Just wondering if anybody on here happened to be a Civil Engineer. I will be switching majors from Architecture to CE at semester, and just thought I'd talk to a few people.

 

All of the civils I know are doubling majoring in architectural engineering. I think it is less than a semester extra of work... Just something to look into. I'm a mechanical.

 

I graduated with a major in Material Science Engineering and minored in Math and Physics. I started in Arch Eng, but moved in my JR year.

 

I'm not a CE but I wished I had made the change years ago. I got my AIA out of college and found out real quick that unless you have the money to back your own business, the job market for your skills is mostly of the draftsman type. And those jobs are mainly now just AutoCAD operators which don't make squat. I changed to structural engineering and did okay and then changed vocations when I retired the first time in 1991 at the old age of 44. The PEs are making fairly decent bucks and if you can get with the right company, you can make some serious money but it depends on the area too. In Houston, PEs are a dime a dozen. But one market that a lot of the folks over look is the forensic engineering. You might want to take a look at that area of expertise. I have a friend out of Round Rock that has made some fabulous money doing it and he is always booked. He gets to travel a lot at his customers expense. And if you really want to beat yourself up, get into chemical engineering. I did and frankly, I would not do it again but at my age I'm not starting a new vocation so I'm kinda stuck. Whatever you decide, make sure the market isn't flooded with others like you and make sure that regardless of the economy, folks will still have a use for your services. It's like comparing a grocery store to a dress shop. Folks will still have to eat but they can always wear old clothes if things get bad.

 

Thanks for calling, what's your question?

 

I am a civil engineer. I work for a private consultant in transportation design. I graduated with a BSCE in '94 and got my PE in '99.

 

coming from another architorture grad, can i ask why you're wanting to change? arch to civil is pretty drastic if you're skipping everything in between-- urban planning, structural, etc... either way, all the best- just curious.

 

Civil/Structural here.

An engineering degree is very valuable, whether you do design work or not. It teaches you how to think and approach problems logically.

 

Well the reason I am switching is because I just don't have that ambiguity in my mind to see order out of random! I have to know how you come to a solution with a step process in between. Plus not to mention I'm ridiculous when it comes to math!!

I've always liked to know how things are put to gether and why they are designed the way they are. That is why I am switching.
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Do you guys have any tips on some of the classes maybe? (i.e. Thermals, Statics, Liquids, etc.) I know those are upper level classes, but just any hints, like always remember "blah-blah", and never do "blah-blah". That kinda stuff.

I will be only starting in basics courses, like Cal. I and Intro Eng. classes, but just wanted to see who all is out there for help and what not. So I might add a few ofyou guys to AIM, in case I get stuck on a problem. If thats ok???

Anyways, looking forward to switching, as I know I will like having a life again, and not building models out my a$$.

Thanks guys!!!

 

Quite true. Unfortunately, I work with a people who have business degrees and they do not learn logic in their curriculum and it shows every day.

 

So a Mechanical Engineer, an Electrical Engineer and a Civil Engineer are having a beer.

The Mechanical Engineer says, "God must have been a Mechanical Engineer."

Other two ask why he would say that.

The ME says "Just look at the human hand. It is a marvel of mechanical intricacies, with bones, joints, tendons and muscles all working together in an elegant design. Only a mechanical engineer could design such a thing of beauty."

The Electrical Engineer says, "Good point, but God must have been an electrical engineer. The human brain is an amazing complex of electrical circuits. It would take a genius of electrical engineering to make such a device."

The Civil Engineer says "You are both wrong. I have proof positive that God was a Civil Engineer."

The other two demand to see his proof.

The Civil Engineer says, "Well, who else would put a primary recreation area right next to a waste channel?"


Thanks, I'll be here all week.

 

hahaha ive got the same joke, and the architect is the one who puts a waste channel right through a recreation area

 

Tips? Water flows downhill and you can't push a rope.

If you think taking engineering will get you a life, trust me, you are sadly mistaken. Engineering is probably the most intense UNDERGRAD available at most universities. It is well worth the degree though, and remember upon graduation to keep your mind open and do not get pigeon holed into one area of the profession. With that degree (and experience) you can do anything from designing roads to inspecting dams to selling precast concrete products to predicting traffic patterns to designing bridges to ethanol plants to hell...you can do anything.

The best tip is do well. This is not like liberal arts where breezing through Intro to Mongolian History with a C- won't effect your ability to do well in Art History 308. If you lack understanding in, say, statics...you can pretty much count on doing poorly in mechanics, dynamics, structures, concrete, steel, etc.

Also, are you getting a BS in Civil Engineering or a AS/BS in Civil Engineering Tech?

Feel free to PM me or shoot me an email for my AIM for general questions, but most answers will be better solved by working them out yourself, with your profs, or other students. Oh, and don't ask me a thing about calc, still don't know what the hell to do with it!

 

Well I enjoy math like nothing else! So I'm pretty sure I will be able to understand the stuff, eventually. Shoot I taught myself all of Alg 2 and Pre-Cal in HS...all the teacher did for me was give me the test....

I'm really looking forward to it. Plus I can still stay near architecture. Except I will be finding how it stands, not just assuming it will. I've loved Architecture, just not the designing it yourself part. I understand that a BS in CE isn't the easiest major, but I am 99.9% sure I will enjoy it more thanwhat I'm doing now.

 

If you like the idea of doing the math (it gets easier after graduation) and figuring out how to make the structure stand, you're on the right path. To me, figuring out what will look good is a very difficult task. Understanding, for example, the different stresses between a one way slab, a two way slab, a continuous slab, and a slab on grade, is common sense. That is one of many differences. If you fall into a category similar to mine and have the determination to make it through, you'll do fine and will, hopefully, find a very rewarding career.

You will still design from very little, and you will do it on your own. In my experience (and others may differ as my path has been heavy highway field work, commercial project management, and industrial facility design), you will be given a set of constraints...FINANCIAL, function, and size, and you will find the best way to bring that structure to life. Every variable is up to you, its not just plug and play with formulas. Granted, if you gravitate towards an area where looks matter, that will also come into play, but this is what I deal with.

Also, some advice that I was never given that will, in my opinion, help you immensely once you graduate and start off on your career, FE, and PE exams, is to take the extra half hour a week and use your school's library to research any applicable codes. Schools tend to take a very empirical approach to problems. This is fundamental to your understanding of, say, why you need rebar in a chunk of concrete under pure compression, but you also need to understand where to get the quick and easy information for your tests and for professional practice.

Keep in mind, engineering is the art and science of molding materials we do not fully understand, into shapes we cannot precisely analyze, to resist forces we cannot accurately predict; all in such a way that society at large is given no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance (I stole that). Codes are your friend and will give you a reasonable basis for how conservative to be on a design.