Anyone studying engineering at Sydney uni/UTS?

Cold Fussion

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Currently I'm studying computer science at UWS and I'm pretty much hating every minute of it. For the first semester I did pretty well and so I have at GPA of 6.25, which means if I put in a bit of effort this comming semester I should be able to keep it above 5.5, which I think is good enough to think about switching.
However, I remember last year during year 12, UAC wanted you to have applied from September or something like that, but I have to email the places about the transfer procedures anyway.

Basically, I was thinking of majoring in mechanical engineering or civil, and was wondering if anyone here can comment on what these engineering courses are like. One thing that had me a little puzzled with the UTS degree is that it runs for 5 years and you graduate only with bachelors, where as 6 years at Sydney yeilds you a masters degree.
 
well i didnt go to sydney uni, but i did do a MEng (masters) degree at a top 6 engineering uni here in the UK (loughborough was top 6 at the time haha)

whats the course like? well its all to do with preferences but i found it hot and cold. more hot, that cold though. yes there will be subjects that you just will not like, find extremely difficult or that bore you to death. for me this was materials engineering along with robotics and control and engineering insight (which im finding out now was actually bloody useful!!!)

but on the whole i thoroughly enjoyed it.... Mechanical Engineering is the jack of all trades, the things you can learn are extremely diverse, lots to choose from, so you can be sure you'll get to do things that interest you. electronics, maths, CFD, FEA, statics, dynamics, vibration, noise, laser processing, laser and optical measurement,business law and finance, CAD, old skool drawing by hand, IC engines, thermodynamics, thermo fluids, kinematics, robotics and control, mechatronics, metrology, tribology, teams and leadership..... yeah the list is bloody endless. so im sure you'll find something you like.

the great thing is, you cant be pigeon holed as readily. if youd of done a more specific engineering like systems then you would be perfect for that kind of job...but you may lack the skills for a more mechanical job. though i think our uni tried to get all engineering disciplines to do similar year 1 and 2 modules so that they all shared a few core topics.

so yeah if you arent entirely sure on what you want to do, mechanical is a great way to go because you do a bit of everything while majoring on the big engineering topics like thermo, fluids and mechanics in a less contextual way...(means its easier to see how theories apply to real life rather than just how they apply to engines or planes). it gives you a great spring board from which you can delve into specialising if you want or if you find a subject you become passionate about.

in my first 2 years it was quite broad, everyone did the same modules more or less and 2nd year was where they really squeezed us. no joke we had 9-6 lectures most days of the week. (even sometimes on wednesday when everyone else stopped at 1pm for sports....lboro is a massive sporting uni...lots of olympians here). and thats before having to do assignments and homework etc on the nights so some sacrifice is necessary.

3rd year was a full industrial placement and in the final 2 years on the master degree at least they tone down the weekly hours...you get to pick options/subjects that interest you and theres much more emphasis on project work. Our uni was very well connected with industry and we basically had 1 project per year with an industrial partner (an individual one in 4th year and then we did 2 group ones in 5th) . its a great way to get proper engineering done and learn from people in industry at the same time.... it also opens up great links with employment.

however while you dont spend as much time in the class room....you can spend an inordinate amount of time in the engineering dept, library or at home doing project work which will invlove doing briefs, design concepts, designing things, testing them, writing up results etc.

another thing....we also got a very good balance of pure academic work with practical work. we got to play with engines, taking them apart, designing building and testing little contraptions, playing with lasers, playing with measuring equipment, vibrometers, accelerometers, simulated power stations....so on and so forth.

so yeah in short, if its a got a good rep... then a mech eng degree is very rewarding, good balance of academic, practical and industrial work, diverse mix of subjects, a lot more real world.

if you are genuinely quite clever and switched on upstairs you will find that its quite easy to coast and get passes in most subjects... a pass here is 40% (3rd class, 50% is a 2.2, 60% is a 2.1 and 70+% is a 1st). its one of those subjects that you can waltz through with a 3rd or 2.2 if you want, but its very very difficult to master and get a top grade like a 1st.

you have to be prepared to pay attention in every class... be prepared to put social time on hold and even sports... i quit the swim team to concentrate on getting a first and im one of the few on my course who manage to still hold onto some kind of sports team (surf lifesaving) and get a 1st, alot of the other top guys did no sports and barely went out. you will spend long nights in engineering doing CFD simulations or CAD work or designing a gearbox or something. its a very time consuming subject (heh an people wonder why we moan for getting paid peanuts while the 6 hrs a week business grad is coining it in!)

here in the UK 4 years gets you a BEng with a diploma in industry (year out in industry) 5 yrs gets you an MEng and if the uni offer it off the bat take it. if its like here, if you get stuck on the BEng but want a masters you have to graduate then come back to do a postgrad MSc course at further expense (?5-8k) and do a full 12months learning entire subjects in a week while doing a big group prject with colleagues who are more often than not....nigerian. where as the MEng people just graduate after 5 years with only the cost of an additional year at uni.

Here as well you need the MEng should you wish to become chartered (CEng) as quickly as possible.

i can go do whatever i want now.... consultancy, oil & gas, power, nuclear, measurement, marine, automotive, aero.... Mechanical engineering really gives you the skills to get into any kind of engineering.
 
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Have you considered electronical engineering? I often think of it as a middle ground of mechanical engineering and computer science.
 
Can I ask what's putting you off computer science? I actually went to computer science for a very short time aswell. Quit cos I simply can't stand the m*therf*cking piece of s*it that is programming.
 
^ if he hates programming, better not do mech eng either then

ive been in my grad job at Alstom since october and all ive done is code macro's in excel. its faffan crap, theyre too cheap to pay people who actually took computer programming out of choice.
 
^ if he hates programming, better not do mech eng either then

ive been in my grad job at Alstom since october and all ive done is code macro's in excel. its faffan crap, theyre too cheap to pay people who actually took computer programming out of choice.

I'm applying soon for Electronics & Communications at Uni of Bath and I believe they only have 3 programming units, which I think I can survive. I don't think it's as heavy-going as CS where you start straight off with Java or C.

Anyway, the worst thing in the world is doing something just because you feel forced to, without enjoying it. Just make sure you do a lot of research before you jump into something new, cos I have personally learnt to do that the hard way and it sucks. :)

You are still very young so don't worry. Lotsa people start new studies at 24-25.
 
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http://cusp.eng.usyd.edu.au/students/view-degree-page/degree_id/13

This is the unit outline for mechanical engineering at the university of sydney, the programming seems to be MATLAB and excel. Kinda dissapointed it isn't c++, since then I could get credited for it and not have to do it. But atleast I should be able to get credited for stats in year 2.
 
Matlab is probably easier to code with than C++, so....
 
I'm applying soon for Electronics & Communications at Uni of Bath and I believe they only have 3 programming units, which I think I can survive. I don't think it's as heavy-going as CS where you start straight off with Java or C.

Anyway, the worst thing in the world is doing something just because you feel forced to, without enjoying it. Just make sure you do a lot of research before you jump into something new, cos I have personally learnt to do that the hard way and it sucks. :)

You are still very young so don't worry. Lotsa people start new studies at 24-25.

funny you should say that... today while procrastinating heavily i was reading up on that rich dad poor dad book and then read up how this other guy thinks its a scam (and when i read his arguments he does make a number of reasonable and valid points as to why its a load of BS) and part way through he posed a few questions, finance questions, stating if you cant bash them out in 20 seconds flat you shouldnt be getting into real estate stuff. intrigued i ended up reading about some equations for working out interest rates and future values and all sorts... even downloaded a HP 12C emulator for my iphone and worked through all the examples HP had in their manual. it was quite fascinating. but then something new always is.... ill be doing some more digging and if it doesnt get boring and keeps me interested i might look to do a part time masters in some kind of finance..... cant really go wrong there then.... studies in both engineering and finance.

if not then at least im a bit more aware of just how much loans n shit are costing people

im going to koeberg to work in a nuclear power plant in a week though... im sure thats gonna be the absolute bomb!
 
Matlab is probably easier to code with than C++, so....

yeah, but its not really that far off ..... we learnt matlab VB and something called MPLab which im not sure what code that was but it was pretty low level.... like machine code or something or maybe one up from that. anyway alot of it is transferable... matlab just plays nice with maths functions
 
good luck coldfussion

as i say i found the undergrad degree to be amazing, and you meet some genuinely awesome people on course like that despite the geeky connotations. alot of people dont believe me and my group of mates are actually engineers....though its just because everyones idea of engineer is really dated.

good luck dude, i dont think you'll regret it so long as you enjoy the degree... it can be a lot of work, especially if you want top grades, but worth it. its a genuinely useful degree to have and if at the end you decide not to go into engineering...then theres lots of other places to go that wont chuck you out immediately. alot of MEng guys end up as managers, even CEO's and theres plenty of engineers in finance... they are liked because of how they work with risk and logic.
 
Thank you :). I still have to get accepted first, and so far all i've done is email the engineering facality asking for information on how to switch. No reply yet, I'll give them a couple days to reply back before I email a more general email address/go down and visit them and ask.
 
just checking out the course contents... i find it wierd that you dont get to thermo an thermo-fluids until year 2.

we got laden with that right off the bat and basically you go through all 4-5 years doing thermo and fluids in some form or another. (ie actual thermo and fluids lecturs stop in 2nd year, but stuff like CFD and engines keeps it going after that). but like ours math features heavily in the first 2 years.

nice one! enjoY!
 
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