Computer and Electrical Engineer.

Dman001

Could someone offer me some advice. I am thinking of doing computer and electrical engineering but I am not sure if I would enjoy it. I love computers and electronics/technology. Is physics necessary for doing this course. All help very much appreciated.

vir7ual

With an engineering course, you'll need to look at the course requirements for the college you intend on going to. Some colleges specify the science subject they want for that course, other colleges might just say 1 science subject is needed out of the 3 on offer, physics, chemistry and biology.

On my own personal experience going through this, physics was a great help, i was never any good at the other 2 anyways. Saying that biology wouldnt be a major stepping stone in computers or electrical, could be interesting though.

are you doing the leaving cert or picking subjects for the leaving cert. I wouldnt knock engineering off my list if i didnt have physics, you can still get by but you will most certainly need at least 1 science subject.

Axwell

vir7ual wrote: »

you will most certainly need at least 1 science subject.

I dont think this is the case at all,an honours maths C3 is normally the only requirement for any of these type of courses and a science subject is rarely if at all a requirement. In most cases you will do a physics module in first year but thats just a beginner level course similar to what you do for the leaving cert. You should look at the prospectus for a few colleges and see what they require for the courses you are thinking of doing. In most cases if not all you will find it like i outlined though.

vir7ual

without this getting into a debate i thought you had to have a science subject with your honors maths for an engineering degree....if not you learn something new every day.

green123

no science subject needed
just higher level maths

You don't need higher level maths if you go to an IT.

Pure Cork

Moonbaby wrote: »

You don't need higher level maths if you go to an IT.

For level 8 honours degrees, you do. Same as everywhere else.
For level 7 ordinary degrees, you don't.

For ab intio entry, obviously you can progress from level 7 to level 8.


Was checking out some of the college prospectus to check and GMIT is now offering a 1 year BENG (hons) add on to a Level 7.

Maybe they have for a while, it is the first I have heard of it though.

Pure Cork

Moonbaby wrote: »

For ab intio entry, obviously you can progress from level 7 to level 8.


Was checking out some of the college prospectus to check and GMIT is now offering a 1 year BENG (hons) add on to a Level 7.

Maybe they have for a while, it is the first I have heard of it though.

Just to make it clear, in ITs you can start off at either level 7 or level 8. Level 8 courses are "ab initio" too.

If you get a good level 7 degree, you can transfer into the third year of a level 8 course in either an IT or a university. This has been going on for decades.

I have always thought that they used the term Ab Initio to distinguish between entering the 4 year level 8 from using the ladder.

GMIT is the first B.ENG(Hons) Mechanical that I know of that you can attain a degree in 4 years through from the level 7. The rest are 5 year degrees.

I wonder is that a sign that the Level 7 is becoming defunct as a stand alone qualification as major employers of technicians such as Intel wind down and don't see a value in training up mech grads as equipment techs when they can hire upskilling trades.

Pure Cork

Moonbaby wrote: »

I have always thought that they used the term Ab Initio to distinguish between entering the 4 year level 8 from using the ladder.

GMIT is the first B.ENG(Hons) Mechanical that I know of that you can attain a degree in 4 years through from the level 7. The rest are 5 year degrees.

I wonder is that a sign that the Level 7 is becoming defunct as a stand alone qualification as major employers of technicians such as Intel wind down and don't see a value in training up mech grads as equipment techs when they can hire upskilling trades.

GMIT is different for mech (haven't looked at the other disciplines). I've had a look at the online prospectus and the level 8 course is definitely completely different to other level 8 mech courses. Just look at the course content. It's a different mechanical engineering . And, GMIT don't have an ab-initio level 8 course like in proper universities and ITs.

To get jobs as a mechanical engineer, you need a BEng(Hons) level 8. There are very few jobs for level 7 mechs. It has become a stepping stone qualification. I think it's different for Civil.

Pure Cork

Sorry for derailing the thread

Dman001 wrote: »

Could someone offer me some advice. I am thinking of doing computer and electrical engineering but I am not sure if I would enjoy it. I love computers and electronics/technology. Is physics necessary for doing this course. All help very much appreciated.

folan

I did this, and really enjoyed it. There is alot of very hard maths in it, so having goos maths is a definate plus. And a love of the topics help, but be careful you dont mistake the course for something it isnt. As someone said above, look at the course list, try to have a quick look at some of the topics, and ask advice about some of the courses you mightnt be sure of.

Physics is not required, as above, but my course in maynooth had alot of physics for the first year, as a refreher or introduction to alot of stuff that would come up in later years. I think most colleges have this too, so you should be ok!

Best of luck with this, I enjoyed most of it, hope you will too.

Dman001

Thanks for all of the advice. I don't think it is the right course for me.

folan

no problem, and best of luck in what ever you decide to do!

kevin216

Dman001 wrote: »

Thanks for all of the advice. I don't think it is the right course for me.

good choice i wish i had done this. in college it's awfull , compared to every other course

joenailface

I'm doing electronic engineering and i got a D3 in ordinary level maths in the leaving and i find the maths side of it to be easy enough to be honest. without any real effort in maths i got 50% in my christmas test...most of the maths is useful within the electronics side of it (adding sine waves and yady yada) In saying that if you have a problem with basic maths like addition and multiplication then i would say steer clear of electronics...theres a lot of that sort of thing. As for physics...i never done physics once before i started the course and its pretty easy too.

folan

joenailface wrote: »

I'm doing electronic engineering and i got a D3 in ordinary level maths in the leaving and i find the maths side of it to be easy enough to be honest. without any real effort in maths i got 50% in my christmas test...most of the maths is useful within the electronics side of it (adding sine waves and yady yada) In saying that if you have a problem with basic maths like addition and multiplication then i would say steer clear of electronics...theres a lot of that sort of thing. As for physics...i never done physics once before i started the course and its pretty easy too.

Well, my course was based heavily on statistics and probability, optimisation and control, so there was alot of math there and I personally had problems especially with the transforms and stuff like that in control. I did great in LC math, but still found alot of it really hard.

Physics was taught from 0 knowledge POV, so helped along.

sharkDawg

joenailface wrote: »

if you have a problem with basic maths like addition and multiplication then i would say steer clear of electronics...theres a lot of that sort of thing

Not sure if this is ment as a joke, If you have trouble with addition and multiplication you should'nt be considering college let alone engineering! joenailface i'm guessing your studying in an IT, because maths in University engineering is certainly not easy, very theoretical, and alot of BS. The maths physics side of it isn't too easy either, Laplace transforms and the like.

Axwell

sharkDawg wrote: »

joenailface i'm guessing your studying in an IT, because maths in University engineering is certainly not easy, very theoretical, and alot of BS. The maths physics side of it isn't too easy either, Laplace transforms and the like.

Ok you cant go and make a statement about the difficulty compared with University and IT maths. If you are doing an honours degree course then its going to be hard in either. You cant say that IT maths is easier cos its an IT, thats just not true.It doesnt mean that by going to an IT as opposed to a University that all of a sudden he will be able for the maths.
Joenailface i wouldnt be giving the OP false hopes saying physics and maths are easy, i studied electronic engineering and also did computer engineering and i wouldnt say they are easy subjects. Maybe to someone who is quite good at maths, but no offence from your own admission you didnt get a great mark in the leaving cert so maths doesnt seem your strong point. You may find them easy at the minute but i think you are giving the OP false hope to say that they are easy. Physics is usually only introduced for the first year, you may also have other subjects down the line like signal processing, communications, microwave engineering all which are heavily based around maths.
Lets be honest here, this is maths at an honours standard no matter which way you look at it regardless of entry requirements, if you are bad at maths you are going to find the subject hard and its up to you if you really want to do it and put in a lot of effort or do something else you would like to study that might not be as difficult.But whether you go to an IT or a University the maths is still going to be hard if its not a subject you are good at.

x in the city

I had a ordinary degree, got transferred to yr 3 at ucc with it and into a shed load of lovely math.

EEE as its commonly known is fun but its also though, and if you slack off you pay, also when you actually get a job its also demanding, not like your doing arts.....lol

each to their own i guess