Daniel Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 I'm doing a 4 year course in engineering. Not sure what I want to major in, but the degree is electrical engineering. I was considering electronics, because an interest I have is security system design. But control systems engineering looks interesting. But is it just me, or is the course incredibly hard ? First semester in first year was good, ever since then my grades have been dropping. I am not sure why, I put in the effort, but it doesn't pay off. I am taking a classical control subject, and a stochastics subject. Both are going to be a struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 I went the Electronics route, and it`s certainly been of considerable benefit when working with or designing security systems, it allowed me to design everything from my own pannel to zone expanders for existing panels, although you need a seperate qualification if you wish to install them or become NACOS approved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 4, 2004 Author Share Posted May 4, 2004 Cool, at least I know I am aiming for the right field when it comes to doing something which interests me. Have you ever worked in the industry ? How were the jobs when it came to deadlines and stress ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 The first semester of any degree is usually a lot easier than the following ones. You'll need to work quite a lot harder to keep your grades consistent after that If you have serious concerns about your grades falling despite your best efforts, you should definitely speak to a tutor or similar and try to identify what areas are giving you trouble. I had similar problems on my degree, and with hindsight would have got a better grade if I'd acted sooner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 4, 2004 Author Share Posted May 4, 2004 I see. I spend a lot of my time trying to understand and remember concepts. I usually don't try to remember concepts, but since the maths I learn is from the engineering department (which doesn't teach maths that well), I have to remember certain formulae. Hopefully the work I put into this semester will pay off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 Cool' date=' at least I know I am aiming for the right field when it comes to doing something which interests me. Have you ever worked in the industry ? How were the jobs when it came to deadlines and stress ?[/quote'] Yes, as a contractor for a small company, the jobs were great as it involved alot of R&D and the deadlines were only the ones I`de set for myself, stress is never really an issue for me as I enjoyed doing it I`m not sure if mine is a typical case or not, but you`ll find that with General Electronics, the further you go into, you`ll be chanelled to specialise, it`s unavoidable really, you`ll find the area that you like the most, the 1`st few years will be basic theory and practical skills. after you`ve got that there`s not much else to learn unless you pick a path, then there`s PLENTY to learn and regularly too, as the industry doesn`t stand still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 4, 2004 Author Share Posted May 4, 2004 Sounds good. From what I have heard, I think I will prefer being in industry than at university. It is true with the industry moving along. I think there are big advancements in the field of electronic devices, using quantum theories to develop new devices and such. My electronics subject actually has a lot of emphasis on semi conductor physics. Previously it used to stress circuit analysis and design with electronic devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 But is it just me, or is the course incredibly hard ? First semester in first year was good, ever since then my grades have been dropping. I am not sure why, I put in the effort, but it doesn't pay off. I am taking a classical control subject, and a stochastics subject. Both are going to be a struggle. My maths degree is pretty much the same. The amount of work I had to do for the second semester was far greater than that of the first. I think it happens more or less everywhere, but as sayo said, if you're worried about it, see your personal tutor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kedas Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 Which country are you from ? They aren't all the same. Here in Belgium the second year is the hardest if you made it through that year there is a very good chance you will make it. (but don't think you can relax in the following years) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 5, 2004 Author Share Posted May 5, 2004 I guess it will differ from course to course. Industry standards from country to country probably differ in little ways. I do suspect that the years are getting harder and harder though. They weed out the people who arn't committed or arn't smart enough for it in the first couple of years, then the rest is the hard stuff for the students who managed to stay in. I don't know if this is a trend, but the lecturers I have had who don't have engineering degrees (but instead have a mathematics degree (pure or applied)), usually tend to be better lecturers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kedas Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 I guess it will differ from course to course. Industry standards from country to country probably differ in little ways. Nope not true. http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna_en.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted May 5, 2004 Share Posted May 5, 2004 not true in the UK with electronics either, the 1`st year is easy, the next 2 get harder, then you specialise, that 1`st term is a re-cap of the 1`st 3 years then it gets harder and more in depth into your chosen area but non the less, if you LIKE your subject, you`ll stick with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolverine Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Second year, aerospace engineering student here The Wolverine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 What's that course like? I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer before the Maths bug kicked in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolverine Posted June 5, 2004 Share Posted June 5, 2004 It's good. It's a mix of a lot of different engineering disciplines and my course is also relatively strong in practicals so you see a lot of the theory directly in action. I've actually got my semester exams starting next week. Got exams in Airplane Performance/Gas Turbines (one paper), Aircraft Stress Analysis, Electricity and Magnetism, Vibrations of Aerospace Structures, History of Technology and Materials and Manufacturing. Our last semester we had Aerodynamics, Space Engineering and Technology, Aircraft Structural Analysis, Thermodynamics, and Differential Equations. So you can see the areas covered are quite diverse. It's a good grounding in engineering practices. As I said we do a lot of practical work too like Windtunnel experiments, and structural stress analysis experiments. We had two major projects this year. The first one was related to the design of aircraft controls for a given aircraft. We had to design the control system from scratch and weight up for instance the use of rods or cable/pulley systems. Then we had to focus on a structural component of the system, like a rocker and develop it through from a concept to an end design. Our second project was a space task. We had to develop software to explore where a satellite can be controlled by only measuring two geometric measurement angles. Anyhow that's a bit a of taste of the kind of things that we do. The best thing we've done this year is probably the zero-G flight. That was bloody awesome The Wolverine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 6, 2004 Author Share Posted June 6, 2004 You have 6 subjects Wolverine ? For me the usual load is 4 subjects a semester. People who do well can opt to overload and do 5, and there is a guy I know who was regularly doing 6 subjects a semester. Freakish people, he is slightly older than I am and doing a PhD (21 I think). One of the subjects I am doing now (Control system design), he got a perfect score of 100. I don't know how people do that. Anyway, my exams are on next week too. Good luck with yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NetMaster Posted June 6, 2004 Share Posted June 6, 2004 Senior Computer Engineering student here. It is a mixture of electrical engineering and computer science. I'm going to specialize in RF systems, I love electromagnets for some reason. Net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbp6 Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Hey Guys, Whats up, Mechanical Engineer here and I'm also new to the forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSX Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Second Year Mech. Eng. here. Sorry, I haven't read all the posts above me yet. I'll read them later and post something relevant. [edit] darn ... is there anyway to delete this post? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSX Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Second Year Mech. Eng. here. You have 6 subjects Wolverine ? For me the usual load is 4 subjects a semester. People who do well can opt to overload and do 5' date=' and there is a guy I know who was regularly doing 6 subjects a semester. Freakish people, he is slightly older than I am and doing a PhD (21 I think). One of the subjects I am doing now (Control system design), he got a perfect score of 100. I don't know how people do that. Anyway, my exams are on next week too. Good luck with yours.[/quote'] 21 years old diong a PhD already? Well, Engineering is really packed for me too. For the my upcoming fall term, i have to take 7 courses Hey Guys, Whats up, Mechanical Engineer here and I'm also new to the forums. hey hey How are you doing fellow Mechie? Welcome to the forums too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 Yea, the guy is a freak. He pissed one of my lecturers off because in some class, the lecturer was going over a hard proof and instead he goes "couldn't you do this, this and this and it would be a lot easier ?". Lecturer glares at him and replies "yes.........yes you could". My friend has a few funny stories about his big brother who did electrical engineering and computer science. His brother did the Control subject I was talking about earlier, got kicked out of lectures in the second lecture, and was told not to come back (ever). The exam was really hard, out of 10 questions his brother maybe gets equivalent of 3 and a half correct. He gets an email from the lecturer telling him that he topped the class, and that the lecturer couldn't remember him, and wanted to know if he was interested in studying under his guidance. Didn't take the offer up, went overseas or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbp6 Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 I'm actually going into my Second Year for Engineering. 21 yr's old isn't too fast to be doing a Ph'D. I'd be doing that if I entered the bs to Ph'D program at my school, but I decided I wanted to get a Masters first. I worry more about the kids who go to college at like the age of 13. I bet some of them had really messed up lives without much fun. Although most likely most of them just really enjoy educating themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolverine Posted June 19, 2004 Share Posted June 19, 2004 Yea our program is an automatic Masters if you complete the 5 years....3 years Bachelors + 2 years Masters. Anyhow good luck to all those doing exams. I've got my last two next week. So far it's not gone as well as I had hoped, but that's nearly always the case when I do exams The Wolverine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 20, 2004 Author Share Posted June 20, 2004 Damn your uni seems to set you up. Our bachelor course is 4 years, and I think a masters is another two if you do by coursework. My exams didn't go too well either, but everyone else found them difficult too so lets hope the scaling works in my favour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSX Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Wow, that's a nice program you guys have there in the Europe then. I don't know of any Canadian schools that offer a Bachelor/Masters type of course. The closest one I know of is the University of Toronto's Engineering & MBA program, but that takes 7 years to complete. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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