Machinist getting a Mechanical Engineering degree.

[Burns]

I'm working on my Mechanical Engineering degree, at least 3 more years at the rate I'm able to take classes. I have 7 years experience as a machinist, and about 5 programming using Surfcam and Mastercam. So, by the time I get the degree, I'll have at least 10 years experience as a machinist. I've made everything from chicken house floor scrapers to Space Shuttle parts.

Engineers do flat-out stupid stuff on prints/design; so I figure that if I can't beat them, I might as well join them.

I live in the Huntsville, AL area. Most work, at the level I want to get to, is aerospace/defense. I don't plan on leaving the area.

Anyways, what should I be looking at for salary? Also, other than getting ahold of some solid modeling software to play with, what should I be working on to increase my value outside of school? I'm tired of being poor.

Thanks.

[MBG]

70,000-100,000.... Engineers don't make the BIG bucks..

Sorry..

But you can always take more risk and work on your own.

[Caprirs]

As someone with a BSME, I got away from it and got into machining. Salary varies widely from $30K to over $100K. My pay went up when I tried being a machinist.

Engineers do as much stupid stuff as everyone else unfortunately. Stupid is not monopolized by any particular profession. If it were, think how easy it would be to isolate that group from the rest of us really smart people.

Experience as a machinist can be beneficial but only if you get an engineering job designing machined parts. MechE is mighty broad as a discipline. You can wind up having nothing to do with manufactured parts such as HVAC, heat transfer, power generation or a myriad of other industries. If you are interested in HVAC, getting the PE next to your name makes you worth a lot more building designers and construction folks.

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

The $$$$$$$$$$$$$ are made in managing the engineering dept. That will require a Masters ME and probably an MBA as well.

If you elect to be an independent consultant (AKA RENT-A-PENCIL), you can make more $$$$$$$$ but expect periods of inactivity.

Works for me.

Dick Z

add: Caprirs is correct about the PE. In my home state, you must be a licensed Professional Engineer to claim to be an engineer.

[Burns]

70-100k/year is big bucks to me, making about 35k/year + overtime now. However, I guess I hoped that having the machining experience would bump me past that. Median for this area is 80k. Hopefully it won't take long to get up to that.

I would really hate to get completely away from making things out of metal, it's too much fun. So I don't really see going into HVAC or consulting. I don't think many engineers around here get the PE, I know my ME father doesn't but my EE uncle does. I'll look into the PE more.

Last place I worked we had "engineers" that didn't even have a degree making that kind of money.

I really see myself working well in an environment where I can take something from concept to streamlined production process.

[tobyaxis]

It widely depends on who you work for and what state you live in as to what you will earn.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by Burns ......I really see myself working well in an environment where I can take something from concept to streamlined production process.

You are going to have to start your own business then.

Get the degree, then a graduate degree, then get PE certification, then start your own business.

[Fegenbush]

Yes, salaries vary wildly. In Kentucky, an engineer with 5 years experience can expect to make around $60k.

The Sheet Metal Workers Local 110 pays journeymen $28/hr which translates to about $56k assuming a 2000 hour work year. They are eligible for overtime and prevailing wage pay, engineers are not. Several of those guys pull in over $100k.

I will never understand why the career publications say "Mechanical engineering graduates can expect to make between $50-$70k per year." Where are they getting their numbers? Yes, it's possible to make that with decent experience, but not starting out. At least, not here.

Fegenbush

/Mechanical Engineer and PE

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

If you graduate top of your class at MIT you might make big bucks to start. In the rest of the world not so much.

The other alternative is to stay in school, become a graduate student teaching assistant, qualify for a federal grant and pocket the money. That's how your prof. is doing it. LOL

Dick Z

[lumberjack_jeff]

Originally Posted by Geof You are going to have to start your own business then. Get the degree, then a graduate degree, then get PE certification, then start your own business.

Better yet, leapfrog that decade. Start the business and hire the PE when needs dictate. If your business is successful, you won't have time for the engineering anyway.

I've never seen a customer check the resume of vendor - only the references.

[Caprirs]

Despite the pay issues, I'm very glad to have my ME degree. It makes an excellent bulls**t filter when dealing with a great many things. You can sift through the old wives tales, folklore, and myths about why materials behave the way they do. Education, especially in the technical fields, is never a waste of time.

Also, if I cannot earn a living as a machinist, I can go back to being an engineer which gives me more possibilities for employment.

As far as your experience as a machinist bolstering your income as an engineer, don't bank on it. At large companies, you are unlikely to need to be able to do both jobs, so the company will not pay you extra. At the small company, you are expected to do everything so they don't pay extra.

As The Wise Geof stated, your best opportunity will be to start your own business with your combined knowledge.

[Burns]

Start my own business?

Maybe, but right now I don't have the capital. Don't want to take out loans either.

An idea that the wife and I've kicked around:

Once I get the degree, we should be in the black. I work as an engineer by day, and we invest in some machines. But nothing we have to take loans on. Then I can start trying to build some of the things I've had ideas on. Get some patents. Sell the patents.

We have discussed owning a business, but don't know that we really want to own a business, most of the owners I know usually seem pretty miserable. So I guess it is a balancing act between money vs. happiness. We don't want to be rich, necessarily, just comfortable. Can I even run a successful business without losing the things that make my family and I happy? Being a workaholic is a pretty crappy thing to do to them even though there are material benefits.

School and work, even now, put a strain on things. These are really questions no one but me can answer. But I really appreciate the advice.

Maybe some sort of consulting with a PE isn't such a bad idea.