Engineering?

[Merzbow]

Hey, is anybody in here an Engineer for an automotive company? I'm going to school to design cars. I've taken amost all the engineering courses availible so far in high school, and I was wondering if I could find a co-op job working with real engineers as like an aprentice or something. A kid in my psychology class is working for GM as an engineer and hes only 18 making $22 an hour. So if anyone could help that would be great.Also what colleges or universities would you recomend I go to if I want the car makers to notice me? I have my heart set at Michigan Tech.

[Pablo1669]

Quote, originally posted by Merzbow »Hey, is anybody in here an Engineer for an automotive company? I'm going to school to design cars. I've taken amost all the engineering courses availible so far in high school, and I was wondering if I could find a co-op job working with real engineers as like an aprentice or something. A kid in my psychology class is working for GM as an engineer and hes only 18 making $22 an hour. So if anyone could help that would be great.Also what colleges or universities would you recomend I go to if I want the car makers to notice me? I have my heart set at Michigan Tech.Kettering University is the only school in Michigan with a mandatory Co-op program. You get a job your freshman year, and you rotate back and forth every 12 weeks between school and work. I'm currently in my senior year at Kettering, and I've been working for GM now for 3 years. The pay is great, but I can tell you that your high school class mate does not make $22 an hour. They only pay high school interns $15 an hour, which is still nice. I don't know how to get involved in the high school internship, but give me a few hours, and I'll ask my room mate when he gets home, because he was an intern at GM his senior year of HS, and now he goes to Kettering with me.Also, schools like University of Michigan and/or Michigan State have higher chances of getting an Internship with GM when you reach your junior and senior years only. That is the benefit of my school, you get the job 2 years earlier. I like bossing around U of M kids who think they're hot ****, and the high school kids are even more fun because they are given so little responsibility.

[Merzbow]

LOL, sweet. I'm not friends with him, he is just in one of my classes. In psychology we took a survey of who pays for their own cars. And he did and the teacher asked him what kind of job he had, and he told her that he worked with his dad as an engineer and made $22....maybe he's just bullsh*tting but he doesn't really seem to be the lying type. His name is Jeff by the way, dunno his last name. So where exactly is Kettering? I am going to have to do some research on it:) I actually wanted to go to U of M but when I found out home much tuition was I said f*ck that and started looking for other schools....all these idiots that go to state just because they have a good football team make me sad.Also, what type of work do you do with GM?

[johnsoax]

I went to school for electrical engineering at the University of Cincinnati and they also have mandatory co-op. I have three classmates who went on to work for Delco in Kokomo, IN after co-oping there. I co-oped at RL Drake http://www.rldrake.com and at a bp Chemical plant http://www.bpchemicals.com/whe...d=122 . I was later highered by another bp chemical plant. With co-op I graduated debt free (wish I could say the same for my wife ). Co-op is a very good idea.

[Pablo1669]

Kettering is in Flint, however if you are worried about Michigan's tuition, Kettering is pretty dang expensive also.http://www.kettering.edu is their website

[Merzbow]

Im sure its not like $30 grand though is it? My mom is loaning me the money until i get a real job...though I have no idea where she's getting the money. And I would ratehr not go to a school that charges that insane amount of money for her sake, but she insists I do...you could buy a couple 3000gts for 30 grand lol.

[fire_502]

I'm a real engineer in the auto intustry and I went to Michigan Tech. I know a lot has changed in the last year or two because of all the funding cuts, but that's happening pretty much everywhere. MTU used to be, probably still is, rated as one of the best buys for your money. I paid for school on my own (which my parents hate to hear me say because they gave me a car and paid the insurance until I graduated which I agree is a lot). Anyway, I pretty much took all the aid the government would give me (which wasn't exactly a great idea because I lived a decent life while in school but now I'm paying it off), then I had a few scholarships and stuff. I think after 5 years of school I had 30k in loans to pay off. It's not that bad considering that I did it myself and it could be a lot worse. The bright side is I got a great education, a good job and I don't have any problem paying more than my minimum on my loan each month. One thing I will say about Tech is go visit first. A lot of people drop out their first year because of culture shock. I thought I would have problems, being from where I am now and moving up there, but I ended up loving it. It depends on what you're into. If you like the outdoors and can handle being snowed in a few times a year, it's not a big deal. Other big issue for guys: lack of girls. Really, the ratio for freshmen is pretty much 1:1, but for seniors it tends to be more like 4 guys:1girl. I didn't have any issues with that. But...once you graduate and move back to reality, I think that problem will go away. On the other hand, I have tons of friends that met there and are married now. Tech does not have any sort of mandatory co-op program, but they encourage it. I guess the career center has come a long way in the last few years, but I avoided them for a couple reasons and ended up landing myself a sweet job without them. I think there are certain companies that love to hire us, so they do most of their recruiting at the job fairs there. I never had any luck with the big 3 from those job fairs, but I was also a biomed eng major. ME and EE do better with them. From what I have learned though, I'm not sure I'd want to work for an OEM. Oh well, that's waaaay down the road for you. In any case, I would totally recommend Tech. Great education, great tuition (by compairson anyway), but don't enter into it lightly either. Hell, I only applied there because my mom wanted the acceptance letter, but then the offered me tons of free money and they had the major I really wanted, so I went and don't regret it for a second. If you have any specific questions, feel free to im me.

[Merzbow]

Yeah, Tech is in the UP isn't it? my mom has a lot of friends that are CEO's of major corperations and when she told them I wanted ot be an engineer they instantly said go to Michigan Tech, that's why I'm thinking about going there. I love snow just as long as I have a snowmobile:) Do alot of people drive those around campus instead of cars?

[fire_502]

Yes, Tech is in the UP. It's at the top of the UP. It takes about 9-10 hours to get there from here. Tech has a great reputation as an engineering school, but they have been doing a lot to round out the programs offered lately to be able to compete with other schools in the state. No, I never saw anyone driving snowmobiles around instead of cars. People pretty much keep their sleds to the trails. What do you want to major in? http://www.mtu.edu

[Merzbow]

I was hoping to design the actual car itself, like the style and shape and such, basically for anyone that wants to hire me. If I can't do that than, anything for cars that involes CAD and autodesk and stuff I can, and would like to do.