Anybody in this major like it? What is it like and what do you plan to do with it?

6/28/2009 10:37:13 PM

Well, based on this description:

Quote :

"The major (a concentration under Technology Education) provides students with a background in technical graphics, manufacturing and materials and management."

And based on some knowledge of what drafters do in the industry (as far as some mechanical work and structural designer work), you're going to be looking at a career as a designer/drafter and will work directly with engineers of all sorts (maybe process engineers at a factory, structural engineers at a large engineering corporation, mechanical engineers at a place that designs infrastructure systems) in putting together drawing plan sets for projects, creating 3D models in solidworks that will be used for manufacturing purposes, etc.

I took two GC classes as part of my education as a civil engineer and I would say that, if you are pretty good with numbers (i.e. you get OK to decent grades in math and can solve problems fairly well) and like to design things (which is what you'd do as a drafter/designer with a graphics communications degree) that you should consider just becoming an engineer. There's been a shift in different fields in the industry to shy away from the older model of having professional draftsmen that collaborate with engineers to switch to a newer model of engineers that draft and manage their own projects.

There's a couple reasons behind this, but the most important one is that the engineer himself knows exactly how he wants the thing drawn, and with the use of autocad drawings and the ability to simplify many things into blocks and x-referenced drawing files to speed up plan development, there is less of a need (in some corporations) to have people whose sole job duty is drafting. It eliminates a burdensome chain of command and helps prevent a lot of drawing errors from happening. There's still MANY many companies that hire draftsmen and the jobs pay pretty well (I believe there's professional certifications you can get as a draftsman that can be quite useful), but I'd at least suggest you consider checking out the different engineering majors and see if there's anything that catches your interest. If you're interested in being a drafter/designer you probably have a decent creative thinking ability and may well enjoy the greater responsibility and depth of work you'd have as a jack-of-all-trades engineer-drafter.

Look at me ranting. I hope I cleared up more what you'd be doing once you graduate with a degree like that, though. If you're wondering about pay, I really can't provide a decent estimate because it varies so widely with experience and based on the field in which you're working. It's probably on average slightly lower than an engineering job would pay on average, but you could compare the pay of an entry level NC DOT engineer with the pay level of an entry-level corporate mechanical drafter and see the DOT engineer getting paid less.

6/28/2009 11:11:38 PM

drafting is only one of many options for GC folks though

6/28/2009 11:21:35 PM

you don't get a 4 year degree to be an autocad draftsman.

that said, i'm not sure what you do w/ a gc degree.

6/28/2009 11:40:33 PM

^ Yeah, I agree, 2 year degrees are for being a draftsman.

With a 4 year degree though, all I can see you doing is using that experience to qualify for better pay as a draftsman or perhaps going into teaching at a public high school (and if you get a masters, you could do higher education instruction).

^^ List some of em! This guy wants moar info, I'm just basing this off of the technical graphics and manufacturing aspect.

6/28/2009 11:46:44 PM

this question is much better answered by a GC major

6/28/2009 11:49:19 PM

graphics communication is for kids who don't get accepted into design school. it's not going to be worth much on its own. with a good portfolio, having a GC degree would definitely be a plus though

6/29/2009 1:12:12 AM

I kinda failed at being an engineer after 5 semesters of C's and now I'm looking for alternatives...

6/29/2009 2:41:12 AM

IIRC, there isn't a graphic communications undergraduate major. They offer a minor - which I got - and a master's degree. The GC concentration that's part of the Tech. Ed. major isn't really a standalone degree so much as it's a permutation of the classes available as part of the tech. ed. curriculum. You can read about the tech. ed. program online to get an idea of what it entails and what it's goals are.

For the minor, it was basically a collection of courses all centered around technical communication. Things like drafting and CAD are forms of graphic communications. I also took courses in technical computer animation, web coding and design, effective document layout and design, digital image manipulation and implementation, etc... For me, the courses provided a background of basic skills that I use just about everyday as a research scientist. The skills have been invaluable for crating figures for publication and preparing presentations for conferences and meetings. While fields like graphic design can teach you how to communicate is a visually pleasing manner, graphic communications is all about the practical aspects of communicating visually. You learn things like why serifed fonts are better for body text, when to use PNG images over GIF images, how to visually illustrate and explain complicated technical processes, etc...

6/29/2009 3:01:22 AM

Quote :

"I kinda failed at being an engineer after 5 semesters of C's and now I'm looking for alternatives..."

College of Management wants YOU!

6/29/2009 6:37:23 AM

Quote :

"I kinda failed at being an engineer after 5 semesters of C's and now I'm looking for alternatives..."

Only 5 huh? Most people go for 4 straight years of sucking to change their major.

Really? 5 semesters to figure out Engineering just didn't fit?

6/29/2009 7:29:00 AM

you should've known, everyone on tww is an engineering allstar.

6/29/2009 9:02:21 AM

i have an english degree and do graphics and communications.

you will end up doing a lot of catalogs, website design, newsletters, blogging, press releases, etc.

6/29/2009 9:33:13 AM

I got my degree in GC.

It was a fun degree path at least. I know a lot of people hated their college classes. I loved all of mine. I currently am working in RTP doing SolidWorks (among other things) for an R&D company.

6/29/2009 10:52:08 AM

I doubled in GC and TED.
I don't have any job advice, as I worked for the university for the last two years and for the next few months.

GC is its own degree program, but it will be changing shortly to a T(e)DE program: Technology, Engineering, and Design Education
With the new heading, they will be offering certifications in the GC department for drafting and design careers.

6/29/2009 12:52:11 PM

Quote :

"While fields like graphic design can teach you how to communicate is a visually pleasing manner, graphic communications is all about the practical aspects of communicating visually. You learn things like why serifed fonts are better for body text, when to use PNG images over GIF images, how to visually illustrate and explain complicated technical processes, etc..."

You learn this in any design program. Graphics communication is a subset of graphic design, not the other way around. The latter part of what you are describing is information design, which is a field in and of itself, and isn't something that GC covers in any depth.

6/29/2009 8:58:31 PM

Quote :

"Only 5 huh? Most people go for 4 straight years of sucking to change their major. Really? 5 semesters to figure out Engineering just didn't fit? "

That's actually totally reasonable. You do little-to-no engineering in the first couple of years...that's just all the calculus, physics, etc. The engineering weed-out courses were largely around the 5th-6th semesters (although it continued to be painful all the way to the bitter end--even the senior classes often didn't have great grade distributions)

6/29/2009 9:28:36 PM

I did 5 semesters of AE before changing, and getting two other degrees and a Masters.
I have been here way, way too long.

6/29/2009 10:51:29 PM

Yeah I got through Statics and Calc III and I said "DONE" I can't hurt my GPA anymore

6/30/2009 12:22:00 AM

^^^what engineering are we talking about there?

I recall my 3rd semester being the one packed with ECE weed out courses.

[Edited on June 30, 2009 at 6:21 AM. Reason : ^]

6/30/2009 6:21:15 AM

^^Do Statistics. I usually recommend it because it's probably the 'easiest' science/math major you can get a degree in. It's not hard. There will be two tough classes, but you can pull through. Also, finding a job won't be super tough.

[Edited on June 30, 2009 at 8:11 AM. Reason : ]

6/30/2009 8:05:43 AM

C's get degrees.

anyway, i had a more difficult time with the weedout classes (statics, dynamics, solids) than i did with the more upper level MAE classes. probably just because i was still developing new study habits and motivating myself to study the course material more to understand the stuff.

6/30/2009 8:53:19 AM

I was mechanical. Co-op'd at Duke Energy and liked it a lot. I did a lot of schematics updates and engineering drawings there.

6/30/2009 12:13:43 PM