Electrical Engineer

[dereckbc]

You can take this FWIW. Just go for the BSEE take that extra $25K for the MSEE and invest it in a ROTH IRA brokerage account. By the time you retire, the invested money will be worth a lot more than any extra salary the MSEE will earn you at your age. Heck, even if you are a youngster the investment is worth more IMHO.

For the dose of reality think about this. IF you are a potential employer with two candidates, both mid 40's, both MSEE with PE's, one right out of college, the other 20 years experience. Who are you hiring?

 

[rr]

This shortage is getting worse and one of the reasons is the lack of classes that cover this type of work.

That's the truth. I had less than 10 classmates in some of my power classes. And we practically had to beg the Electrical Department to offer them! Most of the people I went to school with went the Digital and Electronics route.

With that being said, we're having a hard time finding another Project Engineer for our office. It's difficult finding the right person with a power background. I was also talking with a Mechanical engineer last week and apparently they have the same problem on their side.

Colleges need to have more construction based MEP classes.

 

[Lady Engineer]

With that being said, we're having a hard time finding another Project Engineer for our office. It's difficult finding the right person with a power background. I was also talking with a Mechanical engineer last week and apparently they have the same problem on their side.

Colleges need to have more construction based MEP classes.

That's why I went for Architectural Engineering, because I came out of college, knowing what a feeder is, what circuit breaker is, how to size a transformer and how to design a basis electrical power system. I'm no better than an EE, but my training is geared more towards construction, and yes the AE is not good for the EE test, but they have an AE test.

I took it, and it's very fair, I just had forgotten how to size structural beams (that's the only part I failed), that's my fault, but that's what my professors fought for to make it fair for AE's. I would not recommend this test for an EE in these field.

Hey, the job market for an AE is about 500%, so it does have it's benefits.


Lady :wink:

 

[QES]

first go for the BSEE then see if you like it then go for the MSEE. From personal experience, I think you should go all the way( BSEE EIT PE MSEE). I do have a MSEE under my belt and I must say its well worth that extra time and money( 2 years, $8k). The only down side to the MSEE is the thesis, you spent almost a year on it.

 

[steve66]

Please be aware if you go the traditional EE route, and you intend to do consulting work when you get out (like using the NEC and designing buildings, commercial, and industrial type stuff) what you will learn in the classroom is not what you will be doing after school.

I took 7 calculus classes while working on my BSEE, and haven't used calculus since.

Not that I think there is anything wrong with that, but don't be suprised when you go to school and it has nothing to building wiring.

 

[msoe03]

It sounds like you are more interested in electrical engineering geared towards buildings (e.g. power distribution, lighting, special systems) due to your experience in the field. I have a BS degree in Architectural Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) with a design specialty in electrical building systems. The first two years were mostly basic engineering classes, physics classes and calculus classes tossed with some of those pesky general education classes. The majority of these classes are needed in order to pass the EIT. The last two years specialized in classes for electrical building systems. These courses included electrical theory, power distribution, lighting design, power quality and even one on the NEC. The program is ABET certified (very important when you want to go for your EIT and PE exams). My final year we worked on an actual design project where the design team basically functioned as an MEP consulting firm. Our particular project was a high rise hotel in Racine and we had to design the electrical systems including power distribution, lighting and special systems.

When I started my career out of school I was ready to go...sort of. Of course, as we all know, experience is key. Everyday I learn something new and the more time I visit job sites and work on projects the better I am at my job.

One of the downsides of MSOE is the price. Since it is a private university, the cost is about $30,000 per year. You may, however, be eligible for scholarships to help with the cost of tuition. I would not have been able to afford it without the scholarships I received. It was definitely worth it for me.

 

[Bob NH]

From a cost point of view, you might try to get a job that pays tuition for employees working toward a degree as one of the benefits. I don't know how many there are, and it will take longer, but you will be earning money and getting tuition paid while you take two courses per term.

 

[wanderer20001us]

I went BSEE, EIT, Journeyman Electrician, PE, & MBA. I'm only 2 month of work experince away from meeting the Master Electrician requirement and I think that will round it out for me. I don't think I would do it much differently if I had it to do over.

IMHO All engineers should be required to do some hands on work after college so they know what the heck it is they are designing and what it means to the trades that have to make it work.

 

[khixxx]

I was also looking at getting my BSEE. I had some college classes. I relocated and the local universities won't reconize those classes. so i have to start from stratch. I found this one online program www.kw.edu the first time I applied I was denied for lack of work experience. I applied 1 year later took it more serous and now i'm approved. I'm looking to see if this school meets the repuirements for state exams. The problem i'm having is that I was an Instrumentation tech for alittle over 4 years and most of those positions require a BSEE. I was wondering what everyones thoughts were about distant learning and if anyone every checked into www.kw.edu i'm just wondering if employer would take it serous.

 

[QES]

By the look of the online website , this is not ABET-accredited , but I could be wrong on that. But may should that the BSEE program is ABET-accredited , if not then you will not be able to take the P.E. and maybe the not EIT.