Advice to Engineering Undergraduate Students

Advice to Engineering Undergraduate 

Student

 I had the opportunity to provide 

advice 

to students entering there second, 

third, and fourth year of engineering 

school

So with the start of the school year, 

many engineering students are 

selecting their specialties and others 

are considering career paths. Here is 

some advice

1) Follow your passion -

Engineering school is hard. In my Bachelor program, I 

think I took only a handful of non-core engineering classes 

(including math, science, and other requirements). So when 

students ask me whether electrical, mechanical, computer or

other specialty is "better", I tell them to follow their passion. 

Look at the list of courses and pick the engineering

discipline 

where they find classes more interesting. With the workload 

as hard as it is, passion for the subject matter can make the 

difference in better understanding a problem or just 

wanting to spend more time studying and working on 

solutions. 

2) Engineering is about Problem 

Solving 

 Ultimately, what you learn in engineering is how to define 

a 

problem, research options, understand capabilities and 

components, and implement (execute) solutions. Achieving 

this core skill, applied to as many different problem spaces 

that one can develop expertise on is ultimately what makes 

an engineering student capable and employable. Make sure 

to fully understand the mathematics and physics and invest 

effort in classes and with professors that force you to 

problem solve.

3) Develop a career path early 

 I remember first realizing that many jobs in 

robotics were in manufacturing and military 

applications - industries I wasn't passionate about. 

If I was interested in semiconductor design, much 

of 

this work was available in Texas, San Diego, 

Portland, and other cities where the big 

semiconductor companies opened fabs - less in New 

York Engineering students have many options and 

choices to make about industry, specialties, and job 

functions, so its best to start learning about job and 

career options early.  

4) Investigate Emerging Technologies 

 The investigation will, at minimal gives a better 

understanding of the newest, more challenging 

problems being solved in a field. More importantly, 

emerging technologies are often multidisciplinary, 

so recognizing a passion for nanotechnology 

requires one to go deeper to understand what 

specific types of problems are being solved in what 

engineering disciplines, and by whom.

5) Practice and Develop 

Communication Skills 

If problem solving is the primary skill engineering 

students must attain, strong communication skills is 

a very close second. My best experience in my 

undergraduate program was to work in a physics lab 

one summer and an engineering lab the second 

summer.eveloping communication skills can be 

intimidating for the undergraduate engineering 

student, but practice is the best way to break 

through the fear, develop a style, and make it a 

personal strength.  

BEST OF LUCK