Any engineers out there?

[seriesV]

So i recently started cruisin the forums again after at least a year away. tonight was my first posts in close to forever, so i was wondering what's been going on with some of the other members. My story: last fall i transfered up to Clarkson University in Potsdam to get my bachelors in ME, and as I enter my senior year I find myself tossing around the idea of grad school vs. starting a career. Any brothers out there that might have some thoughts on the matter? Or, even better, anyone in the syracuse/utica/rochester/north country area?

 

[mcroom]

Look for a good company wanting an intern. My son-inlaw went permanetly with Exxon Mobil as ME after a couple of summers from UF.

 

[vankleekkw]

Advice can only be given based on what discipline you want to get into. Do you want to do Research, design, support, or jump ship and come to the dark side of operation management.

 

[Doctor Zhivago]

get your FE, then work for a firm so you can gain experience under a PE. As soon as you can get your PE, grab it and you're set.

 

[seriesV]

thanks for the tips. i can take the FE right at school a week before finals, which has been my plan since as soon as i found out about that deal. i'm thinking i want to get into design work, at least initially. as for operations, maybe after i sell my soul to the devil... :razz:

 

[kafreeman]

Im finishing up my Masters right now, doing wind turbine work. I couldnt find anything at the end of 2008, which is how I wound up in grad school. I am interning while finishing up my thesis, and my thesis happens to be what im doing as an intern, so it works out quite well.

 

[seriesV]

sounds like things worked out nicely for you, who is your internship with? I really enjoyed my fluids 2 class this past semester, and that is an area where I might look for some work in the coming months.

 

[kafreeman]

sounds like things worked out nicely for you, who is your internship with? I really enjoyed my fluids 2 class this past semester, and that is an area where I might look for some work in the coming months.

National Wind Technology Center in CO.

I moved 1800 miles for it... wrote a structural testing code for the blades, and should be testing it and a control system in a couple months.

The test system is a proof of concept, and Im hoping it works.

 

[agctribefan]

Hey SeriesV, I'm an unemployed industrial engineer in Albany. If you are looking to stay in the area, I would go back for your grad degree. There just isn't that much available right now. Unfortunately I don't know how much a masters will actually help you find a job. Like everyone else is saying, look for an internship.

 

[Doctor Zhivago]

Turbomachinery is always worth looking into.

look in texas!

 

[kafreeman]

Hey SeriesV, I'm an unemployed industrial engineer in Albany. If you are looking to stay in the area, I would go back for your grad degree. There just isn't that much available right now. Unfortunately I don't know how much a masters will actually help you find a job. Like everyone else is saying, look for an internship.

Im hoping it helps me, at least I will get some experience out of the internship.

End of 2008 was one of the worst years, hardly any jobs out there, and the ones I got calls on were out of state.

I started applying in the summer of 2008, sent out resumes daily for any new jobs popping up, heard hardly anything back from anyone. I was in NH for a few weeks that summer, tried finding work there as well, didnt work out.

Hopefully it didnt work out because of what Im doing now, but you never know. I might be back to designing databases at the end of the year.

 

[vankleekkw]

maybe after i sell my soul to the devil... :razz:

At least it pays well. Don't worry, most engineers come to the dark side after spending a year or two in front of a computer screen. Picture office space, just not as funny.