How to Choose Your Engineering Discipline - Part 1
Posted on December 10, 2014 by Emma Mann
How did you choose your discipline within engineering? – One of the most common questions of prospective students and even first-year students
This is the first post of a series of posts on how various Purdue students chose their disciplines. This post is an excerpt from a paper written for ENGR 194 (Women in Engineering Seminar) in which a freshman interviews older students within two disciplines of interest.
Jennie - Junior, Mechanical Engineering (ME)
Jennie originally did not know what engineering major she was interested in. She ultimately decided upon ME because both her parents and her sister had studied ME. With an interest in the mechanics behind medical devices, she leaned between biomedical engineering (BME) and ME. During a presentation in her first-year engineering (FYE) class (ENGR 131), Jennie found that ME has a medical side that she would be able to apply her interests to. Additionally, she became interested in this field because of the vast opportunities that ME provides. Upon graduation, she would be interested in the medical field or manufacturing. In terms of
her favorite classes, Jennie enjoys EPICS, which allows her to participate in real life projects, allowing her to actually see how she is making a difference. Though homework is never fun, Jennie feels that completing homework makes her feel successful. Jennie explains that it is okay to switch majors, as she is the only one of her friends that actually continued with the same major the entire time she was as Purdue. Some general advice she has is to keep moving forward and that sometimes things get hard, but don’t get discouraged. Also, getting a good group of academic friends can help, but another group of friends can help relieve stress from engineering.
Elizabeth – Junior, Industrial Engineering (IE)
Both of Elizabeth Boor’s parents were in engineering, so she knew exactly what not to do. She was good with math and science, so she assumed engineering was the best fit. Also, she liked how IE overlaps with psychology and allows interactions with many groups of people. The more she researched IE, the more she became interested with that field. To continue, she notices that industrial engineers can be found in a variety of industries. She enjoys how IE has so many possibilities and different facets to it and that industrial engineers could be leaders in a company. She is also a people person and finds industrial engineering better with connecting with individuals than other engineering divisions. Additionally, Elizabeth believes that she does not have a class that she thoroughly dislikes, as she enjoys going to class and learning new material. More than anything, she dislikes the homework load that all the classes have, but enjoys the overall outcome. However, because she is human factor minded, she does not enjoy circuits and physics based classes. Elizabeth’s biggest advice was to get involved on campus. She also says to persevere through the hard times and exams because the outcome in the long run will pay off. She goes on to explain explains that one of the best ways to study is by doing practice exams.
Shifali – Freshman, First-Year Engineering (FYE)
Overall, I found both individuals to have an impact on me. However, upon talking with Elizabeth, I found that industrial engineering would be a better fit for me. I really enjoyed how she was involved with the human factor side of engineering, which is what I am interested in. Additionally, as someone interested in the human factor aspect of engineering, I found Elizabeth’s interview to be of particular interest. Jennie’s interview was also important, as I learned that participating in EPICS would also be a good fit for me. Overall, both individuals offered important pieces of information that further helped me decide upon which type of engineering that I found of particular interest.
This is the first post of a series of posts on how various Purdue students chose their disciplines. This post is an excerpt from a paper written for ENGR 194 (Women in Engineering Seminar) in which a freshman interviews older students within two disciplines of interest.
Jennie - Junior, Mechanical Engineering (ME)
Jennie originally did not know what engineering major she was interested in. She ultimately decided upon ME because both her parents and her sister had studied ME. With an interest in the mechanics behind medical devices, she leaned between biomedical engineering (BME) and ME. During a presentation in her first-year engineering (FYE) class (ENGR 131), Jennie found that ME has a medical side that she would be able to apply her interests to. Additionally, she became interested in this field because of the vast opportunities that ME provides. Upon graduation, she would be interested in the medical field or manufacturing. In terms of
her favorite classes, Jennie enjoys EPICS, which allows her to participate in real life projects, allowing her to actually see how she is making a difference. Though homework is never fun, Jennie feels that completing homework makes her feel successful. Jennie explains that it is okay to switch majors, as she is the only one of her friends that actually continued with the same major the entire time she was as Purdue. Some general advice she has is to keep moving forward and that sometimes things get hard, but don’t get discouraged. Also, getting a good group of academic friends can help, but another group of friends can help relieve stress from engineering.
Elizabeth – Junior, Industrial Engineering (IE)
Both of Elizabeth Boor’s parents were in engineering, so she knew exactly what not to do. She was good with math and science, so she assumed engineering was the best fit. Also, she liked how IE overlaps with psychology and allows interactions with many groups of people. The more she researched IE, the more she became interested with that field. To continue, she notices that industrial engineers can be found in a variety of industries. She enjoys how IE has so many possibilities and different facets to it and that industrial engineers could be leaders in a company. She is also a people person and finds industrial engineering better with connecting with individuals than other engineering divisions. Additionally, Elizabeth believes that she does not have a class that she thoroughly dislikes, as she enjoys going to class and learning new material. More than anything, she dislikes the homework load that all the classes have, but enjoys the overall outcome. However, because she is human factor minded, she does not enjoy circuits and physics based classes. Elizabeth’s biggest advice was to get involved on campus. She also says to persevere through the hard times and exams because the outcome in the long run will pay off. She goes on to explain explains that one of the best ways to study is by doing practice exams.
Shifali – Freshman, First-Year Engineering (FYE)
Overall, I found both individuals to have an impact on me. However, upon talking with Elizabeth, I found that industrial engineering would be a better fit for me. I really enjoyed how she was involved with the human factor side of engineering, which is what I am interested in. Additionally, as someone interested in the human factor aspect of engineering, I found Elizabeth’s interview to be of particular interest. Jennie’s interview was also important, as I learned that participating in EPICS would also be a good fit for me. Overall, both individuals offered important pieces of information that further helped me decide upon which type of engineering that I found of particular interest.
Comments
Post a Comment