[angelfire]

Hi there....
I had the same prob too...Was confused with Electronics And Automobile eng...Had great intrests in electronics,robotics as well as Automobiles....But my brother being a BE in mech himself suggested me to take up Mech eng....Cause after Eng i can do my Masters in any of the feilds..Auto or Continue wit Mech...Or Designing.....
Well Mech eng when compared to the other fields in one of the most interestin one....You can aclty see things WORKING...And also know why it works!!!.rather than electrons running around in a circuit or countless hours on a keyboard..
OK NO offence meant for all you IT and EC guys...

NOw being in final year with just one more sem remainin...Feel ITs the BEST decision i have ever taken in my life!!!!...And Germany of course is the best place for studies in Auto...but its mandatory to know German i guess...Not very sure of this though...All the best bro!!..
rgrds,
angelfire

[salilpawar1]

In which college are u studying? How are the overall standards, faculty, students, job placements?

[RX135]

Originally Posted by ported_head

To sum it all up, considering you are academics are in shape, and you get scholarships and all that, get out of the country for education. B.E. is your fundamental course for engineering, Masters you can adapt to yourself if your basics are right.

Just curious! What compelled you to make such a blanket statement? There are tons of institutes which are good enough to shame many institutes abroad.

P.S.: I am a mech. engineer, who studied in India and never repented about it. But, there must be something more than that.

[ported_head]

Originally Posted by RX135

Just curious! What compelled you to make such a blanket statement? There are tons of institutes which are good enough to shame many institutes abroad.

Ermm...current experience. I have always maintained that all my answers are wrt Mumbai University only. Read disclaimer in my first post.

And I had looked around quite a bit for universities abroad even for undergrad, chose not to only because I was getting a degree for pretty cheap and didn't want to financially burden my folks, since undergrad studies are pretty expensive abroad. And I'd have never thought it'd be this bad. I also have quite a few friends studying engineering courses abroad, and have formed an opinion on hearsay. Which is pretty reasonable considering salilpawar is going to commit the next four years of his life also on hearsay, don't you think?

There are lots of fellow peers who also don't regret doing the same course I have, so I guess a lot depends on one's mindset. My expectations were different and so I am disappointed more than probably others would be. I'm calling it like "I" see it.

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

So are you working with an auto major and how is it going along?

Audio..not auto. Although it is car audio, and we do supply OE to auto guys like Tata.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by ported_head

There are lots of fellow peers who also don't regret doing the same course I have, so I guess a lot depends on one's mindset. My expectations were different and so I am disappointed more than probably others would be. I'm calling it like "I" see it.

I did not mean to challenge your opinion. You are entitled to yours just as I am for mine. Since you suggested him to get out country, I was surprised. I missed your disclaimer about Mumbai Univ.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

I am interested in more technical stuff rather than outright designing although I do sketch a lot of cars (in 2D form only). Thus, I am more interested in CAD designing rather than actual sketching.
......

I want to take up either R&D in engines may be and sometime later enter customization business or even motorsport (engg. not driving) if motorsport improves in India

I am not the one working in Auto sector, so I am ill-qualified, but a) I am mech. engineer by education (PG in Design from IIT/K), b) I got few classmates working with auto majors like Tata/M&M.

So, let me clarify few things:

• If you get into any auto major, you never will work on the car. You'll work on clutch or collapsible steering or a rear window panel etc. Most students think that they will design a car or engine. That is ruled out in 99.99% cases. If at all you really do it, you'll probably do it after spending 20 years in industry. One of my friends designed intake manifold for one "swadeshi" manufacturer and it was kept on hold for 2 years, though everyone agreed that it was much better than current. Reason? You don't fix things which are not broken. No one takes risks and people prefer to tread on known path.
• If you interested in technical stuff, get right education. Choose right courses like Geometric Modeling, Finite Element Analysis (FEM), Optimization techniques, Solid Mechanics, IC Engines. Many of them will be options courses. If you want to do engine research, you must learn about computation fluid dynamics and specialize in thermal engineering (post B.E.). You need to have good knowledge of Finite Elements. (Message T-BHPian Ram for even more details).
• Software are nothing but just tools & facilitators. They don't replace basic knowledge of design.
  • For drafting/Sketching/modeling:
    • Learn one of Pro/Engineer, CATIA 5, Unigraphics, Ideas. They are high end CAD tools and expensive.
  • For Surface/shape design:
    • Learn Helix, ICEM Surf (its awesome).
  • For analysis:
    • Ansys, Nastran etc.
• All these tools are expensive and see if you can get access to good education institutes. They either have educational licenses (which are cheap) or given complimentary.
• If you are confused about Automobile or Mech, go for Mechanical. It is kind of superset of Auto/Mech/Production etc.

Hope, this information will help you.

[sujaylahiri]

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

By saying here, do you mean Canada or India? Now, I am getting confused. Everybody is saying here that the best thing to do is to study abroad (which I may do only after my graduation). But now I am hearing this from you. Somebody, please clarify.

By the way, are there any softwares apart from CATIA worth learning? Is AUTO-CAD an outdated program now???

I meant Canada. In India I think with the new plants opening up the prospects are much better.
In fact Indians are stealing away jobs from North America right now.
About the software, I consider AUTOCAD kind of outdated. CATIA is the future. It's also 10 times better and difficult than AUTOCAD.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by sujaylahiri

About the software, I consider AUTOCAD kind of outdated. CATIA is the future. It's also 10 times better and difficult than AUTOCAD.

Let's not compare AUTOCAD and CATIA. That is like comparing apples to oranges. They are too entirely different type of softwares, designed to address totally different needs. No big manufacturer known to me uses AutoCAD for prototyping/modeling or manufacturing (CAM).

[Mpower]

One more thing l'd like to add, auto engg is not just mechanical, there are 1000s of Electrical and Software engineers also needed with today's sophisticated cars.

[shabahmad]

Hi TBhpians,

I need your suggestion, inputs and views on M. TECH.course in Automotive Engineering. This course is jointly offered by VIT, Vellore and ARAI, Pune.
http://www.araiindia.com/post_graduate_mtech.htm

I am looking this information for my younger brother. He is a Mechanical Engineer and has done a CAD/Cam course in designs (using Catia, Ansys etc). As there are no jobs in designing, he is thinking to utilize this time by completing his masters.

Kindly share information on the above course and future prospects/placements after completion.

Both ARAI and VIT sites claim to have placements in TATA Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland, Hindustan Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Force Motors, Piaggio etc.

Please help to decide whether to go for this course or not.
Regards,
Shabbir

[shabahmad]

Guys, please provide me some info about this Course.

[anekho]

Originally Posted by shabahmad

Guys, please provide me some info about this Course.

I don't know anything about the course, but VIT has awesome facilities! The college looked pretty modern and grand

cheers

[Jomz]

Hmmm my 2c.

having done my mechanical from an REC (REC Calicut) it was east to get job in an automobile major in India. The REC tag helped to get Engine R & D among the group of trainees which was induacted in 2002.

Never had any CAD exp but still the comaony trained me in Pro/E. But i feel that having some CAD exp would help in the interviews.

Try to link your project with something in CAD. THe companies don't highly regard the CADD centre certificates.

Well.. right now I'm abroad pursuing my MS. The facilities here (it is not a great college though) are far better than the REC. Expensive though.