[saikishor]

Hello BHPians, hope everyone is doing fine.

So to start off, I recently passed out of 12th and am currently preparing for my competitive exams. I had decided to pursue Mechanical Engineering primarily to get into the automobile industry. But after some research, my Dad suggested me to pursue Automobile engineering, as Mechanical will not go deeply into automobiles. Thing is, very few colleges in India offer Automobile engineering and I am completely unaware of which one to get into. I do have plans to pursue my post graduation in Germany after I complete my under graduate degree. What better place to ask about an Automobile Engineering college than Team-BHP.

I stay in Hyderabad, and I found that only two colleges offer Automobile engineering.



I really need your valuable and elaborate suggestions regarding the aforementioned. Even a small piece of information will really help me a lot.

Regards,
Kishor





PS: I searched for this topic but found threads which were very old/dead. Hence, created a new one.

[vigsom]

I'd urge you not to take up automobile engineering but look at Mechatronics, Electrical, Electronics as options. Basis of this suggestion is as follows:

1. Automobiles are gradually getting more electronic and mechatronic

2. The syllabus in the current automobile engineering courses in India might most likely be vintage, with no focus on future tech. Doing this course might limit the options you will have before you to pursue your post graduation in

3. Keep yourself future ready for electric cars and technological advancements therein

4. The only "mechanical" bits that will remain are transmission, chassis, suspension and some of the steering system. Basics of these can be easily grasped with the amount of information available on line

5. There is a severe dearth of knowledgeable professionals in automotive fault diagnosis and rectification in today's technologically better vehicles - aim to become one who can not just be that all-rounder but also create all-rounders

Essence of my suggestions - think big, think far, look 30 years ahead !

[amit_purohit20]

First of all I would strictly ask you to avoid doing any automobile engineering course. A mechanical engineering gives a much broader and in depth perspective than an automotive engineering course when it comes to design.Even automotive companies prefer mechanical engineers. If you don't get job in automotive company then you can get selected in other mechanical domain companies. Automotive domain can be learned by reading books like Anglin and Crouse, Kirpal Singh etc. But various subjects which are taught in mechanical engineering cannot be learnt so easily on our own. I talk from my own experience. Automotive field is a very narrow field and most probability is you want to be in design and not production or operations. I repeat mechanical engineering is the better option if you want to join automotive company.

But looking at the present scenario it really does not make sense to enroll for any mechanical or automotive engineering course.
I would strongly recommend you taking the mechatronics path. Electromechanical is the future way for automobiles. Embedded domain is also the future in automotive field. IOT and AI are the emerging fields. Battery and motor technology is more related to electrical engineering.
Please do not join mechanical or automotive engineering. They can be studied anytime as a hobby.

[saikishor]

Originally Posted by vigsom

I'd urge you not to take up automobile engineering but look at Mechatronics, Electrical, Electronics as options. Basis of this suggestion is as follows:

Originally Posted by amit_purohit20

First of all I would strictly ask you to avoid doing any automobile engineering course.

Dear vigsom and amit_purohit20, thank you so much for your valuable inputs.

As far as I know, mechatronics is available in a very limited number of colleges in India as of now. And since my dad is ready to send me to Germany for my post graduation, I really dont want to spend a lot of money for my Under grad degree. I have a senior-friend who is in Germany and pursuing Mechatronics. Guess I have to take inputs from him. But I do remember him saying mechatronics is a very new course in India and does not have a widespread approach yet.
I will definitely look deeper into it vigsom sir.

Dear amit_purohit20 sir,
My dad was suggesting me to choose automobile engineering, as mechanical engineering might have a little too much of unnecessary stuff with regard to automobiles. And since I have no plans to shift to the IT industry for whatsoever unforseen circumstance, my dad is suggesting me to get into automobile engineering. Sir since even you suggested taking the mechatronics path, can you suggest some institutes which offer mechatronics? As far as I know, mechatronics is in a very early stage of adoption in India, just like EV's. Please do correct me if I am wrong.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by saikishor

My dad was suggesting me to choose automobile engineering, as mechanical engineering might have a little too much of unnecessary stuff with regard to automobiles.

Its the same story with Automobile engineering courses offered by many universities.

Only difference is the inclusion of one or two automobile related papers per semester, in addition to general mechanical engineering subjects.

[TorqueIndia]

Hi saikishor, you are at the right turn to pursue your dreams and it's important to have a much focused and planned moves as you are already having a great goal. Pursuing Mechanical/Automobile Engineering courses are quite easy and as mentioned they are very identical with difference only in few papers, but getting into automotive R&D area as you are dreaming off is the key thing here.

I suggest you to do a bachelors as well as PG from a good university abroad say Germany, UK or USA related to Robotics/ Mechatronics/ Transportation or something much more specialised. Gain knowledge and experience, comeback to India.

Invest yourself beyond the normal curriculum and engage in active projects yourself as well as along with industry partners from day one. Very best wishes to your journey ahead and take advises from other members whom are directly related to the industry.

[amit_purohit20]

Originally Posted by saikishor

Dear amit_purohit20 sir,
My dad was suggesting me to choose automobile engineering, as mechanical engineering might have a little too much of unnecessary stuff.

I wanted to learn automobile but took admission in Diploma in Mechanical. Got frustrated in first six months as the curriculum was not having anything in common with automobile subjects in first year. I got some books from library and started learning automobile on my own. By second year I had already gathered enough automotive knowledge to cover the automotive syllabus. I later took admission in Diploma in Automobile and I could first hand understand that the curriculum is very narrow and teaches only functioning of automobiles but not in details the manufacturing and design part,hence I chose to complete my bachelor's and masters in mechanical domain.
I have seen Automobile Engineering students, once in an automotive company struggle with understanding the manufacturing,design,etc as they have not been taught specifics. Automotive engineering curriculum emphasizes on functioning of the automobile but does not encompass all the topics required (at least in Mumbai University). Adding to the woes often the automotive engineering department does not has good professors which defeats the whole point. There are many good mechanical engineering colleges.
The automotive syllabus is not updated and often focusses on teaching age old technology.

Being in a generic field like mechanical engineering gives you opportunity to go in depth and as a interest/ hobby you can learn automobile subjects which are simple enough to understand on our own. You might be hell bent to be in automotive industry but there are so many parameters which can affect your wish. Being in a generic field ensures you will not be jobless and other avenues would be open for you. (Sorry to be harsh)

Learning is more dependent on the individual than the course which he chooses especially when they are allied fields.

I still would not recommend both courses to you. You are trying to learn an art which is getting obsolete at a very fast pace. IC engines are going to disappear, similarly the transmissions/driveline will not be needed. Rest all parts are becoming proprietary in nature like steering, battery, motors, suspension etc. Even companies are trying to share their body platforms the whole auto industry is going to see a big disruption soon and you have not even taken admission yet to a engineering course. A person works for at least 30 years of his lifetime and I don't think you are going to work on stuff which you will learn in automobile engineering. If you want a great headstart learn technologies which will play a major role in coming years.
All car manufacturers are moving towards EV, presently all engines and automatic transmissions are coming with ECU and TCU. Embedded domain is growing.

I suggest you pm me we can talk over phone to give you more clarity to any specific query you have. Please do take opinion from other experts here too.

[landcruiser123]

Deep into automobile means R & D to me. So here's a (slightly biased) perspective:

With all due respect, most of what you learn from automobile engineering degrees in India is probably going to be decades-old technology. With due respect to all engineers, I assume you don't want to be that guy who is designing a slightly improved suspension for the next-gen sedan with the criteria that it should:
1. Be more compact (to improve the boot space by 25 liters)
2. Sags a little lesser under full load (to cope with the 50mm wheelbase increase.)

Trust me when I say this - I know what I'm talking about given my FSAE experience. I know people of all ages (20s to 50s) actively working (on)/managing such projects day in day out.

^^ My sincere apologies if I come across as demeaning.

I did my undergrad in mechanical engineering (and moved away to Industrial Engineering for my MS.) I've got a lot of friends who are working on cutting-edge tech at Tesla, and other high-value (on paper!?!?!) self-driving car startups in the American and European continent. If you want to be on the cutting edge of technology, here are some potential pathways:(very simplified answers though)
1. Mechanical Engineering:
1a: Thermodynamics - very hot (pun intended) with all the battery management tech that is coming up; Also, there are flow batteries which is a technology still in the labs
1b: Solid Mechanics(structure & crash safety): Not so sexy anymore as updates are largely incremental
1c: Dynamics (suspension, steering, braking, etc): Again, not too many revolutionary technologies here.
1d: Mechatronics is a highly desired skill.

2. Electrical engineering: (I'm not the best person to guide you on the sub-disciplines) But engineers with skills in system integration, power electronics, control systems, mechatronics, battery tech are required in huge numbers.

3. Computer Science: Computer vision, robotic perception, SLAM(simultaneous localization, and mapping), etc are trying to make newer safety systems, and needless to say - autonomous vehicles.

4. Chemical engineering: Fuel cells, polymer batteries, solid-state batteries, etc - the possibilities are endless if you find the right university which is funded well for this research.


Good luck!

[saikishor]

Originally Posted by TorqueIndia

Hi saikishor, you are at the right turn to pursue your dreams and it's important to have a much focused and planned moves as you are already having a great goal.

Originally Posted by amit_purohit20

I wanted to learn automobile but took admission in Diploma in Mechanical.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Deep into automobile means R & D to me. So here's a (slightly biased) perspective:

Dearest members, thank you so much for your valuable inputs.
So after taking your inputs, I started exploring colleges which offer mechatronics in India. And as I expected there are very few colleges in India which offer this course. Going abroad for my under grad is at the last priority for now. I would really appreciate if you can suggest some good colleges which offer mechatronics.

[deepfusion]

Thanks to Saikishor for starting this thread.

It could not be better timed than this. I have a son who has been adamant on doing automobile engineering. I being from different field have not been able to advise him properly.

The advice given here in this thread is a God sent. Thanks to you all.

[Turbohead]

I would suggest you to focus on a broader subject like Mechanical/ Electrical and electronics engineering with the aim to get into a Formula Student/ Baja team. Go to a college which actively participates in international (FS- Germany etc)/ national (Formula Bharat, nothing less) events.

With the broader engineering course, you'll get a good exposure to all the subjects. With Formula Student/ Baja events, you'll get to put your knowledge to practice and learn the real stuff

All this is assuming you'll be going abroad for your PG. Just remember, ensure you get good grades in your academics to get into a reputed college abroad. Your formula Student/ Baja experience doesn't really count, as I figured out very late when I wanted to go to Germany.

Academics sucks in India. Doing proper academic projects/ participating and contributing in events like Baja/ FS will get you the knowledge you really need.

[motorpsycho]

I have done my Automobile engineering, in my course, there was just too much overlap in Syllabus, specially in subjects related to Mechanical Design, heat and mass transfer, this finally led to merging the Auto dept into Mechanical.

If I were in your shoes, I would go for mechatronics/Robotics, as it will provide me knowledge of both words, which is an absolute necessity in the wake of where the current market is headed.

However, even if you do CS/E and C or electrical, there is nothing stopping you from joining an job which will give you opportunities to work in the Automobile domain, my college mates from Electronics have worked with Jaguar and other such companies, those from CS work with Bosh Automotive.

[TrackDay]

Would suggest you to consider mechanical engineering or a broader stream since that will give much more options at a later stage in life. Sometimes people change their preferences over time or lose interest in a particular subject. By going for a more broader degree you have the option of pursuing a different path if you feel the need to do so. However if you retain your interest, you can focus on automobiles in your masters and continue down that road.

With connection to the automobile industry, besides mechanical/automobile engineering there are also other domains related in fields of electronics, material science, production planning and definitely a lot more. Check out the job openings in the all the major automobile brands to get an idea of what kind of jobs are out there in the market and what might suit you.

[CEF_Beasts]

I was in your shoes 2 years back, even I wanted to do automobile engineering but my parents and many others told me to pursue mechanical engineering instead, reason being a much wider scope of learning.

With that join a Formula Student team (FSAE) and use what you have been taught over the years in college gradually to build a car/bike for the competition. Trust me a Formula Student team can give you loads of practical knowledge, how to apply something, it will teach you the core basics of designing parts for the car, it will teach you which material is suitable where, what is the effect of a minor change in material on the car overall, etc etc.

I will tell you this very frankly, join any course you want in any college of your choice. In our education system, there is only mugging up some concepts and then spitting those out in the exams. That is not what core companies look at, they want undergrads who can apply that knowledge somewhere and be an asset for them.

This makes joining those FS teams important, at the end of 4 years you will be miles ahead of your peers who didn’t join such a team, in terms of basic knowledge, skills, more importantly working as a team (no one will teach you this in college) it is the most basic thing that a core company looks at!

Covid has ruined my 2nd year, instead of spending time in college laboratories doing some very important experiments for mechanical engineering, I am sitting at home and doing them online (which makes absolutely no sense). Use the time that you have in some research, watch videos of how things work on YouTube, also start going through an automobile related book called Crouse and Anglin for basics (pdf is available on the internet).

[francisvellara]

Hey saikishor!

I was in a similar position a few years back. I wanted automotive engineering, but was worried that it would be too narrow for a bachelor's degree.

I ended up choosing a course called Engineering Design (with a specialisation in Automotive Engineering) at IIT Madras. I am not well-informed about other automotive engineering courses in other colleges, but I can give a short summary of what my program is like.

Engineering Design deals with taking an idea from the drawing board to the final product, so it consists of courses from various fields of engineering. To oversimplify it, it is like a combination of Mechanical and Electrical engineering. There is an option of specialising in automotive engineering, which includes 4 courses related to automotive engineering specifically. There is also a lot of flexibility in choosing elective courses related to automobiles.

I'm sure there are more programs in other colleges, do check them out too. Hope this helps!

Cheers!
Francis