What do you know about engineering?

What should I know about a career in engineering?

• I've recently decided that my love of cars, math and problem solving means I should goto college for engineering. I'm always wondering how an engine can be changed and built different. I'm just wondering what I'm looking at in the terms of a career. What will my work day be like? Is it realistic to hope to get a job with Honda or Ferrari or GM? I have an interest in a lot of branches of engineering (nano, mechanical, electrical), how far can I go in college with engineering before I pick a specific branch and how hard would it be to get a degree in one branch and then go back to get another? Is there a main core of engineering that all other branches come off of or are they all very different. I'm looking for answers from people in an engineering field or going to school for engineering. Thanks in advance for your answers.

• Answer:

  All engineering is based on the same principles of using what you know to solve problems. As I see it there are three main branches of engineering: mechanical (making mechanical systems), electrical (making electrical systems), and computer science (coding). There are many different divisions, but they all are some combination of these three main fields. The other divisions are more for people with specific interests. For example I'm majoring in Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Science Engineering and my interest is in space environments for satellites. How soon you have to choose depends on what school you have to go to. At my school the engineering classes are the same for all majors for the first two years. I know several people who have come back to finish a degree or to get another and they do not have much of a problem, but the school environment is very different then the work world, you don't get to finish at 5 and go home there are a lot of late nights and weekend meetings. Its not unrealistic to hope to get a job at Honda or any other car company. They hire lots of engineers from all fields.