monkatizer
Active member
they have nothing in terms of engineering, nothing
Ski/engineering college
- Thread starter SkiYaker2
- Start date
Here is my advice – from a Mech Eng grad:
1. Do some homework. Research the ski/snowboard/Boot/Binding companies that you’d like to work for. Find out where their offices are located. I can tell you that many have offices spread out in the US,,, BUT most of those offices are sales or distribution offices – meaning no engineering departments. You’ll need to find companies that have their headquarters (or Engineering office) in the US. I can only think of K2 - but I am sure there are some others - most big companies are HQ’d in Europe sadly.
2. More homework. It wouldn’t hurt calling some of those offices, speaking to someone in human resources or anyone willing to talk to you about the office & the type of jobs they have there. Remember just because u have an Eng. degree, doesn’t mean you are pigeon-holed to sitting behind a screen designing & doing calculations. There could be positions for project engineers / program managers (who require a technical/engineering background to understand all things ski related, ie design, manufacturing, materials, etc), or a liaison for the engineering offices not in the US, or a sales engineer (again where a strong technical background can help), etc...etc… You’ll have a choice of many directions to take once you graduate, and lots of time to find your niche. But it’d be good for you to know the type of jobs are out there & where they are located.
Also if you get to speak with any engineers or HR reps; Ask them what you need to be attractive for future employment. Ask about what courses would help, what work experience would help, etc... Ask for the person’s e-mail & send them a thank you e-mail (Also, add them to Linkedin).
3.Try to pick a school in the same (or nearby) region to those companies where you’d like to work. The reason being is that most universities offer programs/courses that are suitable to the industries in their surrounding area. (for example schools in Michigan have strong automotive programs so that graduates can work & support the auto industry) . So don’t study in Florida if you hope to work for K2 in Seattle. Lastly, if you are nearby, it will be easier to apply for a co-op positions or internships.
Anyway, best of luck . If you do get into an engineering program, you’ll be missing a lot of parties… don’t worry it’ll pay-off later.
1. Do some homework. Research the ski/snowboard/Boot/Binding companies that you’d like to work for. Find out where their offices are located. I can tell you that many have offices spread out in the US,,, BUT most of those offices are sales or distribution offices – meaning no engineering departments. You’ll need to find companies that have their headquarters (or Engineering office) in the US. I can only think of K2 - but I am sure there are some others - most big companies are HQ’d in Europe sadly.
2. More homework. It wouldn’t hurt calling some of those offices, speaking to someone in human resources or anyone willing to talk to you about the office & the type of jobs they have there. Remember just because u have an Eng. degree, doesn’t mean you are pigeon-holed to sitting behind a screen designing & doing calculations. There could be positions for project engineers / program managers (who require a technical/engineering background to understand all things ski related, ie design, manufacturing, materials, etc), or a liaison for the engineering offices not in the US, or a sales engineer (again where a strong technical background can help), etc...etc… You’ll have a choice of many directions to take once you graduate, and lots of time to find your niche. But it’d be good for you to know the type of jobs are out there & where they are located.
Also if you get to speak with any engineers or HR reps; Ask them what you need to be attractive for future employment. Ask about what courses would help, what work experience would help, etc... Ask for the person’s e-mail & send them a thank you e-mail (Also, add them to Linkedin).
3.Try to pick a school in the same (or nearby) region to those companies where you’d like to work. The reason being is that most universities offer programs/courses that are suitable to the industries in their surrounding area. (for example schools in Michigan have strong automotive programs so that graduates can work & support the auto industry) . So don’t study in Florida if you hope to work for K2 in Seattle. Lastly, if you are nearby, it will be easier to apply for a co-op positions or internships.
Anyway, best of luck . If you do get into an engineering program, you’ll be missing a lot of parties… don’t worry it’ll pay-off later.
I hate to break it to you but ski companies spend very little, if anything, on proper R&D so hardly hire Engineers, let alone fresh grads.
While newschool skiing is 'new' and ski shapes and designs have changed radically, the way skis are made and the business models used by ski companies are antiquated.
Ski manufacturing is a mature industry where a large degree of consolidation has already occurred. There are lots of ski companies that don't actually make their own skis, they're made by some else to their specs.
As a result of this, these companies have little, if any, ability to develop and push through new tech, even if they had access to it. Consequently, a lot of ski companies are essentially marketing and sales departments for an OEM ski manufacturer. Ever heard of Elan skis? I'll be that a lot of people who think they're riding independent ski brands don't realise that their skis are actually made by Elan, or Atomic or similar for that matter. It does amuse me when someone says that one brand is much more bomber than atomic or such despite them being made in the same factory, with the same materials from the same suppliers!
Improved ski manufacturing/design is largely a result of companies that make processing equipment for larger industries trying to extract the last bit of cash they can out of their ageing technology. Adverts in magazines (not so much Freeskier as the likes of Skiing and such) talk about 'aerospace technology' and similar. First, the requirements of materials (particularly composites) for aerospace are definitely not the same as those for skiing. Secondly, if the technology is truly 'aerospace' derived it will be decades out of date.
Further, high tech companies in aerospace have the resources, in terms of highly educated engineers, computational capacity, equipment and budget, to successfully implement the state fo the art where even the biggest ski companies don't. Ski companies get the hand me downs of high tech engineering decades after they've first been in use. As a result, any 'new' tech is cheap and all the problems have been ironed out, hence no need for serious in house engineering capabilities.
Are there new/disruptive technologies out there that could shake up ski manufacturing? Absolutely! But the comparatively small size of the specific manufacturing part of making skis, the value add of improved ski manufacturing methods vs the proportion of the value chain for a ski that is taken up by marketing, sales, distribution, etc.. means that the sort of companies that have access to such technology are not going to focus on things like skis.Ski companies improve sales and profitability predominantly by marketing, not engineering.
As an example; 'Titanium' powered skis. You may have seen adverts for skis that are 'better' because they are made with Titanium. First off, just using a Titanium alloy will not make a ski better in itself. Secondly, most of these 'Titaanium' powered ski are actually made with Titanal(R). Titanal, is not Titanium, it is an aluminium alloy. I'd be shocked if there was any Titanium in Titanal(R) at all. I say most as there may be skis that actually use Titanium alloys, I've just yet to encounter a pair!
The fact that many big name ski manufacturers put out adverts saying their skis use Titanium when they don't, they use an Aluminum alloy marketed with a name that sounds similar to Titanium, can only mean a few thing;
a) If they have Engineers, they're morons because they don't know the difference between Titanium and Aluminium (least likely)
b) They have a token in house Engineer or two with second rate degrees from third rate Universities who just hang about for the marketing departments to wheel out and spout some rubbish
c) They don't have any qualified Engineers as the company doesn't make their own processing equipment, produce the materials that they use too make skis or know where too start. As a result they spend their money on marketing as they don't have the funds to spend on R&D, and even if they did they wouldn't know how to start and run an R&D project.(Most likely, sadly)
I'd suggest that you just go for the best Engineering program you can get into and choose modules that interest you. If it leads to a career in Engineering within the ski industry then thats great, but if it doen't you'll still have studied subjects you've enjoyed and have a solid CV.
I hope this hasn't been too much of a downer for you.I thought I'd just pass on some of my own thoughts and experiences as my obsession with skiing, and how I imagined that skis might be made/designed, was a large part of the reason why I choose my first, and too a lesser extent, second degree.
I'd suggest you choose the best
While newschool skiing is 'new' and ski shapes and designs have changed radically, the way skis are made and the business models used by ski companies are antiquated.
Ski manufacturing is a mature industry where a large degree of consolidation has already occurred. There are lots of ski companies that don't actually make their own skis, they're made by some else to their specs.
As a result of this, these companies have little, if any, ability to develop and push through new tech, even if they had access to it. Consequently, a lot of ski companies are essentially marketing and sales departments for an OEM ski manufacturer. Ever heard of Elan skis? I'll be that a lot of people who think they're riding independent ski brands don't realise that their skis are actually made by Elan, or Atomic or similar for that matter. It does amuse me when someone says that one brand is much more bomber than atomic or such despite them being made in the same factory, with the same materials from the same suppliers!
Improved ski manufacturing/design is largely a result of companies that make processing equipment for larger industries trying to extract the last bit of cash they can out of their ageing technology. Adverts in magazines (not so much Freeskier as the likes of Skiing and such) talk about 'aerospace technology' and similar. First, the requirements of materials (particularly composites) for aerospace are definitely not the same as those for skiing. Secondly, if the technology is truly 'aerospace' derived it will be decades out of date.
Further, high tech companies in aerospace have the resources, in terms of highly educated engineers, computational capacity, equipment and budget, to successfully implement the state fo the art where even the biggest ski companies don't. Ski companies get the hand me downs of high tech engineering decades after they've first been in use. As a result, any 'new' tech is cheap and all the problems have been ironed out, hence no need for serious in house engineering capabilities.
Are there new/disruptive technologies out there that could shake up ski manufacturing? Absolutely! But the comparatively small size of the specific manufacturing part of making skis, the value add of improved ski manufacturing methods vs the proportion of the value chain for a ski that is taken up by marketing, sales, distribution, etc.. means that the sort of companies that have access to such technology are not going to focus on things like skis.Ski companies improve sales and profitability predominantly by marketing, not engineering.
As an example; 'Titanium' powered skis. You may have seen adverts for skis that are 'better' because they are made with Titanium. First off, just using a Titanium alloy will not make a ski better in itself. Secondly, most of these 'Titaanium' powered ski are actually made with Titanal(R). Titanal, is not Titanium, it is an aluminium alloy. I'd be shocked if there was any Titanium in Titanal(R) at all. I say most as there may be skis that actually use Titanium alloys, I've just yet to encounter a pair!
The fact that many big name ski manufacturers put out adverts saying their skis use Titanium when they don't, they use an Aluminum alloy marketed with a name that sounds similar to Titanium, can only mean a few thing;
a) If they have Engineers, they're morons because they don't know the difference between Titanium and Aluminium (least likely)
b) They have a token in house Engineer or two with second rate degrees from third rate Universities who just hang about for the marketing departments to wheel out and spout some rubbish
c) They don't have any qualified Engineers as the company doesn't make their own processing equipment, produce the materials that they use too make skis or know where too start. As a result they spend their money on marketing as they don't have the funds to spend on R&D, and even if they did they wouldn't know how to start and run an R&D project.(Most likely, sadly)
I'd suggest that you just go for the best Engineering program you can get into and choose modules that interest you. If it leads to a career in Engineering within the ski industry then thats great, but if it doen't you'll still have studied subjects you've enjoyed and have a solid CV.
I hope this hasn't been too much of a downer for you.I thought I'd just pass on some of my own thoughts and experiences as my obsession with skiing, and how I imagined that skis might be made/designed, was a large part of the reason why I choose my first, and too a lesser extent, second degree.
I'd suggest you choose the best
