You in a study group? That’s how we combatted a shitty lecturer. He barely spoke English, let alone taught. We formally complained as a class, but naturally the college did nothing. I hear he runs the aerospace dept at a college now somehow.
Just keep attending lectures, go with what he teaches in class, squeeze whatever knowledge he has out of him. Chances are, he gave a shit once, so there’ll be stuff in there worth picking up. After that, team up and go through the book as a group. Speak to other students that have passed the modules you’re doing, pick up any old notes they have if you can.
It’s not ideal, and its going to take up your time, but it’s the hand you’ve been dealt and there’s an engineering degree at the end of it.
A politician over here got in trouble for saying students needed shitty teachers to prepare them for shitty bosses in the real world. Admittedly, he had a point haha.
Edit: Also people using different symbols is just what happens in engineering, they’ll also end up using different abbreviations, formats, units and terminology for stuff, not to mention working to different standards.
Initiative and adaptability are part of “the knack” associated with engineers and you’ll be exposed to it on a daily basis on the other side. Granted, it shouldn’t happen in class, but theres a long line of heritage and loaned terminology in engineering and you’re going to come across it one day.
I tried to join a black frat when I was in school. It didn’t work out simply because of logistics I commuted about 150 miles a day and had two part time jobs that I couldn’t just let go. With black frats, everything is underground. They don’t do ‘drives’ or anything like that. If you want in, you have to know someone…and follow the arrows - almost like the Hunter exam in HxH. I was classmates with someone who I ‘helped’ when she was pledging Delta, thus after she crossed and I was gearing up I talked with her, and she put me on to the absolute BEST connection I could of had, he told me who/what/when/where - EVERYTHING, helped me out every way he could.
That’s networking and making connections. If you are still in school or starting school, once you’ve taken a couple courses - especially I think it’s junior year you start hitting ‘all’ the professors for different ‘directions’ in the field (my experience is elec eng so bare with me). I took Signals & Systems, Digital Logic, E&M, Materials & Devices, and Circuits II all the same semester for different prof. I “assume” its similar for other branches of eng. At that time when you are introduced to the majority of the department beyond an introduction to eng prof, and the various interest that particular college offers.
Find the one you like - either professor or subject. I was in a weird place, I excelled at Signals and Systems (and later Discrete Systems) due to my experience in music (I understood the concepts coming in), I had been doing Digital Logic since like 7th or 8th grade so I was strong in digital logic, Circuits were my biggest interest, the professor for E&M was taught engineering by my dad, and Materials and Devices required the most work…of any class I took in school really, but it had the most to teach and thus I found it mldly entertaining learning in it. so I had multiple ways to go. Ultimately, the guy taught by my father had the NASA grant money, so I ended up talking with him after class, and trying harder in his class - until he invited me to help out with his graduate students @ EVSM, and I got to see the ‘good stuff’. From there it opens doors to virtually anywhere connected to his research, starting with NASA and going elsewhere, people he would introduce me to, etc. The hardest part is sticking your foot in the door until you find the right person. Just remember that professors in some shape or form all have egos (not always in a bad way), if you appease it - genuinely, they’ll bring you into their world to show it to you and start to connect you with people.
Aaaaahh yeah E&M & Physics 2 is different entirely.
I had the shittiest of the shit Physics 2 professors. To paint a picture, the dean of Physics kept trying to get me to switch over due to aptitude and conversations we had had. I destroyed physics 1. I failed physics 2 despite being an EE who had done a large amount of the curriculum previously. Womanizing ass hat haha. I tried so hard to avoid him the next semester that I took an 8AM physics 2 (which meant I left home before 6 to get there) to get the other professor, found a BUNCH of people who failed it last semester, all had gotten switched to the other guy haha. all I can say with that is good luck and keep studying. It’s helpful if you can find something IRL that you can apply the concepts to. I was working at Best Buy in Car Audio when I was taking E-mag, and A LOT of the principles explain why certain things are done in car audio (I was studying high end sound quality), so it explained why ‘copper tubing’ prevents any and all signal from leaving. similarly, materials & devices taught me what ‘MOSFET’ really was, so when someone would pick up a Pioneer head-unit I could explain to them the benefit of ‘MOSFET’ transistors for amplification (though it was mostly just a trendy buzzword as EVERYONE used MOSFETs anyway).
Maybe that’s what you should try and do, engineering is routed in practicality and application, try and equate anything you have trouble with - with something IRL.
Keep in mind that you have to do some shitty work sometimes also before you find a job you like. I graduated from Electrical Engineering and I worked retail for another year until I got my current position. Still not where I want to be( I design parts and do a lot of technical writing), but the economy is still tough right now and I’m not willing to move yet.
My favourite course would have to be Electrical Distribution and Motor theory. I hated all the formulas that you had to memorize, but considering the fact that motors account for so much electricity use in industrialized countries and all the variations that electrical motors come in from such simple concepts always fascinated me.
Keep your head up and don’t get discouraged. I had some classes where I passed through sheer luck and miracles, but at the end of the day school amounts to how much you put in it and how passionate you are about your job in the long run…
A lot of our guys are ex-military and have the mentality that if you make a mistake, you have to go straight back in and do the same job again, and do it right, before doing anything else. Was told it spurs from the Royal Air Force, who would scramble all of their aircraft whenever news hit that a pilot had crashed on training, instantly preventing the fear of failure from welling up in them.
My current job deals with putting a lot of pieces together. So when drafting, one has to consider the assembly process. Also when things are sandwiched together, one has to consider the tolerance stack up and such. If it’s Japanese parts, it’s easy for them because they make everything retardly small and tight ( get your mind outta the gutter). Also keeping up with so many pieces and how they connect together can be challenging. It’s easy to specify the wrong amount of pins or set screws in the BOM.
Anybody here have a hard analytical job? Most of the jobs that I or my peers have come to know are largely grunt work. The only analytical jobs that I know are research folks with PhDs or my one friend who can design metal seated ball valves from scratch.
Just graduated last May in ME, and I’m really regretting not getting an internship while I was enrolled. You live in Houston, right Tekno Virus? What’s the job market like there?
It’s pretty good right now. Years ago it was hard to find work. There’s a ton of big corporation around the downtown area, I-10, Westside, Beltway 8. There are a bunch of small shops around West Little York. There are a plethora of plants in the East side as well.
Where are you from and what are you trying to do? First jobs can be tough. If you can’t find something that you think you may like, getting a MSME might not be too bad and you’ll get more technical know-how and such.
I’m in DFW right now, applying to anything and everything, but I want some experience before I commit to a MSME. I took electives in aerospace because of Bell and Lockheed being nearby, and my senior project dealt with vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding, so I’m trying to capitalize on one of those to get my foot in the door.
Do you think you know what you want to do? Sales type job? Field guy?
PS: Aaaand you kinda have to pick up on what kind of guy your boss is in just one hour. Company culture is also very important. My current boss looks like Otacon. Company culture wise, I want the one that’s the least intrusive.
Seconded on paying attention to the company culture. I’m working with alot of old-school, heavily unionized guys at the moment and, as a younger guy, it can be frustrating as hell to work alongside them, ‘work to rule’ 24/7.
I’m in the union myself, but there’s a line between not getting screwed over and actually screwing your company over.
I’ve been leaned on by my squad before for ‘taking bread and butter of other peoples table’ by finishing a job, rather than letting it run into overtime, helping out third party contractors and for getting qualified in areas outside of my own field.
