Engineering at UNSW (1 Viewer)

[anomalousdecay]

Hi guys.

I know I want to do engineering, but not sure whether to pick electrical, chemical or mechanical.
I do know about the flexible entry engineering 1st year, but I would rather, after talking to a few professors, pick one type of engineering and transfer at the end of first year to another type if I don't like it.

I want something that has the best mix of Chemistry, Physics and Maths in even proportions.

However I have these arguments about the types of jobs for these certain disciplines.
(I would rather not work in research and development, but instead field type work).

Chemical:
I keep thinking that only two types of fieldwork jobs in chemical engineering, which are in the form of chemical plant processor and manager or a financial and yield estimator.

Other jobs are mainly research and development.

Mechanical:
This sector does not have as many job opportunities in the Australian economy. I would rather not travel.
Also, the only job I can think of is someone who just designs and builds massive lathes and drills for industrial use, since the car industry in Australia is almost dead.
Are there any other jobs available in this field?

Electrical:

Power systems manager (preferred for me since I believe that this job is similar to that of a chemical engineer, but in terms of electricity instead of chemical reactions and equilibriums).

Computers- quantum r and d at UNSW.

Photonics - is this in terms of r and d or fieldwork too?

Renewable energy and pv cells.

Circuitry and electronics working for civil contractors or infrastructure (such as RMS or Railcorp).




Right now my mind frame is set on electrical because I think it has very good job prospects and is quite a broad field.
The BE ME elec eng has caught my eye.

But, I think that electrical engineering has the least Physics and Chemistry which I feel horrible about, because I want to do something with the best mix, but has the most broad career opportunities.

I may consider civil engineering, but I like dynamic processes (moving parts and changes in a system) more than static processes (such as bridges and stuff).


Any help to confirm what I am saying would be great help, as well as any advice from any engineers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[traiwit]

man, i was like u back in highschool, i enjoyed physics, chem and maths a lot
however, its a different story here in uni, physics here is just maths, i hate it so much
lucky that i passed (HD) it and dont have to do it again.
im doing chem this semester its okay, not as bad as physics lol

idk why im here man, didnt answer ur question at all
just choose whatever u like man, enjoy !

Ps. MechanicalSoc have free BBQ&beers every 2 weeks LOL

 

[anomalousdecay]

Thanks for your reply. I now know that around 50% of all engineer undergraduates I have spoken to, including the Dunn twins in Chemical, said that they were in the exact same situation as me.

I am finding it hard to choose what I enjoy because I enjoy everything to do with engineering !!!

 

[lance687876]

it really depends on where your interests lie.
nearly all engineering courses require you to take chemistry, physics and maths subjects in the first year, and remember that for the first 2 years you'll be doing the same core subjects as all other engineers. you start focusing on the specified field of engineering you have chosen from the 3rd year, so it doesn't really matter which field of engineering you take as you can always change later.

although l suggest you distance yourself from physics at UNSW.
you will regret even thinking of wanting to do something with a lot of physics in it once you start doing the labs. they're so hectic and useless -.-
and in the lectures they teach you all this theory and you get this exam full of questions that are irrelevant to what you've been listening to the whole semester. we all did so poorly that they scaled our marks up by twice the amount or else they'd have 80% of the students failing the course.

if you want to do a course with a lot of career opportunities here, l suggest you take something like mining or civil.

 

[D94]

remember that for the first 2 years you'll be doing the same core subjects as all other engineers.

Not really.

The only subjects where all streams cover are:

ENGG1000
MATH1131/41
MATH1231/41
PHYS1121/1131
ENGG1811/COMP1911/COMP1917
2 First Year Engineering Electives

That's it. The rest are either electives/gen eds, core electives or core subjects, but they don't overlap with all other streams.

You really do need to make a decision at the end of first year or even first year first semester, otherwise, you run the risk of staying an extra semester. I've listed 7 subjects which implies the 1 other subject will have to be a core subject for the stream you intend on going into, and that implies the decision has to be made by first semester if you are split between 2 vastly different streams, e.g. electrical and mining.

 

[Menomaths]

How does flexible first year work? Do you do a bit of all the engineering's or just the common units and then decide at the end of the year, or something?

"I'm not sure as to how USYD does their flexible first year, but at UNSW, we have electives which all students take, so those are there to allow you to choose subjects from different streams so you can get a feel of the stream and decide whether it's something you want to do or not." -D94

 

[Parvee]

How does flexible first year work? Do you do a bit of all the engineering's or just the common units and then decide at the end of the year, or something?

You do the subjects that D94 stated

The only subjects where all streams cover are:

ENGG1000
MATH1131/41
MATH1231/41
PHYS1121/1131
ENGG1811/COMP1911/COMP1917

and you are left with 3 subjects which you can choose from any engineering stream but you have to plan this out so that you have done the pre-reqs/co-reqs for them

 

[D94]

How does flexible first year work? Do you do a bit of all the engineering's or just the common units and then decide at the end of the year, or something?

You do common core subjects (the ones I've listed by name) and the remaining subjects in first year are electives. You should have a general idea or have narrowed it down to a few - then you pick a subject or two from those streams and then decide at the end of the year (for which you actually have to do an internal transfer).

If you have narrowed it down to maybe 2 or 3 possible streams (which appears you have), here's some possible program plans: http://www.eng.unsw.edu.au/flexible-1st-year

So in that link, say if you are choosing between Mechanical or Electrical, you would do the courses in bold under the Mechanical or Mining table, but you would also do MMAN1300 (core for mech), ELEC1111 (core for elec and mech), and another elective which can be from any school.

 

[anomalousdecay]

it really depends on where your interests lie.
nearly all engineering courses require you to take chemistry, physics and maths subjects in the first year, and remember that for the first 2 years you'll be doing the same core subjects as all other engineers. you start focusing on the specified field of engineering you have chosen from the 3rd year, so it doesn't really matter which field of engineering you take as you can always change later.

......

if you want to do a course with a lot of career opportunities here, l suggest you take something like mining or civil.

I know that it is only a flexible first year. The first two years are common only within the 5 courses in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.

I have no motivation to mining and civil, because I didn't feel motivated doing graphics in year 11, and given that many people are trying to do mining or civil, there will be too many of these engineers and mining/civil will be too competitive, leaving many other fields of engineering open. I think the age of doing civil would have been 5 years ago, because they would be 5 years ahead of the mass amount of undergrads coming in to do civil, meaning they would have more experience and employability.

 

[soloooooo]

Don't do what you think will make you employable, do what you think you will enjoy.

 

[D94]

Are there more options than this? what if i wanted to choose between civil, aerospace or mechatronic?

Yes, definitely.

You would do
MATH1131
MATH1231
PHYS1121
COMP1911
ENGG1000
MMAN1300 (core for aero and mechatronic, as well as an equivalent core for civil)
+ 2 electives (possibly GMAT1110 and MATS1101).

That combo will definitely ensure you don't waste any time, and cover all 3 that you've listed.

 

[lance687876]

Not really.

The only subjects where all streams cover are:

ENGG1000
MATH1131/41
MATH1231/41
PHYS1121/1131
ENGG1811/COMP1911/COMP1917
2 First Year Engineering Electives

That's it. The rest are either electives/gen eds, core electives or core subjects, but they don't overlap with all other streams.

You really do need to make a decision at the end of first year or even first year first semester, otherwise, you run the risk of staying an extra semester. I've listed 7 subjects which implies the 1 other subject will have to be a core subject for the stream you intend on going into, and that implies the decision has to be made by first semester if you are split between 2 vastly different streams, e.g. electrical and mining.

dude, they are the core subjects l was referring to -.-

I know that it is only a flexible first year. The first two years are common only within the 5 courses in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.

I have no motivation to mining and civil, because I didn't feel motivated doing graphics in year 11, and given that many people are trying to do mining or civil, there will be too many of these engineers and mining/civil will be too competitive, leaving many other fields of engineering open. I think the age of doing civil would have been 5 years ago, because they would be 5 years ahead of the mass amount of undergrads coming in to do civil, meaning they would have more experience and employability.

um, courses that focus on graphics are like architecture and stuff. civil's mainly about analysing forces in structures, not making them. and there's no graphics in the first year of any engineering course. well, we did do a bit of drawing in engg1000 but that will seem like doodling compared to some of the shit we went through in graphics in high school.
and l'm pretty sure that people do mining and civil because they're in demand. other fields like aerospace (which l'm doing) have hardly any jobs in this country.

Are there more options than this? what if i wanted to choose between civil, aerospace or mechatronic?

yes there are: http://www.eng.unsw.edu.au/informat...h-school-students/areas-study/degrees-offered

 

[D94]

dude, they are the core subjects l was referring to -.-

Fair enough - just the first year then, but definitely not the first 2 years.

 

[anomalousdecay]

Don't do what you think will make you employable, do what you think you will enjoy.

Yeah I know. I want to do something where I will enjoy the jobs available. That was what my original post was about.

I just want to know what type of fieldwork jobs are available.
For example: I know that in electrical I could work in a power plant and on street lighting or in Mechanical I could work on machinery, design and provide risk assessments of materials used.

What other types of fieldwork jobs are there in Mechanical, Electrical and Chemical though?

I want to nail down on four or five dream jobs, where I know what type of engineering I want to do.

I just don't know what other jobs are available in these fields.