HELP Electrical Engineering CIT

kieransgt

Well you see i think i want to do this course but im not really sure about it at the moment

If someone has done this course could you let me know if its worth doing it?
How hard is the course/What is the hardest part of the course?
is CIT a good Institute?

thanks in advance

spurious

Moved - probably more chance of an answer here.

mawk

Cit is a fine institute with a large well funded engineering department.

Elec eng entails a whole lot of math and not a huge amount of wiring up circuits. It in no way is like being an electrician in case thats your mental image.

In short:
Its a great degree with a lot of prospects, but the maths is very intense.

Pope John 11

mawk wrote: »

Cit is a fine institute with a large well funded engineering department.

Elec eng entails a whole lot of math and not a huge amount of wiring up circuits. It in no way is like being an electrician in case thats your mental image.

In short:
Its a great degree with a lot of prospects, but the maths is very intense.

I agree with Mawk. The maths is indeed intense and you have to have a love for them. I can vouch for both CIT and DIT as I attended both, however I completed a Civil/Structural Engineering. The maths would be of a similar level for all engineering disciplines. I would definately push for a Technology college should you wish to choose engineering, as the main colleges do not seem to produce graduates of the same standard. At least that is what I have experienced and seen to date.

kieransgt

Thanks for all the reply

One more quick question what sort of job opportunities can i expect from is course

BrianDug

You can work in a wide rang of areas.

ESB type work, transmission & distribution.
MEP consultancy, designing electrical systems for buildings.
Electronics - Intel etc

Electrical Eng. gives you a great deal of options when you graduate and as already mentioned the level of mathematics will be very high.

brandon_flowers

I did this course 10 years ago and it was tough. About 60% dropped out from entry to finishing the degree. The entry requirements were low but without honours Maths it can be extremely difficult.

It was 30-35 hours per week and a lot of study and learning required. About 4 hours per week was practical work. Showing up won't cut it with this course though.

In saying that you have a far better chance of getting a job straight out of it than most other Eng degrees at the moment (mech, structural, civil, environment etc). I've worked in a few places in Ireland, France and Canada and now work for an oil production company in Monaco.

Outkast_IRE

I am studying another type of engineering in CIT at the moment but some of my modules are electrical so i would have contact would staff in that department.

Overall CIT is a good college, it is well funded and is relatively well organised in comparison to other Universities/Colleges.

The electrical department seems to be decently funded, any of the lecturers from that department that taught me seem knowledgeable, approachable and fair with students.

The biggest hurdle for alot of students is the maths, alot of the modules that arent maths may still need some good maths skllls to do well on them. But i will say that CIT has a good learning suppport centre where you can get help, you are taught everything you need to know in CIT but to do well you must put in your own time practicing the maths etc.

In terms of the campus the library is a grand, maybe a tad small come exam times. The gym is free to CIT students, there is still free parking but i would always recomend bus/walk/cycle if possible.

eire-kp

Had a choice of Cit and Dit for electrical engineering last summer ended up going with Dit mainly from stuff I read on here.

But had a quick visit to Cit and had a chat with a few lecturers who all seemed nice, the campus is a lot newer than Dit aswelll.

Maths will only become an issue if you let it. Keep on top of it there's lots of help on Youtube if something in a lecture/tutorial goes over your head!

hof1982

I graduated from the Hons Elec Power Systems degree 3 years ago having initially completed the cert in elec eng in '02 and had done the trade in between. The maths can be hard going but once you keep up the work you will be fine. From my experience most if not all graduates from my 4th year gained employment with some working with ESBI, ESB Networks, and also consultancy's in Ireland and oversea's. There is significant demand for grads in this area.

Just one point to be aware of, EI do not recognise the degree if you plan on chartership as hons maths is not a pre-requisite of the course. However, this has not impacted me or any I know of getting employment. Also, it is possible to get chartership through the IET in the UK.

Max_Charger

hof1982 wrote: »

Just one point to be aware of, EI do not recognise the degree if you plan on chartership as hons maths is not a pre-requisite of the course.

Possibly the case when you were doing it but I'm currently doing the course and it is most definitly recognised by EI now.

hof1982

Max_Charger wrote: »

Possibly the case when you were doing it but I'm currently doing the course and it is most definitly recognised by EI now.

That's good to hear and I know the hons degree is now listed as BEng while it would have been BSc during my time. I recently searched the EI site for the list of accredited courses for chartered status and the course was not listed online. Perhaps they have yet to update the online list but it may be worth verifying with them.

GradEngineer

I have just completed the level 7 Electrical Engineering degree in CIT (Graduated this year).
The course is excellent and the lectures are both very approachable and very knowledgeable.
As stated above the maths is quite difficult but high marks are very achievable if you are prepared to put in the work.

As regards accreditation the three year level 7 in electrical engineering is accredited by EI but the optional level 8 add on year in Electrical Power Systems is not! This may complicate the process of becoming chartered in years to come.

I left CIT after year three because of these accreditation issues but there are lots of other colleges and universities where you can complete you Honours Degree if you wish to!

During this course several big companies came through the college staff looking for students for summer placements.
ESB Networks
ESB International
Analogue Devices and lots more but I cant remember.

The job prospects in the line of work are really good at the moment too!
Check out www.gradcracker.com , click graduate programmes and then filter for electrical.
This should give you a good idea of the kind of job opportunities available at the moment (in the UK)

SuperInfinity

I disagree that there's a lot of maths in eleceng. I was led to believe there was, but it's fairly minimal, especially after the first two years. That disappointed me because I like a lot of math.

In one of my fairly advanced books on Electrical Drives and Motors, I remember reading something about "a complicated mathematical process beyond the scope of this text", and I just had to laugh: it was very simple differentiation... finding the slope of a simple curve at various points.

Simple algebra is not math.... of course if you don't like simple algebra or looking at numbers, then it's not for you. But there's often zero maths, rarely intensive maths.... it's even rarer that you'll be forced to understand it rather than just taking the result.

In complicated problems that hurt your brain, usually the hard part is really the physics and not the maths at all.

muff03

Fantastic course once you're willing to put in the work. The lecturers are very good and quick to help whenever needed. I finished my LVL 8 two years ago, and I have to say I am very glad of the experience.

When the Fourier math, Laplace and Z-transforms start it can get to some if you're not willing to work at it.

alan86

Hi I'm going for an interview in cit tomorrow for entry into second year electrical engineering. Any tips for the interview for me? What to say or wear? Thanks!

GradEngineer

alan86 wrote: »

Hi I'm going for an interview in cit tomorrow for entry into second year electrical engineering. Any tips for the interview for me? What to say or wear? Thanks!

The interview is quite casual so dont worry about it! There will probably be two lectures interving you and they just want to find out a little bit about you and your goals and aspirations for the course!

They will ask about why you want to do the course.
Here they are trying to see weither you really want to become an engineer or weither you will drop out if you get a job offer after six months!

Also they usually ask about finance.
How will you fund the course??

They basically just want to make sure that you really want to do it and that your not going to give up to easily.

As regards what to wear...
Its always good to wear a suit if you have one.

Good luck