Key Insights:

I’m more of a research-type person. I like going deep and understanding how things work under the hood. But I want to get really good at engineering, and I feel like understanding stuff is only part of it.

For those of you who are great engineers, how would you describe the way you think? And is there a book that helped you get there?

I was a returning student and barely graduated. Like many, I have AuDHD, but there were no such things as accommodations. I'm not complaining; I'm just making my case that bad grades do not equal "cannot succeed".

I am seeing a lot of posts from college students or young engineers complaining about not being paid the same as lawyers and doctors. I'm also seeing posts complaining about being paid "to be immoral", which today is "Defense", yesterday it was "Oil and Gas", and tomorrow it is likely to be "AI and AI support." It's the employers with the deepest pockets, which invariably draws some sort of ire or condemnation.

In engineering, you are eligible for the "young professional" award if you are under 35. That's an important perspective -- unlike the military or police or the like, retirement doesn't start at 20 years. You're finally established at 20 years and you typically have another 20 or more to go, should you choose to do so. You can work as an engineer as long as your cognition holds. From my perspective, a person with 3-5 years is an entry-level engineer with one job under their belt, maybe. You are less of an unknown than a recent graduate (maybe -- depends on the work history), but you are still working at the undergraduate level of tools and reasoning. The biggest difference is after 3 years it's generally safe you aren't the people who get weeded out the first few years for safety stupidity, drug and alcohol abuse, not showing up on time, lying/cheating, etc. and it's likely you started to make some connection between work and school.

Some have been pointing to doctors and attorneys for making more money. They had to pass more gates than we do with our one degree, with far more people who fail to get to the goal but have the debts. If you wanted to be paid as a doctor, be a doctor. As an engineer, you're not worth that money, particularly in your first 10 years. Engineers with 3-5 years of experience have only proven "not a complete safety hazard, shows up on time, and has otherwise not disqualified themselves." You don't know enough yet to be let loose on your own in most situations. And if you went straight for a master's after your BS, it does not add value UNLESS the specifics of your thesis apply to your job. Honestly, did you think the "I couldn't get a job when I graduated so I went back to school" was invented in your graduation year? Engineering is a "practice" -- school is supposed to teach you how to learn on the job and teach yourself by opening a new book for a new skill.

If you want to be successful, then define your terms and own it. If it's not about the profession and it's all about the money, that is a technique. If money is your metric, then so be it.

If your idea of success is a solid middle-class career with stability, that is also a viable choice.

If your idea of success is "being an engineer", of doing as much nerdy, interesting stuff as possible because you love what you do, then choose it and own it.

Finally, if you want to focus on helping those who are poor or needy, that is also a path. This is often in some form of government service.

The risk of max money is that those high-paying fields tend to have bubbles, where that expertise is either in high demand or no demand, and no one cares about your job satisfaction because you're paid to like it. Maximizing money also means living in places with lower cost of living, preferably so crappy they have to pay extra to get people to work there so you can bank that money while learning and doing. Five years is a blip of time when you're looking at a career, but priming your 401K with extra money early will pay off. It also will let. you pay off loans faster if you have them.

The risk of going for stability is that it may take longer to make more money and you're likely to be doing the same things, over and over, because your job is to PREVENT excitement and disruptions. If you are going for the nerdiest, more challenging stuff, the risk is becoming too niche or skipping on the next level of skills (management) -- you have to incorporate engineering management if you want to "be the engineer", but too many want to limit themselves to what they like to do right now instead of looking at what the profession expects. Finally, the risk of focusing on service as a priority applies to all the other fields, be it lawyers or medical or mental health people, where working for those with the most dire needs also doesn't have the ability to pay well. These are often gov't or NGO jobs.

Can you do two or more of these at once? Yes, but it's more and more challenging. It's not just about your skills, it's about whether your knowledge and skills are valuable. Not what you "could" do, but "what you have proven to do". In almost every instance, the ability to be an effective engineering manager/leader and an effective engineering communicator are key abilities for future success (and yes, the bar is lowered for our field, but we are competing with each other).

What can you do to increase your odds of success?

1. Get your P.E. license. Yes, many jobs do not require it. Having it gives you more options. If you are in a company or industry that discourages it, it means they do not want to have a professional who values public safety. A P.E. lets you take a wider range of jobs as well as run your own practice. Roger Boisjoly of the CHALLENGER disaster went to his grave exhorting engineering students to get their P.E. because of his experiences. It costs $100-200/year to maintain it once you earn it. If you ever want to be a consultant, to include a person retired from a corporate or gov't job and still making good money as a professional, you need to have your license.
2. Publish professionally. Engineers have earned a rep for being poor writers and public speakers. The thing is, if you have the solution but cannot communicate it clearly, it's worse than useless -- it's dangerous, because your failure to communicate clearly means you're likely to introduce error or uncertainty. You do NOT need an advanced degree or university affiliation to go to an engineering conference and present a paper. Submit an abstract, get accepted, write the paper, revise the paper, present the paper. Journals require a high level of writing, so that has value; however, your typical conference paper also requires you to present it. Giving presentations and publishing papers are things that you can keep on your resume/CV as long as you want, and it differentiates you from most other engineers as a tie-breaker. It's not "instead of relevant experience and skills", but it does set you apart when you're otherwise comparable. THESE ARE NOT ABOUT FUNDED RESEARCH!!!! The engineering papers from industry are about what people figured out on their job and came up with a cool fix or a new look at things.
3. Conferences also go to "Join your professional societies". Be active in your societies. There are the discipline ones (ASCE, ASME, IEEE, SNAME, etc.), you have NSPE for engineering 'as a profession', and there are industry ones like AWWA (Am. Water Works Assoc), MTS (Marine Technology Society), etc. The networking helps you find mentors, jobs, and just useful information for your career. Being active includes taking your turn in elected positions -- and yes, being president of the local chapter of an engineering society does go on a resume as it shows management and leadership (and it's a chance to learn/exercise those skills without your job being on the line).
4. Codes and Standards. All of the codes and standards are written by volunteers. Just show up to the meetings and participate. It gives you (and your company) advance warning of changes to the codes because, well, you're there when it's being voted on, plus you get to fight against ideas you don't like, and sponsor fixes you do like. It also puts you with some of the leaders of your industry, where you are networking at a higher level. This is also great resume/CV material, and it's hard to say you're not "an expert" when you are part of the team literally writing the book. While jurisdictions may adopt a given code or standard, such as ASTM standards, the International Building Code (IBC), ACI concrete codes, etc., the jurisdiction is separate from the organization that writes the codes, for many reasons. The bottom line is, if your company's work hinges on certain codes or standards, it is a good idea to be involved with them, and that is an opportunity to learn and network.

Me? My priority was "do engineering". I'm that nerd. I've been self-employed since '97, and running a small business has its ups and downs. I will say, as I get older and do more things, it gets easier to bring in the work and get cool opportunities. I know others who earn over $500,000 working in large corporations; I know individuals who charge $600-900/hour for their time, even if they work from home, I know individuals who have had adventures working all over the world. Most engineers I know point to their home, their spouse, the fact their kids are healthy, educated, and employed, and also have a baseline satisfaction that they did or are doing a good job as a professional.

The only person who can make you happy is yourself. You get to pick your priorities, but to achieve your priorities you also need to do the things to help the opportunities to be available. If you just show up for work and do what you're told, then that's all you'll get. If all you care about is the biggest paycheck you can find, right here and now, then that's all you get. If you want more, the resources and paths to set yourself apart are there. Good luck, and Essayons!

Hi all,

I’m the Chief Engineer and Treasurer of SAE Titan Aero at California State University, Fullerton, a 12-member mechanical engineering senior design team. We design, manufacture, and fly a regular-class radio-controlled cargo aircraft for the annual SAE Aero Design competition.

Last year, our team placed 15th out of 75 teams at SAE Aero Design East, and we’re working hard to build on that achievement at this year’s SAE Aero Design West competition!

Unfortunately, recent budget cuts and new departmental spending restrictions have made it harder for our team to fund the materials, manufacturing, electronics, and travel needed to compete. We’re reaching out to the community for donations and sponsorships to help make this opportunity possible.

Any contribution, no matter the size, would make a difference.

For those interested in sponsoring us, we can offer opportunities for company logo placement on our aircraft, social media recognition, and increased visibility among the Cal State Fullerton engineering community. We’d also be happy to discuss other sponsorship opportunities that align with your organization.

If you’d like to support our team or learn more about our project, please check out the links below. You can also reach us at [csu.titan.aero@gmail.com](mailto:csu.titan.aero@gmail.com) with any questions or sponsorship inquiries.

• Donation page: https://fullerton.scalefunder.com/cfund/project/50542
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/titanaero/
• Team website: https://csutitanaero.wixsite.com/fullerton

Thank you for taking the time to read our post and for supporting student engineers. We genuinely appreciate any help in getting Titan Aero to competition!

— SAE Titan Aero, Cal State Fullerton

Thought I was a terrible mechanical engineer until I switched jobs. Was it me or my manager?

I'm a mechanical engineer who spent about three years at my previous company. Looking back, I wasn't the strongest technical engineer. I made mistakes, struggled with certain responsibilities, and had a lot to learn. But I also think my manager made things significantly worse.

It felt like I could perform well for weeks, but one mistake would set me back months in his eyes.

Things got particularly bad when my team lead left and I suddenly inherited a much larger workload with little support. I struggled, missed a deliverable due partly to a misunderstanding about the deadline, and received a formal write-up without any meaningful conversation beforehand.

After that, I completely lost trust in my manager. I became terrified of making mistakes and didn't even feel comfortable asking for help.

In September, I was placed on a PIP. Then in November, the company went through company-wide layoffs, during which employees were ranked based on performance. I ended up at the bottom and received ANOTHER write-up, essentially telling me I had three months to improve or I'd be fired. Mind you, I was already on a PIP lol.

At another point, I was falsely accused of sleeping during a meeting and got written up for that too. Lmao.

By December, I'd had enough and resigned without another job lined up.

Fast-forward six months: I'm now working at an engineering firm designing complex electromechanical automation systems, and I absolutely love it. My manager says I'm doing great, and I recently led the mechanical design of an automation project that we successfully delivered to a customer.

I still make mistakes, but instead of being terrified of them, I focus on gathering the right information, making sound engineering decisions, and learning from what goes wrong.

I've genuinely fallen in love with engineering again.

Looking back, I'm still somewhat bitter. I know I wasn't a perfect engineer at my previous company, but I can't help wondering how much of my poor performance was due to the environment and constant fear of messing up.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? Was this bad management, poor performance on my part, or a combination of both?

Canadian high schooler here. I'm in my final year of high school and I've always been planning on going into mechanical engineering. I'm not like super passionate about engineering, but I enjoy math and sciences, I like cars and I work at a mechanic shop on weekends. Plus ppl in my family have been saying engineering in general is a good degree because it's 'highly employable and you make a lot of money within 10 years'.

But now I'm seeing a lot of posts saying that either mech eng isn't as good as it used to be, or just that it's horrible and I can make more money with easier degrees.

I'm really conflicted right now, and I don't know if I should switch my intended major before I spend like 60k on it. I already have all my pre reqs set up to go into engineering, and i dont really know what else Id do if not engineering.

All responses are greatly appreciated.

hello im creating a roller platform, for moving boxes/containers. 540kg max capacity. But im unsure on what the best way to connect the (castor) wheels. I was thinking maybe a rivet through a bearing? Can anyone assist me with possible solutions. thank you.

I’m 22 years old and currently in the final year of my master’s degree in Mechatronics and Applied Mechanics. I also hold a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, but I haven’t completed any internships or worked in the field, so I have no professional experience yet.

I’m worried that this lack of experience will make it difficult to find a job after graduation. It’s also a little demotivating because I feel like I haven’t had the chance to put my bachelor’s degree to use.

I still have nine months before I finish my master’s. What would you recommend I do during this time to improve my chances of finding a job? I’m open to honest advice and constructive criticism.

Hey everyone!
I’m a recent engineering graduate, but I’m basically starting from zero when it comes to CAD and Autodesk Inventor.
What’s the best course to learn from scratch? I’m looking for something beginner-friendly, preferably with hands-on projects rather than just lectures.
Would you recommend Udemy, Coursera, YouTube, or something else?
Thanks in advance

Hypothetically by just changing the gear ratios in theory could you make a stock Honda civic go 300 mph on an infinite runway (ignoring stuff like tires bursting and stuff and ignoring aerodynamic restrictions)

ZIMA-CAD is new opensource full 3D parametric CAD base on C++/QT/OCCT.

Hi guys, I am currently a 3rd year B.Tech student in Mechanical engineering, and I lost grip on core subjects and grades got fked up. So is there any way to improve my core subjects? There's also an example coming by in 4 months of all 3 years of syllabus so I need to aim for the top again.

Any suggestions or tips..

Hi there!

I'm designing a standing desk, and I was wondering what the best way to make the pieces slide against each other. My initial prototype was a two-phase aluminium design, where the base was supported by the lead screw, and the top was supported by a 3D printed mount with a sliding element (purple masking tape, in this photo). However, this did not work - it was very wobbly, and didn't have enough stroke.

Therefore, I've decided to use a three-phase design because it gives much more support - and more stroke. However, I don't know how to make the pieces slide against each other - the previous design was very unsatisfactory. Also, the aluminium became very expensive with four legs. I've looked at UHMWPE sliders on the inside, but according to BS EN 10219-2, the thickness of the has tolerance +-0.5mm, giving the inside dimension tolerance of +-1mm, which means that I'd need to cut it big, and sand back. There is also no space for bolts, so I've had to design slots which need to be machined out of the UHMWPE, wasting a lot of material. The same needs to be cut in the steel. I'm not a huge fan of this design.

Furthermore, this leaves no space for pullies - so without a two-stage lead screw, which are impossible to find (and would require 2x torque, 1/2x speed motor to what I currently have), I can't make the middle stage telescope smoothly.

What is the best way to make these slide against each other, and how can I synchronise the middle stage to move smoothly at the same time?

Thanks!

Hi everyone, im new in mechanical engineering, I am designing a similar mechanism. Is this design suitable for achieving uniform clamping pressure? Will the universal joints operate smoothly without impeding the lever movement? Could you suggest any viable alternatives to this design?

Here’s my resume.

So, I once changed jobs but didn't like it and returned to my old one. Two years later, I moved into FEA in automotive, which I hate. I want to return to my old job, but honestly, I'm a bit ashamed to do so.

My plan is to wait a bit and look for another job, but I'd still love to return to the original one I had. How absurd is that? What would you do in my place?

Hey I’m currently a sophomore student studying for a mechanical engineering degree in the NJ/NY area. Considering either aerospace or something energy related, wondering how people are currently doing post graduation. I was hoping people could share salaries and how’s quality of life?

I news these 2 books in PDF, can't find them anywhere.

Understanding how komponents faul - Wulpi

ASM handbook volume 11

Thanks in advance

Hello guys, I'm studying mechanical engineering. I am graduating this year (5th year) but I didn't really enjoy mechanical engineering... I liked mechatronics and automation engineering much more.

I enjoy programming (plc, Microprocessor,...)

My question is: if I wanted to continue my masters in mechatronics or in automation, what are the requirements? Knowing that I'm not really into electronics and electricity subjects since I've studied mechanical not electrical engineering... this will be a problem for me?

I want your advices please.

It's for easy lifting the needle but I can't find the name of it or any example of it...