Energy engineering

Mallox

hey im doin my leaving this year and im really confused bout doing engineering .. i really enjoy learning about renewable energy systems and that but im not great at maths i struggle at honours but can get a c .. i do physics too but i dont love it .. i think i would love to be involved in energy but not sure if the physics and maths would appeal to me .. is there anyone doing this course specifically who can tell me what its like and if they too were like me last year??? any info on this course would be great

yay_for_summer

I do civil so I don't know all of the energy stuff but we have all first year subjects in common bar one. Maths and physics are huge parts of it so far, I don't think they've done anything specific about energy saving like solar power etc yet but tis early days I suppose. I think you would need to have an interest in maths and physics really, but I am on a different course so I can't speak for energy eng properly.

life_is_music

I was considering doing it but missed it by 5 points!

It's going to involve a huge amount of Maths and Physics with some chemistry thrown in......

I would think that you would really have to like these subjects to do it!

Also it's going to greatly restrict your social life in college due to the huge workoad...

Mallox

really wow dat doesn sound appealing at all mayb i should go wit commerce and french so

quietsailor

I'm actually in 1st year at the moment so I can tell you the physics, maths, applied maths are tough subjects. Some of the reason for that is I'm a mature student so its been a while since I had to study like this. Its a good course though.

The only energy engineering module we have this year brings in professionals to speak to us for one of the three hours of that subject every week. This way you learn about what happens in the real world.

RJC

The 1st year maths and physics (and applied maths)are similar to the honours leaving cert course. I have nearly 17 years post grad experience and the amount of maths and physics you use in the real world is junior cert level.

Mallox

really wow dat makes me feel better .. i would love to do it but prob wouldn get d points .. dares a new energy plus ting in galways engineering so ill prob do dat instead ... is there a demand for energy engineers do you know ?? cao is next month need to pick quick

RJC

Mallox wrote: »

really wow dat makes me feel better .. i would love to do it but prob wouldn get d points .. dares a new energy plus ting in galways engineering so ill prob do dat instead ... is there a demand for energy engineers do you know ?? cao is next month need to pick quick

spelling? God help me for saying it but it is needed in the real world.

energy engineers? what do they do? we used to call the guy who put petrol in your car an energy engineer

quietsailor

RJC wrote: »

spelling? God help me for saying it but it is needed in the real world.

energy engineers? what do they do? we used to call the guy who put petrol in your car an energy engineer

Basically the course is about creating new sources of energy and maximising their potential - wind/wave/tidal/biomass etc. But it'll also include how to improve the efficencies in large plants - both generating stations and industrial facilities like factories or pharmaceutical plants.

yay_for_summer

There is the option too of doing civil and specialising in environmental and energy eng. Not trying to push civil like, but I wasn't sure so did a more general one and can pick to specialise in third year rather than before I started. Just a thought.

Mallox

yay_for_summer wrote: »

There is the option too of doing civil and specialising in environmental and energy eng. Not trying to push civil like, but I wasn't sure so did a more general one and can pick to specialise in third year rather than before I started. Just a thought.

ya im tinkin bout dat too ya a general engineering course in galway sounds good but i would love to go to cork all the same .. sorry bout my spelling by the way ..

quietsailor

Mallox wrote: »

ya im tinkin bout dat too ya a general engineering course in galway sounds good but i would love to go to cork all the same .. sorry bout my spelling by the way ..

Not being a ba****d here but if you want a career in Engineering spelling, puncuation and a general ability to get your point across are extremely important. Anything else can be taught to you or picked up by experience but if your reports are badly written they'll be binned/ignored and others will get credit for your work



There is an energy engineering course that has just started in CIT for Sustainable Energy. From what I've read its similar in content to the UCC Energy Engineering.

There seems to be 2 major differences that I have heard;
1. Points: The CIT course is a lot less - 375 as opposed to UCC's 520. (Note that I got in as a mature student to UCC not through CAO so I don't know if the CIT course may be a restricted application ie interview)

2. Practical v Theory: Apart from the Chemistry and Physics the only other practical work (Labs) we (in UCC) have is in electrical circuit analysis. All well and good if you intend to work in an office all your life. BUT if you plan in working in the field a knowledge of how to take apart/fix/repair machinery as well as being able to make parts yourself is necessary -- On this I can say I'm an authority as I trained in CIT in Marine Engineering years ago and in the jobs I've had since I wouldn't have been able to cope without the CIT training.
Over Christmas I was talking to a friends sister who is living with someone in the CIT course and that girl was complaining that it was nearly 50% project ie practical work. Again this won't suit you if you intend going straight into an office but if you want to fully understand engineering it is the best start you could wish for.

Its none of my business but I really wouldn't advise going straight into an office, you get a much better understanding of engineering from working in the field and when you go for a management job companies like to see people with practical experience. So the CIT course would be better.

Mallox

Thanks for that, I dont always write like this obviously ha just quick typing like , Ya I never looked at this CIT course. Ill have a gander now thanks, I personally would prefer the business side rather than the field work i think , I want to study for an MBA a few years after my first degree hopefully. Thanks for that it might not seem like much it was very helpful!