Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Question for those Mechanical Engineers...

Now that I'm going to major in mechanical engineering I had a couple of questions. If I wanted to work for Ford, GM, etc., as some sort of developmental engineer. Would I need to take some automotive courses? If so, what do you believe I should take?

Thanks for any help guys!

Steve

start taking language course in spanish and chinese. if you plan to work for a major US manufacturer.

Best way to get a job at a Auto Manufactuerer would be to go to a feeder school. Find out where they recurit from, schools like Kettering.

Brother went to University as a ME and he was active in S.A.E. (Society of Automotive Engineering) to build contacts and also volunteered his time to a vehicle team in college, he did a high-milegage vehicle, in order to boost his resume.

Still didn't get him into Automotive out of college but 3yrs later through networking he managed to land a job at Daimler in the US pre-merger.

More than anything its gonna be your grades and the school you attend. If the Automotive companies are not recruiting from your College you may end up designing automatic car washes! Contact your career development department and ask them which companies recruit ME's at your school. Talk to the professors and seniors about where they were able to find work.

1st off, where are you going to school? If you are not in yet, try to get into Kettering University. Probably the best automotive engineering school around. I wanted to go there, but could not afford the 22k per year tuition.

The good thing w/ my school, the first 2 yrs is all auto classes, and the last are all engineering classes. Take the classes on what you want to do. I took 3 engine classes alone, where i learned all the math involved in design, flow...everything. I then took a suspension geometry class and HVAC class and so on.

If you could find a community college that offers automotive technology courses, try picking up a few per year there. It's cheap and you'll learn what you need to know.

Like previously stated, language is important. I wanted either German or Japanese in high school, and only German was offered. It turned out now that I continued with it through college and picked up an easy minor.

-Tim

There is an automotive engineering? Right now I am in ME. I am attending South Dakota State University on an A.F.R.O.T.C. scholarship. I am going to recieve my degree and get some experience in the military. But if its going to lead me in the wrong direction than I don't think I'll go through with it.

Steve

Kettering was GMI. A great school and springbord into automotive. The SAE networking is a bonus as someone else mentioned.

ME discplines are key, but consider some other non-tradintional angles. For instance; most OEM's are very keen to pursue the green applications. Materials and Metalurgy or studies in evrionmental incorporation would also be growth arenas in the automotive field. EE and related technologies will aslo do well as cars/trucks become less dependant on fossile fuels. There's a long way to go, but you'd be in on the ground floor.

Also consider Larry Tech! If for nothing else than to be a part of the race team.

Competition is strong, you'll need to have good grades and any extra curricular activity will only bolster you position.

Mark

My brother was an ME major and ran his school's Formula SAE team. He talked to a lot of recruiters from the major manufacturers at SAE events - particularly the final competition.

In short go join any club or get involved in any research involving automobiles. Examples are Formula SAE (already mentioned and very cool, I wish I would have done it), Solar Car, Alternative Fuel Car, Future Car, Future Truck. South Dakota State may not have these club activities. If SDSU does not have an SAE student chapter go start one.

Also your AFROTC duties may get in the way, but look into getting an internship or co-op job with one of the auto manufacturers or suppliers. Hit your job placement office at shool and see what help they can give you. Ask lots of questions, otherwise no one will tell you what you need to hear.

While you're enthused about getting into automotive engineering now, I would caution you not to specialize your mechanical engineering education in strictly automative engineering. I say that because sometime down the road, you may decide that automotive engineering is not what you want for a livelong career, or that you want the option to live in places other than the Detroit area. Although there is certainly nothing wrong with taking several automative engineering electives, I would still try to keep a rounded Mechanical Engineering education. Many of us have switched careers over the years, to engineering disciplines completely different than we originally planned while in college or our first jobs out of college.

When I was in college, I tended to take most of my electives in Environmental Engineering, which at the time was mostly HVAC related. After three years in that field, I ended up in the electric utility industry, then 15 years later, ended up in water and wastewater engineering, a LONG was from my original intended career.