Lots of random thoughts of yesterday's thread action:
I have several friends with PhDs in biomedical engineering, but I'm not sure how long it took them to get it.
5 years is pretty common in engineering. Halfway through year 3, I looked to see what I would have to take to get out in 4 years, and it was NOT going to happen.
Among the things I'm not sure about, one of them is why ASCE has been pushing so hard for it's members to get a masters degree. A masters may be needed in some sectors, but I didn't find the price tag worth it 10 years ago, and still don't, assuming I would have gotten in. I was a grinder in college, with my grades of the survive-and-advance variety.
Of the U of Minnesota's BCE Class of 2007 that had jobs lined up, less than half of them were still in the field two years later. Speaking of which, they still subscribe to a n aggressive weed-out schedule for incoming frosh.
Our agency needs to get younger, but has a hard time hiring both techs and engineers, for a myriad of reasons. Pay (already less than the private sector, with some in the Legislature bemoaning 1% annual raises as a disgraceful waste of the public dollar), requirements (must have Class A CDL with endorsements to apply as a tech), and plowing snow (many here don't belong anywhere near heavy equipment).
Most of the engineers in my office got their degrees from Iowa State (UMN, Platteville, and Mankato State follow in frequency). They're here because either they're from here, or their spouse is from here, or the spouse works for the Mayo Clinic and significantly out earns us.