How to make a successful Automobile Engineering
Career right from your undergraduation !!!
Under gradation (Bachelor in Automobile Engineering) is the right phase
to ensure successful career in big companies such as GM, Ford, Suzuki...etc. We
are serious about this since it is the time when students build strong foundation
in terms of understanding fundamentals, developing innovative ideas, having curiosity
about different technologies and having lot of questions about the available
concept or design. How do you really get this all. The answer lies in how do
you really take your under graduation. By this we mean, what path you really
choose in your under graduation in selecting courses, internships, projects,
industrial exposure & paper publication. Appropriate path definitely leads
to strong foundation leading to confidence in what ever technical work you do
or present ultimately leading to jobs or successful ventures . Better understanding
of concepts gives creative insights in to it resulting in efficient
modification of the design or concept.So, in this article we are going to
discuss about how you should foster yourself in your undergraduation years ie
we will help you decide what kind of courses, projects, internships you select
and how do you develop yourself as confident and successful automobile engineer
right from the day one of your start of under graduation.
Requirements of an automobile engineer?????
So, before choosing the path you should have clear understanding of automobile
engineering and what is expected from an automobile engineering after
graduation.Automobile Engineering in simple terms is the study of
concepts & working of different vehicles used all over the world. It
includes sub-units of Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Electronics,
Safety and many more, concepts of which are used in the designing, production,
quality management & operation of the vehicles used all over the world. Keeping
the above definition in context, following are the requirements of an
automobile engineer and what should be done to fulfil these requirements:
·
Mastering
Design & Analysis Software: It is very important to have
a sound knowledge of working with different design software like Solidworks,
CATIA, ProE, and Analysis software like ANSYS, Hyperworks, specially, for the
one who wants to develop his/her career in Design & Simulation department.
·
Learning
from internship Opportunities: It is an important part of
Engineering. Most of the interview questions are asked from the Intern &
College projects. Punctuality & Sincerity towards the project not only
improves the knowledge but provides a strong base for a successful career.
·
Having
Hands on Experience: Practical Experience comes from the projects
done in College, Internship and most important is participation in National
Level SAE events like BAJA, SUPRA, Effi-cycle etc. Companies prefer a candidate
with an experience of Team compatibility, Technical Knowledge, Positive
Thinking. Role in the team or Project shows your involvement in the project and
thus the qualities a company is looking for.
· Strong
Auto-Sector Knowledge: It is very important to be updated about
the on-goings in the automobile industry. New technologies, new cars reviews
etc. Specially, if you are planning to develop a career in Sales, Service &
Marketing. It is always recommended to go through each edition of Auto Car
& top Gear.
· Innovative
Thinking: The most important factor besides the technical
knowledge, if you want to develop your career in the Research & Development
Field (Toughest & most challenging job).
· Logical
Thinking: It is must for an R & D Executive. It’s not always
innovations, but sometimes you need to troubleshoot the existing facility going
wrong.
Looking at the above requirements, it is important here to emphasize
the way these requirements could be met. Following section describes in
detail various ways of doing it.We
suggest a year wise development of solution throughout four years of undergraduation.
Building a
Strong Foundation is most important!!!
There are many factors for
building a strong foundation for a better future, like
·
Important subjects.
·
Extra-Courses.
·
Projects.
·
Habits.
·
Participation in Events and many more
For a stress free and
effective output, it is not expected to give to attention all the above mentioned
factors simultaneously. Each of the factors has its own importance at a particular
time.
So, let’s discuss Year-wise activities:
First Year
·
Important
Subjects
o Physics:
Builds a strong foundation for upcoming core subjects. Since Automobile sector
is highly based upon the basic physics concepts like Friction, Force, momentum
etc.
o
Engineering Mechanics: It develops the
vision of an automobile into simple mechanical system and thus is easy to
understand the very working of the vehicles and studying about its motion.
o Material
Science: Subject is considered to be a tough one, but the
importance of the subject is incomparable to other subjects. It has a great
importance in the production or manufacturing side of the industry. Knowledge
of Material can create a lot of scope for a better future.
o
Engineering
Graphics: Basics of Engineering design. It’s very important to
understand the designs and make design that can be understood by all the
workers. It involves the representation of your imagination into a paper (2-D).
o
Workshop
Technology: Familiarization with the tools & basic
methods used for production.
· Habits:
Habit
of reading magazines like Auto-Car & Top-Gear. Watching Automobile shows.
·
Extra
Courses: In the break between 1st & 2nd
year you can utilize the time by indulging in activities related to automobile
repairing. You can visit auto-repairing shops and observe the working of
different automobile components.
Second Year
·
Important
Subjects
o
Thermal
Engineering: Important for understanding the concepts of
heat and its utilization in an Engine.
o
Strength of Materials: Highly important
to design a structure with given loads and material.
o
Applied
Fluid Mechanics: Important for studying flow characteristics
related to vehicle. For ex. Aerodynamics, shape and design of the vehicle.
o
Components
of Automotive Chassis: Core Automotive subject, introduces you
to the basic components of an automobile.
o
IC
Engines: One of the most important core auto-subject. Highly
recommended, if you want to develop you career in Engine design, Engine Testing
or R&D.
· Habits:
Habit
of reading magazines like Auto-Car & Top-Gear. Watching Automobile shows.
Reading Technical Papers about new generation automotive technologies.
· Extra
Courses: In the break between 2st & 3nd
year you can utilize the time by doing a design software course of ProE,
solidworks etc. with an Analysis Software like ANSYS.
·
Projects:
Involvement
in projects like BAJA, SUPRA & Effi-cycle is highly recommended to improve
your practical hands-on experience.
· Extra-curricular:
Be
an active SAEINDIA Member and follow the articles, Seminars & Webinars
regularly.
Third Year
·
Important
Subjects
In
the 3rd and 4th year of B.Tech you are mostly studying
the core Automobile Engineering Subjects. So, all the subjects are very
important this year to improve your knowledge about automobile and its working.
Still, the most important subjects include:
o
Automotive
Chassis & Component DESIGN: Introduces you to the
design requirements of an auto-component.
o
Vehicle
Dynamics: Introduces to the design of Suspension system,
theoretically & Aerodynamics concepts.
o
Transmission
Design.
· Habits:
Reading
Technical Papers about new generation automotive technologies. Writing
Technical articles & review papers
·
Extra
Courses: INTERNSHIP.
·
Projects:
College project should be chosen effectively, Involvement
in projects like BAJA, SUPRA & Effi-cycle is highly recommended to improve
your practical hands-on experience.
· Extra-curricular:
Be
an active SAEINDIA Member and follow the articles, Seminars & Webinars
regularly.
Fourth Year
· Habits:
Solving
Aptitude questions daily, Revising Technical Concepts & if possible
participating in a test series.
· Extra
Courses: If you want to apply for government sector in India go
for GATE preparation. If MS is the your
aim go for GRE .
· Projects:
College project of a R &D Level is recommended, Involvement
in projects like BAJA, SUPRA & Effi-cycle is highly recommended to improve
your practical hands-on experience.
· Extra-curricular:
Be
an active SAEINDIA Member and follow the articles, Seminars & Webinars regularly.
·
Paper
publication: Highly desirable. If
you get involved in any R&D project, supply chain management project etc
you must aim to publish paper in journals having high impact factor.
Following
the above path with all the strategies mentioned, we ensure that you will
develop high level of confidence and strong understanding of fundamentals which
is highly highly desired by the recruiters during the job hunt and universities
(in case you are planning to pursue PhD/MS).
We
hope that you all will be benefited by this article and in case you have more
questions please feel to type or email us.
