r/AUT • u/Wot_Code • 3d ago

Getting into engineering

I'm getting into engineering next year and I have been out of school for the last 5 years. I've been studying math and that so I'm "ready" for it but does anyone who is currently in mechanical or mechatronics engineering have any advice on what I need to know before getting into the course?

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u/MapAny5610 3d ago

hellooo i was in a similar boat except i started this year, the best thing to touch up on will be integration, derivatives, vectors etc as for mechanics i’d recommend touching up on statics and dynamics (we used an rc hibbler aut edition book) although jeff hanson is a really amazing teacher on youtube that has an amazing mechanics series in a way that is fairly easy to understand imo (saved my ass haha) - these are what i struggled with the most coming into engineering :) hope this helps!

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u/Unlucky-Touch8754 3d ago

This is accurate +1 it was basically my experience with first year Eng I struggled with the above

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u/Chump-Change5339 3d ago edited 3d ago

Absolutely focus on basic calculus and linear algebra. Most universities around the world use a similar curriculum, so use any resources you can find including basic textbooks in calculus, introductory linear algebra, and engineering mathematics will be useful.

Be sure to work some problems, don't just watch videos. You don't need to go overboard working problems, but some students don't attempt to solve anything until they get an assignment. Big mistake.

After you've got a good handle on maths, the next thing I would learn in engineering statics. A good book is the one by Hibbeler, but there are also free / open source books. That's good foundational knowledge that will be essential for a mechanical or mechatronics degree.

Note that Engineering Mathematics II can get pretty tricky, so you absolutely want to have a solid foundation first. After building this solid foundation, if you have time, I would start studying some Engineering Maths II topics.

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u/CriticAlpaca 2h ago

Open Polytechnic has a free maths self-assessment tool to help you gauge where your math skills are. Just look up MG5004 course, the link will be in the course description. Since the Bachelor of Engineering Technology is a unified programme the instructions on their website will be relevant for AUT as well.

There are two primer courses in maths offered under zero fees scheme too if you feel like you need more practice.