arguments for nautical engineering

[Plumbtex]

I am but a plumber but I hope for so much more for my son. He has graduated #10 in his class and now is looking towards college.He intends to study engineering , likely mechanical, He loves the math.I have tried to gently steer him towards nautical engineering in part because of my own love of the subject, but also because I think that this is one of the few fields left where a person can develop from start to finish a truly original idea,if any one has any thoghts on the subject please sound off. My ultimate goal is a long and satisfiying life for my son. Plumbing just will not do!

[Plumbtex]

Please, I wold like to hear any ideas pro or con about this field and any arguments to be made for or against.

[des000]

If I had a chance to start over knowing everything I know now, I definately would not get a mechanical engineering degree again. Pay has been stagnant for 20 years while the cost of everthing has gone up. So many engineering jobs have been outsourced overseas that finding a job is difficult, finding a good job is almost impossible. The mechanical field as a whole is flooded due to the number of displaced manufacturing engineers from outsourcing overseas. There still are some good jobs in specialty fields like medical / health care related but these generally require a medical background along with the mechanical degree. Many larger company feel it's no longer cost effective to develop new products in the US so engineers only function is cost cutting. No one care if you can design a better product that will last longer, in fact most company don't want there products to last longer, they only want them to be cost less. Engineers used to be respected, doctors lawyers and engineers was a phrase refering to the better payed and respected members of society. There is absolutely no respect for engineers now. We are grouped with the hourly workers as grunts, there to carry out the commands of management. In 2 of my last 4 jobs my supervisor had no degree what so ever and in one job my superviser had a business degree. I hate to say it, and it reflects the sad state of our country, but you would be much better off with a degree in business or economics, you'll make more money, get more respect and climb the corperate ladder much faster.

[Tim B]

It all depends what you ,or more importanlty, he wants. I agree with des to a large extent, jobs in the maritime arena are very hard to come by. Also, those jobs that really let you work from start to end on a project are few and far between. If you get get them, though, they are very, very rewarding. Personally, I'd advise doing a degree in something you're really interested in then setting out to climb the corporate ladder.

Best Of Luck,

Tim B.

[Eric W. Sponberg]

I beg to differ.

If you are at the age to prepare for college and are capable of handling the work, having a college degree is always better than not having a degree.

Naval Architecture and marine engineering is one of the smallest engineering fields but with plenty of work, mostly in smaller commercial and recreational craft these days than in larger ships, and there have always been plenty of places to work.

We are in a global economy, not a US economy, and where once the US dominated in large ship building, now other countries dominate. But the US is way out ahead in small commercial craft and patrol craft, and we are very big in recreational craft which is demanding ever more engineering expertise.

Go for the degree. I went to the University of Michigan and am proud of my alma mater and my training which I use everyday. I can't think of any other program that prepares you so well in the basics of engineering as the UofM program does.

I also highly recommend Webb Institute, which if you get selected, is tuition free. It is a much smaller school, but the training is superb.

Eric

[Skippy]

He's the one who has to live with his career for decades. If you like boat design, go ahead and do it yourself as a hobby. If he's enthusiastic about a subject, then that is the best subject for him. Even though engineers don't necessarily get the respect they deserve, I would never recommend a business degree to someone with technical inclinations. If you're not able and willing to BS your way through life, the management degree won't compensate for that. You'll be stuck with a degree you hate, and a lack of opportunities elsewhere.

[Paul B]

Get the degree in Mechanical Engineering/Computer Science/Fluid Dynamics.

Graduate high, get a good starting gig, and immediately begin working toward an MBA.

With the BS in Engineering and an MBA he will be positioned well for a Management track in Corporate America.

If he pursues an Engineering track he should then work toward a PE.

There is little money in boating. Many really bright people struggle and fail.

Much better to be XYZ Corp.'s youngest ever Senior VP of Technology.

[DaveB]

I dunno des000, engineers can be businessmen, but businessmen can't be engineers... I guess I'm a bit bent on engineering... naval architecture in particular...

[MikeJohns]

Originally Posted by Paul B

Get the degree in Mechanical Engineering/Computer.

............begin working toward an MBA.

With the BS in Engineering and an MBA he will be positioned well for a Management track in Corporate America.

If he pursues an Engineering track he should then work toward a PE.

...................

In Australia we also have a MBA program for engineers and many corporations favour engineering background managers simply because their degree acts as an intelligence test and shows that they are likely to be methodical logical managers. Most engineering graduates here end up in management.

However in Australia marine engineering pays well, allows you to work easily as an independant professional and has good rewards.

[des000]

Originally Posted by Skippy

He's the one who has to live with his career for decades. If you like boat design, go ahead and do it yourself as a hobby. If he's enthusiastic about a subject, then that is the best subject for him. Even though engineers don't necessarily get the respect they deserve, I would never recommend a business degree to someone with technical inclinations. If you're not able and willing to BS your way through life, the management degree won't compensate for that. You'll be stuck with a degree you hate, and a lack of opportunities elsewhere.

Lets look at it this way. You could pick a difficult degree like engineering, study all the time, graduate in the top 10% of your class, take an engineering position that pays little but is rewarding work, work long hours for little money, live in a mobile home, drive a 10 year old car, struggle to scrape enough money together to keep your small trailor sailor together. Spend all of your spare time working on your 25 year old boat. OR Pick an easy degree, party and have fun in college, still graduate in the top 10%, take a good paying job that you may not enjoy, learn to BS and lie, Buy a new Lexas, Buy a new house on the lake, BUY A NEW BOAT, Take lots of time off, work 30-35 hours a week and sail the rest of the time. Now which one sounds better, the first one (my life) or the second one(the manager I work for)

[JonathanCole]

There is another way of looking at what seem to be opposing life courses. You don't have to work for corporate entities, over which you have no control. If you are highly motivated to be an engineer, you might want to study design, creativity, business, and economics, too, so that you will have the tools to oversee the creation and marketing of your own ideas. Engineers need to understand more than engineering and business people need to understand more than just business. If we don't take an active part in creating the world around us, then we are going to be limited to living in a world created by others. If you think that the world as it is is just fine, then work for the paycheck. If you think it can stand improvement, then work for a better world and you will still survive and maybe even prosper.

[seadragon]

I too have a degree in engineering, and practice since I graduated from university. but I can tell you that engineering job aren't easy to come by nowaday, and you can forget about pay raise or merit pay. However, let's not waste his math talent. He can major in Electrical or Mechanical engineering with minor in biochemistry. upon graduation, get a job in medical equipment company. As our goverment is protecting medical relate business being develop and produce within the country, there is future in this field. From that point on, he can choose to climb the corporate ladder the engineering way, or the business way.
Or he can major in Naval Architecture which involve math, and be a Navy officer upon graduation.

[Skippy]

des000: ... OR Pick an easy degree, party and have fun in college, ...

I would choose your route. The partying, ease, and luxury that you describe are simply not accessible to all of us. If success were simply a matter of having fun, lying to people, and short working hours, then everyone would be doing that. As nice as it would be to have a spiffier boat and more time to sail it, I would seriously question whether it's worth spending most of your time doing something you hate, and again whether it's even really an option open to everyone. I would also question the premise that managers work short hours. I've done plenty of technical work, and also worked for a while supervising a small software development group. I didn't ask to be a supervisor, and I never enjoyed it. I have no interest in the corporate MBA culture, and would only want to manage from a position of technical competence and personal acceptance as a manager within the company. Just read "The 10-Day MBA", it'll save you a couple years & many thousands of dollars.