Originally Posted by
RacingManiac
The "Guy who works on race engines" job description is kinda vague. The specific design work going into how to make an race engine tick and perform well is truly engineering level work. I don't wanna be at a manufacturer-level of work, moreso just team-level work. Like aforementioned Steeda or Silva or Roush and such. Not main manufacturers, but teams moresoThere are people out there who build stuff empirically and have years of experiences to draw on, but they are no longer the norm. Big companies who are powertrain specialists like Ricardo, AVL, FEV, Mahle...etc are heavily into modeling, simulation and other advanced development technique. The guy who turn wrenches and actually hands-on "build" the engines are the technicians and mechanics. Personally I am not sure where the middle ground is. There are also other work in the middle who design the mechanical components that goes into the engine, to design, analyse and test the parts that satisfy the various performance parameter that can translate the theoretical model into actual functioning machines. But their work also requires a fundamental understanding of mechanics, material and other engineering concepts. Where do you think I would slot in with college education? Reading the curriculum description of the 3 linked programs they actually don't seem that bad. As it probably covers the meat of what's useful and without a lot of the heavy theory stuff. At University level you are likely on your own as far as gaining functional knowledge in how to apply what you learn, so there is some advantage there. At the end of the day its what you learn and how you apply it(and promote yourself) that can land you the job you want. Good to know
I went through the mechanical engineering program at Toronto and probably left to not too impressive GPA, but I got my current job as a design engineer at a supplier in US developing advanced suspension/driveline solution because I did Formula SAE, which employers do value as you get actual engineering and design experience, not just "book" knowledge. Formula SAE? Will take a look into that.
Also I have very little knowledge of how the current highschool system works, as I came from the old OAC system, to go into engineering for me, it was OAC Calculus, OAC Algebra, OAC Physics, OAC Chemistry, and OAC English as the required credit, I did OAC Finite Math as the optional credit.
College doesnt require quite as much academics. The programs I want to get into require C, M, or U level Mathematics as well as an additional credit in a science course (either C, M or U) of either Chemistry or Physics. Physics would be where I'd put myself.
To be perfectly honest though, if you want to do anything engineering, you need to bulk up your math....its going to be the basis of everything you do. I know, and I am trying my best to understand and get through math...