Best area of engineering

amistyfog

Hello all,
I have to fill out my CAO application in a few weeks and im feeling very nervouus thinking about it. I was set on mechanical engineering in DCU but ive talked to a few people and theyve said that its near impossible to find a job in mechanical.

What is the best area of engineering for gaurenteed, well paid work? Please give me your side of things, i really need some solid advice.

franman

Yep there are no jobs for graduate mechanical or maufacturing engineers at the min while civil and stuctural engineers are in demand. However in 5 years time who knows what the jobscene will be like.

breadmonkey

Civil is job central AFAIK, especially with that whopper nationwide infastructure project that was recently announced. I'm actually studying Civil myself. It is indeed very difficult to find a mechanical eng job since there's no real automotive industry in Ireland.

Having said that, I would go with the degree you are actually interested in. Seriously, if it's money you want, do Actuary or something. College is a lot lot easier if you are into what you study. If you aren't, you'll find it's all too easy to just skip lectures all the time and I'm sure you can see where that'll lead you.

What is the Mechanical department like in DCU? You might want to consider an undenominated course. I can only speak from my experience in UCD but I can imagine it would be useful to someone like yourself. I personally regretted doing the undenominated entry because I pretty much knew I was going to do Civil and there was more pressure at the end of the year as places in the various departments were based on exams, so bear that in mind.

And finally, Civil is a complete doss compared to any of the others. I'm getting away with murder!

Boston

Maybe from the DCU qualification, But Mech Graduates from trinity don't seem to be having any trouble getting a job.

It is indeed very difficult to find a mechanical eng job since there's no real automotive industry in Ireland.

O dear god, you've no idea what you're talking about. The automotive industry is just one path you can go down in mech. It's not the only one. it's akin to saying, "no jobs in civil because we don't build skyscrappers".

Form what I've heard people in general are finding it hard to get jobs on the strength of DCU eng and CompApp degress, and that it isn't realyl a reflection o nthe market.

breadmonkey

But Mech Graduates from trinity don't seem to be having any trouble getting a job.

Do you know this to be true or do you just happen to know a few TCD graduates with jobs? The only TCD mech eng graduate I know still cannot get a job 1 year after graduating.

O dear god, you've no idea what you're talking about. The automotive industry is just one path you can go down in mech. It's not the only one. it's akin to saying, "no jobs in civil because we don't build skyscrappers".

You have incorrectly interpreted what I was saying here. I never said mechanical engineers only work in the automotive industry. That industry is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) employer of mechanical engineers and its absence in Ireland is the reason it's hard for mech graduates to find jobs.

And there's no need to be so bitchy, this is the engineering forum, not AH.

TE0N

I would definitely agree that you should do what you are interested in.
I had the same dilemma last year and can say that I am totally relieved that I went with Mechanical Eng. Knowing a few studying civil and listening to students giving presentations on their work experience (imagine a student describing how she worked on car park layout after a students stimulating experience with BAE Systems), I am glad I didn’t go civil.

Prospects gives great information on careers

I wouldn’t worry about the job prospect (but I am more than willing to travel beyond our coast for a job). You also must remember that Mechanical Engineering is very diverse degree, with a large amount of industries demanding a Mechanical Engineer.

amistyfog

So do you guys think DCU is poor for engineering??
Ok well there seems to be mixed opinions on mechanical but generally it seems to be hard enough to get decent well paid work in ireland, yes, no??

Breadmonkey, i know exactly what youre saying and that has always been my philosiphy but by the same token i want to be able to earn a decent wage and live a comfortable life where finding work isint a problem.

Im really into computers but ive always strayed away from the idea of computer or software engineering because A) Im generally told theres **** all work to be found and b) the course contains ALOT of maths which is something i would dislike.

Thanks for all the replies so far by the way

rubadub

A lot of mech eng students in my class went into IT. Many went into accountancy too. Many firms prefer a fresh mind rather than an accountant trained in a totally different way to what they want.

amistyfog

I have considered undenominated and i intend on putting engineering at trinity as my first choice for that reason(but the points for it are 450+ and i dont know if ill get that), generally the undenominated entries are very high in points which is why i am reluctant to put them down.

breadmonkey

the course contains ALOT of maths which is something i would dislike.

You should be aware that all engineering degrees contain a lot of maths. For example, last year I had maths algebra, maths calculus, fluid mechanics, maths physics.... There was also maths in physics, chemistry, thermodynamics and so on. I would advise you to spend a lot of time on maths for the LC (of course, don't let that detract from you other subjects) and get comfortable with it. That wil pay off big time next year.

Breadmonkey, i know exactly what youre saying and that has always been my philosiphy but by the same token i want to be able to earn a decent wage and live a comfortable life where finding work isint a problem.

I just re-read my original post and realised that my comments with regard to money may have come across a bit sappy. That wasn't my intention. Everyone wants a good wage.

Ok well there seems to be mixed opinions on mechanical but generally it seems to be hard enough to get decent well paid work in ireland,

From what I've heard, yes. And I think that's fair. I'm not trying to knock Mech as a degree/career.

breadmonkey

amistyfog wrote:

I have considered undenominated and i intend on putting engineering at trinity as my first choice for that reason(but the points for it are 450+ and i dont know if ill get that), generally the undenominated entries are very high in points which is why i am reluctant to put them down.

I strongly believe that you (or anyone) can get those points if you just do a decent amount of study. Be honest with yourself, but don't go mad and devote every waking minute to the LC. And there's no need for silly 8 hour marathon sessions that some people go for.

I am glad I didn’t go civil.

*Growls at TE0N!*

charlesanto

Medical Mechanical Engineering

breadmonkey

One of my mates is doing something like that in Galway. Very intense course!

amistyfog

breadmonkey wrote:

I strongly believe that you (or anyone) can get those points if you just do a decent amount of study. Be honest with yourself, but don't go mad and devote every waking minute to the LC. And there's no need for silly 8 hour marathon sessions that some people go for.

True I just really need to get up off my arse and start doing some proper study.

Im going to put down trinity as my first choice anyways. Ive been completly thrown off mechanical now bar maby medical mechanical in DCU.

Ive been hesitant to go into civil as ive always had the view that its by far the most popular and the housing boom has to end sometime. I just thought/think it will eventually become overperscribed, am i wrong? Is civil a guarenteed secure area?

amistyfog

Just seen your post charlesanto, ive been interested in medical mechanical for a while now, seems to be a guarenteed area for work.

breadmonkey

Is civil a guarenteed secure area?

breadmonkey wrote:

Civil is job central AFAIK, especially with that whopper nationwide infastructure project that was recently announced.

I said WHOPPER!:D

amistyfog

Where are you doing civil breadmonkey?

breadmonkey

UCDizzle

thewools

LiouVille wrote:

Maybe from the DCU qualification, But Mech Graduates from trinity don't seem to be having any trouble getting a job.

Form what I've heard people in general are finding it hard to get jobs on the strength of DCU eng and CompApp degress, and that it isn't realyl a reflection o nthe market.

LiouVille :mad: , rite for a start have you any actual facts to back these dubious comments.

As a DCU eng student and from talking to various employers; DCU has actually an advantage when looking for a job; as a 6month work placement programme exists (INTRA) in third year. When employers are looking for college graduates its looks very good to have on ones CV to have already worked with Intel, HP etc.

I know my course had over 80% of that class found a job, where as many others went travelling etc.

amistyfog

Wooly what specific eng degree did you do/ are you doing?

pauln

amistyfog wrote:

True I just really need to get up off my arse and start doing some proper study.

I'm going to put down trinity as my first choice anyways. I've been completly thrown off mechanical now bar maby medical mechanical in DCU.

Hi, I was once where you are now trying to find the correct road to go down. I picked Mechanical in the end. One thing I'll say is not to worry about future job prospects as these things can't be predicted and If you like your area of expertise and are good at it then you should have no problems with finding jobs. Your life in general will be a lot better if your doing something you like as oppose to something that you hope you will grow to like (that day may never come).

I don't know where some of the previous "facts" about poor employment in mechanical came from but I would say they're ungrounded, see part of a '04 survey of graduates here, what people don't seem to grasp is that just because you don't see many mechanical engineer positions advertised then there must not be any jobs for them. That's completly untrue, mechanical engineering is a VERY broad discipline and graduates can end up working in all sorts of different areas (as the survey kind of showed), that's one of the main reasons I chose it.
Basically all I'm saying is choose whatever area you'll think you'll be happiest in and don't mind the other factors, engineers no matter what type will always be in demand.

franman

pauln wrote:

I don't know where some of the previous "facts" about poor employment in mechanical came from but I would say they're ungrounded, see part of a '04 survey of graduates here

First of all them surveys are complete bull. Second, im a graduate mechanical engineer that struggled for ages to get a job. The last time i was talking to people out of my class they were all struggling aswell. The Head of my engineering department told last years graduating class that for the next few years graduate mechanical engineers are gonna struggle to get a job in that area.

franman

amistyfog wrote:

Just seen your post charlesanto, ive been interested in medical mechanical for a while now, seems to be a guarenteed area for work.

No such thing as guarenteed work. If you pick a course because you thing you are guarenteed work when you finish the degree you might not end up finishing it. Pick something you like!!! There is a reason everyone gives you this advise.:cool:

amistyfog

Franman, as i said to Breadminkey

amistyfog wrote:

.....i know exactly what youre saying and that has always been my philosiphy but by the same token i want to be able to earn a decent wage and live a comfortable life where finding work isint a problem.

Any thoughts on the computer/ electronic side of things? Is it interesting? Is there work?

PDelux

ive been interested in medical mechanical for a while now, seems to be a guarenteed area for work.

What companies would look for medical mechanical engineers? The closest i can think of is Tyco. Would the biopharms(Wyeth, J&J)?

440Hz

Im doing an elec eng PhD and loads of the graduating class here seem to be sorted for work. The numbers are really dropping for Elec/Comp Eng in UL this year. Only 6 first year comp eng'ers for this academic year... very low. And NO girls... boo. (Not that I mind being the only girl of course :v: )

pauln

PDelux wrote:

What companies would look for medical mechanical engineers? The closest i can think of is Tyco. Would the biopharms(Wyeth, J&J)?

The BioMedical Engineering guys that I share a lot of subjects with at the minute are going to the likes of Medtronic Galway, Boston Scientific Cork, Cook Limerick etc on co-op.
Biomedical and medical mechanical engineering would be pretty similar I guess. There seems to be a good amount of BioMed companies in this country. BioMed is a pretty hot area at the minute, a lot of R&D going on in it.

amistyfog

Yeah workers for the whole medical engineering area seem to be in demand. How do you find the engineering couses in UL 440Hz?

thewools

amistyfog wrote:

Wooly what specific eng degree did you do/ are you doing?

Mechatronics DCU. A tough, demanding but well balanced course which integrates the best of both electronics and mechanical engineering!

I seen you were looking at medical mechanical, from speaking to various people this looks to be the most promising course atm, due to boston scientific etc all setting up huge plants here in ireland. My course will also suffice in this 'medical boom' along with many other courses available nowadays as other courses have the same backbone and alot of the same modules are linked with courses.

Ones final year project or thesis also can affect what carrer path one want to take eg, if you study mechanics of a car, plane, microbilogy, manufacturing processes, research etc.

Kojak

pauln wrote:

The BioMedical Engineering guys that I share a lot of subjects with at the minute are going to the likes of Medtronic Galway, Boston Scientific Cork, Cook Limerick etc on co-op.
Biomedical and medical mechanical engineering would be pretty similar I guess. There seems to be a good amount of BioMed companies in this country. BioMed is a pretty hot area at the minute, a lot of R&D going on in it.

Boston Scientific in Galway are always on the look-out for Biomedical/Mechanical Engineers.

A lot of smaller industries look for these type of engineers also. melit medical in galway, Stryker in East Cork are 2 examples of smaller companies who would look for Mechanical/Biomedical Engineers.

'Biomedical and medical mechanical engineering would be pretty similar I guess' You'd be right in that. In NUIG they have courses for these 2 areas - the majority of the subjects are exactly the same.

Nukem

franman wrote:

Yep there are no jobs for graduate mechanical or maufacturing engineers at the min while civil and stuctural engineers are in demand. However in 5 years time who knows what the jobscene will be like.

Your havin a larf right! In my final year and iv gotten a few calls regarding work in the next few months. They are crying out for Mechs in the Munster area - Centi core job and Anjem have all new plants and there are about 6 more companies sitting on the fence on the pharmaceutical side ready to build in Ireland. Buddy has been moved from Intel to Pfizer and now he is off to someone else they cant get him to jobs fast enough!

pauln wrote:

I don't know where some of the previous "facts" about poor employment in mechanical came from but I would say they're ungrounded, see part of a '04 survey of graduates here, what people don't seem to grasp is that just because you don't see many mechanical engineer positions advertised then there must not be any jobs for them.

Vert true facts actually in UL and they pride themselves on getting grads jobs - know a few grads and they have worked or are working in engineering since leaving in one form or another.

franman wrote:

First of all them surveys are complete bull. Second, im a graduate mechanical engineer that struggled for ages to get a job. The last time i was talking to people out of my class they were all struggling aswell. The Head of my engineering department told last years graduating class that for the next few years graduate mechanical engineers are gonna struggle to get a job in that area.

Not true for UL they make there 3rd years get 9months work experience and have massive job drives with companies coming into UL all the time. Have been in 4 seminars regarding Post Grad engineering programs. Have been to the Careers day and met loads of comapanies that are very interested in getting Mechs.

Your a grad i understand but where are you getting your info? The only other extremely flexible engineering is Marine Eng and i know a few and they can talk the talk and walk the walk on any job.

Boston

wooly69 wrote:

LiouVille :mad: , rite for a start have you any actual facts to back these dubious comments.

As a DCU eng student and from talking to various employers; DCU has actually an advantage when looking for a job; as a 6month work placement programme exists (INTRA) in third year. When employers are looking for college graduates its looks very good to have on ones CV to have already worked with Intel, HP etc.

I know my course had over 80% of that class found a job, where as many others went travelling etc.

Have you any facts and figures to back up your dubious claims? Many universities offer the 6 month work placements. I've known people in DCU who where not able to obtain work placements. Experience always looks good, no doubt. The first time I heard it suggested the mech eng students can't find employment was on this thread. I did two years of mech eng in trinity (benefit of trinity) and now I'm finishing off with elec, I've never heard anyone talk about not being able to get a job.

Tar.Aldarion

440Hz wrote:

Im doing an elec eng PhD and loads of the graduating class here seem to be sorted for work. The numbers are really dropping for Elec/Comp Eng in UL this year. Only 6 first year comp eng'ers for this academic year... very low. And NO girls... boo. (Not that I mind being the only girl of course :v: )

Numbers are dropping a lot alright, last year when i was in first year there was only about ten elec+comp engeneers and ten electronic whereas there used to be way way more. Some are dropping out now too and technicall there are no girls in my class.
Two in elec though...:)

Mr. Grieves

Last year when i was in 1st year, the undenominated eng class in ucd were given a talk by representives of all the branches of engineering before we made our choice. The mech guy basically said there were no design jobs in Ireland at the moment, but this didn't seem to put many people off (the class is huge while only 4 people entered elec from undenom).
I imagine there are still jobs in other areas for mechs but information about these thing always seems very vague. Anyway everyone always says it'll be totally different 4 years down the line when you graduate.
I chose elec after 1st year because it interested me, but when i was filling out my CAO, i wouldn't even have considered it ( i put undenom and mech at nos 1 and 2).

SparkyLarks

Ther isn;t much point in filling out your CAO form based on the jobs market.
When I started Elec Eng it was the course to do, points were soaring up, despite the places being increase every year.
graduate salaries and packages were great, it was the same all the way up till I started my final year.

I know a lot of the class the year ahead of me took a year out rather than starting work because there would be no problems getting Elec eng jobs.

then in April( I think) two days before the were due to show our final year projects, technology stocks crashed, fortunes wer wiped out, and most technology firms initiated hiring freezes. It was very very hard to get a job for an Elec eng Grad for the next 18 months.

meanwhile the civil engineers( a lot of whom has Elec eng down as their first choice) found that that they were in huge demand and since then the points for civil have gone up and up.( and the points for Elec eng gone down and down) . though it is only this year( maybe last too) that the civil graduates actuall started after the Tech crash, so none of the civil grads over the past few years went because it was the "Best" engineering for jobs.

and in 4 years time the building industry may have slowed down, and ther may be a glut of civil engineers, and a huge demand for electrical( because of the small no's of EE grads)

I know I've left out most of the disciplines of engineering in my tale but the job market for each fluctuates so knowing what's hot in 4 years is almost impossible, especially as crashes tend to happen suddenly.

However, if you do something you are intrested in and that you enjoy, you should be able to be good at it, if you are good at soomething you wil make money

franman

Nukem wrote:

Your havin a larf right! In my final year and iv gotten a few calls regarding work in the next few months. They are crying out for Mechs in the Munster area - Centi core job and Anjem have all new plants and there are about 6 more companies sitting on the fence on the pharmaceutical side ready to build in Ireland. Buddy has been moved from Intel to Pfizer and now he is off to someone else they cant get him to jobs fast enough!

So you don't actually have a job!! no offense but just because you have gotten a few calls doesn't mean your gonna walk into an engineering job. As for your friend what type of work is he doing the the pharma industry? Its where i ended up myself and im just interested to know what another mech engineer is doing.

Nukem wrote:

Your a grad i understand but where are you getting your info? The only other extremely flexible engineering is Marine Eng and i know a few and they can talk the talk and walk the walk on any job.

I graduated in 04 so have been out for over a year. Info just from chem engineers that i have ended up working with that know mech engineers that are struggling. Also my own class the fact that i have a link to the head of engineering outside of college.

Nukem

franman wrote:

So you don't actually have a job!! no offense but just because you have gotten a few calls doesn't mean your gonna walk into an engineering job. As for your friend what type of work is he doing the the pharma industry?

Never said that what i said was that there are possibilities out there. Your saying there are none. By the way i worked from May to Sept in Engineering and got another call from another crowd asking was i available for a six month contract before christmas (turned down as i have only 3.5 months to finish my degree)

franman wrote:

As for your friend what type of work is he doing the the pharma industry?

He is in the biz of actually building/designing/installing new modules in new plants.

godtabh

SparkyLarks wrote:

and in 4 years time the building industry may have slowed down, and ther may be a glut of civil engineers, and a huge demand for electrical( because of the small no's of EE grads)

If the economy slow down civil will be one of the first industries to suffer. If there is no money to build roads there is no jobs for civil. But if there is a slow down every industry will be effected nit just civil.

One of the advantages do of studying as an engineer do is that fact that many other industries look to employee us so if there is an industry specific slow down chances are you could do something else like work in a bank etc

civdef

Fire Engineering - not too many of us around, you need to go to the UK to get an undergraduate degree in the subject, but there's lots more jobs than graduates. Another popular option is to do a masters in the subject on the back of an engineering degree in another discipline - University of Ulster offers such a course.

The labs are fun too

Nukem

Is that to do with fire panels (basic layout) and then the more advanced explosive supression systems and all that capper. Majorily cool. Buddy works for Chubb and he wants to do that course in England to specialize as there is very little engineers of that nature around.

Nuke

civdef

It's not so much fire alarms (though that is covered) as how fire itself works, and how to suppress/prevent/limit it.

I did explosion suppression systems as a research topic at one stage.

Nukem

civdef wrote:

I did explosion suppression systems as a research topic at one stage.

Just sounded like such a unique topic to have specialized in - blow something up because you have ta

Nuke

civdef

Funnily enough the novelty wears off very quickly!

(Spending hours trawling through thousands of lines of datalogger entries after a test which took about half a second plays a large part.)

Nukem

Ya i heard a funny story about a Dell supression system that went off by accident triggered by a cleaner and lets just say he said it was impressive before they showed him the door!
Took them ages to fix it afterwards

theCzar

haven't read the preceeding, but in reference to thread... follow your heart!

But if you have no heart (and so will make a great Engineer)

Civil: Loads of jobs at the moment, and for forseeable future

Mech: Don't know much TBH

Chem: From my experience, the best paid, there's competition for the best jobs but there seems to be no shortage otherwise. Loads of companies in Cork, probably bacause they feel chemical spills will have the least enviromental impact there

Elec: My own discipline, therefore the best. Hardest course apparently, with extra helpings of advanced calculus at every oppourtunity. Jobs are available, especially with Ericsson and Intel.

godtabh

theCzar wrote:

Civil: Loads of jobs at the moment, and for forseeable future

Just a pity they dont get paid the best!

amistyfog

Followed my heart i did, you only live once and i intend to study something i like. Filled out my CAO on friday night over the net.... My first choice was Medical Mechanical Engineering in DCU i believe its the course for me More info on the course here http://www.dcu.ie/prospective/deginfo.php?classname=MEDM&mode=full

Thanks for everybodies words of wisdom and guidance, cant say thanks enough

Single Cell

AmistyFog....

My advice is to study something that you have an interest in, believe me when you have interest and like what your doing, then that 90% of the hassel when it comes to exams. If the demand for Mech Eng is not high now who knows what it'll be like in 4yrs.

Caio.

amistyfog

a

phantom_lord

amistyfog wrote:

a

eh??

mac_leinn

Hi amistyfog

I went to DCU myself. I did computer-aided mechanical and manufacturing engineering. I noticed from your first post that you had your heart set on mechanical engineering. Well your going to get a good dose of mech eng as there is a lot of overlap between the different degrees. First year is a common year, even if you specify what type of engineering you want to do, be it computer-aided, medical or business. I assume its still like that now. Theres still a lot of common courses in 2nd year. Its third and fourth when you start to do course specific subjects.

I dug this out of my DCU folder on my computer:

-Digital Image Processing to detect abnormalities

-An investigation into food rgeology in the treatment of dysphalgia

-3-D reconstruction of microstructures from consecutively recorded 2-D images

-CFD modelling of the dispersion of inert particle contaminants in a room

-CFD modelling of cross flow heat exchanger.

-Digital Image Processing to detect abnormalities

-Design optimisation of a direct muscle tendon vibrator for strength training

-Stress Analysis in Intracranial Saccular Aneurysms

-Design, manufacture and testing of Silicone Rubber Tubes for the production of Arterial Bioprosthesis

-Development and validation of a Finite Element model of a silicon based artificial arterial bioprosthesis

-Biomedical Coatings – Film deposition for hardness augmentation

-Evaluate & analyse the effects of various materials and or design’s for the Fusion Process to optimise the tensile strength & detachment times of the coil & core-wire interface

-Finite Element Analysis of Curing of Acrylic Bone Cement

-Creep Testing of PMMA bone cement

-Design, Construction and Analysis of a Dialysis Demonstration Unit

-Manufacture and Mechanical Testing of Tissue Engineering Substrates

Its a list of all final year projects carried out by medical mechanical students in 2004

This list will also give you an idea of the research areas the lecturers and school are interested in.

Hope this info is of some use. I know you already made your choice but you can never have too much information

mac