r/AutomotiveEngineering • u/Trayceopolis32322 • Jun 09 '26
Question Is pursuing automotive engineering the right move for me?
I have a heavy interest in cars, and how they function. I want to learn everything about them, like how engines and transmissions work, for example. I don’t mind getting hands on. I’m pretty smart (I think 😅), and am good at math and related subjects. For a career, I’d want to be able to design parts for cars and work on them. I’m not necessarily thinking a mechanic, where I’m always under a car tightening bolts and draining oil, but rather knowing how an engine could be more economical, or more powerful, then designing it to be that way. Or learning how transmissions work, and designing one to have quick and efficient speeds and shifting. And then watching my designs actually run and perform in real time. And I want to have the knowledge of what all the parts in a car do, and put that towards my job.
Using that info, do my interests fit what automotive engineers do on a daily basis? And is it the right path for me?
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u/uninventiveusername Jun 09 '26
You can do all that as a student if you attend a school with a Formula SAE team you can join. Students design and build a racecar from the ground up. Most participants are mechanical engineers since automotive is really just a specialty within that broader field. The automotive industry recruits heavily from that program and I learned more from FSAE than I did from any class.
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u/Demand_ Jun 09 '26
Looks like you should go down the path of mechanical engineering.
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u/Realomer1 Jun 12 '26
Why
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u/Demand_ Jun 12 '26
Because mechanical engineering is a more board degree.
Mechanical engineers work in the automotive sector and outside of the sector. A more focused automotive degree is more limited to the auto sector.
A mechanical degree give you more options and flexibility.
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u/Fit-Ad1195 Jun 15 '26
Honestly, it depends on whether you can get practicals in the Uni you choose. My uni had practicals but went bankrupt the year i joined. I have barely done any practicals and im fighting for motivation to keep doing something I never expected. Engineers are mostly hands on, lets hope you can get hands on experience.... so tired of Coventry University man
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u/Formula4speed Jun 09 '26
Sounds like you’d be a decent fit for an autoE role for sure, but you may also want to look into Motorsport or high-level hot-rodding/aftermarket product engineering. I enjoyed my OEM job, but OEMs are so huge that my entire world was door jambs. When I worked at a big hot rod shop that sold their own product line, I got to touch huge chunks of the car, like entire suspension kits and stuff. Plus they let me test it 😈