Aerospace or Computer Engineering?

[ATLcenter]

Well, after thinking long and hard (not really!), I've finalyl decided where I'm going to college, but now I'm not so sure about my major. I've been thinking Aerospace Engineering for the better part of a decade now, but I think I might want to switch to Computer Engineering because I'm scared that AE is very restrictive of a career. I mean, every company needs a Computer Engineer, but only Aerospace firms would need a Aerospace Engineer. According to money.com, there are roughly 10,000 AEs in the USA- about a tenth of the number of computer engineers.

This probably isn't the best place for advice, but i'll solicit it anyway!

thanks

[ACman]

Aerospace Engineer, too many computer engineers. Everyone wants to be one, and alot of people are.

[PIAA310]

my brother is doing Aerospace Engineering also! its a good field, hey man, look at it this way, every company needs someone who is skilled in the field so you will most likely find a job, also Aerospace engineering doesn't retrict you in any way, you can even work for automobile companies...it doesn't mean that if you major in AE you HAVE to work in a company that is related to Aerospace..

But i don't think this is a place to be basing your education decisions, just use the comments as opinions and JUST opinions...

[maverick]

Whatever you decide, be prepared for A LOT of hard work, late nights, frustrating tests, confusing course material, crappy TA's, and unholy amounts of caffine. I should know, I'm finishing my second year in Aerospace right now, and from what I've heard, it's no different for the Comp. Engineering guys either. I sincerely hope you took lots of math and science in high school. Whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck.

[avro_arrow_25206]

In my university's engineering curriculum, there is this optional work experience year where you take a year out of school to work in related industries, then come back and finish school. Some trends I noticed:

- There are many Comp and Elec engineers, but there are also tons of job postings from ATI, Altera, Microsoft, IBM etc. Many of the those positions have above average pay. Despite the high number of comp and elec candidates, almost everyone I know who actually tried to find a job got a job.

- There is a mean value of zero jobs directly related to AE. However, due to AE students' sound background in dynamics and multi-variable calculus, many AEs managed to find jobs that are not related, but where they can still apply their knowledge. The job opportunities are significantly less than Comp or Elec in terms of number of jobs, but at the same time there are far fewer candidates.

So, in the end, if you work hard at whatever you want to do, you will be fine.

For Comp or Elec engineer, you must be good or interested in circuit analysis (yuck), power/current/magnetism conversions and transformations, and computer programming.
For Aero, you better be good at calculus or else you're pretty damn screwed. Many of the fundamental concepts such as fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, and propulsion require solving multi-variable partial differential equations and ridiculous integration.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

[ATLcenter]

I'm pretty good at Calc I (taking it in high school), but the most I've done with multivariable is look at a problem. At Georgia Tech, all engineers must take Calc I, II, III, and this class on differentiation. None of those can be exempt except Calc I.

To prove how naive I am and to educate myself, what is circuit analysis? It seems to be more of a EE thing than a CE, but I could be wrong.

[avro_arrow_25206]

I'm pretty good at Calc I (taking it in high school), but the most I've done with multivariable is look at a problem. At Georgia Tech, all engineers must take Calc I, II, III, and this class on differentiation. None of those can be exempt except Calc I.

To prove how naive I am and to educate myself, what is circuit analysis? It seems to be more of a EE thing than a CE, but I could be wrong.

Circuit analysis is where you have a bunch of symbols representing resistors, capacitors, loads, transistors, amplifiers, connecting by a bunch of lines and you have to find the current flow or voltage across any one of those components. All CE and EE have to take at least one or more elementary circuit courses, also computer logic (more than just AND, OR, NOR stuff). Although it's the Elecs that deal with the hardcore stuff in senior years, Comps must have sound fundamental knowledge of electrical components and how they work and interact, because face it, all the chips and stuff you'll manufacture are combination of many small components like those.

One word all Comps and Elec will come to know and fear is : PSpice How I loath that program, lol. At least I'm not in Comp or Elec, so I'm done with forever

[a78jumper]

I am not so sure that your specialty really makes all that much difference in the end, what is important is that you get that engineering degree. So go with your heart. I am not an engineer, but I took what I thought would be useful in university (commerce) and passed but really was never in love with most aspects of my degree. I would have been better of taking history or geography, perhaps forestry.
My good friend is an engineer for Boeing Helicopters in PHL; he was an Aerospace Engineer in the Canadian military for four years, and his degree was Mech Eng. Ditto for my late bro-in-law, he was also a very successful aerospace engineer (he had a Masters in propulsion from Cranfield) despite being a Chemical Engineer upon grad from his four year program.

[scramjet]

Well, after thinking long and hard (not really!), I've finalyl decided where I'm going to college, but now I'm not so sure about my major. I've been thinking Aerospace Engineering for the better part of a decade now, but I think I might want to switch to Computer Engineering because I'm scared that AE is very restrictive of a career. I mean, every company needs a Computer Engineer, but only Aerospace firms would need a Aerospace Engineer. According to money.com, there are roughly 10,000 AEs in the USA- about a tenth of the number of computer engineers.

This probably isn't the best place for advice, but i'll solicit it anyway!

thanks

I'd say Aerospace engineering. I've been hearing stories about people getting $55k+/year right out of college with this degree. I thought about Aerospace engineering, but I was really hesitant about the math.