When I first decided to go into mechanical engineering, I had the idea that I would be personally designing, constructing, and assembling hardware on my day to day job. I have since found out that (most) mechanical engineers don’t actually have a large role beyond design and documentation. My dream job would be wearing the hat of a designer, computer scientist, electrician, machinist, and technician. I also get immense satisfaction from the process of wresting with and finding solutions to unique problems. Because of this, I think that I would really enjoy working in some area of robotics. I will be graduating at the end of the semester, but depending on my geographic location/life situation in a couple of years, I could definitely see my self returning to school for a PhD. I would pursue robotics, embedded systems, or RF engineering.
Later in life, I hope to get the opportunity to do some part time teaching at the high school or college level. I would love to introduce young students to physical computing by teaching a projects class. In my early career, I would like to continue to work in a lean, highly accountable, challenging, and technical work environment. I am currently working on a couple projects destined for orbit, which has me really excited to be working full time post-graduation.
By the end of the class this semester, I hope to gain the skills to intelligently analyze and talk about aesthetic design. I feel like I often have a difficult time correctly expressing what I am thinking. It really is the nuances of design that speak to us, and it can be incredible difficult to capture and convey the provoked feeling to others. What I enjoyed the most about seeing the intro project presentation was getting to see the many different takes on the assignment, and hear about what the aesthetic meant to each person.
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It’s cool that you are wanting to immerse yourself in multiple levels of the engineering process. According to your experience and ambitions, it seems you are well on your way to become a self-sufficient and rounded engineer.
From your post, it’s clear that you have the drive needed to succeed as an engineer. Even this early in your career, you are already well on your way to accomplishing great things. It will be interesting to see which direction you choose to take – teaching or working within a company full-time. I’ve spoken to some very capable engineers that began pursuing a PhD, but opted for the fast pace of working in industry to see more of their work become reality. It’s interesting how you stated your goals for the class almost as a people skill. Using design to better communicate ideas and feelings with others will serve you well in any field, be it rocket science or teaching.
Get something into space!! I definitely had a similar thought about mechanical engineering when I started the degree. Hopefully you are able to find a job where you can incorporate all of your interests!