Mechanical Engineering Technology student here, freaking out.

Hi everyone,

I'm entering my 4th year right now as a Mechanical Engineering Technology Major with a minor in Computer Engineering Technology and Mathematics at my university. After this semester I'd only have two more semesters to go, and my senior capstone project to complete.

Yet, lately I've been freaking out about the future, and weather my degree will get me where I want to go. I recently tried to ask for permission to go to the Engineering Career fair at my school, and they replied back saying that they wouldn't let me go because I'm not an engineering student, I'm a technologist. I replied back that in my state people in my degree can take the FE and work as EITs to get their PE, but she told me that I would be wasting the time of the employers there. [PS. I'm still gonna go, I registered online, and it let me through, so I'm still gonna try and get in!] So it's reached the point to where I'm freaking out about how I will be viewed when I graduate, because if I won't be viewed as an engineer, like they told me I would when I went to advising before switching in to this major, I'm gonna change my major...

I have friends who tell me that I'll be fine getting into an engineering grad program cause I have research under my belt. Such as I work at the superconductivity center at my university now, and I've designed several devices and written a lot of code for equipment for grad students to do their work. I also worked in a tissue engineering lab for a year, and designed, built, and nearly finished programming/interfacing a growth and remodeling device for blood vessels.

Still. I'm worried about what people will think of me, and what preconceptions they will have about my skills based on the 10 letter word that is at the end of my degree. I'm worried sick, and willing to move to into a different major, just to be considered an engineer. I have a friend telling me it's just a degree, and that I'll be fine. So I don't know who to ask, or talk to about any of this. He told me that I'm probably one of the best engineers he's met, but I'm not sure if that's true or if I'll be viewed this way.

I know this probably sounds whiny, but I'm freaking out.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Andrew

Pass the FE exam and then the PE Exam and you are an engineer. You don't, and you are not. Doesn't matter what your undergrad is in or if you have one at all.

my 2 cents

picusld said:

Pass the FE exam and then the PE Exam and you are an engineer. You don't, and you are not. Doesn't matter what your undergrad is in or if you have one at all.
my 2 cents

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Some states won't let you take the PE if you have "Technology" at the end of your degree. Others make you amass a lot more experience before allowing you to sit for the exam. The rules differ by state and may differ by field. Many mechanical engineers I know don't work in industries that require PE's, so it may be a moot point anyway. If you want to work in a field that does require a PE it may be a hindrance for your career ambitions. It sounds like you have already experienced some roadblocks based on your degree (being told you weren't eligible to attend a career fair).

It's difficult to say if you should switch majors at this point since you are so far along in your current degree. I'm not mechanical, so I don't know what difference the degree would make in the long run.

Take a deep breath and relax – you will be fine.

In Connecticut you are allowed to sit for the PE after four years of experience if your bachelor’s degree is from an ABET accredited engineering program. If your bachelor’s is from a technology program you have to have ten years’ experience before sitting.

I work for a small engineering firm, twenty two people to be exact.

There are two VP’s in the company, myself and one other guy. Both of us have our PE licenses, his degree is from a technology based program, mine is a standard program. He is a better engineer than I am with some very impressive projects under his belt. I may be a slightly better PM only because my personality includes stronger persuasion skills.

My point is that this degree is right in your face now, but in the future your project profiles and work experience ring louder than your degree!

Get your technology degree – Get your PE – go to grad school if you want – you will be fine. It is too late to second guess your self.

Good luck!

Tim

Dangerzone812 said:

I have friends who tell me that I'll be fine getting into an engineering grad program cause I have research under my belt.

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Dangerzone812 said:

it's just a degree, and that I'll be fine.

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Are you worried about the degree getting you into grad school or a real world job?

Depending on the field, you only really use 50% of what you learned in college in industry. You could get an entry level job easily with you major and minors, assuming you have a high GPA. When you walk into an interview, you need to be able to explain the differnce between the MET degree and the ME degree. Its all about perception and if you can show that the MET degree is just as valuable in the digital age, then its not going to be an issue.

Before changing your major, do a cost benefit analysis. If you did change majors, how long would it take, how many classes do you need, and how much will it cost? If any of those three is significant, its not worth it. If the big reason you want to switch is so you can become a PE, let me tell you that in some engineering fields, a PE isn't a deal breaker or even a requirement. In a few years, your degree will just be a piece of paper on the wall and your experience will trump everything else.

I work at a design and manufacturing company and MET is not frowned upon at all. We have had very positive experiences with our MET graduates and are glad to look at them for engineering roles.

I haven't exactly figured out which path I want to go just yet....

Ideally, I'd like to go to graduate school for "actual" engineering, perhaps up to the PhD level too. Maybe material engineering and go into superconductivity research and do applications in supercomputing with SQUIDs. Or even alternative energy.

My university has a wonderful MET program that mirrors the "actual" engineering program. We all have to take thermo, and fluids, and statics, and dynamics, and solid mechanics, and design classes. We pretty much use the same books at that. Even our capstone projects tend to end up better than some of those who do pure ME.

Such as, one year a group of student's built a super fuel efficient car for the Shell Eco-marathon that ran on hydrogen gas and got around 1000 mpg. Of couse it had a top speed of 20mph, but it was more of a proof of concept. Another year, a group of student's built a hovercraft type vehicle.

So my point is, I don't feel like I'm lacking in my engineering education. On the contrary, I feel like I have a better education and better knowledge than some ME students do. What I'm worried about is the biases and superficial judgement that I may face when I apply for graduate school or for a job. I am not a technician. I am an engineer. All I want is for people to recognize that.

~Danger

Once you get your PE, you ARE an engineer and that supercedes anything related to education. I was able to take PE exam with no degree (I didn't finish) and a lot of experience. If your goal is to do research and development, the credentials are much less important than your abilities. IMHO

There has to be something significantly different between the two programs if they offer them both. YOur minors might have helped overcome those differences but be educated on the differences for when people ask. You will never get away from some companies not accepting your MET...it is plain and simple company policy requirements. There will be others that don't care. Location also matters. as some states will not allow or have many more years of experience required before even sitting for the exam

Pure and simple, there are a TON of career fields out there that don't give a rat's behind about whether you have P.E. hanging off the end of your name. There are also a LOT of great, well paid engineers out there without those same letters. Will it exclude you from some stuff? Sure. Is there plenty else out there? You bet, especially if you're a sharp kid with a head on your shoulders and some practical experience.

The difference is there is a lot of hands on work. Like my dynamics class uses the Vector Mechanics for Engineers book by Beer, but we have an analysis lab where we do dynamic system analysis and modeling analysis with Pro/Engineer Mechanica.

But we still have the lecture for the class with all of the calculus and such. I guess my education is more hands on, but last I checked, hands on experience and knowledge is what separates engineers from say....physicists.

Though I do enjoy reading quantum mechanics and other books of those sort.

~Danger

snickerd3 said:

There has to be something significantly different between the two programs if they offer them both.

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The differance is the math -

BSME takes Calc III plus two additional math classes (Diffy Q and Linear Algebra)

BSMET takes calc I highest I believe.

I think you need to further research what engineers do. Also, there is a significant difference between the ME and MET programs at your school or any other school, otherwise there would only be one program available, right?

We have to take up to vector calculus at my university. But I went further and did Cal 1-3, differential equations, linear algebra, and gonna do PDE in the summer.

But yeah. The difference is the teaching style. One is more with computer modeling and labs, the other is purely theory. We have some theory and some application.

But across the board, there's not one set curriculum for ME or MET.

Like at my uni, I know MEs have to take PDE before they can take fluids, other unis I've researched teach their MEs the PDE knowledge they need for fluids and heat transfer when they take the class.

Also, another proof of inconsistencies, Rice University's BioMed engineering students only have to take cal 1 and 2, then a choice between vector cal OR differential equations, so the same level as math as in my program. Where as the BMEs at my uni have to take cal1,2,3 diffyQ and linear algebra...

At this point I wouldn't worry. With your experience and coursework it sounds like you'll be okay. But you may also not be the typical tech graduate. I can really only speak to EE vs. EET, but in many ways it might apply.

Many companies will hire EETs the same as regular EEs, it just depends on the job and the company. In my experience, EETs (I know many from local schools and DeVry) are very sharp, and have good hands-on experience. It sounds like you've taken almost all the math most EEs take, with the possible exception of calculus based prob and stats and numerical methods (unless you've taken those as well).

But here is where there might be some problem for some companies and some grad schools, with some EET programs.

One local EET program I know of requires just basic Differential and Integral Calculus. No ODE, no PDE, no eigencrappo, no vector calc, no LaPlace or Fourier or z-transforms or Bessel Functions or anything like that. So when you get to studying communication theory, or E&M, or linear systems, or analog or digital control, all of which require significant math beyond the first semester or two of calculus, the grad schools and the companies are going to look at your program and assume that most of the EET courses in these subjects did not include these math topics, beause if they did most of the EETs would be over their head. In your case, this may not apply, so you would have to be sure to get that across somehow. Most electrical engineers don't use any of that crap anyway, but they have to learn it at some point.

And again, this is Electrical, but it can't be completely off base.

It's funny, my boss at my last job was an EET. He left and is now Chief Technical Officer at some company. Now I work in government. My current boss has a PhD in economics from Harvard. He's really smart, but despite his fancy sheepskin he knows very little about engineering at all, but manages a bunch of government engineers.

benbo said:

At this point I wouldn't worry. With your experience and coursework it sounds like you'll be okay. But you may also not be the typical tech graduate. I can really only speak to EE vs. EET, but in many ways it might apply.
Many companies will hire EETs the same as regular EEs, it just depends on the job and the company. In my experience, EETs (I know many from local schools and DeVry) are very sharp, and have good hands-on experience. It sounds like you've taken almost all the math most EEs take, with the possible exception of calculus based prob and stats and numerical methods (unless you've taken those as well).

But here is where there might be some problem for some companies and some grad schools, with some EET programs.

One local EET program I know of requires just basic Differential and Integral Calculus. No ODE, no PDE, no eigencrappo, no vector calc, no LaPlace or Fourier or z-transforms or Bessel Functions or anything like that. So when you get to studying communication theory, or E&M, or linear systems, or analog or digital control, all of which require significant math beyond the first semester or two of calculus, the grad schools and the companies are going to look at your program and assume that most of the EET courses in these subjects did not include these math topics, beause if they did most of the EETs would be over their head. In your case, this may not apply, so you would have to be sure to get that across somehow. Most electrical engineers don't use any of that crap anyway, but they have to learn it at some point.

And again, this is Electrical, but it can't be completely off base.

It's funny, my boss at my last job was an EET. He left and is now Chief Technical Officer at some company. Now I work in government. My current boss has a PhD in economics from Harvard. He's really smart, but despite his fancy sheepskin he knows very little about engineering at all, but manages a bunch of government engineers.

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I'm taking a 4000 level numerical analysis class as my senior class for my math minor. I guess I'm not your average student after all.....as for stats classes, we have to take one as well for the mechanicals at least.

Not to sound pompous, but I really know a hell of a lot. From dynamics and vector calculus to thermo and fluids and solid mechanics and materials science and semiconductor and electronic device thory and UNIX OSes and microprocessor architecture and embedded systems...as well as a ton of other classes.

Oh. As for EETs and CETs at my uni, they take a class called EE analysis and it's all Laplace and Fourier transforms with differential equations and such. So...dunno. My school seems to be an odd ball.

Dangerzone812 said:

Not to sound pompous, but I really know a hell of a lot.

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Not to sound pompous, but I probably knew a hell of a lot more than you about ME when I was in school.

I'm not stating you don't know anything, but just that you have not met the requirements for an ME degree. Just sayin'.

Dangerzone812 said:

Not to sound pompous, but I really know a hell of a lot.

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This statement alone tells me you have allot to learn my friend.

Tim

What school do you go to?