....ENGLISH. Yes, that is true. Most of you probably would have ignored the subject when preparing for exams like JEE and AIEEE, but it turns out English is the most important of all subjects. I realized this three years after entering college and continually wished I had paid more attention during my school days. The big questions is why?
Well, one of the main components of any job is presenting yourself or talking to people. If you have good spoken English, then that can go a long way in putting a good impression on your boss or anyone senior. Your seniors would trust in giving presentations and talking to clients. Plus, one of the main components of any profession is writing. In fact, most of the engineers on work claim that they do 40% engineering and 60% writing. The problem is that not everyone in a company is familiar with technical details of a project. So, it is necessary to be able to present complicated technical details with utmost simplicity. If you can do that, then again your impression amongst your superiors will be high and that will in turn help you in the future. Even if you know subject well, what matters is whether other think you do or not.
The best way to improve your English, especially written, is to read continuously. In today's age that is not a problem because of various impressive blogs and online newspaper. Even if you are interested in all the political news or local city news try to find something you can eagerly read about. Another good way is to read books. Technical books do not help because they are all written in the way and have no real literary content.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
When to Study Engineering?
Engineering is not every student's cup of tea. Although easier from studying pure sciences, it is still very difficult. What is extremely important for studying any form of engineering is a good background in mathematics. Maths drives all branches of engineering. In Electrical it comes up in solving circuits or manipulating images (matrices!). In Computer Science, it comes up algorithm design and in robotics. In Chemical Engineering, Maths is used to solve complex differential equations and also to predicts things going on in a chemical plant. In Civil Engineering, Math is used in studying traffic movement, managing traffic lights optimally, and modeling underground movements of roads. One popular branch of mathematics used commonly is probability. Probability is about estimating things and in life nothing can be certain. Hence, engineering decision are often based on probability. For example if a robot is moving a trying to follow a particular line then it will calculate the probability of a line being in a certain place and accordingly go in the direction in which the probability is maximized. This is just one simple example of where probability plays a key role in engineering. My point here is that, if you are good at Maths, you are bound to well in Engineering.
But if you really enjoy Math, then you may not like Engineering! See, in Engineering we do more applied Mathematics and for people, who want to see proofs of things, they should actually study pure Mathematics. Topics covered there are not about solving integrals and taking derivatives, but how to understand integrals and derivatives from a more sophisticated point of view. To some, this view point is more interesting that redundant problems of calculating integrals just for the fun of it.
What role does Physics and Chemistry play in Engineering? Mechanics play a big role in Mechanical Engineering and Electricity and Magnetism plays some role in Electrical Engineering. Physics is also crucial in Chemical Engineering where you study a lot of thermodynamics (can be classified as chemistry as well). In Civil Engineering, you study more Geology (motion of earthquakes and other things) than Physics and Chemistry. Thus, everything again is applied. If someone really enjoys the concepts of Physics, then he/she should actually study Physics and go into research fields in the future.
In the same way, if someone enjoys Chemistry, he/she should study Chemistry. Actually, Chemistry, amongst PCM, has the best job prospects in Industry because it's application in drug research. So, studying Chemistry, Organic Chemistry in particular, can be very rewarding financially.
But if you really enjoy Math, then you may not like Engineering! See, in Engineering we do more applied Mathematics and for people, who want to see proofs of things, they should actually study pure Mathematics. Topics covered there are not about solving integrals and taking derivatives, but how to understand integrals and derivatives from a more sophisticated point of view. To some, this view point is more interesting that redundant problems of calculating integrals just for the fun of it.
What role does Physics and Chemistry play in Engineering? Mechanics play a big role in Mechanical Engineering and Electricity and Magnetism plays some role in Electrical Engineering. Physics is also crucial in Chemical Engineering where you study a lot of thermodynamics (can be classified as chemistry as well). In Civil Engineering, you study more Geology (motion of earthquakes and other things) than Physics and Chemistry. Thus, everything again is applied. If someone really enjoys the concepts of Physics, then he/she should actually study Physics and go into research fields in the future.
In the same way, if someone enjoys Chemistry, he/she should study Chemistry. Actually, Chemistry, amongst PCM, has the best job prospects in Industry because it's application in drug research. So, studying Chemistry, Organic Chemistry in particular, can be very rewarding financially.
Already doing Engineering and got into JEE?
"i am doing mechanical engineering from NIT allahabad. (completed 1st year just now). I have also been placed in the merit list of IIT-JEE. i am very much interested in the space programmes. I wanted to do MS in astronautics. I have heard that doing MS requires recommendations. how do they consider students for funding? will i be able to do MS after doing B.Tech from IIST? and doing avionics or aerospace, can i pursue MS in a more broader field?please help me out in taking the decision for which institute to go for? - kaushak"
First of all, you already at decently reputed engineering school but I guess you are inclined towards aerospace, so you are consider joining IIST. Since you have got a rank in JEE, if you get aerospace at any one of the IITs, I would suggest you go for that because IITs have a better name and in fact US universities give more weightage to applicants from IITs.
Your second option is to join IIST because of which you might loose one year. One year is not that big of a deal in the long run, but still it matters. I would suggest you stay put at NIT for now. If you want to do an MS in aero, then try doing some research in the same area by contacting professors at IITs. That will take care of the good recommendations part. Also, if you apply for MS in Aerospace, US Universities will want to see you have some research experience in the same area. A better option will be to try getting an internship with ISRO itself. That will give you more hands on training in space related fields. You just have to try hard and continually remain focussed.
If you join IIST, then your job options will be mostly at ISRO or maybe in the aviation industry. You are not required to join ISRO, if you did not take any financial support from them. If you do, then you will have five year bond to work with them.
Now having done a Btech from IIST, what are the higher education options? You can most definitely apply in graduate programs in the department of engineering mechanics, mechanical, aerospace, and electrical engineering. If you get interested in the pure sciences aspect, you may also join graduate programs in Astronomy.
I am not sure about the PhD options at IIST. My guess is that it won't start until 2009. What people can do is that if you are working for ISRO, you can take leave for 3-4 years to do PhD at IIT and ISRO will pay you and cover your tuition expenses. The only catch is that you have to come back to ISRO once the PhD is complete. This is the case for almost all government jobs in India i.e. you can always take leave for higher studies and get funded under the conditions of joining back again.
Career opportunities better than ISRO? I am not sure. Maybe NASA, but you would need to be US Citizen to work there.
First of all, you already at decently reputed engineering school but I guess you are inclined towards aerospace, so you are consider joining IIST. Since you have got a rank in JEE, if you get aerospace at any one of the IITs, I would suggest you go for that because IITs have a better name and in fact US universities give more weightage to applicants from IITs.
Your second option is to join IIST because of which you might loose one year. One year is not that big of a deal in the long run, but still it matters. I would suggest you stay put at NIT for now. If you want to do an MS in aero, then try doing some research in the same area by contacting professors at IITs. That will take care of the good recommendations part. Also, if you apply for MS in Aerospace, US Universities will want to see you have some research experience in the same area. A better option will be to try getting an internship with ISRO itself. That will give you more hands on training in space related fields. You just have to try hard and continually remain focussed.
If you join IIST, then your job options will be mostly at ISRO or maybe in the aviation industry. You are not required to join ISRO, if you did not take any financial support from them. If you do, then you will have five year bond to work with them.
Now having done a Btech from IIST, what are the higher education options? You can most definitely apply in graduate programs in the department of engineering mechanics, mechanical, aerospace, and electrical engineering. If you get interested in the pure sciences aspect, you may also join graduate programs in Astronomy.
I am not sure about the PhD options at IIST. My guess is that it won't start until 2009. What people can do is that if you are working for ISRO, you can take leave for 3-4 years to do PhD at IIT and ISRO will pay you and cover your tuition expenses. The only catch is that you have to come back to ISRO once the PhD is complete. This is the case for almost all government jobs in India i.e. you can always take leave for higher studies and get funded under the conditions of joining back again.
Career opportunities better than ISRO? I am not sure. Maybe NASA, but you would need to be US Citizen to work there.
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