HI! I'm international student and I need to travel from toronto to waterloo univeristy. I will be carrying two big luggage and a bunch of bags so how do you suggest I travel from toronto to waterloo and if I'm taking public transportation do I need to make any card in advance?
I’m starting Mechanical Engineering this fall and I’m trying to understand what Mechanical Engineering actually looks like in practice, beyond the courses.
I’m particularly interested in product design, manufacturing, and R&D, but I honestly don’t have a clear picture of what a mechanical engineer actually does day-to-day in these areas.
For current/recent Waterloo Mech students or grads:
What did your first co-op actually involve? What were you doing day-to-day?
How realistic is it to get a design/product development/R&D role for your first co-op?
If your first co-op is more manufacturing, quality, technician, drafting, etc., how easy is it to move toward product design or R&D in later co-ops?
What skills actually helped you get your first relevant co-op? (SolidWorks/CAD, GD&T, machining, programming, FEA, 3D printing, projects, design teams, etc.)
What does R&D actually mean for a mechanical engineer at a company? Is it genuinely developing new products, or more often improving/testing existing products?
For someone who likes designing physical products and figuring out how to manufacture them, which career path would you recommend?
Is there anything you wish you had known about Mech Eng careers before starting?
I’m not necessarily expecting my first co-op to be my dream role — I mainly want to understand what I should be aiming for and what I can do in first year to eventually get into product design/R&D.
Thanks!
Hiii I'm incoming mech eng student at Waterloo this fall and I requested stream 4 a couple months ago without thinking much about it and now that l researched more about it I realized I have to start applying for jobs a couple of weeks into the semester but l have zero experience soo l'm kinda panicking. Am I doomed?