Engineering ?

jeepinmatt said:
Probably Siemens Unigraphics/NX. Not as easy to use as some of the stuff out there, but a very powerful CAD/CAM program.
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Just remembered its Siemens Solid Edge
 
This is my educated opinion..

I have a BSME from NC State...I payed my way and took longer than 4 years...

I want to UNCC freshman year..didn't do well and stopped goin to school for a few years..

I then went to Wake Tech to get the calcs and chemisty/physics classes done. This is cheaper, easier, and it is easy to find the classes that trasfer to NC State. Only a few electives won't transfer. The two schools work together and will help you get what you need. You do need to double check by looking at the State website and by going and talking to people at both schools.

I spent two years at Tech, then transitioned smoothly to ME at NC State when I had the required classes and GPA. No one cares what school you started at, only where you finished. I now work for John Deere. It is behind the computer/design work, but obviously the career options are vast.
 
If anyone cares I ended up going to Gaston college on there pre engineering program to transfer to UNCC for mechanical engineering, I am making a strong 3.0 right now pretty easily so its all going good. I am going to get all my math out of the way at GC all the way up to differential equations.
 
Sweet!

Good Luck
 
You'll like gaston a lot, ive finished 2 years there right now. Ive went to school there and cpcc, cpcc was geared more toward mechanical engineering but really felt that i learned and understood more from gaston even with most of the ones in my class going for civil instead. Trying to figure out a plan to finish my last 2 years either online or uncc now.
 
trevoringle said:
You'll like gaston a lot, ive finished 2 years there right now. Ive went to school there and cpcc, cpcc was geared more toward mechanical engineering but really felt that i learned and understood more from gaston even with most of the ones in my class going for civil instead. Trying to figure out a plan to finish my last 2 years either online or uncc now.
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I honestly love going to Gaston, the classes are small enough to get good attention and I haven't had a bad teacher yet
 
cotyp said:
I honestly love going to Gaston, the classes are small enough to get good attention and I haven't had a bad teacher yet
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Yeah i cant complain either. When i was going i went full time in the morning and still worked 2nd shift but actually enjoyed class enough that i didnt mind getting up early and still working late.
 
Oh yeah i am also doing great in my math classes to. I am in calculus 1 at the moment,and i have made only A's and B's while i have been here at Gaston.
 
Good luck, I'm over on the Mechanical Engineering Technology side in Jr. Design. Make lots of time for school. It will require pretty much all of your free time and you will live on campus in the engineering computer labs.
 
AAS Industrial Technology
BS Electrical Engineering Technology

I liked the "Technology" but still had to take lotsa math. Loved what I did when I got out of school and loved being an "engineer". Made me feel very accomplished.
 
Good info in this thread. Thanks for the update cotyp and keep up the good work!

Tradarcher - My first engineering job out of school was at Altec Industries in Creedmoor.
 
I've worked in manufacturing for 30 years. Most of it in Aerospace but all of it in Defense related programs. One thing I learned to appreciate a long time ago was an intelligent Mechanical Engineer that understood the applicable manufacturing process and / or wasn't afraid to ask questions and take suggestions.
 
benXJ said:
I worked at Altec last year, recently changed jobs. What did you do there?
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I worked in applications engineering back when Jennings was the department manager. I used to ride with the mtb crew there too. The job wasn't bad, but the management of it left something to be desired. That, coupled with low pay and a crappy vacation policy (when I started there, you got NO vacation for the first year!), lead me to look for other employment.
 
Ha. I heard stories of the days when Jennings was in charge. Thats no longer the case. And the vacation policy has only recently changed. People still cycle through pretty often in all departments. I worked in new product design and quality.
 
Thanks guys, now i just need to decide if i want to stick to uncc or transfer to state after a year or two.

I have also been throwing around the idea of a dual degree or a minor in EE along with ME.
 
I went to NC State freshman year and didn't like it. Transferred to UNCC thinking it would be easier, ending up being more difficult, but I feel like I got a better education compared to the State grads that I've worked with.
 
benXJ said:
Ha. I heard stories of the days when Jennings was in charge. Thats no longer the case. And the vacation policy has only recently changed. People still cycle through pretty often in all departments. I worked in new product design and quality.
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I still keep in touch with Chris Terry over in product design. Actually, when I first started, Bobby Crowder was my boss in applications before he got promoted to product design manager. Bobby was a awesome dude before he got promoted. He kinda became a company man after that.

Thanks guys, now i just need to decide if i want to stick to uncc or transfer to state after a year or two.
I have also been throwing around the idea of a dual degree or a minor in EE along with ME.
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State has a considerably larger Alumni following, which would help you get a job if you stay in the area. However, if the transfer would cause you to lose a significant number of credits, I would consider staying. A minor in EE is a waste of time and tuition unless your goal is to do electrical design. Even then I question the applicability of the material. I'd be willing to bet that the material is all entry to mid-level electrical theory stuff, which has little application in electrical system design on a macro level. FWIW, I design electrical systems for commercial aircraft and I have a ME degree. What sector of engineering are you trying to get into? HVAC/mechanical part design/electrical design/thermodynamics/?
 
I'm not really sure yet on where id like to go when i get out of school, I have nothing against hvac guys but that is the one field i wouldn't want to go into. But i have looked into Siemens,Google data center, and duke energy.

Google data center in Lenoir is looking for a ME if any of your guys would be interested.Its a cool place to work, i pulled wire there a couple years ago for a few months.
 
cotyp said:
I'm not really sure yet on where id like to go when i get out of school, I have nothing against hvac guys but that is the one field i wouldn't want to go into. But i have looked into Siemens,Google data center, and duke energy.

Google data center in Lenoir is looking for a ME if any of your guys would be interested.Its a cool place to work, i pulled wire there a couple years ago for a few months.
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I have a friend that works at Siemens. If you go into the energy field, look into wind energy (Siemens, GE, Mitsubishi). That sector is growing rediculously fast right now and will continue grow in the future. Siemens has wind turbine engineering in Houston, but they are getting there butts kicked by the other two.

It's kinda hard to determine what type of ME job you want without much experience. Try to find an employer that will give you the flexibility to try your hand at a few different positions (over a few years of course). i.e. Start off as a product design guy and see how it fits you and if you aren't thrilled about it, get transfered into a quality or manufacturing engineer position. You've got to figure this out early in your career so you can start building experience in whatever expertise you want to pursue.

While I'm on this soap box...this is the most important part...Live as cheaply as you comfortably can and bank the rest of that newfound paycheck! I don't mean comfortable like 'I need a new truck and a 70" 4k HD TV'. I mean comfortable like 'I drive a paid off vehicle that gets good gas mileage and I live in a cheap apartment close to work (bonus points for riding a bike or walking to work) and I have a $500 50" LED TV'. Max out that 401k, invest the rest. The goal here is early retirement. I'm talking early to mid-30s. After you've been working for the man 10+ years, you're going to be pretty tired of it. I wish someone would have told me this when I graduated college.
 
jeepinmatt said:
I went to NC State freshman year and didn't like it. Transferred to UNCC thinking it would be easier, ending up being more difficult, but I feel like I got a better education compared to the State grads that I've worked with.
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As a State engineering multiple grad, I can say State is more focused on prep for higher education (masters and PhD) than prepping you for the job market.

Just to be clear, im not saying this is a good thing.
 
FrontPorchFab said:
I have a friend that works at Siemens. If you go into the energy field, look into wind energy (Siemens, GE, Mitsubishi). That sector is growing rediculously fast right now and will continue grow in the future. Siemens has wind turbine engineering in Houston, but they are getting there butts kicked by the other two.

It's kinda hard to determine what type of ME job you want without much experience. Try to find an employer that will give you the flexibility to try your hand at a few different positions (over a few years of course). i.e. Start off as a product design guy and see how it fits you and if you aren't thrilled about it, get transfered into a quality or manufacturing engineer position. You've got to figure this out early in your career so you can start building experience in whatever expertise you want to pursue.

While I'm on this soap box...this is the most important part...Live as cheaply as you comfortably can and bank the rest of that newfound paycheck! I don't mean comfortable like 'I need a new truck and a 70" 4k HD TV'. I mean comfortable like 'I drive a paid off vehicle that gets good gas mileage and I live in a cheap apartment close to work (bonus points for riding a bike or walking to work) and I have a $500 50" LED TV'. Max out that 401k, invest the rest. The goal here is early retirement. I'm talking early to mid-30s. After you've been working for the man 10+ years, you're going to be pretty tired of it. I wish someone would have told me this when I graduated college.
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Fully agree on your last two paragraphs, but there's some misinformation in the first paragraph. Siemens Wind Energy engineering is based in Denmark and Germany, and there is manufacturing in Hutchinson, Kansas (nacelles) and Fort Madison, Iowa (blades and composites). There are also technicians at small locations all throughout the US and world.

Its pretty easy to work in the energy industry without getting too far from home. GE has a plant in Greenville, SC, Mitsubishi is just outside of Savannah, GA, and I guess you could say I know a guy who works at the Siemens plant in Charlotte, NC
 
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