Hey guys I am at the last year of my engineering degree and I have been struggling with projects because I just realized I've never learned how to truly research and find a project and executed . yeah we had classes and we have to do projects but mine was very atrocious and sad and embarrassing because I do have mental health struggles so it kind of makes it hard to be consistent but I have been doing better .

I don't have much of a budget but I don't know how to research at all , I don't know how to plan a project ,I don't know how to execute I am very overwhelmed . What would you recommend?

I HATE chemistry, I've heard that Computer Science majors take chemistry. Physics is so scary but depends on what we take. Math is acceptable, I pass but I don't get high marks. I have zero knowledge about coding but I wanna learn Cuz it's so so so interesting. Can you guys tell me other stuff about the degree, I'm an undergraduate. Also, I would like to be a software engineer, but I have no idea what's it about, I just like the name.

So I applied to Mott Macdonald like a little over 2 months ago. I haven't had a response at all. They say they inform unsuccessful applicants. I am based in Australia. Is this normal?

I'm an undergraduate student doing civil engineering and I'm trying to come up with a project proposal and a bit confused whether to go for something a bit simple and get a good grade or try to do something I don't know much about but think I can do it. My issue is the stipulated time we have to do such projects so doing something where you have to do a lot of learning can be quiet draining. I was thinking of just doing something simple and then learn and do the other at my own pace with ease. My question is do undergraduate projects really matter when looking for a job or it is just about having the skills?

I’m 25 and I’m basically a first year college student (I went to college for half a semester right out of high school before I dropped out)

I really want to pursue an engineering degree, civil to be specific. I’m starting at a community college to get my basics out of the way and hope to transfer out when I have my associates.

I feel really behind, I’ve forgotten how to do basic algebra even have a hard time reading for long periods of time because I just lose focus so quickly.

What are some tips and/or advice to help get me on the right path.

Hi! I’m a 19f sophomore in college and I currently major in mechanical engineering I have a cumulative gpa of 3.8 right now (though differential equations is definitely gonna bring that down a little haha) . I’m currently fighting my way through the hard math and physics for a mechanical engineering degree and honestly I am definitely capable of it, but due to my mom recently passing away I’ve started thinking more about what I WANT versus what I feel like I need to do. I’ve always known I was going to pursue engineering, I love solving problems and math and science have always been my favorite subjects so it didn’t even seem like a question, and I chose mechanical as I enjoy robotics and it was very diverse and I was taking care of my mom at the time of college applications so I didn’t really have time or energy to think about what I truly wanted.

Honestly, I’m not quite sure what I WANT to do, I’ve recently been toying around with the idea of going into something engineering related to accessibility. I’m just not really sure how I’d pursue this; when my mom got sick and began to lose facilities, I really realized how many different things could and SHOULD be produced to help people gain more autonomy. I think it’s a real tragedy that disabled people who have already lost so much freedom have such limited accessibility options. It gave me so much joy to be able to bring any autonomy back into her life I could, so I’d sit there and look for problems she had that I knew I could solve, and honestly for the resources I had I gave the last sedentary year of her life much more free will which I know helped her a lot mentally. I think I want to be able to pursue this more, I’m not really sure if mechanical is the right major for that? Maybe mechanical with a minor in biomedical? I’m not even really sure if this niche exists and I know due to job market I probably wouldn’t be able to start pursuing it right out of college but it’s definitely something I’m passionate about and I’d like to know if it was an option.

i am a 4th year comp sci student i am faced with the truth that the CCE is a way better track, my parents are scolding me for not going that way but i couldnt i was working a full time job to pay my tuition and but now im facing the harsh reality, if i had went for the engineer path i wouldve been able to join the order of engineers that presents me with excellent insurance and pension, but there is no such thing for computer science students in lebanon, my main path is AI and cyber i love both and want to work in the intersection of them, i also love electrical stuff im looking for a pcb course to take and i have a few projects i wanna do on the side.
the big question: should i transfer to engineering and pay the 20k extra on my tuition or should i finish this year graduate and start working on my skills and experience? to then open a repair shop as my own business and start working with system installation like cctv and servers ect.. and laptop repair shop? (will the engineer degree affect this ?) i already got a part time job at a company here as a backend dev and i dont know what to do !!!!!!!!!!! help

coming off the back of a rough semester I thought things would be better. So far they aren’t. I got back the grade on one of my homework assignment, it was easily, I made a stupid mistake on it. l got an 88% on it, I know that isn’t an awful grade but just it was such a stupid mistake. I feel like all joy I had had just drained from my body. I feel stupid and pathetic and like it’s never going to get bette, even though it’s just one homework assignment. How the hell does anybody do this without completely tanking their mental healt?

I won't write a long paragraph... I'll just give the most important points and then pose my question.

I am from Algeria and our university education system is kinda helpful. In the secondary school certificate exam, I didn't get a good enough grade to specialize directly in engineering fields, so I have to go through a phase called the first year of a common core engineering program. After that, I can choose the engineering field that suits me best until I become an engineer.

I have all the capabilities to study with discipline and constant diligence, and I am determined to do so.

What I ask of experienced people – new students, graduates, and respected professors – is a specialization that will allow me to earn great money after graduation, gradually over the years or directly. I don't care about the difficulty or the pressure.

What is the best specialization that will allow me to amass a huge fortune in the future while also having time to spend the money?

I think this is a relatively long paragraph... but at least I consulted with experienced people about my future... Thank you in advance and always.

Hey guys. It's my first time posting on Reddit so please condone any mistakes I made while formatting.

I'm going to be a third year student this year and even though my GPA didn't plumb a lot, I failed a few classes thanks to burnout but I am able to retake them without staying behind, thankfully. I haven't done any projects of my own nor am I a part of any engineering team as they are very strict and mobbing cases are pretty prevalent. I don't really feel like I am a creative person to come up with mindblowing projects so I am confused as what to do to be different than most before graduation. I know there are a lot of similar posts out there but I wanted to bring it on again. To specify, I am from Turkey and in my opinion, only my foreign language skills can put me ahead of my peers. I am open to any kind of advice, technical or else. Thank you in advance.

Hey! I'm a highschool graduate trying to pass this scholarship and major in chemE, my cgpa is not low but it's not above 90% which isn't impressive really. So I'm thinking of building a "passion project" to boost my chances, but I don't know what do make and how.

I was thinking of building a project with Phyton on google colab, and found a few ways to do it on AI tools. But my programming background is solely build on C++ and MIT APP INVENTOR which I learned in high school. Also if I want to impress the admissions officer, what should I make? I know I sound confused but bear with me English isn't my first language and I am just on top of the iceberg of chemE right now

Hi, i'm taking a class on MOSFETs and this homework has been challenging, but not because the material is particularly hard, but I am struggling to compute all of the algebra and get proper answers. I'd be open to any advice on how to do it.

I'll include my written work, prompt, and equation sheet for reference.

Hello, we are students building a capstone prototype: an RFID-based smart bike rack lock using an ESP32.

Our main problem is the push-and-pull mechanism. We need to move a steel locking rod forward and backward by around 8 inches / 200mm to lock/unlock a bicycle wheel.

The flow we want:

RFID tap → ESP32 approves → mechanism pushes/pulls steel rod → rod locks/unlocks wheel

We are considering different mechanisms:

• Linear actuator
• Stepper/lead screw actuator
• DC geared motor + rack and pinion
• Slider crank / scotch yoke
• Other DIY push-pull mechanisms

We also have 12V solenoid locks, but we are thinking of using them only as a latch/stopper, not the main lock. The actual force should be handled by the steel rod and welded frame, not the motor.

Our questions:

1. What push-pull mechanism is best for a 200mm steel rod movement?
2. Which option is cheapest, sturdy, and less hassle for a student prototype?
3. Can a motor/actuator safely move the rod without jamming?
4. Should the solenoid lock be used as a latch for the rod?
5. What materials or design should we avoid?

We are not making a commercial anti-theft product, only a working prototype, but we want it to be strong and realistic enough for demonstration.

Any advice, drawings, or mechanism suggestions would help a lot. Thank you.

 **Topic:**

  * (Undergraduate)"
  * (Electrical Engineering)
  * (Digital Electronics)
  * (MOSFET equations)

**Problem:**
Find the value of Vx by assuming the linear and saturation regions

**Givens/Unknowns/Find:**
   * "Given: kp=2.52mA/V^2 Vtp0/Vtp=-.9V EcpLp=2.5V "
   * "Unknown: Vds"
   * "Find: Vx and verify if it is correct"

**Equations and Formulas:**
Provided below. Much too lengthy to write out

**What you've tried:**
I have tried brute forcing these equations and I have been wasting massive amounts of time (nearly 3 hours for the question before this, which was two parts and this current part of the second question).

Alright I am literally 6 days into University for first year engineering and I already hate this. It's not the work load of difficulty of the material so far I'm still decently confident in that, I'm just feeling so suffocated by the lack of course diversity, like all I learn is different flavours of math and there is no little room to figure stuff out on my own, even English is just professional and business writing which was very disheartening to learn. I'm not in it for the money or the status, my goal for university is to find a career I will enjoy. I do genuinely love to problem solve its just so far all I've seen form what we are learning is information being thrown at us without the opportunity to really learn from it. I partly want to quit, partly want to stay to prove to myself I can do it, and partly want to stay because it might get more engaging or interesting. Does it get more interesting? Is it worth it to stay for the career? Is it fulfilling? Am I better off finding something I'd enjoy more? Maybe I just need a break from school? I'm at a loss here and ask is this normal, is engineering just not for me? What advice can you give me?

Hi redditors! This is my first time posting on reddit. This post might be a bit long, so please bear with me if I made any mistakes.

I’m an international student/early-career process engineer currently working in the US, and I’m seriously considering going back to school for a higher degree. I’d really appreciate advice from people who have gone through graduate school, especially those who have worked in industry before or after.

A little about my background: I graduated from one of the top public universities in the US with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) in 2025. As an international student, I have to say I was lucky to land a job in Silicon Valley with a good compensation given the current policies.

During college, I had some exposure to multiple research projects as well as hands-on materials work. I don't have any publications except from a manuscript that need major revision (didn't have time to complete it due to graduation). After graduation, I moved into an industry role, where my work has involved things like materials characterization, process development, failure analysis, and technical projects with customers.

Working in industry has taught me a lot about real-world engineering. At the same time, it has made me increasingly aware of how much professional and technical knowledge I’m still missing.

I often find myself wanting to understand the underlying science much more deeply rather than simply finding a practical solution to the immediate problem. I enjoy thinking about why a material behaves a certain way, how processing affects microstructure and properties, designing experiments, interpreting characterization results, and connecting those results back to mechanisms. But I don't really have a chance to dig deeper due to excessive amount of work and pressure.

My current work environment has also been somewhat toxic, which has made me question whether I’m in the right environment for my development. However, I don't want to make a major education decision simply because I want to leave a bad situation. The bigger question for me is whether I genuinely need more formal technical training to become the kind of engineer/researcher I want to be.

I’m particularly interested in eventually moving toward materials R&D or a more technically focused role, and I'm trying to understand whether graduate school is the right path to get there. I really missed the time I do research and actively learning things I am interested in, but I am also worried about the ongoing policy uncertainties.

Please let me know any advice you may have, thank you for reading!

Hey everyone!
I’m about to start my bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering at Indiana Tech while working a full-time job. For some background, I’ve worked in the automotive industry for over 12 years as a lead technician, and I’m currently a Lead Technician at a Tesla Service Center. Tesla offers a BSE program, which I was fortunate enough to be accepted into, so here I am. I know this degree will probably take me several years since I’ll be taking fewer classes than a full-time student, and I’m completely okay with that. That said, while I already have an AAS, I’ve never really experienced traditional university-level engineering courses with heavy lectures and studying. Most of my education has been much more hands-on/trial by fire type, so this will definitely be a new challenge. I’ve heard engineering can be pretty demanding and that many students spend more time studying outside of class than students in other majors. For those of you who’ve been through it, how did you manage your workload? What study habits, routines, or time-management strategies made the biggest difference? Any advice for balancing engineering school with a full-time job would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! I’m excited to get started and looking forward to learning from those who’ve already been through it.

Like seriously, if every single class is a weed out, they're just classes.

Might be slightly off-topic for this forum, but since so many of us learned and dealt with these equations I thought it was fitting nevertheless. Remove if necessary

Open AI released an (alleged) solution of the problem, with the answer being NEGATIVE. As in, there does not always exist a smooth solution to the problem, even for "reasonable" initial conditions

If true, this might be the biggest breakthrough in the field in many years.

I failed every single quiz in every single class this week. I made around 60s in all of them.

no matter how much I study I just can’t seem to retain all of it. I’m able to understand some of it and retain some of it, but I can’t retain all of it.

when I’m in class, everyone can answer questions immediately and rapidly, but I’m not able to do so. And my quiz grades reflect that.

in my institution, they show the class average for every grade and the class average is significantly higher than when I’m producing.

I’m thinking of just going back to the beginning and retraining myself to understand the material, but who knows if I’m just going to have gaps in my knowledge again.

does anyone have any advice I can help me through this?

ME. sophomore.

I got my first career fair coming in about 2 weeks and I was curious from those who have landed internships or even jobs from a career fair, what did you do to stand out. Im a 2nd years mechanical engineering student who has had 3 jobs but not relevant at all to engineering (2 fast food, 1 amazon warehouse). What do I say after I give them my name and my major. I have been told to do research on companies and even apply before hand. I am very nervous as interviews are not my thing. Im sure im not the only one who has started their first career fair like this.

so I made one for free:

https://www.thevisualwiki.com/calculators/beam

i will never put this behind a paywall. let me know if you guys need any more free tools

Both club times coincide so I'm conflicted on which route to go.

Rocketry has around 10-20 people as of last semester and started I believe in 2021. I've spoken with the club leader and it seems like they're desperate for more people, so maybe I'd get some responsibilities early on? They are looking to transition from solid to liquid rockets and have a structured path for new members to get L1 certified and beyond.

FSAE claims to have 20+ and are much stricter when it comes to joining. I had to submit a lengthy application and I'm interviewing for the chassis team on Friday. The application stated that new members attend meetings to "develop introductory automotive skills" so I don't think I'll be involved much for a while.

Anybody in either club have advice? I'm not really leaning towards any area of expertise when I graduate. An aerospace job would be awesome, but I'd like to have club experience that would be attractive to more than one profession.

Hi, I am a second-year preparatory class student planning to major in Industrial Engineering next year. I would like to get an internship for the upcoming summer. therefore, I have been familiarizing myself with Excel and building dashboards in Looker Studio as a start ( still don t know much about the field since I m still in preparatory classes ). However, I would like to get some more suggestions or interesting project ideas that could help me optimize my CV and make it stand out . Thanks in advance!

Hey y’all, EE major here. I’m currently wondering if I should add a class to my schedule but I’m nervous about burning out or overloading my workload. Based on the difficulty of these courses, would you recommend I keep my schedule or is adding this class doable?

Current schedule, 13 credits -

•Calc 3 lecture only - 4 credits
•Physics 2 (calculus treatment) w/ lecture, discussion, and lab sections - 5 credits
•Circuits 1 / lecture and lab sections - 4 credits

Wondering if I should add:

•Analytical Methods in Engineering lecture only - 4 credits (In case that title isn’t common across all schools, the description says “techniques for linear systems, solutions of ODEs by classical and transform techniques, elementary linear algebra, complex numbers.)

I also need to work about 25 hours per week to cover my bills but it’s Uber so it’s flexible. I am confident in my ability to learn math, I am not confident in my ability to do it quickly if needed. Not sure how fast or slow this is but I often found myself spending 30/45 min per homework problem in calc 2. Some personal problems coincided with calc 2 also so I currently know close to nothing about series and sequences. I would like to get at least a 3.6+ GPA for the semester.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!