Insights: First year at Engineering
Hi guys! 
This is an "insight" thread, where I hope we can all gain an insight into Engineering students' life and an Engineer's life. I saw a great one for medicine and couldnt resist creating one for engineering.
I was wondering if any Engineering Students in the first year or above or anyone with vivid memories of the first year can give us some insight into thier experience!
What did you do? What did you learn? topics? branches? skills? etc..... What did you enjoy / not enjoy? What was your typical day like? and if you're working somewhere now, where and how is it?
Which uni are you at/ did you go? Which field of engineering did you choose? I'm doing chemical engineering, so id be especially interested in what the chemengs are saying- That helps out applicants too!
Okay, lets do this!
This is an "insight" thread, where I hope we can all gain an insight into Engineering students' life and an Engineer's life. I saw a great one for medicine and couldnt resist creating one for engineering.
I was wondering if any Engineering Students in the first year or above or anyone with vivid memories of the first year can give us some insight into thier experience!
What did you do? What did you learn? topics? branches? skills? etc..... What did you enjoy / not enjoy? What was your typical day like? and if you're working somewhere now, where and how is it?
Which uni are you at/ did you go? Which field of engineering did you choose? I'm doing chemical engineering, so id be especially interested in what the chemengs are saying- That helps out applicants too!
Okay, lets do this!
I do mechanical engineering. Typical day started at 9am and finished at 1pm, apart from when I had a lab/practical in the afternoon, which would last for 3 hours.
In first year I learned about maths, statics, dynamics, fluids, electrical circuits, heat transfer, design, technical drawing, and practical skills. My favourite subjects were maths and hands on, practical stuff. My best grades came from maths and electrical classes. Teaching has came solely from lecturers with PhDs who all speak very good English and many have plenty of industrial experience, too. Lecturers all have plenty of time for you, apart from the alpha dogs who are like world leaders in their field but they vary rarely teach undergraduates though.
My fondest memories were actually of nights out, the shenanigans that took place after said nights out, and getting ready for nights out, as well as all the pranks and other stuff that took place on nights in, and watching films and stuff with flatmates. I didn't have a particularly high opinion of having to drag myself out of bed on a cold, dark November morning to learn about dynamics at 9am.
I did a placement at an oil company in a more management sort of role and it differed from university in that you don't use anything you learned there. It was mainly, as already said, management, checking drawings and specs and arranging for other people to actually do the work. Coursemates who went onto roles at engineering companies did use more of what they learnt.
In first year I learned about maths, statics, dynamics, fluids, electrical circuits, heat transfer, design, technical drawing, and practical skills. My favourite subjects were maths and hands on, practical stuff. My best grades came from maths and electrical classes. Teaching has came solely from lecturers with PhDs who all speak very good English and many have plenty of industrial experience, too. Lecturers all have plenty of time for you, apart from the alpha dogs who are like world leaders in their field but they vary rarely teach undergraduates though.
My fondest memories were actually of nights out, the shenanigans that took place after said nights out, and getting ready for nights out, as well as all the pranks and other stuff that took place on nights in, and watching films and stuff with flatmates. I didn't have a particularly high opinion of having to drag myself out of bed on a cold, dark November morning to learn about dynamics at 9am.
I did a placement at an oil company in a more management sort of role and it differed from university in that you don't use anything you learned there. It was mainly, as already said, management, checking drawings and specs and arranging for other people to actually do the work. Coursemates who went onto roles at engineering companies did use more of what they learnt.
(edited 12 years ago)
Very general for first year, ranging from A level to first year mechanical etc.
I was 20 when I started so it was hard to get back into it and with only a B in GCSE maths I was like wtf most of the time, considering my Maths lecturer was half way to being committed and didn't speak english that well (it should be a law that you can only teach math in your native language)
Support groups weren't much better, but at least I got them in first year, the postgrads were all international and I doubt they would have been much help if they spoke english much better, their tolerance for misunderstanding was 0 after a few months.
Did some programming in first year too, was fun building simple number generating programs etc. but the success of this module was on how much you had learned before hand, how much the person next to you knew (and was willing to help) and they weren't structured very well, not enough postgrads and not enough time for the labs in which we were assessed on.
Considering I'm paying up front I feel really pissed off in general about a lot of things, the things I have control over cannot be complained about, but when you get none of your worries dealt with within any sort of time frame and any debts you owe you get reminded about every 10 seconds its easy to see what University in this country has become.
If it wasn't engineering I was doing it wouldn't be worth it at all.
I was 20 when I started so it was hard to get back into it and with only a B in GCSE maths I was like wtf most of the time, considering my Maths lecturer was half way to being committed and didn't speak english that well (it should be a law that you can only teach math in your native language)
Support groups weren't much better, but at least I got them in first year, the postgrads were all international and I doubt they would have been much help if they spoke english much better, their tolerance for misunderstanding was 0 after a few months.
Did some programming in first year too, was fun building simple number generating programs etc. but the success of this module was on how much you had learned before hand, how much the person next to you knew (and was willing to help) and they weren't structured very well, not enough postgrads and not enough time for the labs in which we were assessed on.
Considering I'm paying up front I feel really pissed off in general about a lot of things, the things I have control over cannot be complained about, but when you get none of your worries dealt with within any sort of time frame and any debts you owe you get reminded about every 10 seconds its easy to see what University in this country has become.
If it wasn't engineering I was doing it wouldn't be worth it at all.
Course Details: Currently in 1st of MEng Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London.
Topics/Areas Covered: Modules in 1st Year are Process Analysis, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Heat and Mass Transfer; and Maths, Chemistry, Properties of Matter and Engineering Ethics. Fluid Mechanics and Properties of Matter are pretty interesting modules, the rest are kind of alright. Courses are taught through lectures and tutorials. Tutorials are done in groups of either 6 or 12 with a professor or a PhD student and you go over a problem sheet which you are expected to have looked at beforehand. There are about 2-3 tutorials a week, and problem sheets take about 3-6 hours each depending on how determined you. Problem sheets are HARD and even a very bright student can spend ages on a problem sheet and not finish it. Unlike lectures, tutorials are mandatory because of how useful they are.
Coursework includes a week-long group design project in term 1 which involved redesigning a process to include heat exchangers; and MATLAB Programming assignments. Both were real slogs to be honest, we had zero free time in the days leading up to before the deadlines for these projects. Labs start next term and they are also meant to be hugely difficult.
Typical Day: Lectures are 9:00-12:00 every weekday (except Wednesday) without fail. 12:00-2:00 is the lunch break and may contain a tutorial (I also take optional French lessons during the lunch break). In the afternoon on some days I have nothing, in which case I usually work in the library for the afternoon or go home, have lunch and study. On other days I have coursework/labs which are 2:00-5:00. Evening involves more working, having dinner and right at the end of the day, about 10:00-12:00, I hang out with my friends from halls and play table tennis/Xbox or something before going to bed.
Wednesday, however is always a half day and there is nothing after 11. This makes Tuesday night is the best night to go out, especially because of how expensive going out on weekends is. Wednesdays and weekends involve societies/extracurriculars, catching up on work and socialising.
Overall Opinion: Great course, absolutely the right choice for me. Definitely hard work though but it's good to have a challenging and stimulating course.
If anyone has any further questions feel free to message me.
Topics/Areas Covered: Modules in 1st Year are Process Analysis, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Heat and Mass Transfer; and Maths, Chemistry, Properties of Matter and Engineering Ethics. Fluid Mechanics and Properties of Matter are pretty interesting modules, the rest are kind of alright. Courses are taught through lectures and tutorials. Tutorials are done in groups of either 6 or 12 with a professor or a PhD student and you go over a problem sheet which you are expected to have looked at beforehand. There are about 2-3 tutorials a week, and problem sheets take about 3-6 hours each depending on how determined you. Problem sheets are HARD and even a very bright student can spend ages on a problem sheet and not finish it. Unlike lectures, tutorials are mandatory because of how useful they are.
Coursework includes a week-long group design project in term 1 which involved redesigning a process to include heat exchangers; and MATLAB Programming assignments. Both were real slogs to be honest, we had zero free time in the days leading up to before the deadlines for these projects. Labs start next term and they are also meant to be hugely difficult.
Typical Day: Lectures are 9:00-12:00 every weekday (except Wednesday) without fail. 12:00-2:00 is the lunch break and may contain a tutorial (I also take optional French lessons during the lunch break). In the afternoon on some days I have nothing, in which case I usually work in the library for the afternoon or go home, have lunch and study. On other days I have coursework/labs which are 2:00-5:00. Evening involves more working, having dinner and right at the end of the day, about 10:00-12:00, I hang out with my friends from halls and play table tennis/Xbox or something before going to bed.
Wednesday, however is always a half day and there is nothing after 11. This makes Tuesday night is the best night to go out, especially because of how expensive going out on weekends is. Wednesdays and weekends involve societies/extracurriculars, catching up on work and socialising.
Overall Opinion: Great course, absolutely the right choice for me. Definitely hard work though but it's good to have a challenging and stimulating course.
If anyone has any further questions feel free to message me.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by innerhollow
Course Details: Currently in 1st of MEng Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London.
Topics/Areas Covered: Modules in 1st Year are Process Analysis, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Heat and Mass Transfer; and Maths, Chemistry, Properties of Matter and Engineering Ethics. Fluid Mechanics and Properties of Matter are pretty interesting modules, the rest are kind of alright. Courses are taught through lectures and tutorials. Tutorials are done in groups of either 6 or 12 with a professor or a PhD student and you go over a problem sheet which you are expected to have looked at beforehand. There are about 2-3 tutorials a week, and problem sheets take about 3-6 hours each depending on how determined you. Problem sheets are HARD and even a very bright student can spend ages on a problem sheet and not finish it.mmmmmmmm Unlike lectures, tutorials are mandatory because of how useful they are.
Coursework includes a week-long group design project in term 1 which involved redesigning a process to include heat exchangers; and MATLAB Programming assignments. Both were real slogs to be honest, we had zero free time in the days leading up to before the deadlines for these projects. Labs start next term and they are also meant to be hugely difficult.
Typical Day: Lectures are 9:00-12:00 every weekday (except Wednesday) without fail. 12:00-2:00 is the lunch break and may contain a tutorial (I also take optional French lessons during the lunch break). In the afternoon on some days I have nothing, in which case I usually work in the library for the afternoon or go home, have lunch and study. On other days I have coursework/labs which are 2:00-5:00. Evening involves more working, having dinner and right at the end of the day, about 10:00-12:00, I hang out with my friends from halls and play table tennis/Xbox or something before going to bed.
Wednesday, however is always a half day and there. Tuesday night is the best night to go out as a result, especially because of how expensive going out on weekends is. Wednesdays and weekends involve societies/extracurriculars, catching up on work and socialising.
Overall Opinion: Great course, absolutely the right choice for me. Definitely hard work though but it's good to have a challenging and stimulating course.
If anyone has any further questions feel free to message me.
Topics/Areas Covered: Modules in 1st Year are Process Analysis, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Heat and Mass Transfer; and Maths, Chemistry, Properties of Matter and Engineering Ethics. Fluid Mechanics and Properties of Matter are pretty interesting modules, the rest are kind of alright. Courses are taught through lectures and tutorials. Tutorials are done in groups of either 6 or 12 with a professor or a PhD student and you go over a problem sheet which you are expected to have looked at beforehand. There are about 2-3 tutorials a week, and problem sheets take about 3-6 hours each depending on how determined you. Problem sheets are HARD and even a very bright student can spend ages on a problem sheet and not finish it.mmmmmmmm Unlike lectures, tutorials are mandatory because of how useful they are.
Coursework includes a week-long group design project in term 1 which involved redesigning a process to include heat exchangers; and MATLAB Programming assignments. Both were real slogs to be honest, we had zero free time in the days leading up to before the deadlines for these projects. Labs start next term and they are also meant to be hugely difficult.
Typical Day: Lectures are 9:00-12:00 every weekday (except Wednesday) without fail. 12:00-2:00 is the lunch break and may contain a tutorial (I also take optional French lessons during the lunch break). In the afternoon on some days I have nothing, in which case I usually work in the library for the afternoon or go home, have lunch and study. On other days I have coursework/labs which are 2:00-5:00. Evening involves more working, having dinner and right at the end of the day, about 10:00-12:00, I hang out with my friends from halls and play table tennis/Xbox or something before going to bed.
Wednesday, however is always a half day and there. Tuesday night is the best night to go out as a result, especially because of how expensive going out on weekends is. Wednesdays and weekends involve societies/extracurriculars, catching up on work and socialising.
Overall Opinion: Great course, absolutely the right choice for me. Definitely hard work though but it's good to have a challenging and stimulating course.
If anyone has any further questions feel free to message me.
good gracious lol ...
honestly
Original post by innerhollow
Huh? 
as in you must work really hard and you seem to be a exemplary student....
honestly
Original post by honestly
as in you must work really hard and you seem to be a exemplary student....
honestly
honestly
Hahaha believe I'm really not an exemplary student, I miss loads of lectures and sleep through the ones I do attend. I do work for a huge portion of my day but so does everyone I know at my uni.
Original post by innerhollow
Hahaha believe I'm really not an exemplary student, I miss loads of lectures and sleep through the ones I do attend. I do work for a huge portion of my day but so does everyone I know at my uni.
lol
honestly
just started my first year in september striaght out of A-levels. I'm doing civil engineering the best topic so far has been maths & computing which involves matlab and a bit if further maths. the worst had been geotechnical properties and construction method- bloody well hard. typical day is never typical always different which is quite cool tbh.
Looking to do mechanical engineering at either loughborough or queen mary. So thanks for creating this thread.
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