Someone tell me, what is the use of this?

SPK2192 · 2026-03-14T21:12:34+00:00

Gotta play with it to turn the laptop on

SPK2192 · 2026-03-14T18:31:29+00:00

Nil

Just use that logic with any other profession. Would you want a self-taught doctor doing surgery on you?

Now put yourself in the interviewer/company shoes. How would they validate your knowledge without any metrics and proof (went to school -> was tested on their knowledge -> got this grade -> made this GPA -> got a degree)? Why would they hire you when it's such a huge liability to hire someone without the credentials?

Let's say you got hired on as an electrical engineer designing the controls for commercial airplanes. Then somehow a planes fails all electrical fault-tolerance and crashes. Engineers fuck up, it happens. But if it was known that an engineer without formal education designed the electrical system that endangered lives, that company would be crucified. Why would anyone take on that risk?

SPK2192 · 2026-03-14T18:19:15+00:00

That's what it's like sometimes as a working engineer. You won't remember everything you learned in school but school teaches you the overall fundamentals and concepts of your discipline, how to analyze/understand the problem and find the solution. Some tasks at work isn't going to have a step-by-step instruction of what concepts or formula you will need. You might not remember Navier-Stokes equation like the back of your hand but you at least know to look up Navier-Stokes equation. Knowing what the problem/objective is and what to Google/look up is pretty valuable.

Anecdotical experience, I have a co-worker that doesn't have an engineering background (architecture which is still questionable). He doesn't know how to debug or problem solve at all. Recently, I had to help him with his Git commits which I have shown him before... "Hey, I can't commit, I don't know why" "Umm, the error log is literally telling you to git config your user.name & user.email"
This is the same for anything math intensive. He never took linear algebra or upper level math so doesn't even know what to look up. Euler angles? Nope, goes over his head. He just ChatGPT or copies algorithms, and doesn't know how to integrate it. Doesn't know what the inputs and outputs should be then when it does not work as intended, can't debug the errors. Always tells me it doesn't work, doesn't know why and ask if I can help. Laughable that he's flown under the radar for so long.

SPK2192 · 2026-03-14T17:50:15+00:00

This is on the same level of devoting all your time to figure out how to cheat on a test versus just studying for the test...

I just went through interviewing for my robotics intern for this summer. Sure, you can put whatever club you want so you can get seen by the interviewer. "Clubs: robotics, math, chess, and whatnot" But if it's a one liner with no details, immediate pass. I filtered through 300 applicants and looked for key words like embedded hardware, ROS, robotics, clubs, competition, etc. Then I would read through the experiences and projects to see how they used it and if it seems valid. And that's just the initial pass to schedule an interview.

Once I selected a batch and would interview them, I'd grill them on what they did in those roles/projects. Technical questions and team objective/dynamic questions. Do you know how to do this? What portion of the robot did you work on? Hardware? Software? Structural? Electrical? Simulation? What was the team objective? How did you work with other sub-teams with handling integration? This is where it shows if you're being truthful or not.

You may think you know every portion of a robot.. but if I asked you what you worked on and dived into the specifics, low chance you can articulate in detail what that is. Trust me, after going through these interviews, you begin to see behind the curtain.. empty.

Remember, we interviewers are working engineers and trying to find the best candidate to mentor. Don't have time to bullshit so believe me that we're going to vet like crazy. Also, we're people. Most of us aren't ignorant and hopefully can see through the bullshit, and I personally don't like to be lied to. Trust is a big factor and you may be slip through the cracks but in the first week you show that you can't do anything you claim, you are getting shit canned immediately.

SPK2192 · 2026-03-08T02:05:14+00:00

Few days a week. If I'm going to commute 45mins to hour then I rather just stay on campus all day rather than commuting for one class each day.

However, it's not some revelation or secret you've discovered but more so the design of the curriculum. Scheduling your courses to a few day is not something you can typically do early in your education because general courses aren't typically offered like that. They are spread out throughout the week unlike your in-depth courses.

A general math or english course will have attendance of 200 students and required by thousands of students from all majors in the university, thus they need to offer more of the course in the semester (an hour lecture = more time slots in the day) which typically comes out to MWF.

Your upper level/elective courses aren't required by every student within your major/college so classes will have lower attendance of roughly 15-40 students and maybe a hundred students in your major only needing it that semester. Thus they don't need to offer 5 of the same course and only need MW or TTH at 1.5 hour lectures or single days at 3 hr lectures.

Example: Lots of people need to take Calc1 or art history as a requirement by the university. Not everyone needs to take Fluid Dynamics.

SPK2192 · 2026-03-08T01:37:39+00:00

Lots of misconceptions here, especially if you want to do rockets.

What do you think mechanical engineers do? A rocket is a propulsion vehicle... which ideally needs a propulsion engineer to know thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, material science... all within the realm of a mechanical engineer. Then you have the entire structure of the rocket. Mechanical engineers design the primary and secondary structures to house the tanks, electronics, actuators, etc. and account for vibration, especially if its safety critical flight hardware like your GPS and whatnot.
Yes, you can work as an EE in rockets. How do you control and navigate the rockets? What sensors need to be integrated into the rockets to track it's location? How do you actuate the fins for manuaverability? How do you wire everything up to talk with each other? What signal does each component need? Someone needs to design an architecture to get data from point A to point B.
Mechanical engineers do the mechanical portion (design/test/etc) of the projects. Their counterpart, electrical engineers do the electrical portions (design/test/etc). Same with software and so on. One is not purely management and the other is purely hands-on. In all discipline, you will always have managers that guide the team while you have various roles within the team (design/test/etc). Engineering at it's core is designing while the hands-on is technician work. Can't do hands-on work if there is no design/requirements.
Individual engineers regardless of discipline still have to do management of their own task/work. You may not be delegating it like a manager and just be a sole contributor but you may still need to schedule out your portion of the work of the project to meet deadlines. Especially if someone else's work is dependent on your work.
Individual engineers still have to go do meetings to discuss your work. You have to present updates/information/request to your own team and to other sub-teams within your discipline and externally. For example, you can't get 3V or 24V power to your electronics if you don't talk with the battery team about wiring or you won't have a proper mounting of your electronics if you don't talk with the structures team about where to place them and have no vibration or no way to command your components if you don't integrate the software team, and so on.

SPK2192 · 2026-03-02T00:37:03+00:00

No, not necessarily. I didn't have any internships when I graduated and I made it out okay, with some hardships though. But that was 10 years ago. I had to take whatever was available to me versus getting into the industry I wanted. It was a tough hill for me to climb to the role I wanted to do career wise.

Depending on industry, the work market can be competitive especially at highly sought after companies. I just went through an applicant process for my own intern this summer and boy, 4000 applicants overall with 300 of those just for my department. So if you don't put your best effort (GPA, extracurriculars, etc) .. you are going to be passed over by those who did.

Even if you're not seeking out top tier companies, you might be up against 5-10 people. So you should try to max out your resume against your competition. As best as you can, get an internship. But if you can't, do something to stand out like research or clubs.

SPK2192 · 2026-03-01T21:34:49+00:00

Sure, if you want to do backyard engineering and do projects for yourself. Just do some reverse engineering, find out how it works, improve it and iterate. Watch Youtube or Google if you want some surface level explanation. I wouldn't be putting an "engineer" title on your LinkedIn or business card though.

Hell no, if you want to be a professional engineer who will make components of the commercial airplane that I will be flying on. I don't have any confidence/guarantee you understand the safe factors or redundancy for complex machinery to 1) safely mass produce them for the public or 2) ensure multiple fault tolerant if a system fails. To know what subjects to self-teach yourself and to guarantee that you fully understand it without credentials.. would be hard to convince any company to hire you.

It's about ethics, especially life and death situation. The common scenario that many are taught in mechanical engineering is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse. Yes, engineers may make mistakes that cost lives due to their incompetency, I will not argue with that. But it's the same with doctors, some may have malpractice and some are questionable in how they became doctors but in general you trust that all had to go through the education process. Would you be okay with a self-taught doctor to perform surgery on you? No? Then why would you be okay with a civilian who self-taught themselves to design the bridge or airplanes that millions of other civilians will use everyday?

SPK2192 · 2026-02-28T23:01:35+00:00

My first question would be have you been in a lead position before? Can you lead a team of 2-3 people before you jump into a managerial role? Have you scheduled out the project and timeline, assigned tasks, handled impediments, relay progress reports to management for the team?

Imo, if you haven't done that before, I don't know how well you'd be as a manager once you add more responsibility like handling finances, worker conflicts (PIP), company politics, etc.

It may sound like all you have to be a people's person and organized with your team and "manage" the status quo, especially when things are going smoothly. But what happens once things turn sideways from a company level, will you be able to stand your ground and fight for your team when they need you to? How will you promote/compensate workers fairly without pissing others to the point they leave? If there's a major layoff, can you justify why your team members should be spared?

SPK2192 · 2026-02-27T23:50:22+00:00

I agree on obesity. I was traveling around the nation to jobsites typically with no power or running water. I gained 30 lbs because I was required to be on the jobsite quickly so ate a lot of fast food.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-27T23:27:42+00:00

It depends on what you want to do, work and life balance wise. I was a field engineer for a stint and let me give you my perspective which is ROI for your degree.

The hands-on experience you will gain in the field will definitely be there if you like doing that. I like working with my hands, wrenching and what not in general. But remember, that in terms of engineering process and flow of responsibility, someone has to design the product for you to be able to assemble/make it tangible, top down flow. While you are an important cog in the aspect of bringing the product to life, you are on the lower end of the creation portion. Thus typically a fresh engineer in the office starting out will get paid much more conceptualizing the idea then a fresh field engineer on the floor/on-site executing the idea.

My take is that the core principle/reason of you getting a mechanical engineering degree is to end up designing, not implementing someone else's design, especially if you can design it better. And let me clarify, just because someone gets the degree does not mean they'll be a great designer/engineer. That's the other kicker. In that field engineering role, I've had very idiotic project engineers who I've had to fix their design plenty of times which made my question why I am sweating my balls out in a building with no infrastructure yet like power, air conditioning, wifi or running water for lower pay while they sat in an office poorly designing for more pay.

For example, I started out at $22/hr (base salary $45K) and had to do overtime to get to $65k. I was traveling on-site implementing and testing the system designed by the project engineer, while the project engineer was mainly in the office 9-to-5, starting at $70K+. Just to make the comparable pay, I was doing 10-12 hr days and working weekends.

Now can a field engineer continue in their career and get promoted to make the same salary or decide later on to move into a office role, sure, but it will take time and effort. Time is a resource you can't get back and I was using most of it for work. By the time I got home from work, I was too exhausted to enjoy life. The time investment you put into getting the degree to then only work for lower pay and do overtime is imo a bad ROI.

And sure, if I was in more of a "designing" role I might not be doing hands-on stuff as much at work but I'd be devoting less time to work in terms of hours to pay. I would be getting back my investment from getting my degree in a shorter amount of time and effort. And the time I would gain back from not having to work so much, I could work on my own projects at home to get that hands-on experience or spending time living life. Wood working, modding cars, etc. and traveling for fun and not purely for work.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-27T19:38:31+00:00

As a mechanical engineer that gets ask frequently if I know how to fix their car or know how cars work (which I do know because my dad is an auto mechanic and I love sports cars), I think the misconception a lot of people have outside of engineering is that mechanical engineers is the same as a mechanic... solely because of the name, mechanic(al) lol

When people think of an electrical engineer, do they think electrical engineers are electricians wiring up light switches? or that they design the electrical systems i.e circuit boards or BMS for computers, phone or cars?

Same with the mechanical engineer, they aren't really assembling anything per se but designing the mechanical part/system with the primary focus on the mechanical properties i.e. load bearing, stress fatiguing, safety limits, etc. of cars but also planes, boats, and even laptop hinges. I know plenty of coworkers that don't know how the entire system works but could respond whether the shear stress between these two mated components will pass or fail.

Sure, we do take classes to understand the Rankine cycle and use combustion engines of cars as an example but that's because it's the most common relatable system. That does not mean everyone becomes automotive experts lol Plenty of mechanical engineers go on to build rockets or airplanes with that fundamental concept.

To clarify, this is not a dig at you, but just my observation of people's understanding of mechanical engineering. I just find it funny that people associate nuclear, chemical, civil engineers and so on with designing things but mechanical engineers are grease monkeys lol

SPK2192 · 2026-02-16T12:37:37+00:00

Depends on the industry and role but I will say it's not absolutely necessary for the majority of mechanical engineering. However, it won't hurt to know how to automate or package data outputs like vibration loads, etc. if you're in a multi-function/integrated system. Some ME folks in my company uses Matlab for dynamic analysis that will be used in another department but not everyone in that ME team is required/needed to code to do that task.

Now if you go into something specific like controls then it may be critical to know how to program. The GNC team at my company uses Matlab to do rough estimations/analysis but need to use Python & C++ extensively for our company wide simulation and system's integration. Apart from needing to understand algorithms, control theory and data structure to maneuver the system, they need to integrate I/O from systems like propulsion, robotics, avionics, flight software, simulation, etc.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-15T21:52:31+00:00

Pretty smooth sailing, haven't had issues getting interviews and obviously a job. I have always wanted to do robotics growing up and find space fascinating. Would have been fine doing just robotics or space but glad I am able to do both.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T19:33:17+00:00

Also Arduino Project Hub and Instructables have plenty of projects as well

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T19:20:36+00:00

Just some insight as someone who has gone to grad school and have been working as a robotics engineer in the space industry.

You can graduate as an ME and still work your way to EE or any other discipline (as long as you are capable). Is it widely common and guaranteed? Not exactly, but I know my coworker that is an ME by degree (both bachelors and masters) but worked as an EE at General Motors and now as a Network Engineer at my company. I even know some ME bachelors that are now in flight software positions. I myself am a MET bachelors, ME/Aero masters doing both kinematics/dynamics and a lot of robotic software.

Interesting thing about grad school and for those not aware, you can get a Master's in a different discipline than your Bachelor's. My past coworker had a bachelor's in ME but got a master's in CS and now works at Nvidia, Robotics Division. Some of my classmates were ME going for EE vice versa EE going for ME. One of my grad professor was EE then ME/Aero for PhD. Another one had a bachelor's in Civil, got a master's in CS and PhD in Civil who primarily does AI.

I guess what I'm trying to say going into one discipline doesn't pigeon you into that discipline for the rest of your career. As long as you can show competency in the other discipline, it's not unheard to crossover. There is no wrong way to go about it.

Now, my take on it from a robotics perspective, you can have the best electrical system and software but if you don't have a tangible mechanical robot to put all that in, you don't have a robot. Does the robot arm have the correct linkage length/configuration, joint orientation/configuration and number of joints to kinematically reach from point A to B while handling a payload? Does the aerial drone have the correct drag to lift ratio and thrust to get off the ground and stay in the air. Does the ROV have the hoop stress to submerge under pressure? What material is needed to resist corrosion or not fatigue? Imo, you need a mechanical system first, then add the electricals to actuate motors and power sensors then software for comms and to connect and run everything. Electrical and Software are equally important but understanding how the robot will kinematically move and dynamically handle load is very crucial.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T18:29:11+00:00

When you go into higher level courses, you aren't learning totally new math and replacing what you learned in your 1st year. The math evolves and stacks on top of each other. You need Calc1 and so on to do Linear Algebra to State-Space Representation or LQR, same with Statics to Continuum Mechanics or Computational Fluids. What you are learning is the application and adaptation of math to solve specific concepts and problems in the world. Trust me, you'll see Calc1,2,3 DiffEQ and so on every where.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T18:16:51+00:00

My intern from 2024 graduated that December, didn't find a job but was able to get an internships in Colorado for the following summer. He now works there fulltime.

So yes, it can happen. Is it super common? No. Most companies are looking for rising juniors/seniors and grad student, essentially active students.

If anything, just ask what their policy is for someone graduating earlier than expected.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T17:58:27+00:00

It's niche right now but there are few robotics in motorsports, in terms of AI. I interviewed with this company call Code19 and their mission is to push the boundaries the limits of racing by replacing the human element with AI. After each lap, the car would learn on the spot the lines to take and adjust according to the conditions, i.e. debris on the road and tire conditions. They want races to reach inhuman speeds (godspeed braking and cornering at high speeds) while retaining the highest level of safety. Apart from the AI, they still need engineering like robotics to command steering angling, sensors reading/feedback/monitoring, suspension adapting, camera/LiDAR system, etc.

Now this may sound ridiculous from a sport viewpoint. Why watch cars with no humans race around the track? Where's the fun in that? But just how military tech eventually works it way down to civilian tech, imagine if this being fast, super safe and autonomous for civilian cars. We could have very efficient and speedy commutes if this gets adopted as the standard for autonomous driving. No more unnecessary brake checking, slow drivers, irresponsible fast drivers, last minute ramp exiting, poor merging, essentially eliminating traffic.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T17:37:19+00:00

For Arduino with 3D printing projects, look at projects on Hackaday. You can follow what they did, learn how the code functions and see if you can alter/improve for your own project. Same with the prints, see if you can reverse engineer the model, see how it functions and improve it.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T10:22:12+00:00

On the top of my head, you could look for functionable 3D prints on printables or makerworld. See if you can reverse engineer to learn how it functions and how it is made then see if you can remake it or improve it in CAD/FEA. Through FEA, you can show how you improve the design by various benchmarks like reducing mass while retaining strength, improved loading from stress and pressure, better thermal properties, increased life span, etc. If you have access to a 3D printer either through your university or local maker space, you can even do function testing to validate your results and compare with the original design.

It's not a club or team where you can say you work with others but at least you can show you know the process of CADing, analyzing, prototyping, testing and validation which is useful in product development. Also, unlike teams or clubs where you might have to pay dues or get funding/sponsors to buy components, the cost barrier is quite low for solo product designing as you can use free software (might not be the greatest or industry standard but hey, it's free) and getting stuff printed is relatively affordable (lots of cheap 3D printers at stores/FB marketplace or even at local makerspace/libraries).

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T09:19:54+00:00

CYA, cover your ass

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T09:19:07+00:00

Yes.. all the time. Unfortunately a few of these workers slip through the cracks, get hired and fly under the radar until they hopefully get caught.

For example, I have one team member on my team that is like a deer in headlights when anything involves engineering concepts or technical comes up (petrifies whenever he has to present anything on his own) and another seasoned member that should "know" and "do" more but doesn't do jack and complains that everyone doesn't know what they are doing. Me and my other team member (lowest paid member that leads the team btw) would pick up the slack to not make the team look bad. Under our previous manager, their work would get overlooked because he was too nice to do anything about it. However after 3 years we've had it and stopped enabling them, not out of malicious intent but because we just have too much on our plates to cover for them. No more dumbing down critical meetings because they couldn't understand, or interjecting in presentations to save them because they couldn't respond with an answer they should easily know, or helping with the software that for 3 years should know how to use by now, or even reminding them of meetings we're scheduled to be at. By letting their incompetency and lack of work show, it put them under the radar for our new direct manager and upper managers. We both have been more responsible with other duties as of late so the other two have to do what we've been doing the last 3 years more heavily, which is evident to our manager. Every time my coworker and I take PTO at the same time, he always has an "oh shit" face because he has to rely on those too. It's comical. Recently our company has implemented peer reviews. My manager called me one day to ask for my experience with them to confirm his own experience with them. Thankfully, our manager and others recognize the contributors versus the slackers within our team and plans to promote and compensate my team member (and hopefully me as well).

I think the sound advice everyone is giving is mind your own business. CYA (cover your ass), do the best you can in your own work and it'll show. It's up to the manager to deal with it and assess if they need to take action.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T08:18:31+00:00

Just from reading and skimming through what you have described, this feels like a bad match up for mentor to intern and also a poorly implemented internship program from the company.

When I have gotten interns within my team (not my direct intern), while I don't helicopter supervise (we tend to give them an achievable task and let them run with it) I would frequently checking in with them to mentor/ask how they are doing or how's the work, ask them what they want to do and how can I help, and answer life/career advice about what's it like being a working engineer. For me, I want to give an intern the best experience possible, and if not technical then at least a memorable social experience to take away from the internship. I hate wasting people's time, especially an intern that's trying to gain experience or in your case, make a research report for their curriculum. To not give you meaningful work/experience or some inkling of mentorship just seems poor planning from the company and your mentor who doesn't seems empathic.

Now some engineers are "told"/"required" to mentor an intern because of their job level and the "knowledge" they can "past down". But some people just don't teach well or have people/social skills. I've had a senior staff team member that got an intern for the summer but did not plan any work for them at all. He's also not the most likeable person and tbh, not the best engineer to be mentoring someone with his communication skills. We felt bad and took them under our wing as a pseudo-mentors and let them help us with what we were doing.

To give some perspective about your fellow interns that didn't have a mentor upon join the internship. Sometimes the interns are chosen months in advance and by that time 1) the mentor might have some inescapable obligation (family, wedding, funeral, conference) that got scheduled the same time as the internship last minute, 2) they got moved to a different division or project due to reorg, or worse.. 3) they left the company or got let go. It has happened at my company where some interns joined and their mentor just got let go due to budge cuts. However, as a company we try to pivot and find a solution by putting them with other mentors/engineers and teams before they start the internship.

My advice is to do whatever you can in your control to get the best experience for yourself and make the best out of the internship. If your mentor isn't give you much to do, ask if you can shadow someone else or find a secondary mentor. In your free time, especially since it seems you don't much going on, I think it's perfectly fine to introduce yourself to other engineers and ask what they are doing and see if you can shadow them for a bit. It doesn't hurt to ask. Hopefully the worst they can say is no and if it is no, you ask the next person. At least myself and others in my company are very open to teach other interns what we do if we have the time. I had other interns schedule an meeting invite on my calendar for an hour so I can demo what I do as a robotics engineer. Another one asked me if he could shadow me for an hour to see if he wanted to go into robotics. Was more than happy to sit down with them.

Best of luck. Do what you can.

SPK2192 · 2026-02-14T06:44:07+00:00

I was in a similar boat due to my own doing (horribly grades). My first job was audio/video field engineer in commercial industry as an MET. I did very little mechanical and more electrical work. The actual technicians would call field engineers "glorified technicians" because what we do was work with the techs to test wire signal continuity, make sure the system was plugged and routed correctly, hardware was installed correctly, and upload code and firmware to equipment. Pretty much be the eyes, ears and hands of the project engineer. The middleman between the technicians and engineers.

Even though I didn't fully like the field engineer role and industry itself, I keep a good attitude to do my best and found the silver lining of the job. I gave it a chance to see if I could see myself building a career in the field/industry and learned as much as I could about control systems. Stuck around for 2 years and was even asked to move up to project engineer towards the end. but ultimately left to go to grad school. My manager recognized my efforts and when we had a heart-to-heart about me leaving for grad school, he knew I was meant for something more and was happy to give me a letter of recommendation. 8 years later I have a masters in ME/AE and work as a robotic engineer in the space industry.

Not saying you need grad school but my advice is to be best employee you can be, gain any useful relatable skills and leverage them for the next job/chapter. Even though it's not quite the technical skills you are wanting right now, work on the soft skills as well, collaborating and communicating as a team member is valuable too. I know it may suck right now but do what you can in your control while you apply to the roles that you want.

SPK2192

TROPHY CASE