Pure Engineering Porn! Can't wait.

[Chris Bird]

In the September I'm off to Uni to study this (http://www.motoeng.com/)!\\:D/

Will be learning from some seriously smart guys including Tech 3 Yamaha's Moto GP data engineer for Colin Edwards.

Maybe I'll learn something and be able to stop winging it and shearing bolts!:safe:

And atleast it will end this job hunting crap! Why do I need previous experience to work the tills?

[BBadger]

Have a word with rictus as his niece also does that course, she loves it but may be able to give some inside knowledge.
Also good luck

[dizzyblonde]

Good luck in your quest for knowledge 8)
Not too sure it'll end the job hunting crap, I know of at least two fellas with BEng honours degrees (one computer aided, one not) who are more than capable of stripping down a motorcycle and putting it back together, and neither have been very lucky in getting a job in their field.

[timwilky]

I have my practical old dad hat on.

Despite being a mechanical engineer who would have loved to have had an industry specific degree available to me 30 years ago when I did my degree. I worked as a research engineer for Leyland trucks, a partner in an automotive engineering consultancy

This course looks to be fantastic. Using traditional engineering, significant CAE and targeted against a specific industry. I would have to question where do their successful students end up. How many are somewhere in the motorcycle or racing industries etc. How relevant is the engineering to other industries. I now work in IT for a global power engineering company and know quite well that my automotive background would get me nowhere with gas/steam turbine engineers, pipe stress engineers, CFD gurus etc. Yes I understand their world/tools. But not to the level to be able to apply my knowledge. So in short in dad mode. "Will this get you a job?"

[AndyBrad]

aye i agree with tim.

personally (now ive got a job in engineering btw) look and see if theres a similar route via an aprentiship. Much higher chance of being kept on after that.

[timwilky]

aye i agree with tim.

personally (now ive got a job in engineering btw) look and see if theres a similar route via an aprentiship. Much higher chance of being kept on after that.

Now that is the hard part, find a apprenticeship, like rocking horse poo.

Then one with an employer who will sponsor your degree. I think those days are gone. Leyland gave me a bursary, vacation employment and use of their labs/computers (You have to remember PCs didn't exist in the 70s so access to a computer for engineers was a big thing). and even the state gave me a grant as I was classed as self supporting having worked for 3 years. A time when engineers were still valued and not the title of the washing machine repair man.

Still good luck. It gives you a further 3 years before you need to think about work

[dizzyblonde]

If it was perhaps a different variety of engineering, then yes, an apprenticeship is possible. I know when Matt was doing his degree, most of the other students were already in employment, who got day releases to go to uni. He was the only one who, although was in employment in a different field, went there off hi own bat.

[AndyBrad]

were taking on apprentices now and take on 2 a year. and were a small company. tbh its a fantastic oppertunity, gt off shore and they can be earning big bucks!

[Chris Bird]

When I said it would end the job hunting, I only meant for the next four years atleast.:smt001 (Need to do a foundation year as all I have is GCSE's and a little engineering experience) I will need to find a part time job as well though. So until I do that, I think I'll be living on smart price noodles and vodka. :p

With regards to employment afterwards, I'm hoping that this will pay off. There's a page on the website about what previous students have done since. Also, when I was on the open day I did ask about this.

The main lecturer for the course did say that, yes a lot of students go on to work in the motorcycle industry. One of them is working with a certain British Moto GP team for 2012. One in Moto 2, another in Moto GP and one in F1. But others go on to get jobs with the likes of British Airways and Airbus. So for now, I'm concentrating on getting my maths back up to standard and I remain hopeful... For now atleast.

However, I do realise that the job market is poo but, there will always be motorcycles. There will always be motorcycle development, There will always be an engineering industry. And even if I do struggle to find work, which I kind of expect to, I'm going to be getting a degree in what is essentially my biggest hobby, past time and aspiration. So as Rossi would say, I'm very happy!

[AndyBrad]

oh yes mate, if you can do anything interesting then your onto a winner. :) good luck :D

[timwilky]

You sound as if you are going into this with your eyes open.

The level of maths required to be able to do an engineering degree is high. Even though most in now computerised you still need the basics. So bone up on all that calculus second order liner differential equations etc. yuk yuk.

Glad that was so long ago. I went from an ONC, so whilst some parts were easy (Thermo dynamics) compared to those with A levels. others (Materials) were damm difficult as I had never studied chemistry. Glad composites did not really exist to add more difficulty.

But I never had the luxury of CAE it really was after my time. I did a bit of FE after I had graduated and CFD about 20 years ago as we started rolling it out where I was working and my department had to support it.

[dizzyblonde]

When I said it would end the job hunting, I only meant for the next for years atleast.:smt001 (Need to do a foundation year as all I have is GCSE's and a little engineering experience) I will need to find a part time job as well though. So until I do that, I think I'll be living on smart price noodles and vodka. :p

With regards to employment afterwards, I'm hoping that this will pay off. There's a page on the website about what previous students have done since. Also, when I was on the open day I did ask about this.

The main lecturer for the course did say that, yes a lot of students go on to work in the motorcycle industry. One of them is working with a certain British Moto GP team for 2012. One in Moto 2, another in Moto GP and one in F1. But others go on to get jobs with the likes of British Airways and Airbus. So for now, I'm concentrating on getting my maths back up to standard and I remain hopeful... For now atleast.

However, I do realise that the job market is poo but, there will always be motorcycles. There will always be motorcycle development, There will always be an engineering industry. And even if I do struggle to find work, which I kind of expect to, I'm going to be getting a degree in what is essentially my biggest hobby, past time and aspiration. So as Rossi would say, I'm very happy!

Its marvellous you have such hope and enthusiasm for the future.

Go in with your eyes wide open, all lecturers are going to say their students are successful.
I sat for four years with my ex partner doing a part time honours degree, so he could fit it around his full time nights job on a weekend. Hes been pulling bikes apart since he was 17 in a back street bike shop. Whilst in his degree he made gear/clutch parts for cars, then the nightshift in a chocolate factory repairing the big machinery. Engineering experience before even walking into a university....at 27 he started the degree, but only because the nasty bike accident took over for a while. He left the chocolate factory after finishing, got a job he enjoyed, got made redundant and has spent the last couple of months searching for a new job.
The other person I know, went straight to uni at a young age, and since passing hasn't really found his chosen career in the last year since leaving

ITs a tough old world. You have to be the best of the best, so be prepared to do some fecking hard work, as its not all about getting your hands mucky, and I very much think theres a lot of mathematics involved....don't me started on that bit, it gave me headache as well!!!!

Good luck, get stuck in, keep your nose in those books, and don't come out til your finished, no boozing, no time off.......and you may, just may get a job at the end of it8-)

[Chris Bird]

Your right there dizzy. The job market is hard and you do have to be the best. I spent the last 5 and a half years in the Army as a Royal Engineer. I'm a qualified sparks, I've got NVQ ECDL City & Guilds and even some little key skills. All of which I was told employers wanted. I've done a fair bit of crap. I've worked my ass off, I'm reliable and I couldn't even get a part time job in Halfords putting bikes together.

The maths is my biggest issue at the moment timwilky. I'm glad I'm doing a foundation year first as I'd have no chance otherwise. I gotten myself a 'Engineering Mathematics Through Applications' text book so I'm working through that and some GCSE papers just to try and bring it all back.

(I had forgotten how easy GCSE exams were though, this was an actual question in a recent paper I went through... Write 4765 in words.)

[Scythe92]

In the September I'm off to Uni to study this (http://www.motoeng.com/)!\\:D/

Will be learning from some seriously smart guys including Tech 3 Yamaha's Moto GP data engineer for Colin Edwards.

Maybe I'll learn something and be able to stop winging it and shearing bolts!:safe:

And atleast it will end this job hunting crap! Why do I need previous experience to work the tills?

Congrats, I got a place there but opted to do Automotive Engineering at Sheffield, I thought the uni itself was no good.

Have fun!

[Chris Bird]

Without trying to be a tool can I ask you to elaborate on the abbreviations you've used timwilky. They sound familiar but I can't remember them all.

I know CAE.
FE does sound familiar but not sure along with ONC and CFD.

Cheers

[Scythe92]

Without trying to be a tool can I ask you to elaborate on the abbreviations you've used timwilky. They sound familiar but I can't remember them all.

I know CAE.
FE does sound familiar but not sure along with ONC and CFD.

Cheers

CFD = Computational fluid dynamics

Study of fluid flow and how they react, and then performing simulations or other data using computation and a feck loads of maths!

[Bluefish]

Forty seven hundred an sixty five, what do i win lol.

[MisterTommyH]

Then one with an employer who will sponsor your degree. I think those days are gone.



We still do it, although it's structural not mechanical. Tend to find we get a better graduate at the end of the course if they've spent 5-6 years already working in the company and dealing with the specifics. It also tends to give them an advantage at Uni over the full time students who are very good at the theory, but can't always apply it to the actual situations.

[Chris Bird]

Congrats, I got a place there but opted to do Automotive Engineering at Sheffield, I thought the uni itself was no good.

Have fun!

Happy days. I looked in to all the automotive courses but I wanted to do one that focussed on motorcycles. The only two were Derby and Swansea (SMU) and Derby only offered a foundation degree. So SMU was the only real option for me.

Also, the contact from Swansea was much better than Derby when I first enquired about it.

Basically, my application was late before I had even contemplated University. I e-mailed SMU on the Sunday morning asking what I would need to do in order to be able to just apply. (Access Course/ A-levels).

I heard back the same day just telling me to apply so they could assess the best way for me. I did and I actually got in without even an interview. I ended up ringing UCAS to make sure it wasn't a mistake.:eek:

[Scythe92]

Happy days. I looked in to all the automotive courses but I wanted to do one that focussed on motorcycles. The only two were Derby and Swansea (SMU) and Derby only offered a foundation degree. So SMU was the only real option for me.

Also, the contact from Swansea was much better than Derby when I first enquired about it.

Basically, my application was late before I had even contemplated University. I e-mailed SMU on the Sunday morning asking what I would need to do in order to be able to just apply. (Access Course/ A-levels).

I heard back the same day just telling me to apply so they could assess the best way for me. I did and I actually got in without even an interview. I ended up ringing UCAS to make sure it wasn't a mistake.:eek:

Yeah I did exactly the same as you, except I applied straight from school. I'm about to head into the second year so it's more practical, wanna branch into engine design, fuelling or vehicle safety (ironic considering I ride bikes!).

If I had gone Swansea, I'd be seeing you around a lot in September! Seems a very close knit group of people on the moto eng.

[Chris Bird]

Seems a very close knit group of people on the moto eng.

I got that feeling too.

[GagginForraPint]

Well done getting in, you never know by the time you've finished the job situation may have improved. It's good doing something you are interested in. Have a look at Schaums series of books for help with the maths.
If you do end up working for a MotoGP team, dibs on the first paddock pass! Hope it all works out.

[yorkie_chris]

Still good luck. It gives you a further 3 years before you need to think about work

Hear hear!

Crack on, get drunk a lot, shag everything.

[Shawthing]

I know CAE.
FE does sound familiar but not sure along with ONC and CFD.



In engineering your going to have to get smart to TLAs
(Three Letter Acronyms).
Then afterwards theres the ETLAs (Extended Three Letter Acronyms) to get a grip with!:)

[TazDaz]

Looks like quite an interesting course, would quite like to do something like that as a side interest in future.

If the engineering maths is anything like I've done/doing for BEng in Civils, it does indeed get very tricky. Mainly the calculus which causes problems so I'd recommend reading up/practicing that if at all possible before you begin, although I'm unsure what foundation year maths will be like so it give you a solid footing before the BEng.

Like some people have said, the majority of the calcs can be done on the computers in seconds now - but you'll still need to learn the old fashioned way and do them by hand to show you understand it all.



Then one with an employer who will sponsor your degree. I think those days are gone.


Still plenty of companies do offer sponsership. At my place we currently have about a dozen studying either a bachelors or masters. We typically get all fees paid, including fieldtrips, the day out of the office and no change to salary. Used to get travel costs too, but they scrapped that as of last year! I'm in my 5th year of sponsored education and 3 more to go! \\:D/

[Chris Bird]

Ha! If I get into Moto GP I'll drop you guys quicker than a fat kid eats cake!:p I'm joking, really I am. I'm sure I could try and square some things away.

I quite like the idea of sponsorship but as far as I'm aware, no one will consider me until I've completed the foundation year. It seems A levels are the minimum and I don't have them.

[dizzyblonde]

no one will consider me until I've completed the foundation year. It seems A levels are the minimum and I don't have them.


This is the case in any degree you may take up.

[Sean_C]

This is the case in any degree you may take up.

Open University being an exception to that rule.
That looks interesting, good luck with it.
I'm starting a BEng soon, can't wait :-)

[The Idle Biker]

Good luck to you CB. Take the opportunity and make the most of it. It sounds great to me.