r/Engineers

Can anyone please help me out how is engernering in Pakistan for women also I wanna know which engernering feild is better for women as I have heard that there is no scope for engernering in Pakistan especially for women as there is also security issues as it is a male dominated feild please I wanna know if some women is actually pursuing engernering I need guidance that if I should go for electrical ,civil engineering or should I not pursue engernering I really need help🙏🏻

i’m considering majoring in astronautical engineering but i’m worried that it is too niche and will not be as good as ee or meche in terms of job opportunities and salary. i like astro engineering better tho, and from what i can tell, it mainly feeds into defense companies which i’m not sure i want to work in. anyone have any advice?

Hey everyone,
I’m meeting with my college counselor next week because I’m thinking about changing my major. I originally planned on pursuing Computer Science, but after realizing that job market is cooked I started looking into engineering and built my first Arduino robot arm, I realized I enjoy working on hardware, electronics, and programming physical machines much more than I enjoy the idea of sitting behind a screen writing software all day.
I’m now seriously considering switching to engineering, but I’m still trying to figure out which discipline makes the most sense.
A little about me:
I’m located in the Los Angeles County area (Burbank, San Fernando Valley, Palmdale/Lancaster area).
I’m planning on transferring to earn a bachelor’s degree.
I have a young daughter, so employability and job stability are extremely important to me.
I still want to enjoy what I do because I plan on doing this for the next 30-40 years.
I’m hoping engineers who actually work in the field can give me some honest advice.
Here are my questions:
If you were starting over today in Southern California, would you choose Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or another engineering discipline?
Which engineering fields have the strongest job market in the Los Angeles/Burbank/Palmdale area today, and which do you think will still be in demand 3 years from now when I graduate?
Which engineering fields are becoming saturated, and which ones are still relatively underserved?
I’m really interested in robotics, embedded systems, automation, controls, aerospace, and defense. Which engineering major gives me the best balance between interesting work and strong job opportunities?
How difficult is it to break into aerospace or defense as a new graduate? Do most of those jobs really require security clearances?
Do visible tattoos, specifically a neck tattoo, realistically affect hiring in engineering, aerospace, or defense? I’m looking for honest answers from people who have actually worked in those industries.
If you could go back to your freshman year, what skills, projects, certifications, or internships would you focus on to become more employable by graduation?
I’m not looking for the “highest paying” major. I’m looking for a career that I can genuinely enjoy while also providing stability for my daughter. I’d really appreciate hearing from engineers who have been in the industry and can share what they’ve experienced.
Thanks in advance for any advice

I'm doing some research to better understand the software engineers actually use in industry and where the biggest productivity pain points are.

I'm interested in both professional tools and the smaller utilities you can't live without.

Some examples:
\- CAD: SolidWorks, CATIA, Creo, Inventor, Fusion 360, NX
\- Simulation: ANSYS, Abaqus, COMSOL
\- Electrical: Altium Designer, KiCad, OrCAD, LTspice, PSpice
\- Controls: MATLAB/Simulink, LabVIEW
\- PLC/SCADA: TIA Portal, Studio 5000, Ignition
\- Programming: VS Code, Visual Studio, Eclipse
\- Other engineering tools you use regularly

A few questions:

\- Which software do you spend the most time in?
\- What's the most repetitive or frustrating task you do every day?
\- Is there a feature you've always wished existed but still doesn't?
\- Are there tasks you still have to do manually because the software makes them painful?
\- If you could improve one engineering tool tomorrow, what would you add?

I'm especially interested in hearing from mechanical, electrical, civil, controls, embedded, HVAC, manufacturing, and automation engineers, but I'd love to hear from anyone.

Not trying to sell anything—I'm just trying to understand where engineers lose the most time so I can identify opportunities for better tools. Looking forward to hearing what drives you crazy every day.

I’m working on a personal project to build a more visual and interactive engineering learning platform, and I'd really appreciate feedback before I spend a lot of time building new content.

Instead of organizing everything as individual courses, I'm thinking about grouping content into "Learning Studios" focused on different disciplines. Each studio could include tutorials, interactive tools, simulations, calculators, workflow examples, visual guides, practice problems, and downloadable resources.

Here's the structure I'm considering:

\## Engineering
\- Electrical Engineering
\- Mechanical Engineering
\- Civil & Structural Engineering
\- Aerospace Engineering
\- Mechatronics & Robotics
\- HVAC Engineering
\- Plumbing Engineering
\- Fire Protection Engineering
\- Industrial Engineering
\- Manufacturing Engineering
\- Chemical Engineering
\- Environmental Engineering
\- Geotechnical Engineering

\## Technology
\- Software Engineering
\- AI & Machine Learning
\- Cloud Computing
\- Enterprise IT
\- Networking
\- Cybersecurity
\- Data Science
\- IoT & Edge Computing

\## Engineering Software
\- SolidWorks
\- CATIA
\- Creo
\- Siemens NX
\- Fusion 360
\- Inventor
\- AutoCAD
\- Revit
\- Civil 3D
\- ANSYS
\- Abaqus
\- COMSOL
\- MATLAB & Simulink
\- LTspice / PSpice
\- KiCad
\- Altium Designer
\- VS Code
\- Visual Studio
\- Xcode
\- Android Studio
\- ArcGIS / QGIS

\## STEM Education
\- Calculus (including animated problem solutions)
\- Differential Equations
\- Linear Algebra
\- Statistics
\- Physics
\- Chemistry
\- Engineering Fundamentals
\- Interactive simulations
\- Worked examples
\- Practice quizzes

The goal is to create something that's more interactive than a textbook and more structured than searching through dozens of YouTube videos.

I'd love to hear your thoughts:

\- Which of these studios would you actually use?
\- What engineering software deserves better tutorials?
\- What topics were the hardest for you to learn?
\- What features are missing from existing engineering learning websites?
\- If you could add one thing to an engineering learning platform, what would it be?

I'm looking for honest feedback—good or bad. If you think I'm missing an important discipline or focusing on the wrong areas, I'd really like to know.

I recently started my first full-time job after graduating a month early. I accepted a position as a test engineer, and I felt that I had a clear understanding of the job description before starting.

My resume was up to date, and I was completely honest about my experience throughout the interview process. However, after starting the role, I’ve realized there’s a fairly significant gap between what the position seems to require in practice and the experience I currently have.

The role did require coding experience, which I had through college coursework and personal projects. However, it’s become clear that a much stronger scripting background is expected than I anticipated.

This is an associate-level position, and my team has told me that the expectation is for me to learn and grow over time. My concern comes from the fact that I’m working as a contracted engineer. Although the position is full-time and salaried with no defined end date for my contract, I worry that I may not be what the team expected, even though I was transparent throughout the hiring process and was hired in good faith.

I also recognize that I’m only in my first month and that it’s normal to feel overwhelmed at the beginning. I’ve been told to “drink from the fire hose” and to give myself some grace while I learn. Even so, I can’t shake the feeling that I may be behind where the team needs me to be.

I’m not asking for pity or motivation but personal experiences that engineers can share about how they got through the feeling.

Hey guys,

I am confused whether to pursue a degree in medicine or engineering (likely mechanical or aerospace). Adelaide uni seems to be a good option for myself.

I am nearing the end of my highschool, and have been gaining interest in biology and how fascinating the human body is. However, I am unsure whether that is enough to push me through medical school and pursue being a doctor.

Regarding engineering, I am strong with my maths and I like physics, alongside problem solving and design. I am not too focused on electrical or computer based engineering, and am more interested in mechanical or aerospace. This is because I want to do engineering for defence related projects (especially with design/innovation) OR the space industry (i love space), and think those options align well with it. However, I have heard that there is limited opportunity for design with the ADF. Would it be good to pursue the degree normally in uni (eg. mechanical) then go with a contractor such as BAE, to get more involved in the design of secure projects alongside a good pay (estimate?). Or is the space industry in adelaide growing and a good option?

Im 17 years old, going into senior year of high school, and I want to be a mechanical ​engineer and have been from when I was young. I am capable of the workload, have good grades (around a 3.9 weighted and that's only that low because I threw freshman year) ​and my family can cover a UMass school for me to attend (I live in mass). I've heard the job market is way oversaturated​, so what can I specialize in so I can find a job? Are there ways to avoid hating my job and being underpaid after college? Should I maybe check out a different engineering major? What can I do?

As a highly experienced Mechanical Engineer in the US, I’ve come here to warn you against pursuing a career as a Mechanical Engineer or getting a mechanical engineering degree

1. The pay is extremely mediocre for the effort.

In the past, the median Mechanical Engineer would outearn about 80% of the population. This has fallen to about 70% and continues to plummet with no end in sight. The median Mechanical Engineer now has earnings no different than a man with any generic bachelors degree.

Given current BLS trends, Civil Engineers have very likely passed Mechanical Engineers in median earnings, meaning Mechanical Engineering would be the lowest paying engineering career.

Likewise, one can earn as much as a Mechanical Engineer by picking up a “healthcare trade”, an associates degree in something like Dental Hygiene or Xray Technology.

2. Mechanical Engineering is marketed as “broad and general”, that’s no longer a good thing in 2026

Mechanical Engineering is marketed to prospective college students (remember, colleges are a business selling a product, beware of their marketing tactics) as a “broad” degree that can allow you to “work in any industry”. This is something that used to be true to some extent but no longer is.

First off, it’s empirically incorrect. When we look at job placement rates at different colleges for 2022-2025 grads, ME grads have lower placement rates than grads with other engineering degrees that are less “broad”. This fact along throws a huge wrench in the “broad” marketing line, if MEs were desirable in every industry, one should expect them to have higher placement rates even if the pay was lower. Instead, we get low placement and pay.

Second off, when this statement did have a smidgeon of truth to it, the US economy looked a lot different. The largest companies were oil companies. Manufacturing employed a lot more people. White collar work in general was much less competitive. Nowadays, two of the biggest industries, tech and healthcare, have zero overlap with Mechanical Engineering. You are not broadly employable in the modern US economy. White collar work in general is also dramatically more competitive, employers have more choices so they want specialists, not just generic smart guys.

3. Manufacturing has no real future in the US

Manufacturing is like the bread and butter industry for MEs. Many ME graduates don’t end up in design roles, they end up in ancillary engineering roles created as a result of manufacturing physical products being so complicated (think of roles like production engineer, quality engineer, process engineer, sales engineer, test engineer). If manufacturing leaves the US, so do all of these roles, almost immediately. People will say “oh, you can still design things in the US and manufacture them elsewhere!” and that’s true, but there’s simply a longer delay between when manufacturing leaves and when design work leaves, the knowledge loss from being away from the product you’re making doesn’t show up immediately, it’s a generational thing.

4. If you’re smart enough to get an ME degree, you’re smart enough to make a lot more money doing something else

You would likely make a lot more money in medicine or law or tech, or you’d make the same money in less stressful careers. The US economy has a lot of extremely high paying roles (400k+) in 2026, mechanical engineers do not have access to those roles.

I'm studying physics right now, and i want to do masters in engineering. Is it possible? ofcourse nepal ma ta mildaina aba, what about abroad? Does anybody know anything about it?

Eight years into my manufacturing career and I'm still trying to figure out which box I fit in.

I started as a CNC machinist on aerospace components. Became lead machinist by asking why we did things a certain way and building a better fixture. Moved into process engineering. Taught myself Python because our production tracking lived in spreadsheets that were one person leaving away from total collapse. Built a custom analytics platform that operators now run themselves. Designed and machined fixtures still running in production today. Run time studies, capacity planning, ergonomics work.

The job market wants to know: are you a Manufacturing Engineer, an IE, a Data Analyst, or a Machinist?

I'm all four simultaneously and it creates a genuinely weird situation when applying for jobs. Too much for entry level. Wrong credential for senior. Builds software but not a software engineer. Does floor work but not just a machinist.

I've had recruiters find me specifically because of the combination — Python plus cost reductions in the same profile apparently stands out. I've also had applications disappear because nothing matched the expected template cleanly.

Curious if others have navigated this. Did you pick a lane eventually? Did the right company find you? Or are you still figuring it out too?

I’m an engineer and I’ve been building free engineering learning resources, and it got me thinking about how much time students spend searching for good explanations instead of actually learning.

When I was studying (and even now), I found that many engineering topics are either:
Too theoretical
Poorly illustrated
Spread across dozens of websites and YouTube videos

I’m curious…

What is the one resource you wish existed for engineering students?

Examples:
Interactive circuit simulators
Better CAD tutorials
Real-world design examples
Step-by-step project walkthroughs
Interview and internship preparation
FE/PE exam resources
Electrical, mechanical, civil, or software engineering visual guides

I’m collecting ideas and would love to hear what current students struggle with the most.

What’s the biggest gap in engineering education that you’ve experienced?

I’m confused on which one to choose basically. Since I’m equally confused about which course content I like, I would like to ask how’s the lifestyle with these two courses. Do u regret taking either? How’s the job opportunities and satisfaction?

Two arguments I’ve seen are:

Mechatronics will have hard time finding job as people would rather hire specialists in mechanical, software and electronics.

Mechanical engineering will have hard time finding job due to the progressive shift in tech and integrated system

Any comments on these arguments?

Any info would be helpful thank you🙏 Need to confirm before July 5

Well technically earlier I wanted to go for automobile engineering in upes for bachelors and go to Europe for my master afterwards. Now I have reconsidered to do mechanical engineering instead of automobile engineering as it is a specialisation from Mechanical engineering and doing Automobile engineering specialisation in my masters from Europe afterwards because it will not reduce my options after doing bachelors and also Public Universities from GERMANY don't consider Automobile engineering specialisation and it would be easier for me to be flexible for choosing universities for my MASTER'S.

PLEASE GIVE AN OPINION

I’m starting engineering school next semester and I’m stuck deciding what setup makes the most sense.

Right now I have:

• A powerful Windows desktop at home, which I don’t believe will struggle with engineering software.
• An M4 MacBook.

I’ve seen countless engineering students say an iPad is one of the best purchases they made because handwritten notes, annotating lecture slides, and solving problems during class make studying much easier.

The problem is I can’t afford to buy an iPad outright. The only realistic way to get one is to sell my MacBook.

So my options are:

• Keep the MacBook and use it to take my notes alongside my Windows desktop.
• Sell the MacBook and buy an iPad, relying on my Windows desktop for engineering software.

For those of you who have been through an engineering degree, which setup would you choose? Did you find an iPad more valuable than having a laptop, or would you keep the laptop and skip the iPad?

I’m interested in hearing from people who have actually used these devices throughout an engineering degree. What worked well, and what would you do differently?

hii!! i'm currently a high school student and i'm at an IT vocational school, i want to work in nascar or formula 1 (but rn nascar is kinda more of a goal for me even tho i've been into formula 1 waay before nascar bc #growingupandlivingineurope ) i definitely DON'T want to study electrical or mechanical engineering (my mom is too against these, she thinks they're way too mainstream) i might study computer engineering, but i was curious to knowing if i could be a race engineer with that degree? if not, then what degrees would be more useful?? thanks xxxx

Hi I am planning to get a pair of headphones to study on bus and at home. Which one of Bose QuietComfort Ultra and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen2 have better ANC feature??

I currently got enough rank to pursue civil engineering and mechanical engineering in a gec. I don't know which one to take. I was thinking mechanical engineering but my parents say civil engineering is better for girls and mechanical doesn't have many psu govt jobs like civil but it is my choice. But some say mech is better. Now I'm all confused. Idek why I was leaning towards mech in the first place anyways. Does mech have chances in both private and public sector? Please somebody help me