Home Architecture Talk
is general engineering a specialty or do you have to pic a particular field(mechanical, electrical, civil,aero?
there are soo many things im interested in (robots, internal combustion engines, guns, prosthetics, solar, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, etc types of green energy, architecture, planes, thrust engines, "clean" cars, the list goes on... could i get a degree in general engineering or do i have to choose a specific field cuz i cant decide which i like best. im going for my bachelors in engineering.
Public Comments
- Most colleges will make you choose. I'd suggest electrical as a base, it's useful for everything. Then do a minor in something else, like mechanical.
- Mechanical engineering is the closest you will get to a general engineering degree but it really doesn't matter that much. All engineering degrees will give you the basics that you need. From that you can add on specialty training. I have a mechanical engineering degree but in the course of my work I have had specialty training in electrical, civil, chemical, instrumentation and safety engineering.
- Not all schools will make you choose. Harvey Mudd College offers a BS in Engineering, and in conjunction with the Claremont Graduate School, a Masters of Engineering. Note that those degrees do not have a specialty attached. The upside is that you would have broad exposure to several fields of engineering and a set of skills to solve open-ended problems. The downside is selling your worth when prospective employers think in terms of needing an engineer in a specific discipline (mechanical, electrical, civil, etc.). One way to sidestep the issue is to become licensed as a specific type of engineer. http://www.hmc.edu/academicsclinicresearch/majors1.html http://www.hmc.edu/academicsclinicresearch/academicdepartments/engineering.html
