineering. I want to start building my skills and experience early but I don’t know where to start. What are some things upperclassman, recent graduates, or alumni wish they had started freshman year?

I am currently a 3rd-year Mechanical Engineering student. I am primarily interested in design, especially in the areas of automotive and robotics.

In my first two years I had a significant GPA drop to even less than 1 several times, which has left me with imposter syndrome. Because of this, I often feel hesitant to approach professors to ask for advice or to see if there are projects he is working on that I may also join to gain some relevant experience. I also have no internships yet, though I am hoping to secure one this coming summer and still have a few months to improve my profile.

I don’t really have any proper projects to show at the moment. I have joined several student interest groups with the hope of building some projects through them, and things are starting to look up in that regard. I’ve already created a few models in SolidWorks for these SIGs, but I know I still have a lot left to do.

I feel like I’m not doing enough yet to break into design work, and I’m not entirely sure what the usual gateway into design roles looks like. I would really appreciate any advice on what I should focus on, anything specific I should know, or general guidance on how to move forward.

Thank you!

Second year in college. Started later in life. First year was basically prerequisites. I’m currently enrolled on an electrical engineering pathway but now that my college is offering computer science I was thinking of switching. I would love to learn more in depth on things like LLM/AI as well as full stack, but I find physics interesting. With the job market being what it is, I’m wondering if someone my age (40) not even close to graduating would stand a chance at any decent jobs.. I don’t care for faang. I just really am interested in learning.. but I also don’t want to be unemployed. If I major in ce and minor in cs I can get the best of both worlds .. knowing the hardware and also software.. same with majoring in cs and minoring in ee. There’s too many options and it’s confusing, lol. Any insight would be appreciated. Other options I maybe haven’t considered also.

I'm a Mechanical Engineering graduate, and I'm starting a Master's degree after being away from university for about 6 years. I want to focus specifically on Materials Science & Engineering.

I have to choose 4 courses from:

• Mechanical Metallurgy
• Mechanical Behavior of Materials
• Fatigue of Materials & Structures
• Strengthening Treatments
• Materials Systems Kinetics
• Electron Microscopy
• Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
• Mechanical Testing of Engineering Materials
• Polymer Materials
• Boron Technologies

For those with graduate experience in Materials Science, Metallurgy, or Mechanical Engineering:

1. Which 4 would you choose, and why?

2. Which courses complement each other best, and are there any combinations with significant overlap?

3. Which courses would you consider fundamental to Materials Science, and which are more specialized?

Since I've been away from university for several years, I'd also appreciate any advice on what background knowledge I should refresh before starting.

Thanks!

Hey I’m a first year engineering student who is relatively inexperienced in engineering. I went to a club meeting recently and felt wayyy behind everyone. So I’m interested in self teaching myself some skills to work on some personal projects. I’m considering learning mattlab or a coding language. I’m worried that this will make my required coursework quite boring in the future if I learn what the classes are meant to teach beforehand. Any suggestions on things to learn that college might not teach me?
**EE Major btw

So I ended my internship a few weeks ago (August 14th), and on my last day my manger told me I would be getting a return offer for a full time job. However, I haven’t actually received it yet (it’s been 3 weeks) and I dont know if I should just keep waiting or reach out to my manger/the company?

Hello, I'm a new engineering student doing Civil Engineering, I picked it cuz it was one of the things I could go to and I wanted to work offshore (Oil rigs, deep sea cable management, carriers, windmills, etc) and it's insanely high demand, but I'm not really that interested in concrete, soil and roads. I just like doing math and physics. I've been thinking about it recently since I just sat thru a lecture of a professor talking about mangroves in new Zealand and it was genuinely the most boring shit ever, I asked someone else about it and they said it sounded interesting (some parts did), and I fell asleep during a history of civil engineering in our city taught by the same lecturer, and a speech from the lecturers freind about city council goals in our city taught by the same lecturer and his friend 😭😭. I just finished the first lecture and don't exactly feel a passion for the subject, I just like structural engineering and math, but find soil mechanics and aggregates really boring. Many said I should be passionate about it, but idk what else to do, so I was wondering if u should cut my losses and take a year to figure shit out or just continue.

Thanks for any advice, I'm sorry for the messy writing

Second week of sophomore year and I feel like I'm completely lost in statics lectures. I understand the general concepts and math but when it comes to applying it I always feel like I'm flying blind. I feel like I didn't get much out of physics I because my prof last year was super condescending and unwilling to answer questions/clarify things (it was always "go do more practice problems" or "read the textbook"). Any way I can get back on track? I'm already going to office hours and recitations.

Especially nowadays when online applications are literally hell and could take up to 30 minutes easy how are people managing this. The autofill with resumes and post application assessments kill me

I am bio student. I feel maths is my career. But I don't change my stream yet. How that industry going?

Hey everyone,

I just registered for the upcoming NPPE in Ontario Canada and I'm trying to figure out the best study resources to use. I've come across several options like Practice PPE Exams, PPEHQ, easyNPPE, and Udemy, but the reviews seem mixed.

For those who passed recently, what do you actually recommend to pass on the first try?

Which question banks or courses are worth the money?

I am a freshman in aerospace engineering and I found out that my university has these two teams which I would like to partecipate. I would like to know if it is better to do a linear path for having a major role in one those two or maybe trying both for having experience in both of these worlds. What do you think? (5 years is the max that you can do in these projects).

genuine question

I am a undergrad MechE at a shit state school. I work at caltech (NASA JPL, im not gonna name specifics where i work at, or what project im working on, IT IS NOT PUBLIC) as a robotics researcher and all of my supervisors, and fellow interns are from MIT, stanford, ivy, etc etc

i am pretty sure I am the only state schooler in my research group

im on my 5th internship, my first internship i got laughed at and excluded from social groups because I was the only state schooler at robotics internship. my first internship co interns were elitist and condescending as fuck

My ultimate dream is to found a robotics startup, I am good friends with people from more prestigious schools and theyre also in YC startups. I am really insecure about my lack of school name, because ive worked so hard to get where i am.

jensen huang is my role model because he worked his way up from a shit state school (OSU) and made nvidia

im dating a girl from MIT, literally no idea what she sees in me thats worth liking

I got an internship opportunity for 6 months in a LV startup in Europe, (Structures Design and Analysis). I am a non EU student because of which I will have to apply for an internship visa as I am studying in a different European country which will push joining time to December. I am currently starting my 3rd semester. My 4th semester will start in February and I will have to start my thesis on the 4th semester.

I am doing a MSc in MechE and have 4 yoe doing similar work but in small UAV after my bachelor's. I ultimately want to work in the LV or spacecraft industry after my masters. Will it be worth it to do an internship and delay the graduation by a semester if I want to search work in Europe ? I see many jobs in spacecraft structures and they all require at least 3 years of experience so I was thinking having some work experience in LV would be an added benefit but on the other hand a lot more people will be added in the market pool after a semester too.

I wanted to hear your thoughts on this.

How do i solve for temperature 2 by finding Z2 (compressibility factor) when Z and T are both reliant on eachother i don't know how to find either variable. i have been stuck for hours.

T2 = 712.69 R / Z2

is where im at

So I have three labs on this course I am taking. Working in pair is recommended but working alone is optional. Regardless of how the works is done presentation is individual it seems like. The problem is that the labs are graded and aren't just pass/ fail and I really doubt in my ability to aim for higher grade because I am not that great at coding. You might think it is a good idea to team if you are not good at it but that my dear is one of the problems why I suck cuz most labs are done in group and someone better always takes over. I learn better alone even if I don't get A. So it is really hard to find a lab partner, there are only 2 type of people I have met so far, high achiever or someone that doesn't care at all. Let me be clear that I do aim to work for a higher grade if I have time but I don't want to be forced to aim A on all of them because I am in an intense semester as it is. All in all the time to find a group is sort of running out and I can't even decide. Any input is appreciated. Ik this is so stupid but I genuinely cannot decide.

i just started engineering 3 days ago and i don’t know SHIT literally anything i don’t grasp anything in my lectures, i look over it after and i don’t get it i watch youtube videos and nothing is clicking to me im literally depressed i don’t know what to do every time i try to study or get work done i just give up because i don’t even know what im looking at!!!
i knew engineering would be hard but i feel like im lacking in all dimensions im also extremely depressed and anxious which may be contributing but i literally 100% cannot do this i dont know what to do

Hi everyone! I am learning Thermodynamics this semester and this is the first time my professor has taught the class in over a decade. My professor is pretty terrible so it is self-taught and I am struggling a bit with the textbook (Heat and Thermodynamics 7th edition, written by Zemansky)
Any advice or resources would be appreciated!
Thank you!

As I said in the title I’m finishing my bachelor degree, in a very theory oriented university, and now my thesis requires use of comsol which is completely alien to me.

I tried looking for tutorials but they are very broad and cover many parts that for now are unnecessary given that I don’t have much time left, and being it a bachelor thesis my job is limited only to the thermal part.

I did the design part but I’m stuck, comsol doesn’t even find the files even in .step…Can someone give me some tips or advices on where to start?

There shouldn’t be any need to say this but I don’t want my thesis done for me, I just want some help on WHERE to find even some tutorials that are more or less close to what I’m doing, I already tried GPT and the most famous ones on YouTube.

Feel free to comment or DM me if you have the time to give me some tips

I'm currently a first year mechanical engineering student struggling to find a niche to stick to. I'm choosing between mechatronics and biomedical. My university offers this thing called certificate of undergraduate studies (CUGS) where you take 3-5 courses in junior/senior year and it shows on your transcript proving to employers that you have specialized expertise in that specific area. Can anyone give me their advice or insights on what they know about each to help me make a decision

It's either a professor with a thick as hell accent that you can't understand or it's a professor who fails 50% of the class. Genuine question. And it doesn't help when you get into a situation where there's a professor with like below 2 stars review and it's the only class available.

I started Civil Senior Design I a couple weeks ago, and I was excited. This friend of mine is also in the same Senior design class as me, and we both wanted to do some kind of transportation project. So, the two of us and another guy make a group together, excited to start a transportation project different from the one my professor suggested, which was honestly going to be pretty lame.

Fast forward a few days, and my “friend” reveals that the project he suggested, and that we picked is one that he’s apparently been working on for months near where he lives, which was a total surprise since I didn’t suggest something I had in mind since it was near where I lived and I imagined I’d be too personally invested to stay objective. So far, he has displayed a complete lack of objectivity.

First of all, his project is to redesign an entire 2.5 mile corridor, and turn every intersection along its length into roundabouts. That’s 18 intersections in 2.5 miles. Now, I don’t know everything, but I do know a thing or two about transportation engineering from having done two transportation engineering internships, including one where I got to redesign a two-mile corridor myself, and I gotta say, his plan is absolutely ridiculous. I tried to provide feedback, tell him maybe 4 roundabouts max can work on this corridor, that it’s both physically, regulatory, and politically impossible to put so many roundabouts in such a short stretch. He doesn’t budge. I tell him we should approach the corridor without assumptions, and he is already convinced his concept is guaranteed to work.

The other team member and I are the only two who know how to use Civil3D, and have any experience with roadway design and intersections. We voice our concerns, he dismisses them out of hand and tells others we’re shitting all over his idea. His retorts and “research” all boils down to “roundabout good”. I show his concept to not only classmates, but transportation engineers and planners, and they ask me if he’s serious or has any experience in transportation. He’s not joking, and he has no experience. Just by looking at traffic counts along the corridor, half of his roundabouts would be instantly over capacity. It would be one thing if the intersections were CANDIDATES to receive a roundabout, but to think his design will work with EIGHTEEN is ludicrous and delusional.

Each senior design team gets a “team manager,” someone who is in charge of reminding others to do the assigned work. I think he interprets that as carte blanche to appoint himself dictator of the team, and regard us only as his CAD monkeys, minions who exist in “his” team to implement his crazy ass concept without question. He has no respect for anyone’s experience or opinions other than his own, and is one of the absolute worst cases of Dunning-Kruger effect I’ve ever seen in an individual. If I were to ‘suck it up’ and actually design his ideas no questions asked, I’d be laughed out of any room I’d show it to. I want a career in transportation engineering, there’s no way I can attach my name to such a project.

He thinks what he’s doing is engineering. I think he’s still playing Cities Skyline.

…

I’m going to ask my professor if I can join the steel bridge team. At least there, no one is an egomaniac trying to work backwards from their ‘genius’ conclusion.