Dunkum he/him Posted July 28, 2015 Posted July 28, 2015 graduated something like 6 years ago with a major in Math and a minor in Computer Science. the saddest thing about the Math major is that, with a few exceptions, most places don't really have a use for theoretical Math. So unless you are going into Academia, or potentially into Cryptography, you really aren't going to use the more interesting parts of the major (well, the parts I found more interesting anyway)
Titan Arum Posted July 28, 2015 Posted July 28, 2015 I graduated 9 years ago with a double major in Economics and International Relations. Somehow I ended up with a minor in Global Studies after I studied abroad in Ghana; I came back and my academic advisor said I qualified and asked if I wanted it, so I said why not! Then in 2011 I earned an MA in International and Development Economics. As a result of that degree I conduct evaluations of donor programs around the world. For example, I am currently in Cambodia evaluating a USAID Feed the Future project. Super fun!
navybrandt he/him Posted July 28, 2015 Posted July 28, 2015 I spent 14 years in the US Navy, and my degree was put on hold. My bachelors is in Nuclear Engineering Technology which I got in 2010 at the age of 36. My Masters is in Systems Engineering which I got in 2014, and I expect to get a PhD in Engineering Management in 2017.
Hood he/him Posted August 1, 2015 Posted August 1, 2015 I am currently pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering. After spending two years, I think, it is way more math, than relevant engineering. I've done more practice problems regarding differential equations, and linear algebra, than I did regarding circuit analysis.
Hood he/him Posted August 1, 2015 Posted August 1, 2015 Technically I don't have a major, but my degree is in Ancient History. It's awesome. Everyone has been really nice so far (I just finished my first semester), the lecturers are great, my classes are interesting ... Basically I love it. Wow!! So you might have read about the Bronze age collapse. It is one of my favourite topics, apart from the rise of Rome, and the awesome campaign of Hannibal. One question to ask: How did you manage to remember names ?? Isn't it difficult ?? 1
Guest Posted August 2, 2015 Posted August 2, 2015 I am currently pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering. After spending two years, I think, it is way more math, than relevant engineering. I've done more practice problems regarding differential equations, and linear algebra, than I did regarding circuit analysis. Depending on how your degree is structured, I would say this is pretty normal. My degree was built in a way you did not do much in terms of circuits until the 3rd year. I know they changed it afterwards, but I am unsure of the changes are better or worst. I guess it depends on your point-of-vue. However, I will tell you most of what you learn in school won't end up being relevant once of the work market. You will never do exactly what you have been taught do or perhaps will, but most people don't. What you do learn though is how to solve problems and how to learn from them. This the lesson you should achieve. Problem? Fine. Everyone has problems. There always is a problem. No, it NEVER works the first time around. Good. Now find the solution.
Dunkum he/him Posted August 2, 2015 Posted August 2, 2015 In addition to that, the school is likely spending a lot of time to teach you the theory behind some of the engineering stuff, which means it needs to teach you the math behind that. Newton had to invent Calculus in order to do all the physics he needed, so it shouldn't exactly be surprising that you need a lot of math.
Araris Valerian he/him Posted August 2, 2015 Posted August 2, 2015 Well, Reed was one of my options for college, and they sent me a copy of the Illiad for getting admitted. But money... So I am attending St. Olaf College in Minnesota and aiming for a chemistry major, potentially with one in math as well. I saw a lot more math than chemistry in high school, but I'm not too sure what I would do with a degree in math, or if I would enjoy something like that. Research sounds fun though.
navybrandt he/him Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 (edited) If you like research, that's when a PhD comes in handy. As far as the math discussion goes, you will use some basic calculus in real life, but software does most of the heavy number crunching. Your degree is about making you a well-rounded person and integrating knowledge, skills, and abilities. Experience is great but the degree proves you are competent and can perform basic math, write properly, solve problems, and finish something. Edited August 4, 2015 by navybrandt
Hood he/him Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Depending on how your degree is structured, I would say this is pretty normal. My degree was built in a way you did not do much in terms of circuits until the 3rd year. I know they changed it afterwards, but I am unsure of the changes are better or worst. I guess it depends on your point-of-vue. However, I will tell you most of what you learn in school won't end up being relevant once of the work market. You will never do exactly what you have been taught do or perhaps will, but most people don't. What you do learn though is how to solve problems and how to learn from them. This the lesson you should achieve. Problem? Fine. Everyone has problems. There always is a problem. No, it NEVER works the first time around. Good. Now find the solution. My degree is also based on the same way. This is the only semester till now, where all subjects are related to my field. Regarding, the relevance. I agree with you. I did 2 months training at an industry, and was surprised to find that most of what we study is quite outdated. This was most evident in switchgear and protection area.
Guest Posted August 7, 2015 Posted August 7, 2015 My degree is also based on the same way. This is the only semester till now, where all subjects are related to my field. Regarding, the relevance. I agree with you. I did 2 months training at an industry, and was surprised to find that most of what we study is quite outdated. This was most evident in switchgear and protection area. It can also be the contrary... The work place can be surprisingly static.... Ever heard the words: "If it ain't broken, don't fix it", well I have found it truly applies to the wonderful world of engineering. Let me share an anecdote to illustrate my point. When I was in school, they taught us C++ as it was, apparently, the future of the industry and I am quite sure it is massively used... in other companies... However, when I arrived at my current workplace, I was flabbergast to realize most internal software were coded in... Fortran When I asked about that peculiar green line on the left side of the code, I was told: "Oh well that's for the programming cards..." The programming cards. Seriously People were still using computer codes dating from the 70s. We were in the 2000 years. Nobody saw fit to change it as I was told: "Well, it may be old, but it works". So.................. School is not always outdated, but it is true fast evolving areas such as electronics easily fall behind.
Hood he/him Posted August 11, 2015 Posted August 11, 2015 It can also be the contrary... The work place can be surprisingly static.... Ever heard the words: "If it ain't broken, don't fix it", well I have found it truly applies to the wonderful world of engineering. Let me share an anecdote to illustrate my point. When I was in school, they taught us C++ as it was, apparently, the future of the industry and I am quite sure it is massively used... in other companies... However, when I arrived at my current workplace, I was flabbergast to realize most internal software were coded in... Fortran When I asked about that peculiar green line on the left side of the code, I was told: "Oh well that's for the programming cards..." The programming cards. Seriously People were still using computer codes dating from the 70s. We were in the 2000 years. Nobody saw fit to change it as I was told: "Well, it may be old, but it works". Now that is totally...um...surprising. To be honest, I've never seen a programming card. Is that the one similar to punch code ones ??
Guest Posted August 11, 2015 Posted August 11, 2015 Now that is totally...um...surprising. To be honest, I've never seen a programming card. Is that the one similar to punch code ones ?? I never seen one either... They went out of fashion more than a decade before I step foot into the University. I was told the first 4 digits where programming card related, hence the fact the are left blank and delimited by a neon green line... Fortran 77 also forces you to break your line after I do not recall how many characters........................ As I said, if it ain't broken, don't fix it. So yeah work market is not always up to date...
Dunkum he/him Posted August 11, 2015 Posted August 11, 2015 Where I work, most of the programming is currently done in Assembly and COBOL.
Guest Posted August 11, 2015 Posted August 11, 2015 Where I work, most of the programming is currently done in Assembly and COBOL. We are not a programming company, but we have homemade codes built to help us do our work. Our people aren't programmers.
Dunkum he/him Posted August 11, 2015 Posted August 11, 2015 We are not a programming company, but we have homemade codes built to help us do our work. Our people aren't programmers. ours are. Assembly is the most common language they use, followed by COBOL, which I think just got upgraded to COBOL 85. I'm not sure how long ago we stopped storing the big files on magnetic tapes...
Guest Posted August 11, 2015 Posted August 11, 2015 ours are. Assembly is the most common language they use, followed by COBOL, which I think just got upgraded to COBOL 85. I'm not sure how long ago we stopped storing the big files on magnetic tapes... :lol: I know Assembly and I have heard of COBOL, but here stops my expertise on the matter. Work place can be slightly out of sync. Just out of curiosity, which is the lastest version of COBOL? Or has it been superseded by something else?
Dunkum he/him Posted August 11, 2015 Posted August 11, 2015 :lol: I know Assembly and I have heard of COBOL, but here stops my expertise on the matter. Work place can be slightly out of sync. Just out of curiosity, which is the lastest version of COBOL? Or has it been superseded by something else? Not 100% sure. Apparently they did some upgrades to it in the 2000s some time (wikipedia lists one in 2014 apparently), but I think at this point it has mostly been superseded by C and its descendents.
Hood he/him Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 So, I went to the IT department, just for a stroll. There I saw books in a shelf. Those books were related to various versions of Microsoft Windows, with the latest one being...take a guess. Windows 95. And the version they work on is 98. At that time, I remembered, maxal's words, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it !!"
Guest Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 So, I went to the IT department, just for a stroll. There I saw books in a shelf. Those books were related to various versions of Microsoft Windows, with the latest one being...take a guess. Windows 95. And the version they work on is 98. At that time, I remembered, maxal's words, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it !!" Well to tell the truth, when my company moved to Windows 7 it was a huge pain. Everything crashes and it just does not work as well as Windows XP. Windows XP left us alone with those pesky updates: now our system gets rebooted every once in a while which just kills my jobs when I just don't come in to see my computer being completely dead I understand why some company chose not to evolve
Dunkum he/him Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 we only recently moved to Win 7, and I'm pretty sure the only reason people in our office aren't complaining about the updates is that our IT department did somethign to make them stop. we do still get updates form IT that they send through, but that is pretty much the only way anything on the computer gets changed. if you need new software, you go to IT and they do it, due to licensing and security issues. your computer needs updating, IT handles it. a software update has come in that needs to be installed, IT looks it over, then sends it out when they are sure it isn't going to be a priblem
Guest Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 we only recently moved to Win 7, and I'm pretty sure the only reason people in our office aren't complaining about the updates is that our IT department did somethign to make them stop. we do still get updates form IT that they send through, but that is pretty much the only way anything on the computer gets changed. if you need new software, you go to IT and they do it, due to licensing and security issues. your computer needs updating, IT handles it. a software update has come in that needs to be installed, IT looks it over, then sends it out when they are sure it isn't going to be a priblem National security requires the pesky updates to be done in a timely manner even if they make our entire system crash from time to time.
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