I'm 27 and I'm really starting to get hooked on all this. I'm starting to think that maybe I'd like to get into automotive engineering but I'm not sure where to start. I always hear bad things about alot of the technical schools you see on the commercial. Where do you guys think I should start?

 

I'd trystarting with some of the automobile manufacturers and see what they recommend. Good luck!

 

To get involved with automotive engineering at hte factory level, you'll need a BS in Mechanical Engineering. The technical schools are not ABET accredited, and therefore their degrees are not held with as much esteem as one from Purdue, Marquette, DePaul, UofI, etc.

 

Lol see how newb I am? What I'd really like to do is work on cars at a performance shop.

 

That's WAY different than engineering. But it's helpful, too. As a mechanical engineer myself, I'll say that there's far too many engineers who don't know which end of a wrench to put into .... well, you can imagine.

Having a clear understanding of how things fit together &work in real life comes from getting your hands dirty & working on that stuff. It's a valuable sense of understanding that goes hand-in-hand with the analytical stuff you'll learn in engineering school.

However.... If you're not way good at math, physics, etc... then stick to working on cars. Like smaglik says, tech schools aren't the same thing. You said Chicago? There's excellent'real' engineering schools all around you.

'Automotive' engineering is more ofa field of industry for mechanical engineers. As a mechanical engineer you'll be able to choose to work in theautomotive industry or any number of other industries.

 

Just did some research on Mechanical Engineering and it doesn't sound like my cup of tea. So if I wanted to work at a shop what would be my first step?

 

Agreed. I see EE grad students who dont know how to set up a simple electric equipment.

If I were in your situation, I would look up a couple of performance shops (these boards are good for stuff like that), and call the owner / manager and see what it takes. You might find some douche bags, but I'm sure there'll be someone who'll give you a heads up as to where to begin. Who knows, it may end up being DeVry

 

I got myself a MSEE degree. currently working in the semiconductor industry. I've always wanted to get into automotive as an EE, it's been pretty tough, or maybe i just havn't tried hard enough. my feeling is that oppertunities for EE is kind of limited. maybe i'd have chose ME instead. .....but when i was in school, quite a bit of EE dropouts end up in ME. so ME wasn't valued as difficult as EE.
Lab work is definitely fun, i miss lab work at times being an engineer, b/c our jobs is more theoretical. i asked for technician's help all the time at work for setups. gotta admit that some of them are really good at what they doing. but they have no idea why things are the way they are.

 

I chose civil E for the fact that I wasnt good with things I couldnt see (EE) and things that move (ME). Eleven years later, I think I chose the right path...I finished grad school 2 years ago and am in the process of looking for a real job...I'll let you know in 20 years if it was the right choice. haha

 

MS or PHD?