Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by mcrad 2259 days ago
> This is universal to STEM degrees I think. In mechanical engineering classes you analyze a beam, in real life you ...

Hard to believe this. Don't these degrees require rigorous laboratory assignments where the student learns to differentiate best case scenario with real world uncertainties? STEM is not just some IT certification
2 comments
Underqualified 2259 days ago
As a mechanical engineer : No, my education didn't.

The problem is that most real world problems take too much time to really solve to fit in any modern ciriculum.

link
mcrad 2258 days ago
Hmmm. We had a whole course on measurement systems that get to the heart of understanding that source of your data and inevitable bias/error is more important than just crunching the data as given. For example, from a typical four year degree.
link
starpilot 2258 days ago
Not really. MechE courses are really theoretical, and the labs are focused on just being enough to demo the theories. Most of my professors had never worked in industry, they had been in academia their entire lives. Even they wouldn't know how to bridge the gap.

In an ideal world, we'd have separate tracks for people entering industry versus academia/research, but that's a long way off.

link
mcrad 2258 days ago
That's insane. ME degrees that I know seem to be defined by industry (ie. application of theory). Nobody pursues that degree to stay in academia/research. Anyway you can always pursue an advanced degree if you want to stay in academia. Don't get it twisted though - STEM is not a vocation as per your suggestion that "people entering industry" deserve a special path.
link