Master Degrees For Engineering Of Mining

Engineering Masters degree without engineering undergrad?

It happens all the time. However, the added effort is constrained by what you have a BS in. If you want to pursue an MS in Chem Eng, and have a BS in chem, you will have to do all the usual MS courses, plus their prereqs, which will mean at least an extra year, and count on 2. If you have a BS in physics, and want to pursue an MS in Mech Eng, similar. If you have a BS in accounting, it'll be a lot harder to even get admitted, and you are probably looking at an extra 3+ years. You'll have to work with the school(s) you are interested in to work out details. We used to call people in these situations "retreads", and they were a part of Jr and Sr level courses. I think the Profs cut them a bit of slack.

Employers usually treat a retread with an MS about like they would a BS in the engineering discipline. In most engineering disciplines, an MS has no big advantage over a BS. Some government jobs and some R&D jobs have a preference for an MS.

How long does it take to get a degree in biochemical engineering?

It generally depends on the individual university's course. Most Bachelor degrees (in this case, a BEng) would take 3 years. A Masters (MEng) is a year after, however some Universities offer years abroad or in industry as an extra or as part of your study. A PhD would mainly be research based, and could take anything from 1 to 3 years depending on the type of research and if it's sponsored (who by and what for etc...). As a general rule, I've learnt that most BEng courses take 3 years, MEng courses are a year on from that (meaning 4 years in total) and a PhD could be an extra year or more. By the end of it, you're looking at 5 years minimum full-time study at University in the UK.
An advantage of applying as an undergraduate for an MEng course is that it would count as your first degree, and Government funding would be available for the first 4 years (as opposed for applying for the BEng, completing it and re-applying for the MEng). Applications for a PhD are usually only considered after you have at least a BEng, and more commonly an MEng.

Hope this helps,

Phil

What does a mining engineer do?

A mining engineer has various roles. Most often they work in a drawing and mine plans office, where data from drill cores and geophysical data is used to build up an accurate picture of an ore body or coal seams.

From the gathered data, the Mine engineer plans and organizes the mining of the ore body; they will decide how the ore body is mined (open cast, underground, stopes), where tunnels are drilled and blasted, where the crushing and ore processing machinery is sited and where the tailing ponds goes. Numeracy is required to calculate ore recovery costs and profits and they may need to use AutoCad or specialist mine design software. One specialist niche role is finite element analysis of underground mines, calculating the maximum ore recovering without compromising safety (causing a collapse).

The very best job to aim for is a Super Quarry, the biggest operate for ~100 years, its a well paid job for life.

I want to become a petroleum engineer, with a master's degree?

Normally no. As an undergraduate you will have to choose a particular type of engineering and they are very different. If you want to be a petroleum engineer you will need to do your undergraduate work in petroleum engineering or chemical engineering. In fact, the vast majority of engineers working in the petroleum business are chemical engineers.

The amount of preparation required to work in this way in the petroleum industry is so extensive that it cannot be accomplished in a year or two masters program in the way, for example, a masters in business can.

So, if you want to work in the petroleum industry you will simply have to find a university which offers the necessary undergraduate program or forget about it.

Is a degree in Engineering worth the challenge?

I suggest you don't sweat the math thing. So long as you know how to do math, in real engineering, the important thing is to get the right answer, and it is NOT a timed event like a test.

For calculations you do over and over again, people use spreadsheets. So long as you double and triple and quadruple check that the spread sheet does the right math, it will always to the right math.

For calculations that are really important (lives and/or millions of dollars depend on the correct answer), it is common to have at least two people (both of whom understand the subject) do the math independently. One of these may need to be a certified Professional Engineer (PE).

If you find an engineering subject that you think is the "coolest stuff you have ever seen", this will probably be a good career choice for you. Having passion about what you do does not make it easy but it does make it easier to put in the hard work that is required to become really good at anything.

As far as job security... It depends. For the past 40 years, nuclear engineering graduates have been few and far between in the U.S. (no new nuclear power plants have been built in 40+ years). But, on the flip side, as long as companies make things and want to make a profit, engineers are needed. As long as people want to make things that never existed before, engineers are needed. As long as it is important to design new things that actually work, engineers are needed. As long as big expensive things break, engineers are needed. As long as materials (iron, aluminum, silicon, glass, plastic, concrete, etc) are used, engineers are needed. As long as food is produced and distributed, engineers are needed. As long as humans want medical technology, engineers are needed. I could go on but I hope you get the idea.