blueshift
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| posted on 12/10/03 at 02:44 AM |
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Hatfield uni courses, opinions?
Thinking about going to Hatfield uni to do an automotive engineering degree, anyone here done one / know anything about the course or what kind of
reputation it has? Thought I'd see if I could get some unbiased information..
Saw the formula student car they built on the open day today, 600cc bike engine and the car weighs 200kg total. blimey.
Accelerates "quite fast" apparently, I thought no, really?
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 12/10/03 at 10:02 PM |
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When you pass you will end up being an insurance company assessor, I usually eat two before breakfast
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
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James
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| posted on 12/10/03 at 11:27 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
I usually eat two before breakfast
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D Beddows
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| posted on 13/10/03 at 09:45 PM |
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errrr yes, I have a degree in Automotive engineering - my advice would be to not to follow in my footsteps I'm afraid...what tends to happen is
you go round somewhere on the open day, look at all the wonderful kit they have on show and odds on you'll never get anywhere near it for at
least 2 years....health and safety b*llocks will be quoted at you forever.
If I could go back I'd do Civil engineering (never hurt Colin Chapman and at the moment there are a HUGE amount of jobs in that field) failing
that pure Mechanical Engineering..but it's not a good field to be looking for a job in at the moment unless you have 3 or more years
experience.....
Dave
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chrisg
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| posted on 13/10/03 at 11:22 PM |
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Top Trivia
I've got a Civils degree.
Am I the new Chapman?
No
Cheers
Chris
Note to all: I really don't know when to leave well alone. I tried to get clever with the mods, then when they gave me a lifeline to see the
error of my ways, I tried to incite more trouble via u2u. So now I'm banned, never to return again. They should have done it years ago!
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D Beddows
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| posted on 14/10/03 at 12:06 AM |
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And anyone who watched the enginering student or should we say 'complete muppet' who while trying to show off drove one of those Formula
Student cars into a stationary Skoda Fabia at Silverstone this year.....wouldn't employ anyone involved in any capacity......
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pbura
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| posted on 14/10/03 at 09:14 AM |
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My advice to all young people is to do what they love and are good at. Success (or at least satisfaction) will follow.
Some judicious reasoning need apply. Approximately 85% of high school students in the US want to be entertainers, the horses' asses.
Best of luck, Blueshift 
Pete
Pete
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JoelP
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| posted on 14/10/03 at 12:19 PM |
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i would completely agree with Pete. i did a course at uni that was fairly irrelevant, and never bothered getting a job to do with it. I loved every
moment (nearly) and love knowing all the things i learnt.
plus try to get some elective modules so you can pick stuff at random for interests sake. i did two in stella physics, fascinating stuff!
as it stands, practical experience counts for more than the degree when it comes to cars so you're off to a good start...
ATB, Joel
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greggors84
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| posted on 15/10/03 at 02:16 PM |
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Im at oxford brookes doing automotive engineering, im in my second year and its getting alot more interesting. The first year was a lot of general
physics and maths, and now it is more towards motorsport.
I chose the course at brookes because it has a motorsport bias, so i wont have to learn german aswell!
I looked at Herts and went along to their open day and it looks like a good course, i didnt want to go there though as it was too close to home. I
live about a 30 min drive so would have commuted, and i wanted to move away from home,(part of the uni experience!). Still though if Brookes and Herts
were the same distance away i still would have chosen brookes, as they have pretty good links with motorsport.
One more thing, its not an easy degree, a few of my mates here are doing one day a week, or 6 hours. I did about 25 average in my first year, and it
went up to about 30. This year so far it has been about 28. I know some might say we dont know how lucky we are, not working 9-5 everyday. but this is
9-5 most days, and its maths and physics, most of which is god damn boring. Its the praticals that make up for it.
If you love cars and motorsport and you are ready for a bit of work, do it. Just check out how the course is run and if it is general automotive based
or more motrosport. Places like loughborough run the first 2 years with the aeronautical, and then specialise in the final year!
Hope this helps
Ask if you have any questions, i took ages looking at all the different unis and courses.
Chris
The Magnificent 7!
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D Beddows
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| posted on 15/10/03 at 06:46 PM |
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Yes it was a HUGE generalisation and those FStudent cars are usualy extremely 'trick' cars, and much respect is due (unless you let
someone take one out for a drive and he hits a stationary vehicle in full view of everyone mmmm)
BUT getting back to degrees if anyone expects loads of practical work and an instant atractiveness to racing teams dream on - and no building your
own racing car probably wont help, in fact odds are it will mean you get a worse degree as you get caught up with it........ and as every muppet in
the world under 25 now seems to have a degree if you don't have at least a 2:1 (and probably a PHD from somewhere like Cranfield) forget about
that interview at Williams, Prodrive etc
Cynical moi?
Dave
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blueshift
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| posted on 15/10/03 at 07:57 PM |
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Cheers all. Hatfield do serveral courses, including "Automotive Engineering" and "Automotive Engineering with Motorsport", in
both BEng and MEng flavours I think. I am looking at the BEng -with motorsport, with a sandwich year.
Physics and maths don't bother me, in fact that's an aspect I'm quite looking forward to.. I had no problem with maths, further
maths and physics A-levels and have felt my brain's edge dulling since the end of those courses..
As for becoming an insurance assessor.. maybe I will if I think it's interesting, I'm not convinced I'm going to come out of the
course and join team subaru rally as a designer or something. I'm going because I think the course will be interesting, I enjoy university (hey,
beats work) and at the moment I'm seeing a career in an engineering direction as more likely and interesting than computers (sick to the back
teeth of them).
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greggors84
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| posted on 15/10/03 at 08:25 PM |
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My house mate, doing the same course as me, managed to blag a sponsorship from arrows even though he got a B a C and an F in his A levels. He has
loved F1 since an early age and knows his stuff and they could see that in the interview.
So its not all about academics, they are still interested in how motivated and passionate you are.
Of course there is a sad end to this tale, he did indeed lose his sponsorship when arrows went bust.
But there are a few class mates sponsored by renault F1 and Prodrive. Which means they will get a industrial placement year with them, and if they
complete their degree and are happy with them on the placement year they will be offered a job.
[Edited on 15/10/03 by greggors84]
Chris
The Magnificent 7!
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D Beddows
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| posted on 15/10/03 at 10:14 PM |
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If you hate computers and computer software you are in BIG trouble 
lol
Dave
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blueshift
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| posted on 17/10/03 at 07:58 AM |
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Heh, I'm happy enough to use computers, I don't post on here through the power of the mind.. I'm just sick of programming,
supporting and administering the things.
I have been a big unix geek in my time (linux, freebsd, some solaris) but it doesn't interest me any more, fiddling for the sake of it.
Interesting what you say about industrial sponsorship greggors, I was planning to look in that direction.. have to dust off my blagging hat
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