Help: for Uni mech eng specialisation.

[iamlooting_yo]

Asking for some tips and recommendations here.

Like everyone else in this forum, also a motorsport fanatic, and looking to pursue my interest in this area!
I hope to become an aerodynamicist for some company, hopeful to be part of the race in F1.
I got accepted into National Uni of Singapore's mechanical engineering.
I can choose in my third year whether to choose to specialise in Aeronautical Engineering, Automotive Engineering or dont specialise.
My concern is, there are few technical electives that I want to choose from each specialisation let's say
(The red is what I want roughly)

Aeronautical Engineering
ME3231 Compressible and Unsteady Flow
ME4212 Aircraft Structures
ME4231 Aerodynamics and Propulsion
ME4233 Computational Methods in Fluids Mechanics
ME4234 Experimental Methods in Fluid Mechanics
ME4291 Finite Element Analysis
ME4241 Aircraft Performance, Stability and Control

Automotive Engineering
ME3251 Materials for Engineers
ME3261 Computer aided Design and Manufacturing
ME3263 Design for Manufacturing and Assembly
ME4254 Materials in Engineering Design
ME4255 Materials Failure
ME4262 Automation in Manufacturing

Or probably a few more technical electives from automotive engineering, but Im not sure now.
Yeah, so advice please. Mind explaining each electives? because I am not very sure of them too.
As far as I know, NUS also took part in FSAE as well. so gotta work hard to get into it.

My plan is to work for some aerodynamic/ design-centric automotive eng jobs in Singapore before goin masters(though I am not sure the opportunities in Singapore for this, but got to serve a 3 year bond though).
For Masters I am considering race car aerodynamics in Uni of southampton. Does race car aerodynamics only limit myself to jobs related to race cars?

What do you think about the electives that I am choosing? Which one do you recommend, or do you recommend specialising? I know I might be too fast in deciding what I want (like I even decided what to do for master), Comments and guidance please, of what you think of this. Thanks a lot.

A poll for the electives as well (a guide for me. thanks)

[jon-mullen]

Hey Yo, welcome to the forum. I just finished my second year of studying mechanical engineering (though I'm not straight out of high school) so while I can't help you with picking your electives, I can give you some general advice:

• Find friends that are at the same level of commitment and motivation that you are. You don't want to end up "studying with" someone that you'll mostly be tutoring while they alt+tab between Facebook and the solutions manual.
• Take care of your body (diet, sleep, a little exercise never hurts) and it'll take care of you. It's tempting to stay up all night drinking Coke and smoking cigs while you catch up on work but most of the time you're better served getting into a routine of regular work and sleep hours.
• Don't fall behind on math, it'll kill you. In later classes, once you get to the math your problems should be over. Being good and quick at it will save you frustration, help you do better on tests, and let you know if you conceptualized something incorrectly before you got to the math.
• Your basic science courses (chemistry and physics) help, but most likely a lot of the stuff will be repeated when you need it in your engineering classes. Basically, don't kill yourself doing chemistry while your math or a low-level engineering class suffers.
• Get to know your academic adviser, financial aid person and career placement person and get them to know you. They can be very helpful, especially at a big uni where knowing every student may not be the norm.

I can choose in my third year whether to choose to specialise in Aeronautical Engineering, Automotive Engineering or dont specialise.

Do it later then, why worry about it now? You grow more as a person in the first couple years out of high school than you ever did before, so just take your time deciding what you want to do and make sure that your grades and relationships with your professors leave as many doors open for you as possible. All the while, pester everyone you meet in the profession as to what and where they studied, how they got into their current field, is their work interesting, how much they make, etc... Use a little tact when asking the last two questions.

Best of luck.

[iamlooting_yo]

Thanks for the advice.
It may sound general but definitely important. Thanks

Yeah, I started to get serious of what I do out of a sudden. Because I used to wait and not aware of opportunities, which eventually leaving me a lots of regrets. And recently, I given up the chance of goin to a better Uni due to financial prob, which gives me the urge to want to do things well to achieve my dream so I will have no regrets later. But I guess Im a lil over-excited of what im doin.

[marcush.]

i would specialise into the fields that really grab my attention,because those fields you are more likely to get to the level of excellence neeeded to be better than the rest of those who are already very good...

[mep]

ME3261 Computer aided Design and Manufacturing

To be honest I think this will be a flop.
You will learn some CAD programmes anyway and if not you can learn them in a company or yourself.
I feel this is one of the courses where they talk much but you will not learn any relevant stuff.
I recoment you these material and failure courses:
ME4254 Materials in Engineering Design
ME4255 Materials Failure
ME3251 Materials for Engineers

[mx_tifoso]

...
[*]Don't fall behind on math, it'll kill you. In later classes, once you get to the math your problems should be over. Being good and quick at it will save you frustration, help you do better on tests, and let you know if you conceptualized something incorrectly before you got to the math.
...

Story of my life.

Although my major isn't engineering.

[xpensive]

...
[*]Don't fall behind on math, it'll kill you. In later classes, once you get to the math your problems should be over. Being good and quick at it will save you frustration, help you do better on tests, and let you know if you conceptualized something incorrectly before you got to the math.
...

Truer words never spoken, math is everything, without you be nowhere, for one thing the ability to make quick estimations is priceless.

[RacingManiac]

I'd take the material courses. The other stuff under undergrad level is not going to cover the kind of stuff you like or is going to be immediately useful, but Material courses are always useful.....

[iamlooting_yo]

look like most are more supportive of material related course. I shall do a deeper research into these courses.
Mathematics definitely get us faster to anything related.

Im not quite sure of those aeronautical technical electives as well.

Does readings beyond syllabus help? like learning on your own for a certain things.

[PlatinumZealot]

Materials is good, but it won't make you smarter, you can always read about materials anytime. So you can do a materials course but don't focus on it. Do courses that will expose you to more skills. And always stick to the "straight foward" courses. I wasted my time doing this course called "Traction" (about tractors) and I wasted time with Environmental (Heating Ventilation and cooling) It was interesting.. but too gimicky, to many charts and tables and whatnot. That's just me though. Remember You just need to get a high GPA degree doing the courses that you like and most importantly easy for you to understand. You can specialize when you do masters.