3 ms·

Going mechanical engineering in the U.S. is such an incredibly poor ROI at this point, it’s ridiculous. My observations have led me to believe MBAs presume ever

by s5300 4y ago

Going mechanical engineering in the U.S. is such an incredibly poor ROI at this point, it’s ridiculous. My observations have led me to believe MBAs presume everything can be outsourced to India or Soviet satellites. Unsure of where that’s going to lead us, but I know a lot of salty MechE’s who genuinely wanted to be MechE’s for whatever reasons they had, but just can’t pass up the salary increase to be had in… other lines of work - including being a simple handyman plumber.

iancmceachern 4y ago
I dont agree. In tech, med device, aerospace, etc. a Mech E can do very well, especially in relationship to the average american.
dieselgate 4y ago
Another factor is the ease with which someone can be self-employed. It's much easier to sustain a 1 person handyman than mechanical engineering business. (I wouldn't call it "simple" though personally) Edit: if being self employed is appealing for the individual.
jmole 4y ago
We don't have the manufacturing capability in the US to make use of a boatload of really good MechE's here. There's sort of 3 paths I've seen among ME's I know: 1) Product Design at large tech company who can make consumer electronics in the millions overseas, 2) SMB work/freelance – doing odd jobs for themselves or small businesses: making specialized manufacturing equipment for low-volume high-value US MFG, doing small runs of "designer" accessories for tech (e.g. phone cases), or specializing in a niche field that interests them like mountain biking, and 3) switching to a better paid field like EE/CS after they discover that mechatronics is on par with biomedical engineering in terms of demand for engineers who know a little about everything, but aren't super deep in one particular area.
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  Option 4) find a niche to specialize in, like medical devices or aerospace and develop a deep skillset in that, a track record of delivering real results. It doesn't matter what door you come in, chemist, various engineering degrees, if you get good at thr business of delivering what companies want they don't care what your degree is in.
stonecharioteer 4y ago
I studied mechanical engineering in India and switched to software because it's extremely poor ROI even here. You get staggeringly higher pay if you're a good developer. I teach CS grads, and this is becoming so clear to me that not everyone seems to be good at doing this stuff. When someone outsources to India, and then complains about bad quality, it's because the way kids pick disciplines is purely based on the perceived prestige and the money. Every other field pays less than engineering, and every other discipline pays less than CS. Our testing system, the JEE, makes it hard for anyone to get what they're passionate about. They only get good at taking standardized tests. Very few people are lucky enough to be able to pivot to doing what they love and are good at.

by s5300 4y ago

iancmceachern 4y ago

I dont agree. In tech, med device, aerospace, etc. a Mech E can do very well, especially in relationship to the average american.

dieselgate 4y ago

Another factor is the ease with which someone can be self-employed. It's much easier to sustain a 1 person handyman than mechanical engineering business. (I wouldn't call it "simple" though personally) Edit: if being self employed is appealing for the individual.

jmole 4y ago

We don't have the manufacturing capability in the US to make use of a boatload of really good MechE's here. There's sort of 3 paths I've seen among ME's I know: 1) Product Design at large tech company who can make consumer electronics in the millions overseas, 2) SMB work/freelance – doing odd jobs for themselves or small businesses: making specialized manufacturing equipment for low-volume high-value US MFG, doing small runs of "designer" accessories for tech (e.g. phone cases), or specializing in a niche field that interests them like mountain biking, and 3) switching to a better paid field like EE/CS after they discover that mechatronics is on par with biomedical engineering in terms of demand for engineers who know a little about everything, but aren't super deep in one particular area.

iancmceachern 4y ago
Option 4) find a niche to specialize in, like medical devices or aerospace and develop a deep skillset in that, a track record of delivering real results. It doesn't matter what door you come in, chemist, various engineering degrees, if you get good at thr business of delivering what companies want they don't care what your degree is in.

stonecharioteer 4y ago

I studied mechanical engineering in India and switched to software because it's extremely poor ROI even here. You get staggeringly higher pay if you're a good developer. I teach CS grads, and this is becoming so clear to me that not everyone seems to be good at doing this stuff. When someone outsources to India, and then complains about bad quality, it's because the way kids pick disciplines is purely based on the perceived prestige and the money. Every other field pays less than engineering, and every other discipline pays less than CS. Our testing system, the JEE, makes it hard for anyone to get what they're passionate about. They only get good at taking standardized tests. Very few people are lucky enough to be able to pivot to doing what they love and are good at.