College Place

TheJoker

I posted this in the education section but I suspect I may get more replys here.

I have been offered places into 3rd Year of both Mechanical and Manufacturing & Design. The problem is I am unsure as to which course I am more suited to. I have spent a while trying to decide, I even asked my old lecturers. Although the official speil they had to give was Manufacturing because it was the same school in the college. They all said that Mechanical would be better.

Then this year I see that they have added Design to the Manufacturing course...

Anybody got anyh words of advise or otherwise?

Cheers....

chris85

I was in the same position a few years ago. Had to choose between mechanical and manufacturing. I had previously done mechanical course and was going for an add-on degree.

I find the mechanical course better but depends what you want to do. The two course generally share the same subjects but the mechanical course has Fluid mechanics and an Economics class and I think one other diff component. The manu course has Business and manufacturing systems.

Depends what area of engineering you would like to get into.

TheJoker

I just finished a degree in Engineering Systems Maintenance run by the Dept of Manufacturing Engineering. But there were subject common to both Mechanical and Manufacturing. I have heard some people say that Mechanical is better than Manufacturing etc etc. But I am not qualified to comment as I have no experience in either...

chris85

Ok well to be honest I think Mechanical Engineering is better. In my course we share a good deal of class time with manufacturing course for some subjects and i dont find their course that interesting.

Mechanical engineering is more about design and testing and project planning (I find these better jobs). Manufacturing Engineering is more about factories and their layout and product flow through the factory. Both course will involve a good deal of maths and also a bit of business as modern engineers also need a good feel for business

Any other info you need just say?

TheJoker

Yeah that what I was thinking..

To be honest one of the main reasons for doing the honours degree is so I can apply to do medicine as a graduate. But the mechanical engineering is something I have always been interested in and could see myself doing if medicine doesn't work out as planned.

I think I will go ahead with the mechanical, cheers for your help Chris!

godtabh

TheJoker wrote:

Yeah that what I was thinking..

To be honest one of the main reasons for doing the honours degree is so I can apply to do medicine as a graduate. But the mechanical engineering is something I have always been interested in and could see myself doing if medicine doesn't work out as planned.

I think I will go ahead with the mechanical, cheers for your help Chris!

Trinity does a lot of bio mechanical stuff and most of their post grads are geared towards that.

dame

TheJoker wrote:

Yeah that what I was thinking..

To be honest one of the main reasons for doing the honours degree is so I can apply to do medicine as a graduate. But the mechanical engineering is something I have always been interested in and could see myself doing if medicine doesn't work out as planned.

I think I will go ahead with the mechanical, cheers for your help Chris!

Do the Mechanical then definitely. You'd enjoy the Biomechanics and there are plenty of Masters and PhD's in that area if you wanted to pursue that.

earlyturner

hi everyone, do you need honours maths in the leaving cert for mech. engineering?

Michael Collins

earlyturner wrote:

hi everyone, do you need honours maths in the leaving cert for mech. engineering?

Depends on your college probably. But by and large, some level of honors maths would be required. Are you thinking of anywhere in particular?

earlyturner

where would b a good place, how about galway uni.

chris85

Haven't heard much about nui galway in terms of engineering. The big engineering colleges are in dublin like UCD, Trinity, DIT

Pure Cork

CIT and UCD are the big two. But some of the other colleges are very good too. You need HC3 Maths for level 8 engineering courses, or OD3 Maths for level 7 courses.

chris85

CIT is not one of the big ones come on!

dame

earlyturner:

CIT have done a lot of work on Bio and materials type stuff and have published plenty of papers. Some of their mechanical students have won prizes over the last few years.

That said, if you can I'd rather start off with a Level 8 degree from one of the universities. Then again, maybe I'm biased because I went for a Level 8 course in Dublin myself.

Galway are fine for mechanical engineering. They also have a Biomedical Engineering degree which is similar to mechanical but geared towards the medical devices industry (big in Galway). If you like the idea of studying anatomy and working in medical devices then this is the one to go for.

Limerick do mechanical engineering too and a few years ago they were giving bonus points for honours maths so that might help get a place (don't know if that's still the case). Limerick have Aeronautical Engineering which is similar to mechanical but obviously geared towards planes.

DIT have Mechatronic Engineering which is yet another variation on the mechanical theme, but concentrating on control, robotics, that type of thing. Might suit you if you're interested in electronics stuff as well.

TCD have straight Mechanical Engineering and they have MEMS (Manufacturing Engineering with Management Science). I suspect this is what Chris85 is talking about. The Mechanical engineering in TCD is all very much theory. There is very little practical. For example, there is an optional week of workshop during Christmas/Easter of 3rd year and that is it for the entire 4 years. In Galway, there are workshop classes every week during 1st and 2nd year. You might like to think about whether or not you are a hands-on type person.

As far as I know there is no college in Ireland that has a bad name for mechanical engineering. Look into the syllabus for the courses in the different colleges. Look into what type of job you think you'd like when you finish (biomedical, manufacturing, utilities engineering, etc.). Talk to people but don't take any one person's opinion as Gospel as they will most likely have only attended one place and will probably think their course is the best available.

Google and see what research the various colleges are into. That could be an indication of what your lecturers will be most interested in and what you might end up doing for your final year project.

If you're still not sure what course you would like you might like to do an undenominated engineering course. In TCD the first 2 years are common to all engineering disciplines (but MEMS is different). In UCD and NUIG there is an undenominated program where you choose which 2nd year you'd like to enter after a common 1st year (not absolutely guaranteed to get the choice you looked for). I can't remember what other colleges do what program right now.

Pure Cork

dame wrote:

earlyturner:

CIT have done a lot of work on Bio and materials type stuff and have published plenty of papers. Some of their mechanical students have won prizes over the last few years.

That said, if you can I'd rather start off with a Level 8 degree from one of the universities. Then again, maybe I'm biased because I went for a Level 8 course in Dublin myself.

The IT's all have level 8 degree courses.


@chris85,
CIT are definitely "one of the big ones". Look at the performance of CIT engineering students in competitions. No other college in the country can match their results. Look at the work placements and jobs they get. Look at where the go to further their studies. You haven't a clue.

FOGOFUNK

CIT is a load of LOG.

UCD and DIT all ftw!

earlyturner

thanks for the info everyone, thanks dame..

dame

earlyturner: NUIG used to have a maths exam in the summer for people who didn't have honours maths. If you passed that you could do engineering. Don't know if that's still the case. Check it out.

chat2joe

NUIG used to have a maths exam in the summer for people who didn't have honours maths. If you passed that you could do engineering. Don't know if that's still the case. Check it out.

http://www.nuigalway.ie/engineering/specialmaths.html

From a "South Dublin" poster...
"Haven't heard much about nui galway in terms of engineering. The big engineering colleges are in dublin like UCD, Trinity, DIT"

Have you ever been to Galway?...I'd be surprised if ya were. They've actually very good engineering setup in Galway. The Biomedical Eng course is definately the top in the country. Mechanical is a similar course initially but I'm not sure about the final years of it. I've heard nothing bad though. The civil engineering course in Galway is very strong. I know of some companies that look to Galway to pick Irish civil engineering students.

I think the best way to find out what a course is like is to try find people who are doing it... They'll be best at explaining what's involved. Headings in a "Course Content" section of a perspectus don't really cut it.

folan

in fairness lads, all colleges have their strengths, i could say maynooth is the best but im pretty sure its not. Even still im glad i went there above everywhere else. only about 6 years of graduates there, so its still small, but great facilities, small classes and talented lecturers. It was a really friendly atosphere and I really benifited from it.

See what research goes on in the depts and youll see what theyre best at. ask people from the course about their experiences, what they thought the strengths of the courses are.

For example, people whove done engineering in CIT are better at some things than me, and DCU are good manufacturing engineers, etc, but ive never worked with any trinners or UCD heads? wierd!

mr potato head

Hey guys

I took a back route into Eng. in DIT...
there is a course called Preliminary engineering which does not require higher maths (although the points were higher than the degree entry points) the CAO code is DT020 It was a great first year in college, both social and a good solid start for the general engineering degree course

As folan says every college has its own strengths and weaknesses...
I don't think there is any "Best" course, it's down to what type of industry you see yourself working in the future, if you are a more academic or practical person and the vibe you get from the place (you're gonna spend 4 or 5 years there so if you can visit the places do!!!).

To go back to the Mechanical or Manufacturing thing... i took the Manufacturing route.
I finished in 2005, on paper my job title is as a Mech. engineer, but what I do is manufacturing and design eng. I work in the sports industry in Germany and what i covered in the manufacturing course was great for my job now.

mawk

im surprised that UL hasnt got much more attention here, i believe it has a great engineering department and an excellent campus in general.

as for CIT, its the ugliest campus in the country but the standard of education is very high. The engineering department, and MECH in particular seems to get far and away the most funding in the whole college. Cit students and graduates have been mopping up prizes all over the world for years now. There is a project from one of last years undergrads in high contention for a global innovation award against a fistful of post PHD types being judged in japan this summer. its already taken a series of irish and european awards. I think it is called the apricot(or similar spelling). a human contact simulator for children.

As for Mech or Manu I chose Mech. but the courses are not THAT different. there are a bunch of shared subjects and the qualifications are equal

smooth operater

I would recommend Mechanical Engineering in DIT if you were going to be going anywhere in Dublin. Just from my experience

godtabh

smooth operater wrote: »

I would recommend Mechanical Engineering in DIT if you were going to be going anywhere in Dublin. Just from my experience

Whats it like getting a job in mechanical engineering these days?

chris85

kearnsr wrote: »

Whats it like getting a job in mechanical engineering these days?

Seems to be good at the moment, i am in final year have been in contact with a few companies and looks good. the money and opportunities look good

Ive heard DIT aint great based on a few mates that went there, not sure.

smooth operater

kearnsr wrote: »

Whats it like getting a job in mechanical engineering these days?

Em... grand?!..... and my job certainly isnt laying off anyone, and i plan on leaving in the summer to do a bit of travelling, im fairly confident il get a job easily enough when i come back to

corglass

Two words:

"Manufacturing dopes!"

This is coming from a final year hons. Mechanical Engineering Student. Manufacturing has to be the laziest """Engineering""" out there. Feck all hours, handy subjects, BORING as hell.

Mechanical all the way, the works hard and long. (and sometimes you actually enjoy studying for 14hours a day! - Today being a good example!)

chris85

chris85 wrote: »

Ive heard DIT aint great based on a few mates that went there, not sure.

Not great how?
DIT is a ball buster and you need a good study group to get by.
But I think it strikes a unique balance between the practical and the theory. Offering the best of both worlds.

chris85

Moonbaby wrote: »

Not great how?
DIT is a ball buster and you need a good study group to get by.
But I think it strikes a unique balance between the practical and the theory. Offering the best of both worlds.

Apparently the facilities werent great. Never been there myself to be honest so not going to say anymore as could be wrong.

godtabh

smooth operater wrote: »

Em... grand?!..... and my job certainly isnt laying off anyone, and i plan on leaving in the summer to do a bit of travelling, im fairly confident il get a job easily enough when i come back to

When I was finihing college the lads that I knew doing mechanical either went back to college as there were no jobs or did totally unrelated work

kearnsr

kearnsr wrote: »

When I was finihing college the lads that I knew doing mechanical either went back to college as there were no jobs or did totally unrelated work

Same deal here, nearly all left the country, went into manufacturing or went back to college.

chris85

chris85 wrote: »

Apparently the facilities werent great. Never been there myself to be honest so not going to say anymore as could be wrong.

What kind of facilities? Sporting maybe. Perhaps PCs for beboing purposes.
In terms of labs and workshops for undergrads...I haven't seen better and I go to UL.

Myth

Myth wrote: »

Same deal here, nearly all left the country, went into manufacturing or went back to college.

Most Mechs are going to work in Manufacturing in this country.
It is always going to be difficult to start out in Mech, regardless of era or country. Because for the first couple of years your on a steep learning curve and so more of a liability than an asset to the company.

godtabh

Moonbaby wrote: »

Because for the first couple of years your on a steep learning curve and so more of a liability than an asset to the company.

That goes for any type of engineering. You ever only ever learn the basics skills in college to do your job.

kearnsr

kearnsr wrote: »

That goes for any type of engineering. You ever only ever learn the basics skills in college to do your job.

Yes but Mech doesn't seem to expierence the peaks and troughs in demand, that Civil does. So perhaps there is less incentive to take a chance by training someone up, or the curve is steeper and so it is a bigger investment.
Whatever the reason Civil grads I know have had less trouble getting started off.

dinswins

Do the Engineering you like, not what gives you a better chance of a job. When you were a kid did you say to yourself, I'm going to be a Manufacturing Engineer because there is a lot of jobs around?? What about I want to be an Engineer because I like it?

Do what you like to do.