- 171
- LOGAN8TOR88
Crash
Honestly I'm more interested in the drawing aspect. But in terms of engineering design what exactly would you do? I've never been very keen on the subject.
Car related job.
- Thread starter LOGAN8TOR88
- 41 comments
- 2,070 views
Honestly I'm more interested in the drawing aspect. But in terms of engineering design what exactly would you do? I've never been very keen on the subject.
- 27,208
- United Kingdom
What are your natural strengths?
It's great being interested in various different areas of the industry and I'm not out to discourage you from a career in the auto industry, but "ooh, this looks cool" isn't necessarily the best path to take for developing a career.
To clarify, if you want to be a car designer then you need to ask yourself some questions: Am I amazing at drawing cars? Not just good, not very good, but genuinely amazing? Everyone can develop technique but there's a certain aspect of the top designers which isn't just about learned skills, so much as natural talent, and an eye for surfaces and proportions.
Likewise, with the aforementioned automotive journalism. I mentioned that if anything, you have to prefer writing to driving, because you spend a lot more time writing than you do driving! You also need to grab the reader - anyone can say that a car is fast, but far fewer can make the reader feel how fast a car is.
Engineering too. Lots of mathematics. Sounds fun playing around with cars, but if you don't have a mathematical mind, then fuggedaboudit.
In other words, play to your strengths. Pick a career you'll be good at, rather than one that sounds cool. Same goes for many things in life!
It's great being interested in various different areas of the industry and I'm not out to discourage you from a career in the auto industry, but "ooh, this looks cool" isn't necessarily the best path to take for developing a career.
To clarify, if you want to be a car designer then you need to ask yourself some questions: Am I amazing at drawing cars? Not just good, not very good, but genuinely amazing? Everyone can develop technique but there's a certain aspect of the top designers which isn't just about learned skills, so much as natural talent, and an eye for surfaces and proportions.
Likewise, with the aforementioned automotive journalism. I mentioned that if anything, you have to prefer writing to driving, because you spend a lot more time writing than you do driving! You also need to grab the reader - anyone can say that a car is fast, but far fewer can make the reader feel how fast a car is.
Engineering too. Lots of mathematics. Sounds fun playing around with cars, but if you don't have a mathematical mind, then fuggedaboudit.
In other words, play to your strengths. Pick a career you'll be good at, rather than one that sounds cool. Same goes for many things in life!
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
hfs asked a fantastic question: what are your natural strengths? Also, what are your interests? Keep in mind that though the two often overlap, by no means do they have to.
Re: Automotive Engineering
Firstly, I can't see your location, but based on your first post, I am going to assume you're at least in North America. Given my experience is through the US educational system, your mileage may vary if you're in Canada, Europe or elsewhere, though Canada should at least still be pretty similar.
Engineering itself is broken down into many different disciplines, each focusing on specific things. Some of the most basic ones include mechanical, electrical, civil, computer and materials. There's a lot more than that, but Wikipedia can probably do a better job explaining what they are than I can. However, just because there are different disciplines, that doesn't mean that there isn't any overlap. At some point or another, an engineer will be involved in something not strictly within their discipline. This means that you must have a broad base and knowledge of how things work, but it also means it's not impossible to move between different engineering disciplines throughout your career.
As an engineer, no matter where at, you WILL be working in a team for a good chunk of the time. Very few products or things are designed or made by just an individual. A team will often have engineers from different disciplines working together to solve a problem (or design something). Each will draw from their expertise while on the job.
To really get into engineering, you need an analytical mind and a natural curiosity of how things work. You don't need to be a genius at math, but you do need to be comfortable with math. There is a lot of math, lots of equations and depending on the type of engineering, statistics. If you struggle in math right now, or you dislike it now, then forget about it. Same thing with science (physics, chemistry, biology), since engineering in a way really is just applied science. For example, how do you take the principals of thermodynamics (physics and chemistry) and use it to build an engine?
Another thing to think about is whether you are naturally curious about how things work. When you see a system such as an engine or suspension, do you care about what everything is and how it all works together? Or if you look at a bridge, do you wonder, and want to figure out, how it can hold so many cars and trucks at the same time without it collapsing? What are the scientific principals at work to make everything around you possible? If you haven't thought about it much, then does it even interest you? Do you get bored if you watch something like Modern Marvels on History Channel? Are you more like James May or Jeremy Clarkson? If you aren't that interested, or you don't care or you get bored, then forget about it.
An engineer in the automotive industry will get to work on any part of a car, limited only by the discipline you choose. Obviously some things are more glamorous than others (working in F1 vs. working for Hyundai doing crumple zone and safety design). And like journalism or car design, the cooler or more glamorous the engineering job is, the harder it is to get. A job just working as a basic design engineer is not too hard to get, but you will have to have worked really really hard AND be pretty darn talented AND get the right breaks/chances to get into F1 or something like that.
At a company, a mechanical engineer may work on a part of the engine, or suspension, or chassis, or seats, while an electrical engineer may integrate the electronics on the car, while an industrial engineer may work with the manufacturing aspect, or a materials engineer may work with new aluminum alloy mixes or new carbon fiber. The nice thing is that cars aren't going away any time soon, and there will always be demand and an incentive for new designs and improvements, so automotive engineering isn't likely to die out soon.
An engineering job will start you at around $52k-$62k a year (depending on company and location, and also in current job market). That's already going to be on the higher end of the starting pay scale as compared to most other college degrees.
For that though, you will be in for a rough time in college if you choose engineering. You will consistently be overworked, and caffeine will become your new best friend. There will be many late nights, working on homework problems. I remember when I was in the dorms, people will be partying or hanging out on a Thursday night, and I wouldn't be able to join because I still had several homework problems to finish, all due the next day, and each problem took an hour plus to work through. You can still have a social life, but it likely won't be as full as say, an art major.
Even in college, you should be involved in college teams or groups that are automotive related. There are solar powered cars or electric car competitions. There's also stuff like Formula SAE that you can get involved in to get experience before you go into industry.
Engineering isn't easy, and it requires a particular type of person, but you'll likely get to work on some really cool stuff, and get paid pretty darn well for it.
tl;dr: Engineering requires you to be good at math and science, and you have to have a natural interest and curiosity on how things work and the science behind it. It is tough work to get through, and you'll have to be willing to work hard and put the time and effort in, but you get to do some pretty cool stuff, and the chances of being an automotive engineer is higher than being a car designer, or being a highly recognized car journalist. To work in the top echelons of motorsports though, you will still have to be pretty talented. It's tough, but fun work, if you're so inclined.
Re: Automotive Engineering
Firstly, I can't see your location, but based on your first post, I am going to assume you're at least in North America. Given my experience is through the US educational system, your mileage may vary if you're in Canada, Europe or elsewhere, though Canada should at least still be pretty similar.
Engineering itself is broken down into many different disciplines, each focusing on specific things. Some of the most basic ones include mechanical, electrical, civil, computer and materials. There's a lot more than that, but Wikipedia can probably do a better job explaining what they are than I can. However, just because there are different disciplines, that doesn't mean that there isn't any overlap. At some point or another, an engineer will be involved in something not strictly within their discipline. This means that you must have a broad base and knowledge of how things work, but it also means it's not impossible to move between different engineering disciplines throughout your career.
As an engineer, no matter where at, you WILL be working in a team for a good chunk of the time. Very few products or things are designed or made by just an individual. A team will often have engineers from different disciplines working together to solve a problem (or design something). Each will draw from their expertise while on the job.
To really get into engineering, you need an analytical mind and a natural curiosity of how things work. You don't need to be a genius at math, but you do need to be comfortable with math. There is a lot of math, lots of equations and depending on the type of engineering, statistics. If you struggle in math right now, or you dislike it now, then forget about it. Same thing with science (physics, chemistry, biology), since engineering in a way really is just applied science. For example, how do you take the principals of thermodynamics (physics and chemistry) and use it to build an engine?
Another thing to think about is whether you are naturally curious about how things work. When you see a system such as an engine or suspension, do you care about what everything is and how it all works together? Or if you look at a bridge, do you wonder, and want to figure out, how it can hold so many cars and trucks at the same time without it collapsing? What are the scientific principals at work to make everything around you possible? If you haven't thought about it much, then does it even interest you? Do you get bored if you watch something like Modern Marvels on History Channel? Are you more like James May or Jeremy Clarkson? If you aren't that interested, or you don't care or you get bored, then forget about it.
An engineer in the automotive industry will get to work on any part of a car, limited only by the discipline you choose. Obviously some things are more glamorous than others (working in F1 vs. working for Hyundai doing crumple zone and safety design). And like journalism or car design, the cooler or more glamorous the engineering job is, the harder it is to get. A job just working as a basic design engineer is not too hard to get, but you will have to have worked really really hard AND be pretty darn talented AND get the right breaks/chances to get into F1 or something like that.
At a company, a mechanical engineer may work on a part of the engine, or suspension, or chassis, or seats, while an electrical engineer may integrate the electronics on the car, while an industrial engineer may work with the manufacturing aspect, or a materials engineer may work with new aluminum alloy mixes or new carbon fiber. The nice thing is that cars aren't going away any time soon, and there will always be demand and an incentive for new designs and improvements, so automotive engineering isn't likely to die out soon.
An engineering job will start you at around $52k-$62k a year (depending on company and location, and also in current job market). That's already going to be on the higher end of the starting pay scale as compared to most other college degrees.
For that though, you will be in for a rough time in college if you choose engineering. You will consistently be overworked, and caffeine will become your new best friend. There will be many late nights, working on homework problems. I remember when I was in the dorms, people will be partying or hanging out on a Thursday night, and I wouldn't be able to join because I still had several homework problems to finish, all due the next day, and each problem took an hour plus to work through. You can still have a social life, but it likely won't be as full as say, an art major.
Even in college, you should be involved in college teams or groups that are automotive related. There are solar powered cars or electric car competitions. There's also stuff like Formula SAE that you can get involved in to get experience before you go into industry.
Engineering isn't easy, and it requires a particular type of person, but you'll likely get to work on some really cool stuff, and get paid pretty darn well for it.
tl;dr: Engineering requires you to be good at math and science, and you have to have a natural interest and curiosity on how things work and the science behind it. It is tough work to get through, and you'll have to be willing to work hard and put the time and effort in, but you get to do some pretty cool stuff, and the chances of being an automotive engineer is higher than being a car designer, or being a highly recognized car journalist. To work in the top echelons of motorsports though, you will still have to be pretty talented. It's tough, but fun work, if you're so inclined.
- 88
- Optimoose20
This is a great thread. A few of my friends suggested that I start a blog about what I'm passionate about (cars) and so far I've had a lot of fun with it. I don't know if I'm necessary looking for a car-related career, but this is still excellent advice
- 27,208
- United Kingdom
Glad you're picking up good advice from the thread 👍
Had a read of your blog too, and enjoyed it. Genuinely good stuff, look forward to reading more.
- 88
- Optimoose20
Thank you; that means a lot! How would you recommend getting more exposure to my blog? I figured putting a link in my signature was a start
- 171
- LOGAN8TOR88
As a response to Crash's post; I guess I would consider myself curious about how a lot of things work, but math isn't really my strong suit, and chemistry (at least last year) I had terrible experiences with teachers that really would spend an hour and a half speaking gibberish. I'm great at working in teams though. And like everyone has said I have to have a natural talent for drawing, I could post a few pictures on here as some examples. I don't have a scanner but I can still upload them. From my point of view I like my concepts and could come up with different looks for a car all day, but I need to work on my reflections and shading and I would also like to make the wheels and tires more realistic. But if anyone was interested I'll post those later today.
- 88
- Optimoose20
I just saw your youtube channel-great stuff! There's a cars and coffee in Falls Church, Virginia that I sometimes go to. Your channel deserves more views!
- 171
- LOGAN8TOR88
Dundermuffin666
Thanks so much! Really I just love going to the events and seeing the cars so I might as well share them. I'm going to another Cars & Coffee in an hour or so and the video should be up by the end of today. My last video I used Final Cut X and the video took 3+ hours to upload! But it supports 1080p so I'm not complaining. I'll be uploading many more in the near future.
- 27,208
- United Kingdom
It's a start, yeah. I'd suggest my earlier advice too, of joining Twitter and following a bunch of like-minded people. It then becomes a platform on which to share your stuff.
It's no guarantee that you'll get more hits - the internet is a fickle place and things seem to take off largely at random, though obviously good content helps. But, it's an opportunity to follow a similar process to the one I took. It develops your writing skills, and you might find someone hiring via Twitter, at which point you can get paid to write and the blogging just becomes a hobby and a place you control your own content.
- 171
- LOGAN8TOR88
homeforsummer
I started a Twitter a week ago maybe, and did like you said. My username is Logan_Win. I also started a blog through Blogger. But the layout was a bit weird. But I think I'll continue to use it. I think I may have a little article about the Cars and Coffee I mentioned earlier. I've got to start somewhere.
- 88
- Optimoose20
Yeah, that seems like a great place to start! I'm going to add you on the PS3; we should race in GT5 sometime
