Interested In Engineering

Hi folks.

A couple of things brought me to looking around the internet for help regarding various routes into Engineering (primarily seeking a degree). I came across these forums and have had a quick read through and they seem very good in terms of informative post's made by members. I have a few questions though regarding sitting a degree in Engineering through The Open University.

To give you a bit of background on myself.... I really didn't apply myself too well at school and my qualifications suffered because of it. When I left school I went into Groundworks/Bricklaying, I did an nvq lvl 2 in both Bricklaying and Roads + Sewage works (Glamorous I know). I worked this job for 4 yrs and then moved to Spain where I continued with non technical jobs such as welding and labouring. I have recently returned to England and have been taking a serious look at my personal circumstances. I have a desire to learn something challenging, and give myself some chance of having a stable and enjoyable career in the future.
So I began to assess my options.. First up was the standard College/Diploma/Degree route. Now I understand, most would suggest this as being my safest bet for a route through to a Degree in engineering. However when I contacted various Colleges/ Universities and they spoke to me about my options because of my held qualifications (or lack of thereof) I was looking at a great many years studying. Now I know at this point some people might read this saying well thats life etc.. But then I came across the Open University.
I spoke with one of their advisors on the phone and browsed their prospectus. They do not require prior qualifications which would give me the fast route to a degree I was seeking. I do however, know that It would be incredibly naive to assume this would be an easy route for someone in my position. I also know that because of my circumstances I am going to need to put a lot of effort into learning alongside this degree (which I don't have any issues with, I quite enjoy reading educational book's etc).
So my questions are directed at people, not nescessarily taking an O.U Engineering Degree, but at people doing degrees in Engineering elsewhere. I am wanting to know if people know of anyways in which I can prepare for such a degree? I would like to know if their are any informative books/Ebooks people can suggest for the maths/physics side of Engineering? I have looked into it and have found plenty of lectures from various universities which I have sat and watched (M.I.T etc) And I do find them fascinating, but a lot of those lectures are very advanced and though I understand parts of them, other parts I have just never come across before. I signed up for the first module of the degree (MST121 Using mathematics) but I dont want to sit and wait for this to come up to struggle with what it deals with, I would like to give myself an advantage here to get the most out of this and try and keep ahead.

Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope someone can shed some light here for me.

Reply 1

joeahuja

Hi there,

I'm currently studying for an Engineering degree and am in my third year. I went through the traditional route i.e A levels then straight to university. I'm a firm believer in the fact that if someone wants something enough they will get it and I hope you are able to get on well with your OU degree. As far as advice goes I would recommend that you start at the basics and work your way up. How did you do in GCSE maths and physics? if it's not so well then go back and start from there, buy yourself a book maybe a CPG study guide or something like that and just work through it, then progress onto A levels etc. This may not be the only way forward for you but I reckon if you start as low down as you need to and work up you will have the fullest understanding of the subject matter. An engineering degree is very maths based and a certain level of mathematical competence is required i.e. competence in differentiation, integration and algebra, for me most of this was covered at A level which, in turn required my knowledge from GCSE hence my comment above, I don't want to scare you off but I think you'd probably struggle without this background. Plus if you absolutely hate the maths and physics revision then an engineering degree may not be for you.

I hope this has been helpful and I wish you every success in your studies.

Reply 2

Dirac Delta Function

I highly recommend Khan Academy: http://www.khanacademy.org/
This is an aid. There is no substitute for a good book and plenty of exercises, but Khan Academy is brilliant.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 3

Munchies-YumYum

Original post by Dirac Delta Function

I highly recommend Khan Academy: http://www.khanacademy.org/
This is an aid. There is no substitute for a good book and plenty of exercises, but Khan Academy is brilliant.