To be a car engineer what is the education needed?

Answer 1

It depends on what aspect of the car you are interested in.

If you'd like to design the mechanical aspects of automobiles, you'll want to get a degree in mechanical engineering. This will give you the toolbox and basis for car part design. For example, when designing a turbo system for the engine, you'll want to figure out what type of ball bearings to use, or how the heat generated will affect the surrounding systems. In school, you'll have learned about force diagrams and heat transfer between materials. Same goes with designing the shape of the car. The Prius' shape minimizes the friction/drag from the air it drives through. An engineer had to figure out what shape was optimal for a low co-efficient of friction when driving.

Of course, the shape of a car and how a car looks and feels, is also up to the marketting team. Graphic design or product design is more applicable to how a car looks, where the schooling is more about connecting with the customer and ergonomics (less about hardcore engineering and numbers).

Computer engineering and Electrical engineering are also important roles in car engineering, but deal with other aspects of the car that are more specific. I think if you are looking for an overall education to get into designing cars, mechanical engineering is the way to go.

hope this helps!