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Cortman 1

Joshua Cortman

Ms. Stark

ENC 2135, Section 10

8 February, 2017

Mechanical Engineering

Introduction:

I have always loved building new things as a kid and every time I use a new piece of

technology, curiosity floods my mind as I attempt to understand how it works. Little did I know

that my curiosity was developing into a passion for mechanical engineering. However, now that I

am here at Florida State University as a mechanical engineering major, I feel I still have a lot to

learn about how to get involved here and how to begin building credentials as I look to begin a

career in the field of engineering. Regardless of where I focus my education and interests, I am

confident that an engineering degree will provide me with the skills required to be successful in a

variety of careers. You can find engineers in human resource departments, in accounting firms,

editorial staffs, and medical settings. You also see cross-engineering jobs where mechanical

engineers, for example, work in civil engineering or electrical engineering (GONZALEZ,

2016). I plan to focus on life within the major and the opportunities available to me.

Engineering is known for being one of the most difficult undergraduate degrees with a

heavy course load especially in math and science. As described by a mechanical engineer, Core

science and math classes form the foundation for learning the analytical tools mechanical

engineers use when solving problems. Therefore, its important for students who are prospective
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engineers to keep working hard in those areas (Sullivan, 2011). While I am worried about the

difficulty of the course work, Im looking forward to the challenge and hope that what I have

learned from others will make me more prepared to handle the work. I hope through the

interviews I could provide a clearer understanding of the differences and similarities between

different disciplines. I am excited to learn about ways to become involved outside the classroom

whether it be research opportunities, internships or clubs. I also hope to gain different

perspectives regarding graduate degrees and how they could influence promotions or immediate

job opportunities.

Methods:

First, I interviewed Daniel Cerrutti, a junior mechanical engineering major here at Florida

State university. Before Mr. Cerrutti, I didnt know any upper level engineering and I was very

excited to learn more about his perspective and opinions of the engineering program at FSU. I

asked him a variety of questions to get a better understanding of why he chose mechanical

engineering, his experiences so far, and what he hopes to do with his education. My questions

included: Why did you choose mechanical engineering? When did you know you wanted to do

mechanical engineering? Why did you choose FSU? Why did you choose mechanical

engineering over other disciplines? What are the benefits and drawbacks of mechanical as

compared to other disciplines? As a junior in the major what do you think about the difficulty of

coursework? How does the difficulty Compare to other disciplines from what youve seen? Have

you had any relevant internships or jobs? What type of job are you looking for and why? Any

idea what youre doing after graduation and where do you hope to be in the next 5 years? Based

on what youve seen from employers, statistics etc. What do you think about the credibility of
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FSU engineering program and the opinions of employers? How could I get involved outside the

classroom? Any general regrets or recommendations?

I wanted to hear some of the experiences and opinions of an engineering professor as

they have gone through engineering education themselves and gone on to teach it to others.

Because of this they have a clear understanding of the education process. I chose to speak with

the professor for my intro to engineering lab, Dr. Melodee Moore. She went to Howard

university to obtain a Bachelors degree in chemical engineering and went on to get her doctorate

in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University. As the professor for an intro class, she has

a broad understanding of all the different disciplines and has had contact with students of all

disciplines offered at the FAMU-FSU engineering college. I asked her first about her experiences

with engineering and went on to ask more about her opinions on the different disciplines of

engineering and their consecutive course difficulty and job outlook. I asked her the following

questions: What did you get your undergrad and graduate degree in? What research have you

done? Have you had a job in the field outside of the classroom? What did you like/dislike about

it? How would you compare mechanical with other disciplines (specifically electrical industrial

and civil) as far as difficulty as undergraduate? How does job outlook and salary compare for

different disciplines? What should I do this semester to help me decide which discipline I want to

focus on? What could I do to get a better general idea of each discipline? What should I start

doing now to find internships and job opportunities other than engineering day? What should I

do to build my resume and gain experience? How could I get involved outside the classroom?

How beneficial is a graduate degree from employers perspective? How would a graduate degree

influence salary and future promotions?


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I also hoped to obtain a better understanding of the job field from someone who

experienced it themselves. I interviewed my uncle Michael Renaud who graduated from The

University of Connecticut with a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, He went on to

work for Texas Instruments, and Peak technology before starting his own company, Kare

Technology, with two business partners. I was excited to learn from someone who has been

working in the field for a while, obtained a job directly out of school, and has seen and worked

with engineers throughout his career. I began by asking him about his college experience and

extra-curricular involvement. I went on to ask him more about his career experiences, his

company, his partners, and his views on an education in engineering and the relevance of

graduate degrees in the industry. I asked the following questions: Where did you get your

bachelors degree and what was it in? Why and when did you choose mechanical engineering as

your major? What is your personal opinion on different disciplines (mechanical, electrical, and

industrial) as far as job outlook and variety of applications? Why didnt you pursue a masters

degree? Did you have any internships before graduating? Did you have any extra-curricular

involvement while in school? How did you get a job with TI? What were you doing for them?

Who did you work for after TI and why did you want to start your own company? What degrees

do your business partners have? How and what types of engineering are relevant and

incorporated with your company? What, specifically, do you do? From what youve experienced

and seen in the engineering field and with your business how important/helpful do you think a

graduate degree is?

Results:

Mr. Cerrutti was very open to sharing his own experiences whether it be success, failure,

or dreams. This helped to provide me with an accurate interpretation of difficulties supported by


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real experiences. He chose mechanical engineering due to his life-long interest in cars. my dad

was a mechanic and that is my special interest. Im in the formula 1 club right now for example

and while everything Im doing now is on paper, Ill get to start doing more hands-on design and

construction. While Mr. Cerrutti chose mechanical because of his dream to work on cars

someday he also said that upon making the decision for which discipline to stick with, it is

important to look at the classes and teachers. Mr. Cerrutti was a physics major for a semester but

switched to engineering after feeling intimidated by the professors and classes. After asking Mr.

Cerruttis opinion on the differences between disciplines he said that he has had some experience

with electrical since some of the classes converge but most of the people he knows are in

mechanical and thats the only discipline he has really dabbled in. He has a friend who is an

electrical engineering major but his experiences as far as difficulty did not differ much from

Mechanical. He said that once youre in the major, teachers and advisors are there to support you

and do everything they can to help you do well on move on in your field. Some teachers will put

large curves if a class is very difficult and students have consistent and widespread troubles. One

specific recommendation was you will have a class called ME tools in your first semester. In

that class youll learn MATLAB. Once you learn it, dont forget it because you will go a year

without using it but after that you will need to know how to use it again and its easy to forget if

you dont review. When I asked about his relevant work experience he said that he plans to

intern with his uncle in Ohio who graduated with a mechanical engineering degree but now

works for a company which provides backup generators to hospitals all over the U.S. he

recommended to take an internship whenever the opportunity is there. As far as ways to get

involved on campus, he recommended joining ASME (American Society of Mechanical

Engineers), and any other clubs which interest me such as SAE (Society of Automotive
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Engineering). He also suggested that I go to engineering day to network with companies and

look for internships and job opportunities. (Cerutti, 2017)

Dr. Moore was quick and concise with most of her responses but provided some very

helpful information and was very willing to share her opinions. Her research area for graduate

school was biomechanics and she was working with a group of students to learn more about how

stress on veins effects healing. When I asked her about her experiences outside of the classroom,

she said I had an internship at Merck and company which is a pharmaceutical company. The

first two summers I worked in the area of project management so I was mostly in an office and I

would take occasional trips out into the field. My favorite experience was my third summer when

I was in technical operations which was a division of Merck manufacturing which means I was

on site verifying new materials. When I asked her for an opinion on the differences in the

difficulty between different disciplines, she said the difficulty depends more on your personal

interests than course work. For mechanical engineering she said issues come in with issues using

math learned previously. As far as job outlook and growth, Dr. Moore felt that all fields are

growing and again the important part of picking a discipline is choosing your passion because if

youre passionate about something then you are more likely to successfully implement the skills

youve obtained and be successful regardless of what the numbers and salaries say. When I asked

what I should do to help me make my decision and get a broad understanding of different

disciplines, she, similar to Mr. Cerrutti, suggested I join ASME, IEEE (Institute of electronics

and electrical engineers), IIE (institute of industrial engineers) to get a broad understanding of

each discipline. She said these clubs are a great place to meet older students who have had

internships and experience with classes. Upon asking the best route to take to build my resume,

she suggested taking summer classes this coming summer so that Ill be able to do internships
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during the summer following my sophomore and junior year. When I asked her about her opinion

on graduate degrees, she said itll make a difference on hiring and progression through a

company. If you take a job right after getting your bachelors degree, it is difficult to come back

because the money is too good. I always say that if youre considering a masters degree, get it

right away. (Moore, 2017)

Although it was not the first conversation about mechanical engineering Ive had with my

uncle, he was excited to help me in any way he could. He shared his own experiences throughout

college and went on to explain some aspects of the job field and some of his opinions regarding

the importance of grades, internships, and graduate degrees. When I asked him why he pursued

mechanical engineering, he replied, my father had a lot of tools and was a very handy guy. I

would always tinker with different things in the garage and my dad even had a section set aside

for me to work on my own projects and thats where my love for mechanical engineering came

from. When I asked about his opinion on different disciplines, he said the most important skill

I gained from pursuing an engineering degree was the ability to think critically and thats

something thats really important once you start working. No matter what discipline you choose

youll gain the ability to think critically so just go for whatever interests you. When I asked how

he was involved as a student and how he recommends I get involved, he said he didnt get any

internships or join any engineering clubs but did work with his dad (in an engineering company)

as a floor worker. He strongly suggested looking for an internship and feels that it is something

employers look at heavily and it could very easily set you apart. (Renaud, 2017)

Conclusion:

I now feel much more prepared to complete my undergraduate degree and Im more

educated with regards to the job field and the benefits and drawbacks of obtaining a masters
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degree. Talking to a student, professor, and business owner provided me with various unique

perspectives towards mechanical engineering. Through talking to Mr. Cerrutti, I learned more

about how passionate many of the mechanical engineering professors and advisors are and I look

forward to working with them more in the future and learning more about my passion. Mr.

Cerrutti provided me with some suggestions regarding difficult classes and skills which are

important to retain. He also suggested that I make use of resources such as advisors and teachers

office hours. Hopefully, implementing his suggestions into my study habits over the next three

years will help me be successful in the difficult upper level classes. Speaking with Dr. Moore and

Mr. Renaud provided me with some helpful information regarding a masters degree and I now

feel more informed on whether or not I should pursue a graduate degree. They both agreed that if

I want to pursue it I should do it immediately rather than planning to come back to school after a

few years of work. They disagreed slightly however on the importance of obtaining a masters

degree. Dr. Moore seemed to stress its importance while Mr. Renaud described it more as another

way to set yourself apart from others. They both had interesting perspectives on graduate degrees

and although I was not originally planning on obtaining one, I certainly now feel more prepared

to make an informed decision when the time comes. Mr. Renaud heavily stressed the importance

of gaining internship experiences. He described it as an important hands-on experience and

another way to set myself apart. The third thing he stressed was the importance of grades. These

suggestions from Mr. Renaud and Dr. Moore will certainly help me properly build my resume in

a way that will set me apart from others. After speaking to others about engineering, Im more

excited than ever and I know Im on the right track. I am confident that their advice and opinions

will help me be successful as an undergraduate student as well as after graduation.

Works Cited
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Cerutti, Daniel. Personal interview. 30 Jan. 2017

GONZALEZ, CARLOS M. "What's the Difference between Engineering Degrees?" Machine

Design 88.9 (2016): 24-9. Print.

Moore, Melodee. Personal interview. 31 Jan. 2017

Renaud, Michael. Telephone interview. 1 Feb. 2017.

Sullivan, Megan. "Mechanical Engineer." Science Teacher 78.8 (2011): 74-5. Print.

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