Questions for engineers

[loadironmania]

So I'm studying for the entrance exams for engineering colleges (JEE Mains/Advanced ,India) and i have some questions for some actual engineers.

• why are you an engineer?
• what do you do day to day?
• Do you think it was worth it?
• what type of engineer are you ? (aeronautical,software,civil etc)
• what is the scope (i.e job oppertunities) ?
• any suggestions for an aspiring engineer?

Thank you .

[Haraikomono]

pretty simple,

1. I liked the idea to focus my life around my hobbies of crafting and building cool systems
2. wake up at 10 - maintain stuff,  check monitoring, do some meetings on future systems, do some support, shift ends at 18, do some hobby stuff in the garage
3. absolutely
4. part Systems Administrator and part systems engineer
5. what do you mean by scope ? how large the field is ? if so, then theres always new stuff to play with, and one of the most if not the most active community in the world
6. do some field study e.g like go to a place of buissness and ask for a 1 day job presentation to get a view of what the job is actually about. Since reality can be somewhat different from whats written in the text book
   1. And my most important advice would be: Dont just focus on college the entire time youre studying, try to work part time as a working student in that particular field of study.

[Kadzo]

1. Yes

2.I worked in automotive industries so a lot of meetings and planing, now i work in R&D, so a lot of meetings and planing, some 3D 2D designing also system management.

3. Nope. I hate it and plan to switch for some of my hobbies (i have a small shop, so i also work with metal, welding, making stuff etc)

4. Mechanical (production) engineer, but mostly work project management for the past couple of years.

5. Also clarify scope. If you mean complexity of work that depends 

6. RUN  

[Rybo]

• Aptitude.  I'm good at it, the money's good, and I'm treated very well by my employers because of my skillset
• Help design changes, help plan major initiatives in our company, actually implement the former, and help my colleagues do the same
• Sorta?  It's rather soul-sucking, boring work, but the pay can't be beat and it leaves me plenty of free time to follow my own passions
• software
• My team is the team making all of the changes to our system and is the final line of support for any issues that come out of our production environment.  If something is changed or fixed, chances are we did it (though our scope is limited to application changes -- if something is wrong with a server or vendor integration, then there are other teams handling that)
• On the software front, be proactive and never unlearn that skill.  Showing awareness of what's on the bleeding edge is something a lot of companies filter on.  At the same time, though, be wary of bringing those skills to bear on the systems you maintain.  Most software development is collaboration with people you may never interact with -- including your past self.  If you toss every hair brained, bleeding edge idea into your systems, the people left to maintain those systems will hate you -- and that includes your future self.  

[wasab]

• why are you an engineer? A: I like to create useful things. 
• what do you do day to day? A: Staring at a computer screen and hacking away at things pretty much.  
• Do you think it was worth it? A: I guess. At times it can feel loney though, especially if you work at home like me. 
• what type of engineer are you ? (aeronautical,software,civil etc) A: Software
• what is the scope (i.e job oppertunities) ? A: not sure what you mean. Plenty of jobs on linkedin and indeed for engineers of various kinds in the USA if thats what you mean.
• any suggestions for an aspiring engineer? A: Never lose your focus. Many people give up on unfinished porjects and goals or go in relentlessly in the beginning but in the end burned out. Everyone starts somewhere but need time to develop. Find what you like and constantly improve on it by setting aside an hour or two a day to learn, research, and network with those already in the industry. Slowly but steady, you will eventually reach there.  

[suedseefrucht]

On 9/25/2021 at 4:48 PM, loadironmania said:

why are you an engineer?

My father is an engineer too and as a kid I liked to watch him repairing/fixing broken things from my family. That's magic!
Also you can be creative, you get new challenges everyday and i prefer that over a boring job where you just do the same stuff everyday.
Also the money is good.
 

On 9/25/2021 at 4:48 PM, loadironmania said:

what do you do day to day?

Some physicist are looking for ways to improve their experiments further and further and if they need a special device for that, I build it.
So I plan it, I design it, I build the harware, I program the software, I test it, I make it work and I document everything.
 

On 9/25/2021 at 4:48 PM, loadironmania said:

what type of engineer are you ?

Electrical engineer.

 

On 9/25/2021 at 4:48 PM, loadironmania said:

what is the scope (i.e job oppertunities) ?

Electronics are everywhere, so I can work where ever electronics are needed.
But I specialized on IT, so internet protocols, programming, databases, ...

 

On 9/25/2021 at 4:48 PM, loadironmania said:

any suggestions for an aspiring engineer?

There will be bad days where you are searching errors for a long time until you find them.

Just stay calm, isolate the errors systematically, so you get closer and closer until you get them.

And dont be affraid to ask experienced people for help.

[WEEAB00CE]

1. I had a knack for math/science in middle school and my father being an electrical engineer himself encouraged me into it. Since then I've fostered my own appreciation for hardware/software design. Plus it pays pretty well.

 

2. I was primarily a hardware resident engineer in the automotive industry but have recently moved to a new company as an embedded software engineer working on vehicle Qi wireless charging.

 

3. Sit in MS Teams meetings for a good chunk of the day, track engineering progress/changes, reviewing SW application manuals, flash some parts and do HW/SW validation, and try to sell our module to new customers.

 

4. Electrical Engineer turned Software Engineer

 

5. Electrical/Software engineering is great. From my experience in the automotive industry they are scrambling for engineers of all disciplines. Applications they are looking for are embedded systems, application software/infotainment, vehicle communications, HW/PCB design engineers, EV/HEV and high-voltage systems, Assisted Driver-assistance systems (ADAS), vehicle autonomy, drive-by-wire, and general electrification of vehicles. 

 

6. Never be afraid to ask questions. Find some office-friends to shoot the breeze with (even if they're double your age). Keep a daily journal or list of completed/in-tasks. Learn about the products/programs outside your group. When you get flustered take a deep breath, take a step back, and break down the problem step by step.

 

Professional engineer is going to be easier in some ways and more difficult than others compared to your studies. But keep up your passion, don't be afraid of change, and always be ready to learn. You'll have a fantastic career in engineering I'm sure of it.