Quality/Manufacturing Eng vs Mech Eng
Hi, hope everyone's well
I'm doing my A-Levels right now. I've got an offer for Mechanical Engineering at Uni of Leeds and an offer for a Quality Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at Bentley where I study Manufacturing Engineering at Uni of Warwick.
I plan to do a Mech Eng Masters and become a mechanical engineer designing high-performance or sustainable powertrains in future.
I've always thought a degree apprenticeship is for me as I've had work experience with automotive companies and really enjoyed doing proper work. Uni + internships would also be cool so my preference to an apprenticeship over uni isn't THAT biased.
However, quality and manufacturing engineering seem a bit boring to me and I worry that I may not be able to pursue my dreams if I choose this pathway and get those qualifications.
I'm not concerned about the differences between the unis as they are both top tier and that's not a deciding factor.
Would I be able to pursue a Masters in Mech Eng if I do the apprenticeship - as I assume having this Mech MEng will then take priority over my Manufacturing BEng and will be enough to have the necessary qualifications when applying to work as a mechanical engineer.
Any quality or manufacturing engineers or anyone doing similar degree apprenticeships - your opinion is invaluable even if you just wanna describe what you do and if you enjoy it.
TL;DR - can I do a Masters in Mech Eng and become a powertrain engineer if I have 4 years experience as a Quality Engineer and a Manufacturing BEng?
Thanks a lot
I'm doing my A-Levels right now. I've got an offer for Mechanical Engineering at Uni of Leeds and an offer for a Quality Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at Bentley where I study Manufacturing Engineering at Uni of Warwick.
I plan to do a Mech Eng Masters and become a mechanical engineer designing high-performance or sustainable powertrains in future.
I've always thought a degree apprenticeship is for me as I've had work experience with automotive companies and really enjoyed doing proper work. Uni + internships would also be cool so my preference to an apprenticeship over uni isn't THAT biased.
However, quality and manufacturing engineering seem a bit boring to me and I worry that I may not be able to pursue my dreams if I choose this pathway and get those qualifications.
I'm not concerned about the differences between the unis as they are both top tier and that's not a deciding factor.
Would I be able to pursue a Masters in Mech Eng if I do the apprenticeship - as I assume having this Mech MEng will then take priority over my Manufacturing BEng and will be enough to have the necessary qualifications when applying to work as a mechanical engineer.
Any quality or manufacturing engineers or anyone doing similar degree apprenticeships - your opinion is invaluable even if you just wanna describe what you do and if you enjoy it.
TL;DR - can I do a Masters in Mech Eng and become a powertrain engineer if I have 4 years experience as a Quality Engineer and a Manufacturing BEng?
Thanks a lot
Original post by user8937264980
Hi, hope everyone's well
I'm doing my A-Levels right now. I've got an offer for Mechanical Engineering at Uni of Leeds and an offer for a Quality Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at Bentley where I study Manufacturing Engineering at Uni of Warwick.
I plan to do a Mech Eng Masters and become a mechanical engineer designing high-performance or sustainable powertrains in future.
I've always thought a degree apprenticeship is for me as I've had work experience with automotive companies and really enjoyed doing proper work. Uni + internships would also be cool so my preference to an apprenticeship over uni isn't THAT biased.
However, quality and manufacturing engineering seem a bit boring to me and I worry that I may not be able to pursue my dreams if I choose this pathway and get those qualifications.
I'm not concerned about the differences between the unis as they are both top tier and that's not a deciding factor.
Would I be able to pursue a Masters in Mech Eng if I do the apprenticeship - as I assume having this Mech MEng will then take priority over my Manufacturing BEng and will be enough to have the necessary qualifications when applying to work as a mechanical engineer.
Any quality or manufacturing engineers or anyone doing similar degree apprenticeships - your opinion is invaluable even if you just wanna describe what you do and if you enjoy it.
TL;DR - can I do a Masters in Mech Eng and become a powertrain engineer if I have 4 years experience as a Quality Engineer and a Manufacturing BEng?
Thanks a lot
I'm doing my A-Levels right now. I've got an offer for Mechanical Engineering at Uni of Leeds and an offer for a Quality Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at Bentley where I study Manufacturing Engineering at Uni of Warwick.
I plan to do a Mech Eng Masters and become a mechanical engineer designing high-performance or sustainable powertrains in future.
I've always thought a degree apprenticeship is for me as I've had work experience with automotive companies and really enjoyed doing proper work. Uni + internships would also be cool so my preference to an apprenticeship over uni isn't THAT biased.
However, quality and manufacturing engineering seem a bit boring to me and I worry that I may not be able to pursue my dreams if I choose this pathway and get those qualifications.
I'm not concerned about the differences between the unis as they are both top tier and that's not a deciding factor.
Would I be able to pursue a Masters in Mech Eng if I do the apprenticeship - as I assume having this Mech MEng will then take priority over my Manufacturing BEng and will be enough to have the necessary qualifications when applying to work as a mechanical engineer.
Any quality or manufacturing engineers or anyone doing similar degree apprenticeships - your opinion is invaluable even if you just wanna describe what you do and if you enjoy it.
TL;DR - can I do a Masters in Mech Eng and become a powertrain engineer if I have 4 years experience as a Quality Engineer and a Manufacturing BEng?
Thanks a lot
I'm doing a degree apprenticeship in Manufacturing Engineering.
First, there is nothing stopping you from pursuing a Mechanical Engineering Masters after a Manufacturing BEng. As long as you graduate and meet the course requirements of your chosen university.
Second, manufacturing engineers can do a fair bit of design as well (it will vary from company to company and role to role, but generalizing). This can apply to both products and process-related elements such as fixtures, jigs, tools, even machinery.
Personally, I don't have a passion for Quality. I find it a bit boring myself. Although the "detective" part of the job can be fun - investigating quality problems, finding the root cause etc.
However, Manufacturing as a degree is quite closely related to Mechanical (with a pinch of business, quality and other stuff thrown in there) - you would still need to complete maths and design modules that you would do in a mechanical degree.
I love manufacturing for how versatile it is. I'm not stuck in my job, sitting on my ass and doing the exact same thing every day. There are so many different angles to account for and a good manufacturing engineer really has to be a little bit of a jack of all trades.
But yeah, as much as I love degree apprenticeships and promote them as much as I can, if you want to go into design, I don't think quality is a good fit for you. But as I said before, you can do a Mech masters after a Manufacturing BEng (should still check with the uni where you wanna do the masters).
Thank you for the reply. What kind of design work and problem solving do you do? I'm intrigued to learn more about what a quality engineer does in a day.
I've looked at the course I'd be doing and loads of it is related to mech eng as you said, and if I'm allowed to choose my modules I can choose more design related ones - so I'm more concerned about the job I'd be doing for 4 years.
I've been wondering if quality might even be better for me than design - from what I've read it seems more project managerial, interactive and proactive than designing products on a computer.
I've looked at the course I'd be doing and loads of it is related to mech eng as you said, and if I'm allowed to choose my modules I can choose more design related ones - so I'm more concerned about the job I'd be doing for 4 years.
I've been wondering if quality might even be better for me than design - from what I've read it seems more project managerial, interactive and proactive than designing products on a computer.
Original post by user8937264980
Thank you for the reply. What kind of design work and problem solving do you do? I'm intrigued to learn more about what a quality engineer does in a day.
I've looked at the course I'd be doing and loads of it is related to mech eng as you said, and if I'm allowed to choose my modules I can choose more design related ones - so I'm more concerned about the job I'd be doing for 4 years.
I've been wondering if quality might even be better for me than design - from what I've read it seems more project managerial, interactive and proactive than designing products on a computer.
I've looked at the course I'd be doing and loads of it is related to mech eng as you said, and if I'm allowed to choose my modules I can choose more design related ones - so I'm more concerned about the job I'd be doing for 4 years.
I've been wondering if quality might even be better for me than design - from what I've read it seems more project managerial, interactive and proactive than designing products on a computer.
The work you will do in any position will completely depend on what company you work for.
My company designs and manufactures hydraulic products. Some of my duties involve NPI projects, troubleshooting problems with the products or improvement projects (e.g. to increase FPY). Most of the design work I have done was related to introducing or updating tooling used for product assembly. Problem solving-wise it's usually investigating the specific issue with a product (e.g. a high percentage of a specific model fails the test). I would then investigate why the reason for that might be. This can be something very easily fixed such as through changing the SOP or more complexed problems such as the specification of the parts indicates that the part cannot withstand the load we're putting on it during the assembly and test, so we must either change the design or the procedure. I work with a lot of data so a considerable chunk of my job is investigating and proving process capability etc.
As I said, I'm doing a degree apprenticeship so I'm not sure whether with a normal uni, you get a say in what modules you do. I didn't get a choice about the modules, but I've finished the first 2 years of the degree and I've had design-related modules every year so far. But design is much more than just CAD skills, you have to have a solid understanding of materials and their properties, the application of your design and how it's going to be manufactured (and running CAM software isn't the most reliable thing to do...). You also have to have an extremely good understanding of engineering drawings, and the appropriate standards (typically for the UK it's ISO and BS, but if you work at an international company it might also be ANSI etc.), and tolerances.
I honestly can't tell you much about quality and wouldn't want to influence your opinion with my speculations. I've done a short quality placement during my apprenticeship and I've got some friends working as junior quality engineers and a lot of it is very repetitive stuff like making sure standards are being met, suppliers are delivering products that meet our requirements, etc. There is a ton of paper work involved from what I've seen. Now, this isn't to put you off quality at all - like I said I have very limited experience with it so not much insight. And once again, it will definitely vary depending on what company you work for.
So are quality and manufacturing engineering (the jobs not degrees) pretty different?
Do you think you could get me in contact with the quality engineers you know through linkedin or something if they're willing to tell me more about their job? No worries if not I just want to speak to as many quality engineers as possible.
Do you think you could get me in contact with the quality engineers you know through linkedin or something if they're willing to tell me more about their job? No worries if not I just want to speak to as many quality engineers as possible.
Original post by user8937264980
So are quality and manufacturing engineering (the jobs not degrees) pretty different?
Do you think you could get me in contact with the quality engineers you know through linkedin or something if they're willing to tell me more about their job? No worries if not I just want to speak to as many quality engineers as possible.
Do you think you could get me in contact with the quality engineers you know through linkedin or something if they're willing to tell me more about their job? No worries if not I just want to speak to as many quality engineers as possible.
Where I work, they are definitely pretty different. Not sure about other companies. Manufacturing engineers are more concerned about the processes and the output. We want to be able to make as much product as we can to the given standards. Quality engineers are on the sidelines helping us to achieve that through monitoring the parts that we use and helping us investigate problems. For example, I could be investigating a problem with a valve and discover that the common factor in all failing valves is part X. I would then go to the quality lab and ask the quality engineers to help me figure out what's wrong with it. How they will do that will depend on what part it is. This can involve anything from measuring it on a CMM, cylindricity check, spring tester, hardness tester, checking for damage under a microscope, checking runout etc. They can also help me through looking at the paper work the supplier has sent over with the parts. That's how they can check material specs of the parts - whether they have been certified to meet a specific standard etc. Some of it I can do myself but a lot of it is specialized stuff. They also make most of the decisions regarding what to do with components that aren't up to spec (do we sent them back and raise the issue, can we still use them because it's not a critical problem, can we fix the issue in house etc.). Some of them do investigation work as well - e.g. we consistently see damage on component Y, why is that and how can we fix it. I assume in some companies the job of a quality engineer might also be mixed with warranty claims etc, which the manufacturing engineers are typically not concerned with.
I'm sorry but I'm trying to keep myself as anonymous on here as I can, so I'd prefer not to mix TSR with my job. I hope you understand.
Ok, thank you for all the help. No worries and all the best
Original post by user8937264980
Hi, hope everyone's well
I'm doing my A-Levels right now. I've got an offer for Mechanical Engineering at Uni of Leeds and an offer for a Quality Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at Bentley where I study Manufacturing Engineering at Uni of Warwick.
I plan to do a Mech Eng Masters and become a mechanical engineer designing high-performance or sustainable powertrains in future.
I've always thought a degree apprenticeship is for me as I've had work experience with automotive companies and really enjoyed doing proper work. Uni + internships would also be cool so my preference to an apprenticeship over uni isn't THAT biased.
However, quality and manufacturing engineering seem a bit boring to me and I worry that I may not be able to pursue my dreams if I choose this pathway and get those qualifications.
I'm not concerned about the differences between the unis as they are both top tier and that's not a deciding factor.
Would I be able to pursue a Masters in Mech Eng if I do the apprenticeship - as I assume having this Mech MEng will then take priority over my Manufacturing BEng and will be enough to have the necessary qualifications when applying to work as a mechanical engineer.
Any quality or manufacturing engineers or anyone doing similar degree apprenticeships - your opinion is invaluable even if you just wanna describe what you do and if you enjoy it.
TL;DR - can I do a Masters in Mech Eng and become a powertrain engineer if I have 4 years experience as a Quality Engineer and a Manufacturing BEng?
Thanks a lot
I'm doing my A-Levels right now. I've got an offer for Mechanical Engineering at Uni of Leeds and an offer for a Quality Engineering Degree Apprenticeship at Bentley where I study Manufacturing Engineering at Uni of Warwick.
I plan to do a Mech Eng Masters and become a mechanical engineer designing high-performance or sustainable powertrains in future.
I've always thought a degree apprenticeship is for me as I've had work experience with automotive companies and really enjoyed doing proper work. Uni + internships would also be cool so my preference to an apprenticeship over uni isn't THAT biased.
However, quality and manufacturing engineering seem a bit boring to me and I worry that I may not be able to pursue my dreams if I choose this pathway and get those qualifications.
I'm not concerned about the differences between the unis as they are both top tier and that's not a deciding factor.
Would I be able to pursue a Masters in Mech Eng if I do the apprenticeship - as I assume having this Mech MEng will then take priority over my Manufacturing BEng and will be enough to have the necessary qualifications when applying to work as a mechanical engineer.
Any quality or manufacturing engineers or anyone doing similar degree apprenticeships - your opinion is invaluable even if you just wanna describe what you do and if you enjoy it.
TL;DR - can I do a Masters in Mech Eng and become a powertrain engineer if I have 4 years experience as a Quality Engineer and a Manufacturing BEng?
Thanks a lot
If you want to work in powertrain/propulsion you need a very strong mechanical background. You need to be very good on fluids, thermal and increasingly electrical engineering. Although it depends exactly what you want to do in powertrain.
If you want to be hard focused on propulsion definetly go get an MEng/BEng+MSc in mechanical (or electrical) engineering and go get active experience in this area. You may find consultants are better then OEMs in the UK. Their is very little OEM propulsion work in the UK (JLR & Aston really), Mini/Bentley/RR etc. do this in Germany (via VW/BMW) but there are a lot of SMEs/consultants/suppliers that work on powertrain systems.
The Bentley apprenticeship is financially an excellent offering however I do think you'll find you are more limited in opportunities to move wherever you like in engineering. Ultimately manufacturing & quality is far less scientifically innovative then propulsion and early stages of R&D. But id also note powertrain R&D in the UK is not massive like it is in the US/Germany etc.
(edited 11 months ago)
Original post by mnot
If you want to work in powertrain/propulsion you need a very strong mechanical background. You need to be very good on fluids, thermal and increasingly electrical engineering. Although it depends exactly what you want to do in powertrain.
If you want to be hard focused on propulsion definetly go get an MEng/BEng+MSc in mechanical (or electrical) engineering and go get active experience in this area. You may find consultants are better then OEMs in the UK. Their is very little OEM propulsion work in the UK (JLR & Aston really), Mini/Bentley/RR etc. do this in Germany (via VW/BMW) but there are a lot of SMEs/consultants/suppliers that work on powertrain systems.
The Bentley apprenticeship is financially an excellent offering however I do think you'll find you are more limited in opportunities to move wherever you like in engineering. Ultimately manufacturing & quality is far less scientifically innovative then propulsion and early stages of R&D. But id also note powertrain R&D in the UK is not massive like it is in the US/Germany etc.
If you want to be hard focused on propulsion definetly go get an MEng/BEng+MSc in mechanical (or electrical) engineering and go get active experience in this area. You may find consultants are better then OEMs in the UK. Their is very little OEM propulsion work in the UK (JLR & Aston really), Mini/Bentley/RR etc. do this in Germany (via VW/BMW) but there are a lot of SMEs/consultants/suppliers that work on powertrain systems.
The Bentley apprenticeship is financially an excellent offering however I do think you'll find you are more limited in opportunities to move wherever you like in engineering. Ultimately manufacturing & quality is far less scientifically innovative then propulsion and early stages of R&D. But id also note powertrain R&D in the UK is not massive like it is in the US/Germany etc.
I don’t know what part of powertrain I want to work in specifically as I can’t seem to find out much about all the different roles. All I know is I’m fascinated by how they produce so much power and want to design and improve them even more.
I had work experience at an e-motor company and the design engineers there just designed the whole motor on CAD which I found interesting.
Automotive powertrain design is definitely limited here but a lot of the formula series design their cars and engine in the UK so if I can get my foot in someone’s door I’ll be ok.
I agree it is a million percent better financially but that’s not really the biggest of my concerns and recently I’ve been thinking uni + internships are probably better for what I wanna do.
Original post by user8937264980
I don’t know what part of powertrain I want to work in specifically as I can’t seem to find out much about all the different roles. All I know is I’m fascinated by how they produce so much power and want to design and improve them even more.
I had work experience at an e-motor company and the design engineers there just designed the whole motor on CAD which I found interesting.
Automotive powertrain design is definitely limited here but a lot of the formula series design their cars and engine in the UK so if I can get my foot in someone’s door I’ll be ok.
I agree it is a million percent better financially but that’s not really the biggest of my concerns and recently I’ve been thinking uni + internships are probably better for what I wanna do.
I had work experience at an e-motor company and the design engineers there just designed the whole motor on CAD which I found interesting.
Automotive powertrain design is definitely limited here but a lot of the formula series design their cars and engine in the UK so if I can get my foot in someone’s door I’ll be ok.
I agree it is a million percent better financially but that’s not really the biggest of my concerns and recently I’ve been thinking uni + internships are probably better for what I wanna do.
Designing engine & motor components is a design role within Powertrain, and slightly easier to get.
if you want to work on Powertrain development i.e. how can you calibrate an engine, or develop a novel operating strategy - then working at facilities where they do Powertrain research such as the consultancies
/suppliers probably has got more going on.
youll probably need to pick between the electrical route with e-motors or mechanical route for engines (motors use electromagnetic theory) whereas engines are mostly thermodynamics. Although there dome exceptions such as how you cool an e-motor being inherently mechanical (although this only applies to very high speed motors really). Lots of people on the r&d side in Powertrain even have PhDs although most of the innovation here doesn’t happen in OEMs (at least in the UK). The OEMs wait for good solutions to come along and then buy/license them from consultants/suppliers.
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