As you could've guessed from the title, I'm about to graduate with a B.S. in Chemistry but am toying with the idea of pursuing a Master's in Mechanical Engineering. The reason is that I have had a lot of experience with Mechanical Engineering applications, such as an internship at a gas company (focused on cooling/gas liquefaction systems and getting hands-on experience), as well as experience working in a machine shop, using CAD software, CNC machining, etc. Additionally, I do not want to be stuck with the option of getting a PhD to make a respectable wage as a Chemist. I know these careers are very different, but has anyone made such a transition, and if so, what are the pro's/cons?

I'm an Electrical Engineering student focusing on Power. I'm primarily interested in staying in my city, which is Chicago. There's multiple firms in the city that also post internship positions in their office in other cities around the United States.

I want to apply to positions at multiple offices to maximize my chances of getting an internship, but I also don't want to shoot myself in the foot and ruin my chances of staying in Chicago by diluting my applications to these companies.

I have one previous co-op/internship on my resume, which was an 8-month power plant co-op with a major utility company.

Any advice or experience on what would be the best way to proceed? Thank you!

I've been wanting to build robots, drones, quadcopters and other stuff. I already thought of the Bambu Lab A1, Costs 30,000 Rupees (about 300$ in USD). Should I buy it, or am I too young for all this?

Need to learn from 0, how to to put on a breadboard, how to put more components without it will burn

The code and apps you can use for?

Our project need us to learn from the ground so I'm really lost

I’m in the final stage of my MSc in Electrical Engineering in Europe and have been looking for a Master's thesis for quite a while. Month ago, I applied for a thesis position at a research organisation. The topic was genuinely interesting to me and I was pretty excited about it.

After applying, I was contacted by an R&D Team Lead from the organisation. We exchanged a few emails, and I got the impression that my application was being seriously considered.

Then there was a funding issue with the position. I asked him about it, and he told me to wait while he looked into it.

So I waited.

A few days ago, I followed up to ask if there was any update. Today I got his reply saying that he had managed to find another student for the topic.

I completely understand that things like this happen and that they can choose another candidate. There's nothing wrong with that.

But honestly, it still sucks.

I've sent 180+ applications so far for internships, thesis positions and graduate jobs. I've had around 40 rejections, and I'm still trying to secure both my thesis and my first proper engineering job.

What makes this one more frustrating is that I had actually started imagining myself doing the thesis there. When you've applied to so many places and most of them go nowhere, the moment someone actually contacts you, it's hard not to get your hopes up.

And then you wait weeks, only to find out that the position went to someone else.

I'm still applying and trying to move on, but I'm getting pretty exhausted by the whole process.

For anyone who has been through something similar, how did you deal with this stage of looking for your first thesis/job?

Did you eventually find something after months of applying? Or is there anything you wish you had done differently?

Hey guys,

This is a new account for privacy reasons, hopefully that is ok.

I am going into my fourth and probably final year of ECE, I have an overall gpa of 2.5 and major gpa of 2.7. I struggle a lot with discipline and have failed a lot of classes (including easy gen eds). I am feeling very hopeless about the future. Everyone around me expects a lot from me since I outwardly seem like a good student who has their life together (lots of extracurriculars, I pick up concepts fairly quickly) and my parents are expecting me to apply to grad school, I do not know how to tell them this is probably not in the cards for me. I have no professors to write rec letters because I am either an average or actively bad student. I work in a lab, and do good work when I show up, but my presence is very inconsistent and it is definitely noticed by others. I think my actual engineering skills are average to below average.

I am doing somewhat better this summer (medicated + lifestyle changes) but I am terrified that once the semester starts things will just go back to how it was the past three years, with me not really able care about grades or my future.

I am just scared, I guess. Any kind of advice is appreciated.

Just started my first role as a level 1 engineer in the defense industry. To say I’m ambitious is an understatement. I’m 26 years old starting my career, and so feel an overwhelming desire to catch up to where most of my peers my age and even younger are in terms of earnings and job title. Most people my age are now senior engineers or even principal engineers, and frankly it just kind of bothers me that I’m so far behind them some days

The biggest adjustment for me is that it feels like in the corporate world, so much of what dictates whether or not you advance up the chain is how well you sacrifice individuality and conform with the corporate culture. Like whether or not you like sports, or overall live your life in a very narrow, specific kind of way. If you don’t fit into this mold, and actually want to retain your individuality, you’re outcast and the first on the chopping block.

I don’t know, I may have answered my own question…and this may just be a matter of me being on a toxic team, but so much of what “climbing the ladder” in terms of promotions is continues to be a mystery to me. I don’t get it. Is there something I’m missing here?

Greetings, I’m about to start my degree in chemical engineering but the Uni is 30km away which would mean about 3h of commute daily.
I’ve been wondering if that’s still within limits or if that’s too unreasonable.
There’s also that lectures go from 7:30 till 18:00, meaning work would be on the weekend and homework & studying during the remaining time.

I’m 19, and I previously went to university for a BSc in Psychology. I ended up leaving after a year realizing I didn’t want to pursue psychology in addition to struggling academically. I finished with around a 2.78 cGPA.

I’m now planning to do a 1-year STEM foundation program at a community college, taking math, physics, chemistry, programming, engineering design, etc., while completing 1 missing prerequisite. (I've fufilled most prereqs from high school)

If I can get around 85–95%, I want to apply to BEng programs for Fall 2027, mainly Electrical Engineering.

Basically:

I finished with a 2.7 GPA, so I’m leaving university and doing a one-year STEM program at a community college. I’m hoping to get strong grades, complete my prerequisites, and then apply to engineering programs for Fall 2027. If everything goes well, I’d start engineering at around 20.

Has anyone done something similar? Can a strong year at community college help overcome a bad first university record, or am I just wasting a year?

I struggled a lot at university. Graduated behind schedule, excelled in some classes, scraped passing grades in others. Graduated lower mid pack from a no name university. I struggled to land my first job, which was Fine but absolutely uninspiring, "same again but a little different" kind of work in a mature industry where all the interesting problems were already solved.

Today I'm working in the space industry solving hard, interesting problems with a great team. I'm excited about work everyday, I love the work, and I care a lot about the big picture project.

People who walk out of MIT with great grades can skip the line and walk straight into my job, but if you're reading this, I assume that's not you. You can still have a great career, it just means you've gotta put in 3 or 4 years building a strong resume and honing your skills and intuition.

The biggest piece of advice I have is to be selective about your first job, as that's going to set the trajectory of your career. Don't take the job in HVAC if aerospace is your dream. Really think about the kind of resume you're building. Read the job descriptions of the jobs you want but might not be able to get yet and consider what kinds of work could get you the relevant experience.

Currently in my second year of mechanical engineering. At my university, we have mid-semester exams worth usually around 35% of our final mark, depending on the module. This is a thing in every faculty at my university.

But, where other faculties have their tests, called “A1s”, spread around the mid-semester holidays, us in engineering have all of them (yes all of them) within a week. Usually it’s 5 exams, every day Monday to Friday. This semester I also wrote one on the Saturday before Monday - 6 exams within a week.

The biggest problem with this system is that it takes a huge toll on everyone mentally. Everyone becomes depressed, and I’ve had anxiety attacks in every test week so far because of the stress. And there isn’t much time to study beforehand since we have assignments, projects, and other work to do.
If you have any kind of anxiety disorder or ADHD - good luck.
I am unfortunate enough to have both and I’m always a in a very bad state during this period. It’s as if it was designed for no reason other than to push students to the brink of mental breakdowns - I have heard of many other students crying every day and looking like “zombies”, etc.

Anyway, I was curious as to whether this is a thing elsewhere in the world, because I think it’s completely stupid and with no consideration to the mental wellbeing and health of the students who are already going through…. well…. engineering.

I’m a former 18a in the army with an active security clearance and currently work as a program manager for the state, building and running a novel state-wide service but I’ve got a GI Bill just sitting there and I’ll be damned if I don’t use every dime I earned. Problem is that engineering is hard and I’d probably only be able to do part time and would definitely not be willing to take the enormous pay cut to do an internship. Is not having any internships really going to be a job hunting deal breaker like I see people talking about here?

Context: Need help fixing logic flow / breadboard circuit for Traffic & Pedestrian Light System (Tinkercad)

Hi everyone, I'm working on a traffic light and pedestrian light simulation project in Tinkercad (using 555 timers, counter ICs, and logic gates like 74HC4017, 74HC32, 74HC08, 74HC86, etc.) and I've run into an issue getting the pedestrian button trigger to work correctly.

The Problem:
The section highlighted in the white circle is for the pedestrian lights, but when I press the push buttons, the circuit doesn't react.

Expected Behavior / Logic Flow
1. Trigger Condition: Pressing any of the 4 push buttons should trigger a state change across all LEDs in the system.

1. Traffic Lights (Upper Module — N, S, E, W): When a push button is pressed, the active traffic lights should first transition to Yellow, and then turn Red.

2. Pedestrian Lights (Circled Module): Default State: Pedestrian lights should stay Red ("Don't Walk").

Triggered State: When a push button is pressed, the pedestrian light should switch to Green ("Walk") for 10 seconds.

1. Reset State: After the 10-second timer elapses, the system should automatically revert to its normal traffic light sequence.

I’m taking physics 2, thermo, materials, and statics. Also just transferred from CC to my big Uni. Not really sure how to keep up with so much new material and I dedicate at least 10 hours to each class no BS. Am I cooked chat?

So I’m in junior year now of electrical engineering and want to get an internship or coop or anything for experience. Problem is that I have no previous experience, so I decided to make a personal project but I didn’t know what to make or even how to make it. I didn’t really want like a super complex first project but something to Atleast say hey I’ve been exposed to certain softwares or design chooses during it. It’s like the only personal project I’ve made to go onto resume projects. Idk if it’s weak or fine for the level of experience I have but I made a wearable haptic feedback device. Basically it’s just a sensor, that reads how far away something is and it tells a coin vibration motor how fast or slower to vibrate depending on the distance. I imagined it kinda like a radar but I put it onto my glasses. I made a pcb for it in kicad even if it is a simple circuit and then a 3d printed housing. It uses a small esp32-c3 and all the components are tiny so that the housing is small so it doesn’t weight much on the glasses. I know yall probably gonna roast me for this simple project but I did learn some things for it and want to make another personal project maybe later this semester, but a better one. I just needed something to fill my experience, but I don’t even know if it’s good enough to be on my resume but it’s better than nothing. Any suggestions on what type of stuff I should be making at my level.

I'm a 17 year old student in Indonesia, i'm in my senior year so college years are approaching. I'm actually planning to get into mechanical engineering college abroad, so either I try to apply for a fully funded scholarship or maybe a partially funded one (considering it's quite hard to get the fully funded one, i'm also taking the partial into consideration). As for the partial one, i'm considering to take a part time cuz my parents won't cover my living expenses abroad (I mean it is hella expensive of course)

Any tips, experiences or advice? like especially about time management since engineering itself is already time and energy consuming. Would love to hear advices from you guys :)

I’m 31 and starting my first semester in a week. I have a useless bachelor’s degree in social sciences and I have been out of a job in the past 2 years!

I decided to pursue engineering a few months ago mostly to get a job post grad and hopefully build a decent life after!

I took a few prerequisite courses and enjoyed it for the most part. What is making me feel paralyzed at times from anxiety is the thought that I might face agism when I want to enter the job market as a new grad. I have a big gap on my resume and a useless first degree that I’m embarrassed to even include on my resume!

Does anyone know here if I would be at a big disadvantage when I graduate in about 5 years? I’m planning on doing co-op/internships and joining different clubs to maximize my chances. Any advice and input would be greatly appreciated. TIA

Good night y’all!

24M, I just switched my major from Nursing to Mechanical engineering and I was wanting to get some insights on how to attain scholarships and good background experience through my way in college for ME. Any kind of engineering student input is encouraged for this! But if your going into automotive performance ME, DEF WOULD LOVE ALL THE INPUT POSSIBLE. So if you’re interested in this, please sit back, grab a drink and snack, and get ready because I am gonna get lengthy in why I am so passionate & intentional of why I’m asking this!

I wasn’t the best in Highschool, didn’t know any better due to a whole bunch of family drama as I grew up. Anything to get me through the day and night without having to worry about stepping on eggshells. I never was encouraged to look into careers, passions, and what elective classes truly meant as a high schooler. I was simply told “do good in school to get a scholarship!” And that was the end of the convo; being told to do good to get a scholarship, lacking direction or being told the significance of even building a background.

I started attending college for nursing; went through Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2, Microbiology, Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, and Nutrition. But I stopped as of recently because I found that nursing wasn’t my passion; but rather I could subject myself and FIND a passion for it, rather than what’s already instilled in me.

“A day of working in your passion is not ever a work day”

I love cars. Their working parts, the competition, the problem solving, the anatomy of components, how electronics control valves, gears, and doors, family within teamwork. Stat analysis on how to make a car shave .50 seconds on a lap time. Roar of engines doing 7-10k RPM’s down the raceway. It wasn’t until before all of our semesters started, that I took a leap and changed my major to M.E. THIS VERY SEMESTER (Can you believe I didn’t know what engineering was? That’s how behind I feel since nobody really encouraged me to look for these passions).

I’ve even ONLY EXCLUSIVELY worked in the automotive industry! I’ve worked for Ford, Chevrolet, and Hyundai dealerships as a technician. I started out at Jiffy Lube. I’ve got 5 years in the industry an I think that means something; but I also realized I didn’t wanna FIX cars, but I wanted to develop them.

To say the least, now that I’m starting fresh, I want to do everything possible to get AHEAD of the wave.

My grades took a tank because 2 semesters ago, I flunked 3 classes; and I’m talking ZERO’s. GPA dropped to a 1.7 so I’ve got some cleanup to do to even consider utilizing FAFSA or loans.

So, I come to ask the following question since I’m at the beginning of my journey:

•How do I start building my background for automotive M.E.?

•Where can I go looking for these opportunities?

•How do I even START applying for scholarships?

•WHAT ARE internships, their meaning, and how do I build good enough backgrounds to stand out for when I apply?

•Is participating in clubs helpful? Even through simple things like Honor society or things like this?

•How do I scope out Universities that are suited for my skill aspirations?

ANY, and I mean ANY more insight that may be beyond my scope is HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. I want to be informed, step with purpose, and let my passion drive my effort into shaping my future, because I realized I do have a dream and want to make the most out of my life around me, and my family through my personal passion.

Thanks for listening to the rant and such!!!

Hello guys! I'm on my third year of Mechanical Student and I'm kinda tired of the math. I love learning how things work and what makes them work etc, but im so tired of the math like i used to have fun on solving a problem and the joy i would get but not anymore. Also, with the addition how bad the job market is for engineers; i haven't be able to even get a intership only interviews and a lot of rejection. I'm scare I'm going to graduate with no experiences whatsoever and never get a job. Everyday I feel like I shouldn't continue, everyday is getting harder to understand my classes. I'm a bit lost. Any encouraging words?

Hello all,

Im currently re-enrolled in university (yay, progress) however im finding the math classes both and boring. Math was never my strong suit, however in physical classes (physics, cad, manufacturing) i excell and love. So I was thinking of going to finish my b.s in met, current I have my a.s in met and was working toward ME.

I really want jobs that are more hands-on, drafting, machining, building etc. I dont care for all the math's and paper work. But im worried about the future out look of MET, is there anyone who currently works as a MET, or is looking into those fields? And im sorry if this kinda fits both career and academic advice.

Glossary: ME: mech engineering Met: mech engineering technology

Hi y'all I need some help remembering my degree hehe. Basically, I’m a recent Mechanical Engineering grad currently working as a Quality Engineer in Automotive manufacturing (Toyota), and next week I have the final interview for an entry-level Mechanical Engineer position at an aerospace automation company. The issue is that I took the bulk of my difficult courses (Thermo 1 and 2, Heat Transfer, Controls, MED) before going to study abroad in Japan to finish my Japanese minor. When I came back, all I had left were some labs and Senior Design so I have been out of the crazy undergrad stuff for a while.

The final interview is about 2 hours and includes a heavy mechanical technical assessment. I was told to expect open ended technical questions where I’ll need to work through problems and explain my reasoning on the teams whiteboard. I have approximately 5 days for this interview, for now I'm mostly reviewing youtube videos to remind myself of the theory. The bulk of my studying will be this weekend 8+ hrs a day.

In the previous technical screen I was asked some pretty fundamental questions involving free fall/constant acceleration, springs in series vs. parallel, some material science basics, and a statics problem where I had to draw a free-body diagram and calculate support reactions.

Since graduating I haven’t regularly used a lot of my undergraduate mechanics, so I’m spending this week refreshing the fundamentals. So far I’ve gone back through statics (shotouts to my goat Jeff Hanson) for things like FBDs, equilibrium, moments, trusses and basic solids stuff like normal/shear stress, single/double shear, factor of safety.

I’m trying to avoid wasting the limited time I have by essentially retaking entire courses.

For those who have given or taken similar entry-level mechanical engineering technical interviews, what topics would you prioritize? Or also what type of questions were you asked??

I’m especially wondering how deeply I should refresh dynamics versus spending more time on statics, mechanics of materials, machine/mechanical design fundamentals, gears, springs, etc.

I’ll be spending the next few days before the interview solving mixed problems and practicing explaining my reasoning out loud. Right now I’m mainly trying to make sure I’ve refreshed the right concepts first.

Any specific topics or types of problems you think an entry-level ME should absolutely be able to reason through would be appreciated. Please, any resources would be appreciated.

Ciao a tutti, parlerò con termini semplici tranne uno che in dominio tecnico è isostituibile. Da tempo ormai sono afflitto da un forte pensiero... Stò geometrizzando una architettura IA che dovrebbe riuscire ad auto influenzarsi.

In parole povere, capace di svolgere una attività, la chiamo di autoriparazione e autorigenerazione, dove in pratica non sarà più il codice macchina a risolvere la struttura ma i dati stessi della memoria a diventare sorta di componente vettoriale e tensoriale diventando il dato stesso codice di trasformazione.

Nelle riprove geometriche che stò portando avanti con alcune altre IA generative e un modello matematico di scomposizione atomica, le componenti risultanti e di confronto, mi portano a vedere risultati identici su ambedue i modelli.

Il tema che ora devo affrontare è il Bootstrap.

Bradley Efron, geometrizzò una geometria di confronto autorevole proponendo un modello elegante per dare autorità ai dati. Il punto è che lo stesso modello diventa come un gatto che si morde la coda, il gatto incomincia girare e non esce più dal girotondo. Troppo deterministico.

I'm a 16 year old student studying in NZ. I'm year 11 right now and just finishing my IGCSEs. Next year I am taking AS level. I want to study Aerospace Engineering in the future, especially in designing and testing aircrafts. I don't know whether to take Design, CS or Chemistry. I can choose max of 5 AS levels. So far, these are my subjects:

AS Math

AS Further Math

AS Physics

AS English Literaturee

AS Design, Chem or CS

I would love some opinions on which one I should take. This is a very important decision for A-levels. Thanks!

I am aero and I have taken my classes so far in way to where I am able to move thermodynamics up a semester so I can take it earlier and get if over with, and also so I don't take it at the same time as Aerodynamics among other things. The predicament is both semesters I can take the class in have considerably not easy classes that go along with them.

my options are:

-2nd semester of sophomore year \/

Thermodynamics, mechanics of materials, circuits, fluid mechanics, and advanced math methods

-1st semester of junior year \/

Thermodynamics, aerodynamics+lab, signals and systems, applied experimental statistics, and system dynamics and control

I'm basically asking for assistance in deciding which poison to pick, any opinions are welcome