I was originally admitted into my college's mechanical engineering program but due to lacrosse, I changed to 2x major in economics and history. Over this past summer I've picked up a 2k2 Impreza and after doing a little work on it here and there, I've really started to see the error in my ways. I've decided desk jockeying isn't for me and instead I'm going to get into the automotive field after I graduate.

I'm wondering, is anyone here a mechanical engineer or automotive? Eventually I'd like to get into the rally or touring circuit.

I am a mechanical engineer....but....my concentration isnt with automotives...

You wanna be a racer car driver? (you said you wanna be in the circuit)

Maybe not so much the driver but more like the one that builds the cars. Driver would be cool though....

Where I went to school, there was not a special sub-major under mechanical engineering that deals with automotives exclusively....

It generally splits into: solid mechanics (deals with stress/force), fluid mechanics (thermal), control (robotics, control signals)

Designing/building a car involves all three disciplines. So I guess a BS (bachelor degree) in ME should get you into a car company, and then as you work, you develop your specialty....

But I dont work for a car company :)

Our ME program at York makes you co op at least once a year and she said you can pretty much do anything you want. Maybe I can co op in Japan at Subaru....

I'm an Automotive Engineer with Mechanical Engineering degrees working at a really big car company ;).

From what I've heard, race team engineering doesn't really have a traditional career path. People mostly donate hundreds of hours until they're recognized as one of the "special" ones and become a valued commodity.

I'd say, get an engineering degree expecting to work at an auto company and pursue your rally interests initially through SCCA events and see where that leads you.

Originally posted by blue5spdwrxwagon
People mostly donate hundreds of hours until they're recognized as one of the "special" ones and become a valued commodity.


So true!

I'm finishing up my last year to get my Mech. Eng. Degree. Over the past few summers and work terms I've been working exclusively in automotive (27 months worth), more specifically for Magna Int. (competition for Lear and Delphi). One thing I found out real early was how the automotive industy is stuctured. An OEM rarely makes any parts of their car, they're basically just assemblers. Design and manufacturing is done by Tier1 suppliers, they buy they're sub assemblies from Tier2 suppliers and so forth. No one designs a whole car, one company designs a drivertrain, another the interior, another the suspension. The OEM's engineering responsibility mainly revolves around organizing this orchestra of design, and aloting contraints and goals to the Tier1 suppliers.

The reason why recognizing this is important is you're gonna wanna look as specializing in one particular aspect of automotive design. I'm pretty much roped into interiors, most specifically power actuated closures (sliding doors, liftgates). Its not as glamourous as motorsports, but its a segment that has good growth, and is pretty fast paced.

Regarding Motorsports... get on your school's formula SAE team. Thats every aspiring motorsports engineer's ticket.

We built our formula car at the shop that runs those 2 Mugen Powered Panoz cars in the ALMS. blue5spdwrxwagon is competely right, hours and hours of hard work are the only way to get ahead in motorsports. I originally aspired towards becoming a design engineer in the high end motorsports world, but after seeing what it takes out of some of these guys (most of them are divorced or single, they don't know what a weekend is, and they carry caffine pills in a pez dispenser!) I realy questioned if its worth it to me. Some of my friends are gung-ho on it. One of them landed a job with an Toyota Atlantic team (P1 racing).

Its something you have to commit yourself to early, and follow through on with alot of volunteering and plenty of sleepless nights.

Do the Formula SAE comp, if your school has an established team its nothing but good times. If you're gonna try starting one on your own, be ready for an ulcer!!

-Pete

I'll second Chunky_Chicken's comments. I just graduated in May with a Mechanical Engineering degree.

While I originally entered the field to do automotive related stuff I soon realized how difficult it can be to break into that industry. Besides, there were other industries I found that interested me as well.

I did formula SAE also, and it was definately one of the best times I have ever had. there's nothing like building your own fuel injection system and tuning it to give you knowledge for working on your own car....

I have some friends trying to get into the motorsports field right now, and they are having a tough time with it. They just volunteer time now as someone else stated, but if that's what you want to do good luck with it. If that's what you are really in to I'm sure it's worth it in the long run.

I graduated at the end of June with Mechanical Engingeering. I happened to be at the right place at the right time and landed a job doing dimensional analysis for automotive.

WheelsCSM is right about the Formula SAE car. I never learned so much about cars and real engineering until I did that, but we weren't able to enter because the car was finished in time. It was the best month of my life though.

As a teacher once told me "Never let school get in the way of your education."

Seth

Glad you guys did Formula SAE! We tried to do it but our crappy school didn't give us money and not many automotive sponsors look to sponsor a car from long island. :mad:

We still did mini-baja every year and that helped a lot. But it's true, getting into motorsports is like a "be in the right place at the right time" kinda thing. Just keep trying to work in automotive based companies and network network network. :)

I talked to my uncle today about co oping with him in Detroit. He's a senior engineer at one of the major car companies so maybe that'll get me somewhere. :)

i worked for Jaguar for 2 years, mechanical engineer, after that experience i will always try my hardest to stay away from the automotive industry, it will drive you insane.

i worked for Jaguar for 2 years, mechanical engineer, after that experience i will always try my hardest to stay away from the automotive industry, it will drive you insane. \
As a Civil Engineer in Detroit I have tons of ME freinds I agree all of them are nuts. Going to engineering school in Detroit every one was a ME. They can never tell me what they do I ask and they all say they spent all the time in meetings. A ME degree will not get you developing cool race cars. Working in racing for years on end will. I have freinds at Ford SVT, Rousch, and Team Vipper they sound just like the engineers working on any other car or suv. They don't love the job but it's a good job so they treat it as a job and don't really enjoy the work. It's not what you think it will be, still is alot of desk time.

Haha actually my goal isn't to work in Detroit. I know everyone even semi interested in racing has thought about this but I really want to open up my own shop along with some friends of mine. I know it's a bit more of a dream now but hey, that's what great about living in America.

I have a degree in ME but do not work in the autmotive industry (I actually work with computers).

Just wanted to chime in with this general piece of advice... get the Engineering degree if you can deal with the extra workload. It'll be a lot easier to find a satisfying job than with Economics/History degrees. ME is also general enough that you have many options of what related fields you focus on your senior year with your technical electives (that's how it was with the program at my University anyway).

I considered switching majors a couple times and am glad I didn't. Good luck.

I graduated with a ME degree from UBC 4 years ago, but not in the automotive sector. I do biomed / manufacturing.

We had a Formula SAE team too. The team leader now works for Harley Davidson, the lead electronics guy (extremely brilliant, designed and built the electronic controls for the car) was working for the Ferrari F1 team last I heard, another member was working as a mechanic for the Player's CART team.

Those guys were hardcore though. Imagine spending practically every free moment outside of school work on the car!

As for a Mech degree, it's a pretty general one that lets you get into a lot of fields as every product requires some mech design. Make sure to use any co-op work terms to explore a lot of different areas to find the one you like.

I agree with jftam and Deslock 100%. When I graduated, I got a job working for Intel building computer chips, even though I learned nothing at school that is directly related with my current job. An ME degree is so versatile, and shows that you are smart enough to think through things so you can do just about anything with it. Any type of engineering degree is good, but IMO mechanical is one of the more verasatile.