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Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

(OP)
Hello All,

Currently unemployed, I don't like the fact that there is gap in my resume which is worsening my posture with time (as opposite to wine which improves...). As short background: I am slightly on the wrong side of the fourty...have more than a decade of professional experience and my industry (oil & gas) is a bit in an economic slump at this moment. I tried and still try to start my own firm but lets put this aside for now (there is a lot of administrative burden I am facing....I don't give up - its just that unnecessary roadblocks sucks). I am thinking whether it could be a good option to enroll into a MSc. program in Advanced Mechanical Engineering ...MBA is out of question (I have been disappointed by MBA's in general - its just me, no disrespect intended)..anyway I made some pros and cons as follows:

Pros:
- Opportunity to stay tuned on latest technologies, research and innovation in the field
- Get some different/fresh perspective on things and also use this break to reinvigorate my brain (which have been intoxicated saturated by excessive and cumulative corporate politics especially during my last career episode); use this chance to reassess what are my priorities in life;
- Work on theoretical topics, reinforce the fundamentals as healthy exercise to do once every 5/10 years cycle;
- I am typically eager to learn and I am not motivated by money (just what is reasonably needed to secure financially my family is enough for me); so it looks like it matches;


Cons:
- Financials: Personal savings will take a hard hit because of all the related fees including tuition (and I have a family to take care of). I have no sponsor/ scholarship.
- Part time job is out of question as I want to focus full time and 100%
- Age would not be a big handicap but I am sure I will be less sharp than I was 10/15 years ago; I have some apprehension on my own ability to give the total focus needed.
- Risk of perceived distortion between what I learned in real life and what lecturers are teaching from books for topic which well known to me.

So if you could share your opinions please on the following points, I would much appreciate:

- Given the short description of my situation and career background, how will a MSc stand on a resume?
- Will this be perceived favorably by employers and give me an edge when I want come back on track and when the industry picks up again? in short will this help in getting a new job 1.5 or 2 years from now? what is your personal experience?
- I have now landed study offers from relatively good schools with average ranking in general. Is it worth the investment to go for a costly program / reputable school?

I would really appreciate your input ; thanks in advance.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

I question though that having a masters is going to provide the security that you are looking for your family. You might be better off doing something that doesn't require much investment like being a realtor until you land whatever.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

rotw - I can't give any useful advise about whether to get a MS, but I do currently work in the oil & gas industry in the US, and we see business coming back - not booming, but a steady increase. Both Bakken and Permian are picking up with the price relatively stabilized around $50. I don't know anything about your location or mobility, but I know there are opportunities out there in some places. Good luck!

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

As to the age thing, at 55 I started doing some of the trickier MOOCs.

These are roughly 101 level, run by MIT and like institutions. Perhaps the best example was one on Spacecraft mission planning, which involved calculating orbital parameters for Hohmann transfers and slingshots and things like that. This is rather outside my field, and although the maths was not hard (by my standards, I have no feart of maths) the concepts needed a good chewing over. Anyway, once I had a quiet room in which to work I found it actually fairly easy to do. I got 93%. In MIT's MITx's 8.MechCx Advanced Introductory Classical Mechanics I got 98%.

So age is no problem

However: "Opportunity to stay tuned on latest technologies, research and innovation in the field"

PhD yes, masters not so much.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

I was cast upon the waters (as in "laid off") just prior to what soon became one of the worst employment periods (post 9-11). I had started a "consultancy" and failed miserably at it because the post 9-11 economy tanked. I had expertise in a particular niche that became very handy and in-demand, and this got me contract work to help me stabilize. After that, I re-pitched my "company" as a one-man show, honest to a fault, sincere in my effort to support my family, and seeking "the little jobs that fell off the table from The Big Boys." I soon discovered that there was work under every bush for a short-term hired-gun Paladin with skills. People starting throwing work at me. It might have meant getting on an airplane and living away from family for a couple weeks, but one must do what one must do.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering
www.bluetechnik.com

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

(OP)
tygerdawg,
/open bracket /
as a side note.. I really like the mission statement of your firm
/close bracket/

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Rotw" The Master's gave me a "leg up", but I think it more was due to my experience summers and my reference from the side work I did while getting master's, taking 2 years. Ya can't beat having a great reference.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Having earned a master's while working full time, I don't see why a part time job would prevent you from focusing 100 percent on your studies. In fact, working in the industry should enhance your education, IMO. Keep working at your own business and take a class or two while your at it, if finances allow - that' what I would do.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Don't bother with an MSc. I feel a MSc is warranted if you plan to continue and get a Ph.D. and work in a specialized field. If you aren't going to go that far, my experience is that work experience and work ethic have trumped an MSc. I have worked at several places where I was one of the few engineers that didn't have a MSc and I was either the top engineer or one of the top. I was offered the promotion/advancement opportunities over the guys with advanced degrees. Maybe I am the exception, but even after one year out of school I was hired on at a consulting firm at a higher level than some new grads with Masters degrees.

I know you said you don't like MBAs, but I would consider an MBA or something in finance if you are set on going back to school. That will help your long term potential much more than a masters in engineering. I actually discussed this topic with a senior director at a utility I used to work at. He had a master in engineering from Texas A&M. He said if he could have done it over, he would have done an MBA instead. He said that the only thing a masters did for him over the bachelors was that it gave him slightly more detail on the topics he already knew, but he never used it in real world applications after school. Whereas the if he had a background in finance or business, it would have helped much more on running billion dollar capital projects.

Hope that helps.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

The value of an MBA over a masters I think is generally overstated. In the IEEE Power & Energy salary survey, an MBA with experience only beats out someone with a technical graduate degree with experience by less than 10k. I think it was like MS 150k vs MBA 157k. I think everyone looks at what a director or VP makes but for every one of those guys there room full of people that tried to get to that position and got stuck in middle management. Maybe, in different fields the gap is bigger. I don't know.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Being on the wrong side of 40 I would seriously question how much of an income boost the MS would provide relative to the investment made. I would also disagree with your list of "pros," IME as a past corporate director/sponsor/reviewer most research done by universities was in actuality developed privately 10+ years prior and not particularly relevant to current technology. My personal experience has been much the same as MFJewell's in that I have had few problems working deep within corporate research teams based upon my ability and with only a BSME. Bc of this I struggled for years to justify the expense of a MS and often shared these concerns with mentors and colleagues, the majority of whom shared the opinion that a MS was mainly a means of gaining political influence, checking the proverbial box rather than actually gaining an education. If your company is truly forward-looking with technology and you are a top performer IMHO you will learn far more simply doing your job than you would sitting in a classroom. Much as I hate to admit it the reason I pursued a MS was vanity, in my 30s the family and financial pressure eased enough that I could afford the time and expense, and I wanted it the same as many want the latest vehicle/device/luxury.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Quote:

I think graduate degrees are for people that like understanding more fully what they are doing. To just push out a cookie cutter or template project, only a very basic understanding is required.

I would say the MS definitely helps broaden the experience in areas outside folks' niches, statistical analysis and programming come to mind for me personally, but I would question why or how it could provide deeper insight into the daily workload. First and foremost, if an engineer doesn't have a solid understanding of the design and analysis they are performing then they shouldn't be doing so, grad courses relevant to the day-job should therefore be a guaranteed easy-A. Secondly, at least on the ME side, grad courses are much like undergrad courses in that they really are only a fundamental introduction to the subject matter, many 500+ are held concurrently with an undergrad counterpart for that reason. JME but either are good for maybe ~30% of what someone in that field should know before being a trusted individual contributor, the other 70% is necessarily gained through experience working under one.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Quote (GregLocock)

"...I started doing some of the trickier MOOCs...one on Spacecraft mission planning, which involved calculating orbital parameters for Hohmann transfers and slingshots and things like that."
I took that one too! So much fun!

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

(OP)
Thanks everyone for the input.
When I was employed, I used to proactively ask for temporary site assignments (with drawback of being far from home) to the comfort of my office based position just because this could get me closer to the real world...needless to say that going back to school was not exactly part of my vision back then.

But now that I start to experience scars and pain resulting from non conclusive interviews with hiring managers literally disrespectful (towards things that used to be landmarks but which have been de-rated), I feel the world is slightly upside down. In this respect, a master is needed and I hope will allow me to heal. Very personal perspective. I think it was a good point to do a master and focus on my own business in parallel.

There was a point in the thread about the oil and gas prices that have slightly recovered. I am a bit pessimistic as I don't believe oil and gas is going through, a so called economic cycle. I think instead that unconventional oil and gas reserves have been made accessible/exploitable by technologies which are cost competitive and this is a major breakthrough and game changer (to some extent a black swan); combined with renewable energy and other disruptive innovations which are accelerating (e.g. storage devices such as battery storage) this is not going to do any good to oil prices. Unconventional oil and gas reserves are massive and their exploitation is profitable at roughly 40 USD/barrel.

RE: Going for a MSc in Mechanical Engineering (or not...) ?

Oil is going to suck for the next two years. After the resent slump, forecast got significantly more pessimistic. Forecast are for it to average $60 a barrel for the next two years. Engineers who came in for oil and gas are starting to move out. Statoil took a big loss bailing on the oil sands in Canada that need like $65 a barrel. BP has been talking about pulling out as well. Even if OPEC turns off the faucet, nothing is going to change until all the stored inventory is cleared out. BP is trying hard to increase the efficiency of anything offshore and being much more choosy since the abundance of land reserves. Downstream has work is happening, though.

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