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Starting a mechanical engineering degree at 26 - too late?

Vintorez

Plastic
Joined
Feb 17, 2017
Hi guys,

I'm looking to start a career in the engineering/manufacturing industry and I'm trying to decide which route to go. I'm in Australia and have a degree in Economics & Finance, but I don't want to work in that industry and would rather build things instead.

After uni I initially tried to go down the route of an apprentice machinist and did a 6 month pre-apprenticeship course, but so far it has been a year of looking for an apprenticeship with zero results. I've applied to probably every shop and machining related business in my city (most in person, resume in hand) but there's nothing. Either they just aren't taking on apprentices or they recruit straight out of school. By law they have to pay older guys like me more so it's not worth it for them. There's nowhere I can really continue training since the vocational school courses are linked with apprenticeships (i.e. I have a Certificate II from my pre-app course, a Certificate III is only if you are currently doing an apprenticeship).

I'm considering going back to uni to study mechanical engineering. My plan is to buy a lathe at home (I've asked regarding this on this forum already and received good advice) and join the Formula SAE team so I can work on my machining skills while studying engineering theory at uni. The major problem is that I'll be 26 by the time I start my course, so I'll be 30-31 by the time I actually start my career. Do you think this is too late? I'm not naturally talented in this field and don't have much experience so it will be one hell of an uphill climb.

I'm particularly interested in the defence & firearms industries, and hope to move to the US eventually.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
 
Do it.

If you plan on working until you're 65 or so, you will wind up with a 34 year career as an engineer. An engineer who also knows his way around a machine shop is definitely employable!
 
I agree, not too late at all.

You mention that you want to build things, i dont know how the degree works there, but all the mechanical engineers I know who are not self employed, do not build anything. Mechanical engineer is a desk job. You will probably get to design things, but not much hands on.
 
26 isn't OLD!!! Wait 15 or 20 years and you'll find out.

Go for it... Hopefully with the degree you already have, you've got a lot of the bull shit
courses out of the way and you can concentrate on what you WANT to learn, and get it done
quicker.

As for the Formula SAE.. At my school we had to do a Major Qualifying Project, and that was one that
was available... HOWEVER you pretty much had to get your name on the list while you were still in
elementary school to have a shot at it.

I ended up doing the Micro Baja. Not the MINI... MICRO.. RC sized stuff... Looks like they don't do
it anymore.. It was a lot of fun.. Much lower budget and you get to make a lot more stuff, not a big
deal to make quite a number of different trucks over a semester.
 
The only problem I can see, is with a few years of work (in the "real world") under your belt,
are the professors.

They "profess" allot.....:skep:

When they start laying some line of B.S. on you, wide & deep, you'll be asking "How does this relate
to the real world, and why am I (as a customer) paying for this ?"
 
That's not too late by any means. Many people here in the US go from high school to the military for 2 or 4 years. That puts them between 21 and 23 when they start college, and most engineering schools here now force you into a 5 year program.

That said, if you want to build things, mechanical engineering is a poor choice. 99% of engineers are never allowed anywhere near a machine tool. You'll be doing primarily administrative and office type work.

Here in the US, many schools offer a degree in manufacturing technology or industrial technology. My dad has a degree in industrial education, which is basically the same as the technology degree, but he is also certified to teach in public schools.

Those degrees might get you a more hands on type job.
 
My son worked for Honeywell for 5 years after graduating from high school. He took night classes at a community college and got his AAS in electronics. He then decided he wanted to be an engineer and went back and got his degree. Not in electrical but mechanical engineering. It was tough financially but he got a very good job at Phillip Morris with his engineering degree and is now making crazy money and he really enjoys it. I say go for it.
 
Hi guys,

...... have a degree in Economics & Finance, but I don't want to work in that industry and would rather build things instead.
...... I'm not naturally talented in this field and don't have much experience so it will be one hell of an uphill climb.

.......

You asked for advice.....this is worth what you paid for it...
26 is not too old....I firmly believe it is never too late to learn something new.

That being said....I think you need to fire your guidance counselor...Time for some serious soul searching (maybe you did that already)...otherwise you risk posting a message on "practical Chiropractors"...or "Practical House Painter" or something similar asking..."Is 31 too old to get into Ciropractor...or House Painting?"

Maybe the question that you should be asking yourself is....Why am I interested in more schooling?.....is it because I don't actually want to enter the working world?" ...." Am I actually just trying to figure out how to make going to school my career?"

Not accusing you of that...but I think its important to answer those questions first if you haven't already
 
My plan is to buy a lathe at home (I've asked regarding this on this forum already and received good advice) and join the Formula SAE team so I can work on my machining skills while studying engineering theory at uni.

I think you largest and only concern is what lathe to buy. Manual or CNC? CNC is probably would you should do. I have few machinists who don't know how to operate a manual lathe. In my case I just use a manual Hardinge. One of the best decisions I ever made.
 
Not too late at all. Like others have stated understanding what you want to do within the mechanical engineering field is important because finding a job where you are building cool stuff as an engineer can be hard to come by. During school I spent a lot of my time building stuff in my garage and not going to class (probably like 50/50 the last two years). I graduated with mechanical engineering and physics degrees and was lucky to land a sweet job out of school building inspection robotics for nuclear reactors. I firmly believe that I needed the degree to be considered but it was the countless hours of tinkering, machining, building, breaking stuff that built my resume into something that was attractive to businesses. Bust ass and you can do whatever you want for whomever you want.

I'm always tempted to say "invest the money from school into great texts (for instance Feynman Lectures on Physics are worth their weight in gold) and the tools needed to practice what you read" but then again it's difficult to know what you don't know and school can sometimes help with that. Good luck with the journey!
 
No it's not too late or I'm way late. I just started and I'm 40.
Ok I'm a machinists and have been a mechanic.

Marko
 
Hi guys,

I'm looking to start a career in the engineering/manufacturing industry and I'm trying to decide which route to go. I'm in Australia and have a degree in Economics & Finance, but I don't want to work in that industry and would rather build things instead.

After uni I initially tried to go down the route of an apprentice machinist and did a 6 month pre-apprenticeship course, but so far it has been a year of looking for an apprenticeship with zero results. I've applied to probably every shop and machining related business in my city (most in person, resume in hand) but there's nothing. Either they just aren't taking on apprentices or they recruit straight out of school. By law they have to pay older guys like me more so it's not worth it for them. There's nowhere I can really continue training since the vocational school courses are linked with apprenticeships (i.e. I have a Certificate II from my pre-app course, a Certificate III is only if you are currently doing an apprenticeship).

I'm considering going back to uni to study mechanical engineering. My plan is to buy a lathe at home (I've asked regarding this on this forum already and received good advice) and join the Formula SAE team so I can work on my machining skills while studying engineering theory at uni. The major problem is that I'll be 26 by the time I start my course, so I'll be 30-31 by the time I actually start my career. Do you think this is too late? I'm not naturally talented in this field and don't have much experience so it will be one hell of an uphill climb.

I'm particularly interested in the defence & firearms industries, and hope to move to the US eventually.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

do it, you can also do the accounting part for an engineering firm as a side line maybe they would pay for school. :)


dee
;-D
 
I'm always tempted to say "invest the money from school into great texts (for instance Feynman Lectures on Physics are worth their weight in gold) and the tools needed to practice what you read" but then again it's difficult to know what you don't know and school can sometimes help with that. Good luck with the journey!

No, they're not. I actually think they're rubbish and misdirected a lot of people. I apologize for expressing this opinion - hope you'll not take any offense. And while I mill and turn for a living, I am a mathematical physicist by trade. :)

And 26 is definitely not too late.
 
No apologies necessary and no offense taken, different strokes for different folks. I like he way he explains introductory topics but can definitely see why others wouldn't. My point was more about the difficulty in recommending school over investing in practical tools/texts and probably should have left out specifics.
 
I went back at 36. So 26 is not too late. I have a degree in Animal Science and used that for a little while, then ended up in a machine shop, and a machinist apprenticeship. I felt a little old amongst the students but quickly gained a lot of respect when it came time to building projects in the engineering shop. I finished at 43 due to working full time, wife, kid, ETC but am glad I did it. That was three years ago. I am at a desk using Solidworks about 50% and in the shop or troubleshooting or fixing stuff about 50%.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

Jeff
 
I'm not naturally talented in this field and don't have much experience so it will be one hell of an uphill climb.

That statement concerns me more than the others. I hope that, since you seem to be interested in the field, you are in fact naturally talented, but it's hidden talent. The only thing that concerns me about the age factor is tackling the math courses. If you have not done calculus in a decade, you may be in for some remedial catch-up. In US engineering curricula, calculus and higher math is tightly integrated with the physics, mechanics, vibrations, etc., courses, and you cannot pass the latter without knowing and understanding the math.
 








 
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