Fresher Engineer

93duffy93

Hi All,

About to start Engineering in UCD in a couple of weeks and I am seriously looking forward to it!

Any tips would be much appreciated!:)

Thanks in advance.

bnt

• Go to all your lectures and pay attention when you get there. Even if you think you know the stuff already, it all helps. Avoid the slackers who sit at the back and talk amongst themselves.
• Get a decent calculator: you'll be seeing a lot of it. Nothing programmable, though - they're illegal in exams. I like the Casios with the big displays, such as the FX83, or the FX991ES (€25 at Eason) if your budget will stretch to it. (The 991 does matrices, vectors, complex numbers and numeric Integration - all of which you will meet at some point in your Engineering programme.)
• The UCD computers all have Microsoft Office on them: if you haven't used that before, take some time to play with Word, Excel and Powerpoint. In Word, for example, use Styles where possible e.g. use the "Title" style on titles, and so on. Getting used to Office early will speed up your work later.
• Back up your work. There are few worse feelings than losing hours of work because you had no backup copy. :eek:

hidinginthebush

- Don't get complacent with how easy everything seems. While you may be able to breeze through your first year Physics/Chemistry/Maths-Physics exams, Maths gets tricky enough, as do some of the other subjects.

- Go to all labs, lectures and tutorials and take notes, have any notes for lectures that are up on blackboard printed up before hand.

- Get to know the people in your class, introduce yourself, talk around, as you'll be sharing 30+ hours a week with them for the next 4 years or so.

93duffy93

Thanks alot, very helpful!:)

One or two more quick questions.....

Firstly, I know a laptop isn't compulsary for Engineering, but is it advisable to get one?

Secondly, are we talking hours of 9 to 4 most days?

Finally, the year is split into smaller base classes like school is it?

scotty_irish

if you want to stand out and have your work look ten times better than everyone else's, take the time now to learn LaTex (use Lyx) while you have loads of free time. Don't waste much time pricking about with word, it's useless and frustrating.

A laptop's not really necessary in first year but you will need one in later years, will make your life much easier. The hours aren't that bad, much longer than most other courses, but not killer. You'll find most people do f*ck all compared to engineers - what's this 8 hours a week bollox?

People here are saying go to all the lectures, whilst somewhat true, you'll find that some people just cannot teach, making it a complete waste of your time to be there. Go the tutorials, the postgrads teaching them tend to know what they're doing and are generally approachable, friendly and happy to help.

Keep an eye out for opportunities, meeting people in industry, reading industrial publications and taking a general interest in engineering, not just what is thought in classes. Learn about other areas of engineering and how to program. You have a lot of free time in first/second year - don't spend it all watching jeremy kyle and deal or no deal. Join societies!

93duffy93

Thanks again for the advice!

Could you explain what LaTex is though? Never heard of it. Is it some form of programme that you download?

scotty_irish

is an alternative to using a word processor - designed mainly for technical documents. All journal articles (well most) are written using LaTex. Once you learn how to use it, it makes writing technical documents a million times easier, e.g. formulae, tables etc. It also looks amazing. google it. Use Lyx as this takes a lot of the harder aspects out of it. Takes a while to get the hang of, but worth it.

simonmln

Definitely get a laptop if you have the choice.

Also agree that if a person cant teach, there isnt much point going but this is really for lectures. Definitelfy go to your tutorials as most are good at explaining things, and you can see where you are compared to other students. Also ye can all help each other out.

This is my experience so far, but im in UL so not sure, but am sure its very similar.

bnt

I use LyX myself, and like it for anything involving Maths in particular. Start with the "complete" version that includes all the essential LaTeX bits. You can install it to a USB drive, bring that drive to UCD, plug it in to a computer and it works.

However, I've been using Word for years and can get a lot done with it too. Some tricks I've picked up:

• learn at least some keyboard shortcuts. Every time you reach for the mouse, it slows you down. It's no coincidence that the most useful ones fall under the left hand:
  • Ctrl-Z (undo),
  • Ctrl-X (cut),
  • Ctrl-C (copy),
  • Ctrl-V (paste),
  • Ctrl-A (select all)
  • Ctrl-S (save)
  • Ctrl-D (select font)
• use Outline Mode to control the structure of your document. There are keystrokes for that too: Alt-Shift-Left and -Right to promote or demote a line between e.g. heading & sub-heading. The appropriate Style is applied as you do that.
• The Quick Styles facility can quickly change the entire look of your document - if you use Styles all the way as you write, that is e.g. "subtitle" for subtitles and so on. You don't need to use many Styles to get a professional-looking document very quickly.

93duffy93

This Lyx thing sounds very interesting and I will definitely look into it!

How about 1st year exam results? Do they have any role whatsoever in the long term or is is it just merely to pass on into 2nd yr?

I've heard that those that do best in their first year exams have first choice when it comes to specialising in 2nd yr...

TimeToShine

93duffy93 wrote: »

This Lyx thing sounds very interesting and I will definitely look into it!

How about 1st year exam results? Do they have any role whatsoever in the long term or is is it just merely to pass on into 2nd yr?

I've heard that those that do best in their first year exams have first choice when it comes to specialising in 2nd yr...

they scrapped that as far as i know, first year doesn't count at all as long as you pass.

RayCarley

93duffy93 wrote: »

This Lyx thing sounds very interesting and I will definitely look into it!

How about 1st year exam results? Do they have any role whatsoever in the long term or is is it just merely to pass on into 2nd yr?

I've heard that those that do best in their first year exams have first choice when it comes to specialising in 2nd yr...

1st year exam results matter if you'd like to go on Erasmus or Exchange in 3rd year, which essentially means that you can spend 1 or 2 semesters of 3rd year in either Europe, USA, Australia, Singapore... Those places are given out based on your 1st year GPA (some also use 1st semester of 2nd year).

So if you don't care about that, then all you need to do is pass.
You can specialise in whatever you want, there's no first come first served.

pljudge321

bnt wrote: »

[*]Back up your work. There are few worse feelings than losing hours of work because you had no backup copy. :eek:
[/LIST]

Dropbox is good for this.

bnt wrote: »

I use LyX myself, and like it for anything involving Maths in particular. Start with the "complete" version that includes all the essential LaTeX bits. You can install it to a USB drive, bring that drive to UCD, plug it in to a computer and it works.

Cheers, didn't know it would work off a USB key.

bnt

pljudge321 wrote: »

Cheers, didn't know it would work off a USB key.

Yep. One thing I do, though, is set the key to use the same drive letter at home as at UCD, just in case that's an issue. Performance is dependent on the drive's performance too.

I've been trying DropboxPortableAHK, which "wraps" Dropbox to make it portable. I got it to sync to a USB key, but Dropbox will not sync to a network drive (like H:), by design.

Shane L

Well if marius is your lecturer for calculus your going to have to turn up to maths all the time as he doesn't put up notes :pac: Some lectures are worth going to and some are not you will quickly figure this out for yourself! Last year I practically never turned up for physics in either first or second semester but used video tutorials online for the topics covered!

But never miss your labs and make sure to write in as much detail and be as accurate as possible to attain good lab grades! Don't throw away lab marks you could regret it come christmas/summer.Tutorials>lectures but make sure your not clueless either on the material covered in a lecture its nice to know where to begin studying :P

You have a module called creativity and design which is an absolute ball buster for taking up time Its a fun module but demanding and requires you to work in a team. Make sure to get all relevant details of your team members and suss them out to know if they will do the work :pac: I'm no angel in this regard and either was my group a few times we had to stand in front of the class without anything researched properly and bull our way through! Hilarious and awkward!

muboop1

Hey,

I'm an engineering graduate and will give you my two cents.

1st year depending on the subjects you done in the leaving (and how well you got on) can be a doddle. I remember not going to lectures, pissing around and getting OK marks.

Man I regretted this later do. Come third year when I was looking for an internship, only OK marks did not cut it. I also started to realise that I had missed some key elements I was required to know later. This made life in subsequent years a pain in the ass. A big pain...

Look, go to all your lectures, and do your best to pay attention and take notes, and the grades will fall into place. The course is hard, but the rewards are great. Also, natural talent... it doesn't cut it. Plenty of my friends in my course who had breezed through the LC etc, bombed it in engineering in later years. Those who work hardest really do get the best marks. Those who only worked hard when it mattered (ie years that count towards degree), never done as well as those who worked hard even when it didn't count.

Also, Some employers will want to see all your college transcripts. Including first and second year. If you barely pass, or grades are not up to par it will reflect badly.

On the plus, its a close class - you will make some great mates, always people around to give you help, and its an enjoyable course overall.

I specialised in Chemical engineering. If you ever want to know more about this discipline please feel free to PM me.

000chris000

I can give feck all advice.... but - I'm gonna be in your class haha. Got my offer last monday, booked accomodation yesterday - and seriously lookin forward to going up now have you registered yet?

caitdebhail

i'm going into first year engineering too and i was planning on buying a laptop, but i'm not sure what type and if there are any specifics that i should be looking for since i'm gonna be studying engineering for the next 4/5 years? any advice would be appreciated

oh yeah i booked my accommodation today, got Glenomena! and registered today too

cozzie55

Only piece of advice I can offer guys is don't worry too much about it. First year is about getting used to college life and being away from home for the first time for most people. Enjoy the year cause after that things get a bit more difficult and your expected to do some more work.

Just make sure you go to as many orientation events as you can and talk to as many as you can or else stick with one group of people for the day. Try not to be too shy and not talk to anyone. That way you get to know some people in your class and at least you will know someone on your first day of lectures to sit with.

Also don't be afraid to ask questions especially if you don't know where the building you are looking for is or where your lecture is on in a certain building. Finding your way around campus for the first couple of days is always tricky. Most other students are helpful though and will point you in the right direction. Remember we were first years aswell at one point.

As for a laptop i can't recommend Apple's enough. I've had mine since first year and its still working perfectly 4 years later. I know they are expensive to buy(roughly €1000) but in reality if you buy a cheap laptop in first year by the time you come to final year you will need to buy another one and will end up spending more than a grand on two laptops. Also if getting a mac make sure you get the microsoft office package as apposed to the apple office package. The apple one is good but formating can get screwed up if you start sending it to other people using MS office.

Shane L

muboop1 wrote: »

Hey,

I'm an engineering graduate and will give you my two cents.

1st year depending on the subjects you done in the leaving (and how well you got on) can be a doddle. I remember not going to lectures, pissing around and getting OK marks.

Muboop what would you say OK marks are I want to do an internship ( also doing chemical eng ) I got above a 3.1 gpa in first year will that be good enough

ironclaw

caitdebhail wrote: »

i'm going into first year engineering too and i was planning on buying a laptop, but i'm not sure what type and if there are any specifics that i should be looking for since i'm gonna be studying engineering for the next 4/5 years? any advice would be appreciated

I'd echo the Apple statement. I got one in the UK using student discount (You can do the same here) and its still bombing along. Threw in 8GB of RAM and a SSD. It will do you for your entire degree, absolutely no problem. The greatest advantage of Mac is the battery life. You'll never need to charge it and you can get a good 7+ hours out of it. Seems insignificant, but wait til you can't get a plug in the library

Shane L wrote: »

muboop1 wrote: »

Muboop what would you say OK marks are I want to do an internship ( also doing chemical eng ) I got above a 3.1 gpa in first year will that be good enough

Depends on the internship etc etc. I did a stint with Facebook and it had no questions regarding my GPA, it was more about me and how I thought as an Engineer. They were way more focused on problem solving etc.

Some employers will want to know you as a person and not your GPA, others will purely focus on your GPA. If thats the case, sadly in Engineering there is always a good number of people on the 4.2 band wagon. However as I said, remember your GPA isn't everything. Don't come out of college as a 4.2 Lemon. You need to develop every aspect, not just your book smarts.

Also, on a personal note, wait until the summer of third year to do a internship. Doing them in 1st year is bait daft in my eyes. Get out and enjoy it, theres plenty of time to work when your graduated.

93duffy93

Ok so I am deciding on my option module and I have to choose 1 of 3:

• Design and Materials
• Computer Science for Engineers 1
• Chemical Engineering Process Principles

Any suggestions or tips regarding any of these?

Also do 1st year engineering students have the option of doing elective modules in another part of the college?

Thanks

Feral Mutant

93duffy93 wrote: »

Ok so I am deciding on my option module and I have to choose 1 of 3:

• Design and Materials
• Computer Science for Engineers 1
• Chemical Engineering Process Principles

Any suggestions or tips regarding any of these?

Also do 1st year engineering students have the option of doing elective modules in another part of the college?

Thanks

When I did first year eng (back in 2006), the options we picked determined what type of engineering we could specialise in after first year. For example, to go into mechanical in second year we had to have completed material science, to go into electrical/electronics we had to have done computer science for engineers.
I don't know for sure if it's the same for you, the course has probably changed since then. You should probably check the information UCD sent you, they probably explain it there.
I ended up doing one as an option and taking another as an elective to keep my options open for a while. If you know for sure what you want to do in second year, you should pick the corresponding module.

Yes, you can do electives in any area though I'd stick to level 1 modules because of the difficulty and you'll need to make sure you satisfy the prerequisites (if any) and can fit them into your timetable.
I think someone already mentioned it here or on another thread but if you're doing engineering, I definitely recommend Roborugby.