I receive a lot of questions on LinkedIn from recent graduates, mechanical engineers, and working professionals about the CAE field and its career prospects.
To give a clear picture, I have compiled a list of common questions and provided their answers in both short and detailed formats. The short answers are straightforward (Yes or No), while the longer ones explore the reasoning behind these answers for better understanding.
So, let's begin with the questions one by one.
1) Is coding required for CAE?
Short answer – No.
Long answer - CAE involves utilizing the principles of physics with the help of software tools to solve real world engineering problems. A CAE Engineer must be good at engineering fundamentals and gain expertise in relevant software tools.
Note that CAE Engineers are software users not software developers.
Coding, on the other hand, is required for those who want to work as a CAE software developer or software enhancement for accommodating or customizing the application of software for wide variety of cases. This is also a great career with continuous growth.
Wondering what comes under Engineering Fundamentals? Take a look: Mastering the Basics.
2) Are Design skills required to become a CAE Engineer?
Short answer – No
Long answer – As stated above: A CAE Engineer must be good at engineering fundamentals and have expertise in relevant software tools.
However, having Design skills can give added advantage while working as it provides a perspective from overall Design and analysis procedure or Product development process.
3) Is a master’s degree required?
Short answer – Both Yes and No.
Long answer – An individual can become a CAE Engineer even without a master’s degree. But a lot of OEMs prefer individuals with master’s degree as it helps them develop products by Engineers who are highly qualified. Also, the chances of getting promoted to higher roles increase with a master’s degree.
In some cases, it also depends on where you have gained the master’s degree like IIT, NIT or normal Engineering college.
Another advantage being that the project carried out during master’s coursework leverages the skills needed for problem solving and specialization (like Composite FEA, Automotive, Analysis of Defense equipment, etc)
It is not mandatory to do master’s as the skills required can be gained over time through experience, type of exposure and the kind of people an Engineer is associated with.
This will open your eyes: Don't Believe Everything You Hear
4) Do you need a Specialization?
Short answer – Yes and No.
Long answer – There are two ways to make a career in CAE. Either you can be a generalist who has exposure and knowledge of multiple domains like Crash, NVH or fatigue with tools relevant to these domains or you can be a specialist with expertise in one domain like Vehicle Crashworthiness or Subject Matter Expert in NVH.
Both the paths have equal value in the market and Engineers can choose their path according to their interest.
5) Do you need to be an expert in all CAE tools?
Short answer – No.
Long answer – It depends whether you are a generalist or working as a specialist. Generalists can have expertise in tools relevant to their nature of work, for example, Optistruct for modal analysis, LS-Dyna for Drop and impact, Abaqus for static analysis, etc.
Specialists can have expertise in tools relevant to a single domain. For example, say Crash domain: LS-Dyna, Hypermesh, LSPP, Primer, likewise.
I would recommend reading The Map of CAE to help you decide which tools are best for a particular domain.
6) Do you need to be good at Meshing?
Short answer – Yes.
Long answer – Whether its performing Analysis or just post-processing, a CAE Engineer must be not only aware but also good in meshing as it is an elementary part of FEA.
A Judgement of meshing techniques is essential for any kind of analysis.
7) Do you need to join Training institutes?
Short answer – Yes and No.
Long answer – By joining a training institute, the learning process gets accelerated with the help of mentors to support you personally for overcoming the hurdles and of course, from job placement point of view.
It is important to make sure you are choosing the institute based on the credibility of the brand, their past record and what their alumni say about them.
Joining training institutes who have tie-ups with other companies helps too as you gain the initial hands-on exposure of working on live projects as well as opportunities for entry level jobs.
But it's not mandatory either. If you cannot afford the fees of training centers, then you must learn CAE on your own. And that brings us to the next question.
8) Can you learn CAE on your own?
Short answer – Yes.
Long answer – There’s a lot of material available on the internet for learning CAE on your own. Many YouTube channels teach you the basics whether it is software specific or basic FEA.
Software providers give free access to their webinars, tutorials and even student version tools. Example: Ansys, Siemens, Dassault systems, Altair, etc.
Apart from that, if your friends are already working in CAE, seeking their guidance is highly useful because you get mentored from industry professionals along with potential job opportunities.
You can also be a part of various community/network of CAE Engineers on social media where knowledge sharing, asking for guidance on specific problems and doubt resolution is easier.
9) Can you transition into CAE field from another non-CAE field?
Short answer – Yes.
Long answer – For mechanical Engineers, transitioning into CAE from other fields has become easier. With the right guidance and support from experienced CAE Engineers you can easily do it.
While entering CAE can be challenging initially, it gets smoother with exposure and hands-on learning. Plus, if you have prior experience in fields like Design, Sales, Manufacturing or Testing, it gives you an advantage since some companies' value multi-skilled Engineers.
If you are finding it tough in the initial phase, consider joining a training institute to accelerate your learning with hands-on exposure.
Checkout Career Roadmap for reference.
10) Which domain has the most scope?
Short answer – All domains have equal scope depending on the industry.
Long answer – We live in a globalized economy today and sharing of ideas and resources has become more easier than ever. If your basic priority is getting a job in CAE, then this question remains invalid.
However, to choose an industry, you can carry out your own research by studying the stats, market reports or peer advice as a starting point.
With new technologies entering the market, you can be sure of the fact that any domain you choose will have scope in the future whether Aerospace, Defense, Automotive, Manufacturing, etc.
So, that's all with the FAQs. I hope you have gained a clearer picture or a Bird's eye view of the CAE field. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have in the comments below apart from the ones above and I will answer them as soon as possible.
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