The Course Choosing Conundrum

By Haider Janjua

One of the most important decisions that you make after your high school is to select what you want to study for your bachelors. This decision affects your whole life so it should be a well thought out and wise decision.

Having gone through the process myself, I have thought what advice would have been beneficial for me as far as choosing the course is concerned. So I have written the following points that should be taken into consideration.

In my opinion, the decision should be made during the summer after high school first year examinations. It would leave enough time for you to then concentrate on how to achieve the required grades for the chosen subject area.

The first thing that you have to ask yourself is, whether you are passionate about a particular course/ field or not? If you are passionate about something, already know a great deal about the subject area, you don’t have to go any further. Just work on getting the required grades and go for it.

But if you don’t have a particular preference then you have to follow a process to choose the right field of study. Most of the students already know the general area that they want to choose and have chosen their A Level/High School subjects accordingly. The most important thing that should be done is to research every possible degree course that you can apply according to your subjects. It would be a good idea to make notes for that. Write the degree course on top followed by a brief description. Add all of the modules that you will have to study and a brief description about them. In the end and it is an important parameter, you should include the details about the job prospects.

Research is important as you might find something that you never knew before but is quite interesting. Before coming to the university, I didn’t know that there were engineering courses such as Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, Materials Engineering and Bio Engineering.

The next thing to do is to think about your strengths. Which subjects do you find the easiest? Even decide between subjects like maths and physics. Now choose the courses from your research which have the related modules to the subjects that you like. For example, if you find maths and chemistry quite easy the related courses that you can choose are maths, chemistry, chemical engineering, civil engineering and material engineering. If you like biology and yet you like maths bioengineering could be chosen.

For the next phase, in order to further narrow down your options, think of what would you like to do? Never choose a particular area just because your parents might want you to do that or you think that it would have better job prospects or it is termed as a worthy subject. Never choose something just because you feel like choosing that, always do research about the subject and choose accordingly.

By this time you would have narrowed your options down to two or three areas. If you know someone who is studying /has studied the particular courses, ask their opinion. It is because the person already studying the particular course has more knowledge about the area than you can have even after doing extensive research. Also think about the job prospects at this stage. Is it easier to get a job or not? Think about your home country and whether the course has good scope in your country.

In the end, use your gut feeling to choose from the final two/three choices and may the odds be always in your favour!

Meet our International Engineering Ambassadors: Haider Ali Janjua

Name: Haider Ali Janjua

Department: Aerospace Engineering

Course: BEng Aerospace Engineering

• Background 
  My name is Haider Ali Janjua. I am currently in my 2^nd year of BEng Aerospace Engineering.  I am from Pakistan. I like travelling and I am very interested in learning about different cultures and languages. This is my 2^nd year taking French as an extra module and I plan on taking Arabic language during my 3^rd year. I also like to read and want to develop my writing skills. Photography is another thing that I have great interest in and I am a part of universities’ photography society. Recently I have started learning graphic and web design and I like it a lot.
  
• Why did I choose The University of Sheffield 
  
  Firstly, I chose Sheffield University because of its ranking for my course. It is one of the best universities in UK for Aerospace Engineering.  Another reason was that I wanted to live in a scenic place and Sheffield is not only the greenest city in UK but is also close to Peak District (a must go area for tourism). Also Sheffield has a perfect blend of a city with a small place community feel as well.
  
  
• Most enjoyable thing about my subject at The University of Sheffield
  Aerospace Engineering is a multidisciplinary course which means that we study all the different types of Engineering. For me this is the most enjoyable thing as at one moment we are studying Heat Transfer and at another we are having soldering/circuits labs and the next moment we are watching some really cool videos about composites, metals and processing of these.  In addition to that, we have classes with different engineering students.
  
  
• Teaching and study methods at Sheffield
  Teaching methods here are quite different from my home country. Here we are responsible for our own study and are required to study independently. There are two lectures and a tutorial (to work on the example sheets) for every module each week. Team working skills are hugely stressed upon. And I like working in groups to write reports for labs and giving presentations.
  We all have been allocated a personal tutor who is there to provide information and help us if we have any problems during the study.
  
  
• Opinion on Sheffield as a city
  Sheffield is the 3^rd largest district by population but it’s quite calm compared to my hometown which is a small place. But I like that as I have always liked peaceful places.  It is also known as the steel city of UK because of steel production. It has a very good bus, tram and rail network and cities like Manchester, Leeds are quite nearby (football lovers would be quite happy). Most of Sheffield is a green space and it has numerous parks and gardens. A strange thing is that most of the shops close at 6 pm even in summer. The best thing is the people of Sheffield; they are very friendly and helpful. Advantage for people from Pakistan is that there is a large community of Pakistanis in the city and it is easy to find Pakistani restaurants and halal food. The only thing that I haven’t gotten used to it the English weather. It rains a lot!
  
  
• Benefits of The University of Sheffield than any other University
  Sheffield University has a very good employer satisfaction rate and one of the best universities for engineering in UK. Another big benefit is its Student’s Union which has been voted the best student union in UK numerous times. There is some event or another going on at every time of the year. And you could easily find something of your interest.
  
  
• Advice to prospective studentsDon’t be afraid to talk to people and ask questions. Have fun, take part in different activities and there are loads of societies. But learn time management and study hard and you won’t have any problem.

1st Year of Aerospace Engineering!

Written by: Haider A Janjua

During the first year, there are 7 modules to study consisting total of 120 credits. Good thing is that you don’t have many exams in January but the bad thing is that you will have 6 exams in June and a whole year worth of revision. It gives you time to settle in and catch up.
 For every module there are 2 lectures and 1 tutorial every week. Teaching varies for different modules. For some modules, there are labs and for others there isn’t anything except the lectures and the final exam. Infact during the first year, there are labs almost every week, sometimes even 3 times a week. We usually had classes from 9 am to 5 pm from Monday to Friday.

The modules that we studied in our 1^st year were:
1.FCE 120 (Introduction to Aerospace Design)
2.MAS 156 (Mathematics Electrical)
3.MEC 192 (Solids, Liquids and Gases)
4.MEC 194 (Statics and Dynamics)
5.ACS 1241 (Introduction to Automatic Control and System)
6.MAT 1730 (Introduction to Materials for Aerospace)
7. EEE 123 (Introduction to Electric and Electronic Circuits)

For ACS 1241 (Introduction to Automatic Control and Systems Engineering) we were required to watch videos and then there were quizzes. But for other modules like MEC 192(Solids, Liquids and Gasses) and MEC 194(Statics and Dynamics) there were only labs and the final exam in June. My favourite module was FCE 120 (Introduction to Aerospace Design) which is the only module in which you study about aeroplanes! Ironic! It is mostly equations about lift and drag. We were given two aircraft related questions and had to write a program using MATLAB and then write a report on it during the first semester. And during our second semester we had to make a group poster on an aerospace related topic and then there was a question answer session. Our group made the poster on Saturn V rocket and even after many days I was thinking, “One step for man, a huge leap for mankind: J The hardest and the only module in which I struggled and you should pay special attention to is MEC 192 (Solids, Liquids and Gasses).

In first year, there are no lab reports for the labs. You are required to do pre lab questions. Work with your group which is assigned at the start of the semester. Write the after lab questions and get them checked from lab demonstrators who then give you the marks. Some of my favourite labs were soldering for EEE123(Intro to Electronic Circuits) and Engineering Applications lab where we made a small helipad using different machines and at the end even tried landing toy helicopters on it. Somehow none of our group members were able to land it, I blame it on helicopters.

During the January exam period we only had exams for 2 modules one of which was an examination condition quiz; they took place during the 1^st week. In the 2^nd week, we had Global Engineering week where all the engineering students were divided into different groups and had to work on a real world engineering problem. It is a great thing, not only you work with different students but also you are team building and presentation skill.  And the 3^rd and last week of examination period we had the drawing and CAD week. We were taught the use of Solidworks and made things like stool and an Aeroplane wing. We also had drawing sessions where we learned how to make engineering drawings. I found it quite hard especially the 3D drawings. I just couldn’t think at all and spent ages on it.

Everybody is assigned a personal tutor who helps the students in everything and writes references. We had a personal tutor session every week till week 6 in first semester and then after every two weeks. In first semester we had to write a report on any Aerospace related topic and during the second semester give a presentation. It was a good thing as we got feedback individually.

First year marks are not included in the usual end of degree grades. The only requirement is getting pass in all modules. This year is more like training for the upcoming years. And if you attend the classes and the tutorials, you won’t have any problems with the exams.

A Little Bit about Aerospace Engineering

Written by: Haider Janjua

As this is my first ever blog post I should tell you a little bit about me first. My name is Haider Janjua. I am from Pakistan and I am currently in my 2^nd year of Aerospace Engineering. Just like my degree I have variety of interests. I like reading and have interest in writing too. I am also quite interested in photography, so wherever I go, I don’t forget to take selfies! Apart from that, I like travelling, tennis and TV Shows! I have also just started learning graphic design thanks to GRAPHCAD Society and find it quite exciting and fun.

Today I will tell you a little about my course, which is Aerospace Engineering. Aerospace Engineering is concerned with the design, research, construction and testing of the aeroplanes.

Sheffield University is one of the best universities in UK for Aerospace Engineering.  This course is multidisciplinary in nature, which means that we study modules from many different departments. These departments include mechanical, automatic control, materials, computer science, mathematics and law. So not only we get knowledge about different subjects, but also have classes with students from other departments. On top of that we even have a choice in later years to choose the stream we like. So if you don’t really like some specific are like for example electrical stuff you can select Aero Mechanics in the second year and vice versa. Plus all the degrees are professionally accredited by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAes) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Rolls-Royce has two research and technology centres here at the University. The university also collaborates with Boeing and other aerospace companies in the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. And there are two flight simulators (I had a session last year and somehow I managed to go past the map into infinity). In addition to that there are two wind tunnels as well.

There is a choice between different Aerospace Engineering courses. You can either decide to do BEng which is bachelors of engineering or do 1 extra year and get masters. If you want to go and experience living in another country for one year, you can choose the study abroad option and go for your 3^rd year (can only do so if you are on MEng course). Also if you want to get experience of working in the industry you can also do that in your 3^rd year and come back afterwards to complete your BEng or MEng. The university career service helps you a lot in obtaining placements. And if you would want to learn to fly an aeroplane as well, you can choose the private pilot instruction option as well. It takes place in 2^nd semester of the 2^nd year (next semester for me as I am doing it, so exciting! :D) .

You don’t have to worry if you didn’t choose the industry/study abroad or pilot instruction at first because you can change your course till your second year and if you chose BEng but afterwards want to convert to MEng course; it can be done after your 2^nd year if you get more than 60% overall. There is no choice in the first year but you can choose between Aeromechanics, Avionics or the general stream in the 2^nd year.

All in all if you are interested in aeroplanes and you want to learn further about them, plus you are good at maths and physics, you should choose aerospace engineering as it is the BEST!

Aerospace Engineering at the University of Sheffield