This is the final thread of the AskEngineers series where people working in the industry can share their professional work experience, and is for all the Systems Engineers out there! Unfortunately "Systems Engineer" is one of those titles that's used across many industries and can mean a lot of different things, so to define it a little better I'm going to use the discussion from this thread to refine what I mean.

The people you call "systems engineers" haven't gone to school to become systems engineers. They've gone to school for something like Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering, and then have spent years (possibly decades) working as one, gaining very valuable experience, building up engineering intuition. And at one point in their careers, their grasp of overall engineering design within their own product category has gotten complete enough that they have been put in charge of "big picture decision-making". At that point, they take on a job title of "systems engineer" but ultimately they're still aerospace or mechanical engineers by training. What NASA calls a "systems engineer" is often referred to as "chief engineer" at Boeing, and probably has half a dozen different names depending on the company you put under the microscope.

If you feel that you roughly fit the above description, then you're probably the kind of systems engineer we're looking for, and we'd love to hear about your professional experience.

Be sure to check out some of the old threads below, as some of the very first ones have reached their 6-month life and thus have been archived.

edit: fixed a typo in the first question, sorry about that!

What is this post?

One of the most common questions from people looking into engineering is "What do engineers actually do?" While simple at heart, this question is a gateway to a vast amount of information — much of which is too vague or abstract to be helpful.

To offer more practical information, AskEngineers created a series of posts where engineers talk about their daily job activities and responsibilities. In other words, it answers the question: What's an average day like for an engineer?

The series has been helpful for students, and for engineers to understand what their fellow engineers in other disciplines do. The goal is to have engineers familiar with the subjects giving their advice, stories, and collective knowledge to our community. The responses here will be integrated into the AskEngineers wiki for everyone to use.

Discussion and followup questions are encouraged, but please limit them to replies to top-level comments.

Timeframe

This post will be stickied until ~20 top-level responses have been collected, or after 2 weeks — whichever comes first. The next engineering discipline will then be posted and stickied, and old threads will remain open to responses until archived by reddit (6 months after posting).

Once all the disciplines have been covered, a final thread will be posted with links to all of them to collect any more responses until archived. The current list of disciplines:

1. Mechanical Engineering

2. Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical Engineering

3. Civil, Structural, Fire Protection/Safety (FPE), and Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing (MEP) Engineering

4. Chemical Engineering

5. Materials, Metallurgical, and Ceramics Engineering

6. Electrical Engineering

7. Computer, Electronics, and Software Engineering

8. Nuclear Engineering

9. Petroleum (Oil & Gas) Engineering

10. Ocean / Marine Engineering

11. Environmental Engineering

12. Biomedical Engineering

13. Systems Engineering

If you have a suggestion for another discipline, please message the moderators.

Format & Questions

Copy the format in the gray box below and paste it at the top of your comment to make it easier to categorize and search. Industry is the specific industry you work in, while Specialization should indicate subject-matter expertise or focus (if any).

To help inspire responses and start a discussion, I will pose a few common questions asked by students as writing prompts. You don't have to answer every question, and how detailed your answers are is up to you. Feel free to add any info you think is helpful!

**Industry:** Aerospace

**Specialization:** (optional)

**Experience:** 2 years

**Highest Degree:** BSME

**Country:** USA

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* What inspired you to become an engineer in your industry?

* Why did you choose your field and/or specialization?

* What type of experience did you gain before becoming systems engineer? Did you know you wanted to become a systems engineer beforehand, or was it a coincidence?

* What’s a normal day like at work for you? Can you describe your daily tasks?

* What school did you attend, and why should I go there?

* What’s your favorite project you worked on in college or during your career?

* If you could do it all over again, would you do anything differently?

* Do you have any advice for someone who's just getting started in engineering school/work?