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Hello! In about 18 months time I'm going to be graduating with a masters in engineering design, right now I'm just finishing up my undergraduate in mechanical engineering. For a really long time I'd dreamed of going into robotics or some sort of design field, but more recently I've been really keen on the idea of going into forensic engineering (inspired by a class I took where we used electron microscopy to determine the cause of failure in parts donated by the local bus depot). Basic questions: How do I get into it? What's the day-to-day like? How much of it is a grind filling out insurance claim evidence forms? Would you recommend it?
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Mar 1, 2018 14:47
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 23:03 |
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Sounds like the automotive industry is calling your name. I work for a tier 1 supplier to all the major auto companies and whenever they send something back with a quality issue it's usually the process technician who looks at it in that level of detail to figure out what happened, with support from QC, production engineering and the machine operators. The people closest to the production line are the most knowlegeable to get to the root cause so if you really want to do this I suggest an associates in machine tool.
shame on an IGA fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Mar 11, 2018 |
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Mar 11, 2018 00:12
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Also getting letting a single bad part deliver to your customer, in this field, is a major goddamn disaster and after 3 in a year Ford cuts you off from bidding on new business until you go through the entire Q1 certification all over again. Prevention uber alles.
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Mar 11, 2018 00:14
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Forensic engineering sounds like one of those fields where there are a few people doing the glamorous work (going to the sites of disasters, saying "Here's what happened!") and a ton of people working dead-end jobs running the same 5 tests on materials in a lab day in and day out, filling out reports. It's a bit like somebody taking an architecture class in college, then wanting to become an architect to design prominent buildings and beautiful custom homes, only to discover that they're specifying vapor membranes and light fixtures from a catalog all day. If the daily grind of forensic engineering sounds interesting to you, and you aren't being drawn just by the more glamorous side of the business, then you just might find a career that makes you happy. Best of luck.
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Mar 17, 2018 16:27
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I’m a failure analyst for an enormous international aerospace company. I get to work with a huge variety of parts and operating conditions, materials vary quite a bit, too. I have a BS in materials science and engineering with a concentration in metals, so i was fairly specialized towards this type of role to begin with. I find my job interesting, I don’t do any insurance bullshit, this is a corporation with other people to do that. My job is to do the lab work and write the report, then make sure stuff gets communicated correctly. Obviously I have to do more than that since nobody has just one role, but that’s the gist. Ask me anything, I guess. I’ve been doing this for several years and am pretty good at it, but all the work I’ve seen done by outside laboratories on our parts has been absolutely terrible. The standards aren’t high elsewhere, apparently, although ours are because of the potential for litigation.
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Mar 19, 2018 03:33
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 23:03 |
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Seconding that failure analysis in aero is big. Definitely possible to do as an entry level MechE
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Mar 19, 2018 03:51
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