Three nights this week I've been in the engineering building past midnight because of senior design, and after dark it's a different place. Bench guy, asleep next to the vending machine. A TA who is here at all hours and never seems to have class. The corner lab crew, still stuck on the same CAD model since August.

The vending machine eats every third dollar and everyone knows which button you never press. Nobody talks. Lots of nodding.

I kind of love it here and I really need to go home. Same time tomorrow, probably

Engineering students: How is AI changing the way you learn? 💡

The Engineering Professors'​ Council wants to hear directly from UK engineering students about how Generative AI tools are shaping your degree, your studies, and your preparation for the future.

Share your experience and ideas in a short 500-word piece to help your lecturers understand your perspective, and you could have your work published in our upcoming book, Emerging Stronger: The AI Edition!

What we’re looking for:
🔹 How you and your lecturers use AI tools in your studies
🔹 How AI is changing the way you learn and are assessed
🔹 Your vision for how AI should be used to best support your development
🔹 How you feel you need to prepare for the workplace and develop career-ready AI skills

Sharing is caring - tag a classmate or share this post with your peers so we can hear from across the UK engineering community.

🗓️ Deadline: 31 October 2026 (but send me a DM if you think you need a bit longer!)

🔗 Submit your entry here: https://forms.gle/C1nQCspPuiyPVqj96

#EngineeringStudents #UKUniversities #GenerativeAI #EngineeringProfessors #EmergingStronger #EdTech #StudentVoice #STEMEducation

When was the time in between 1st - 2nd and 2nd-offer? Told I would hear later "today" at end of inteeview but it's been three buisness days

I have worked hard. I have had late nights, early mornings, long days. Gone to work after a day of uni, finished at 1 am then spent 2 more hours doing uni work before going to bed and getting up 5 hours later for another day. I have dragged my way through the wringer and, so far, made it to the other side. My uni has engineering teams like rocketry and FSAE and such, and I planned to join FSAE this semester. But my courses meant I would be overloaded if I tried to join. So I naturally went “alright, I will just join in the FYP intake in January”, specifically for final year students to begin their capstone project with the teams. Until I get an email today from the uni announcing changes to my degree including some course offerings changing. I now cannot do my FYP in my fourth year without doing 50 hours of course time a week plus a part time job on top. Which means that, at a minimum, my FYP is pushed back to semester 2, 6 months away. Except, the engineering teams only do the FYP intake in semester 1. This means that, if I want to follow my dreams, through no fault of my own, my degree is now 5 years instead of 4.

I know many choose to take 5 years or are forced to by failing courses, but I didn’t want to. I worked my ass off to not fail, pushed through tears to do so, and even took a course in my midyear break just to stay on schedule to finish in 4 years. I’m not going to give up, but fuck man. I just feel so defeated. Everyone around me keeps saying ‘you’re so close to finishing, just keep going every day’ and I believed them. Now the uni has just moved the goal posts. Completely in tears and so angry that I pushed so hard, ignored my own health in some instances, and sacrificed so much, just for the university to make that all worthless. Had they announced these changes earlier, I could’ve joined the teams this semester without being overloaded, but no, why announce things for the next semester before this one begins, when you can just announce it 2/3 of the way into the current semester knowing nobody can change anything.

Rant over.

Genuinely the worst class I have ever taken + I had to take it online since the only in person one was an hour drive at like 8 in the morning. Everything is just so overwhelming and I think I am taking the easiest version I will ever get. I feel like I am just about understanding it but no matter how much I slam my head into this god forsaken wall it just doesn’t work out on test day. And the tests are only 8-10 fucking questions with partial credit so it should be really fucking simple to get through it but so far I have made 2 fs with another test on the 6th that I just don’t even feel remotely ready for. Its gotten to the point where my mental health has just completely deteriorated and I started eating really bad, like going to wawa every other day and getting one of those ice cream parfaits thats like 870 fucking calories. Thank god for my good metabolism and going to the gym cause I feel lime that would of ruined me. But even still I am almost suicidal cause of this class which just typing rn feels really stupid. I am contemplating just dropping it but if I have to retake it again next semester at my actual university and I get stuck with a research professor I am not surviving. I know I am not even the only one in this boat ether, for the past like 30 minutes before typing all this out I have just been reading post after post about how horrible this class is, like genuinely why is this class like this.

Im currently a CompE student and I'm taking a coding class right now and I don't really like it. I don't know if it is the tests that make me not like it or Python but I am finding that I'm not very into it. I started working with arduinos recently and circuits and I am in love with it. However when it comes to the coding part I am always turned off.

i am literally typing this in my lecture that ends at 8:30pm but i am so exhausted and I have a calc retake tomorrow and i am so exhausted i dont think i can stay up to study. should i just sleep and hope for the best or what ive been averaging like 3 hours a night for weeks.

I'm in an Honors 101 class and the professor is a really cool guy who is letting the class so un-essay projects for the final essay of the semester. I am an Electrical Engineering student and want to connect that background of mine to this un-essay project. The guidelines he posted are, "Students will complete a creative research project based on any topic of their choosing related to Contemporary Thought since 1945. This is your opportunity to choose to learn more about a person, event, or theme from 1945 through today that best fits your interests."

I was thinking about making something cool with transistors, since they were invented in 1947 and really have changed the world. I also thought about they voyager missions, and maybe making something electronic that collaborate with a model of one, or even just a model spaceship. I love physics as well, but doing something related to physics and this project just seems kind of hard and daunting.

Any ideas are welcome. Thank you!

I want to do my user certification exam on aspen HYSYS. However i'm currently struggling on number 66 or "6666" on the "Questions" file attached on the drive. In my HYSYS file, it require me to input the sizing (Page 2) even though i inputted every information on the question file. You can access my aspen file on the drive link with the file "Aspen Section 2". Here is the Drive files.

Anyone know how to fix this issue? hopefully u could give me ur aspen file so that i could see the correct specification to answer this question.

Also, could anyone verify the answers on the file "Questions" as the highlighter wasn't actually my answer i just got it from the internet.

Honestly all throughout highschool and even when i started uni people would constantly tell me how difficult engineering was and how you wont have a social life if you study engineering but i just dont think thats true. Im currently a junior and feel like the coursework/material im being taught is very easy to understand. The only thing is that exams worth 80% of your grade tend to be tricky and take alot more practice to get good at. One reason i think this could be a thing is that ai has gotten so good that if i need an explanation on a topic i have a 24/7 personal tutor that can break down and explain any concept. I also understand that people have other obligations outside of college but im specifically talking about the coursework. I think that the stress/time commitment that comes from studying engineering conflates how people view it and makes it seem like the actual content/coursework is alot more difficult than it actually is.

I decided to retake Calculus 1. I could pass with a C, but I’m going to crash for Calc 2 on top of physics. This is way too important of a class for me to just have a sub-par understanding and I’ve got the time. My professor was SUPER supportive, could tell I genuinely want to understand what I’m doing. Asked me tons of questions about my path and gave me a lot of really valuable advice.

I’ve been working with my old algebra professor as my tutor for calculus this semester. This man is so wonderful, has a bit of a drill Sargent/disappointed dad vibe in the best way. I told my therapist he’s not going to take it well and they said “it shouldn’t be too bad, you’re making a good sacrifice for the long run”

Well my old algebra professor caught me coming into the building as he was walking out. Asked how my midterm went, I said “okay here’s the thing…” and went into how I’m retaking it in the spring and need some more time but I’m right on the edge of fully getting it. His face went blank. He said nothing. He turned around and just WALKED AWAY 🤣😭 I felt disowned.

I caught up to him and plead the rest of my case, I’m dropping on the official last drop date but I got permission to sit in for the rest of the classes. I’ve got a plan, better grasp on what I’m working on etc. he’s still hustling down the hallway but finally stopped, smiled and said “call me anytime and we’ll get back to work” I just love the staff at my college, they care so deeply. It’s been nice to build a rapport with basically the entire department at this point, professional and sometimes we just talk about how incredibly cool math is and life stuff. I know one day I’m going to be a great engineer. 🙌

Sorry if it’s a dumb question. I was thinking about making an engineering design team after not getting into any. I’m first year engineering in Canada, looking to work in SE/CE. Wondering if u guys got any good ideas or if u know of any teams that are especially strong for certain top companies, like FAANG tier.

Regular vehicle teams like motorbike and stuff already exist, and I don’t think these are even the best thing I could do, software should probably be a bigger part. I alr have lots of programming experience

Im guessing a large part of it is the school u go to or the connections u get from the team/former members, but yeah. Any personal experiences/things you’ve seen or advice or wisdom? Any input helps. Thanks

Has anyone here ever tried juggling college and a graveyard-shift job at the same time? 😁

I’m currently a junior engineering student taking 15 units, and I’m planning to work as a BPO agent from 12 AM to 8 AM while also sorting out my boarding arrangements.

I know it won’t be easy, and I have a feeling that sleep and I are about to enter a LD relationship. 😂 But I really want to give this a shot while continuing my studies.

I'd love to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar situation. How did you guys manage your time, classes, work, sleep, and sanity?

I[26/M] actually dropped out of college originally for Computer Science about 6 years ago. I love programming and math, but for whatever reason, I couldn't even keep up at a community college level. I believe it was mainly due to depression, because once I was able to wrap my head around something, it was super easy

I'm now a First Class Gas Turbine/Utility operator for a large municipality. Pay is great at about $145k a year in the rust belt, but it's kind of killing me mentally. I work anywhere from 60-96 hours a week and switch between nights/days with as little of 6 hours of sleep. I just come home, sleep, listen to my fiance complain about how little I care about her(which breaks my heart), and then head back to work(if not doing house chores/work, then that takes priority once I get home).

Our PEs on the other hand make a little less, but their schedules are amazing and consistent. Their workload also seems more manageable within a team and they don't have to deal with Union Politics/personalities

Any advice for going back to school in an engineering related discipline? I will have to work full time, but hopefully there's some way to alter the workload for this?

Edit: Formatting Correction

I see why everyone says the professor changes everything... but I'll take the one win

It's not that hard guys! Just make your own job with your Master's research advisor and land a client.

I am really good with a lot of things at university, like Physics or Calculus, but i hate Engineering drawing so much, didn't do good with last quiz

I really live to draw with AutoCad, but Manual drawing is so exhausted, lot of mistakes doing it, so much time, which i don't have in exam which is just 90mins, how to deal with it? even my drawings could be curved, which i don't know why.

Here examples of my drawings, and the questions

Im a first year, Ive always had bad comprehension when it came to literally anything.

Is there a book I can read where It can really help my understanding of just being able to understand in general

I never thought I'd be able to make on of these.

What I think got me my job:

At my career fair I researched every company beforehand, prepared talking points for recruiters, and printed out specific resumes tailored to each company with the company name written at the top to make it feel special.

I paid for one month of LinkedIn premium and messaged recruiters before and after events. For my accepted offer, I had 3 conversations with separate employees who referred me to recruiters.

I used to be a business student and I had a sales internship at one point which I think impressed the upper management I interviewed with and I think that's what got me the job.

I coded a really nice looking blog with articles on all of my projects.

I joined my school's competition rocketry club.

I emailed all the mechanical engineering professors at my school at the beginning of the semester looking for research projects. I eventually got on an unpaid project building an autonomous vehicle which I think was the reason I got an interview in the first place.

I also speak Japanese and it's a Japanese company.

I work part-time as a office manager at my school.

I'm open to answering questions.

Just wondering from a really long time since I have no social life

I am starting to look at some schedules for next semester, and I wanted to ask if a tightly packed schedule with a short block of lectures back to back would be better than a schedule where I have a class for an hour, a break for an hour, then another class for an hour. I’ve had a mixed schedule where I have two classes back to back in the morning, then two classes in the afternoon that have an hour break in between them, and I feel like the back to back classes are nice, but they are also the easiest ones I have so I feel like it might not be the best example.

I’m currently in my sophomore year of aerospace engineering. I took a year of classes at a community college. I got all my science and math classes(calc1-dif eq) done with a 3.85 GPA.

Now im in university. I’m studying more than I ever have and I still feel like im failing. I’m failing my mechanics course, and have been scoring below average in every other class other than linear algebra. A guy I transferred with literally doesnt even study and has straight A’s, while I got the whole alphabet in my grade book.

Am I cooked? Should I drop out of one of my design teams to focus on classes, or do I just need to study more effectively.

i feel like no matter how hard I work, I’m just mediocre or bad.

I’ve never felt this meaningless in my whole life

I'm taking a graphics class at a community college and this week's assignment involves learning animations and mates. Professor wanted something simple but I was having too much fun and got a bit carried away.

I learned how to configure parts, so I don't have to make multiple files just to change certain part dimensions. Then I learned how to connect parts and animate them using Revolute, Fasten, and Gear Relations.

Even though it's basic, it's still something I'm excited about and wanted to share with y'all!

Mechanical Engineering or Mechatronics at HAW Hamburg. Is switching worth it?
Hey everyone!
I am now in my semester of Mechanical Engineering at HAW Hamburg. I study in German. I am 20 years old. I moved abroad after finishing high school in my home country. I have met the C1 requirement for admission.
I originally wanted to study Mechatronics. However I forgot the B1 requirement and I missed the chance to take an accepted English exam, such as TOEFL or IELTS before the enrollment deadline.
Now that the semester has begun I have acknowledged that I cannot switch to Mechatronics until the next winter semester. That would mean spending one year in Mechanical Engineering before changing majors. Both bachelor’s programs last seven semesters.
From what I understand I could have about 7 of 10 courses recognized if I switch even though some of those courses belong to the fourth semester of Mechatronics.(and i'll be late simultaneously in some courses in the first 2 semesters). I still need to take an exam before applying to switch.
I am now trying to decide if switching is worth it in the run.
I do not dislike Mechanical Engineering. I could see myself staying in it. However I am interested in Mechatronics because it combines engineering, electronics, control systems and automation.
I have also thought about finishing my bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and then doing a master’s in Mechatronics or a related field. I am not sure how realistic that path would be or whether it would put me at a disadvantage compared with someone who has a bachelor’s in Mechatronics.
Another thing I have been thinking about is the job market. Mechanical Engineering attracts students and this sometimes makes me wonder about competition and job opportunities. I know that popularity does not always mean career prospects but it is still something I think about.
So I would really appreciate your opinions, from people who have studied or worked in either field:
1. Career prospects: Does Mechatronics offer an advantage over Mechanical Engineering in terms of job opportunities, salary or future demand?
2. Bachelor’s vs. Master’s: Would it make sense to finish Mechanical Engineering and specialize in Mechatronics later. Is having a bachelor’s in Mechatronics a meaningful advantage?
3. Switching majors: If you were in my position would you switch winter semester even if it meant potentially extending your studies?
4. Long-term flexibility: Which degree gives you flexibility to work in different engineering fields especially with the increasing importance of automation and robotics?
I just want to hear experiences and perspectives from people who know more, about these fields.
Since I am 20 I do not mind spending an extra semester or two if it truly helps me in the long run. At the time I do not want to switch just because I think one degree has better prospects without knowing the real differences.
Thank you in advance for any advice!

I know micron is a big competitive company, but they have a ton of internships listed, so I thought I might have a shot. I think I will be rejected from all the positions I applied to there, as I have already been rejected from most. What do your qualifications look like for someone who has gotten a mechanical engineering related internship at micron? I'm a fourth year with a 3.2 gpa and I've worked in a materials lab for over a year, I also have years of unrelated work experience. I really want a materials related internship but i feel like its hard to get one without previous internship experience. Any advice is welcome.

Additional info: I am undergrad, and hope to work in semiconductor manufacturing or some type of advanced materials manufacturing. I think this industry is interesting and I want to live on the west coast, and there seems to be an abundance of jobs like this over there.