I am going to be starting college soon and I would like some input to these two engineering majors. I know I want to pick one of these but I dont know which. I love building things but I also love tinkering with computers and technology. I've read that ECE has a better job outlook as well as a better salary. I think I might like ME because of the hands on although i think alot of it is designing on computers.[. I know I have time to decide in college. Any Help/Opinions??
In terms of jobs, opportunities, money they all are basically equal. The question is what type of problems do you like to solve. I went into Electrical because I aced those chapters in high school physics. Today I solved several problems. I had one phone conference. Help plan a project, work that was to be done, material needed, key people. I made several follow up phone calls to see where key equipment and what calculations were completed. I reviewed a arc flash study, spot checked by hand a few of the computer calculations. Programs a great, but garbage in garbage out. About a month ago I was out in the field, and my friend Chris had a problem. Chris may be a mechanical engineer, but he is a real motor head. Chris is an expert on rebuilding 50 year old electrical equipment like 15kv breakers. This breaker would not open, and it was stuck so you could not unplug it. Chris injected lubricant into the socket, and had the men rotate the coupling by hand so the lubricant (special lubricant that Chris had to specify and buy) would penetrate. The were then able to unplug the breaker for the first time in 30 years. Chris then had to figure out what was wrong with this complex piece of equipment that can interrupt a 25,000 amp fault in 5 milliseconds. It turned out some grommets were worn. Chris replaced the grommets with ones he had specially machined. Chris then had to tune everything up so the breaker could interrupt a 25,000 amp fault in 5 milliseconds. The only other engineers who can do this are old enough to be Chris's dad, or granddad. These are some of the things real engineers do.
