Do I have to have a love for numbers to enjoy being an engineer?

Question

I don't know how else to ask it... I've never had a LOVE for math... but I'm thinking of being an engineer... mostly for the lifestyle it would be able to provide (financially)... also I don't think it would suck to be able to build things from scratch... the only thing that concerns me is if I am doing something that I was not meant to do... as if I'm letting a special part of me die by not doing something else (that thing which I am not even sure what it is yet...)

Answer 1

What makes a good engineer is the ability to drink heaps of p**s and score a lot

Answer 2

You don't have to love math, but you do need to be good at it.  If you don't mind doing 3 dimensional calculus using spherical coordinates for 4 months to get your degree, you might be fortunate not to have to use it again.  You could spend the rest of your career programming in Visual C++, or drawing things in AutoCAD or Orcad without touching calculus again - if you so choose.

Answer 3

Talk to your school or college councillur. They have testing proceedures which will point out your peek interests and aptitudes.

As for love of numbers: After you get your degree, depending on your career choices, you may never see the equations again, but you will never get your engineering degree unless you can develope your relation with numbers.

Honest, I didn't start out high on the math when I entered college (small High School) and I had no set career choice for the 1st year. In fact most students don't have a set career when they start, that's why the first 2 years are pretty much globally based (not totally). So I started in a community college and developed from there. The community college will allow some extra exploration of other interests prior to chosing a speciallised university. If you are unsure of your interests start there.

Answer 4

Yes you sure do have to love the numbers and the math that goes with them.  Every product designed and produced has tons of numbers behind them, from your underwear to your grandad's riding lawn mower.

Answer 5

Are you good at math?  Engineers exist partly because they can calculate what it will take to make something work.  Does that sound like something you want to spend the rest of your life doing.  

Simple example from Civil Engineering: You have been hired by a company to select the equipment to pump 1 million gallons of water a day up a 500 foot hill from a river 20 feet below where you will put the pump.

What kind of pump should they buy? You have 100s of choices.

What brands of the type pump you choose could they buy?

Of the brand chosen, which model?

What horsepower motor?

What kind of valves?

What kind of pipe?

What size pipe?

etc.

Want to spend the rest of your life figuring this stuff out?  The answer to all those questions takes math.  Every mistake either will not work or cost more than it should.

Answer 6

Hello there....yes you must be good in math in order to become an engineer. It is a great and respectable degree to achieve but I kid you not there is a lot of work involved....I know I have an Electrical Engineering degree. If you feel comfortable with numbers and higher order mathematics...go for it!!!

Answer 7

You might not love the math itself but you sure are going to see alot of the math since it is an itegral part of any engineering curicculum.