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Asked by TheBrexitBacon to Fran, Peppe, Greg, Petros, Pooja on 15 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by ., BigShaq, Avani.
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Greg Chance answered on 15 Nov 2017:
Try and get a few science qualifications if you can and maths will go a long way too. I did science and maths at GCSE level and physics, chemistry, maths and graphics at A-level. Although some people I work with have come through other routes, you will find it easier if you have this background.
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Petros Papapanagiotou answered on 16 Nov 2017:
Maths are definitely the most useful. Other sciences like physics are also helpful. However, my best advice is to start now! Be an engineer now! Not as a job, but as a hobby. If you want to be a software engineer and you have access to a computer, pick an easy programming language like Python and start learning. I wrote my first program in BASIC when I was 8-9 years old. It doesn’t have to be crazy complicated. Start with simple programs. Come up with ideas that you think will be fun for you! If you want to be a robot engineer, you can also start now! Grab some lego robots (there are some that you can program yourself) or a Marty robot by Robotical or any other one that you like. You can have fun and start learning already!
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Fran Zuch answered on 16 Nov 2017:
Maths always helps, it will be a great resource for engineering and sciences. And to be fair, knowing maths helps with life as well 😉
If you are interested in engineering it would probably good to check out the science and technology courses. But also try and find different resources, Unis do free lectures, there is the Institute of Physics who offer students and pupils free membership and a lot of great events. Get out there and explore, school is one of the many options to check if you really like something and if that is something worth your while. -
Giuseppe Cotugno answered on 17 Nov 2017:
Engineering studies require a lot of mathematics in beginning. In Italy (and I guess here as well) students share the same courses on the first year regardless of which engineering speciality they choose. Sciences is another important topic, physics especially, and the type of sciences you study depend on the specific engineering discipline: electronic and software focus on electromagnetism, civil and mechanical focus on traditional physics, material and chemical engineering focus on chemistry. So I would advise you math and sciences. That said, the amount and complexity of math varies depending on the specific engineering, with software engineering being one of the least mathematical and mechatronic (mechanical + electronic)and control (useful for building robot and automated processing system) being one of the most mathematical, but you need to know the basics (up to analysis of functions and integrals). Some engineering, like software engineering, will require you to study economics as you will have to interact with people from marketing a lot.
Concerning starting a job in engineering, you can move around similar engineering pretty easily. My job is done by hardware or control engineers in Italy, given the opportunity in UK, I could easily fit in. I wouldn’t be able to fit as a civil or environmental engineer (the person who assessed whether a collapsing mountain might wipe out a town) as I would have had to study specific things which are taught in later years of study. Engineers are generally very much in demand and I doubt you will have a problem finding a job especially if you are a good engineer or a software engineer, which are needed for everything especially talented one.
While at university, study and try to integrate your knowledge with extra activities if possible: student competitions, hackspaces, etc. Once at work try always to understand what you are doing and don’t give things for granted unless you are in a rush. This is the strategy I followed
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