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Engineering Career in Skiing?

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J_Berg
Posts: 562 - Karma: 2,031
I'm a junior in highschool and I want to pursue engineering as a career choice and I was wondering if anyone knew any jobs that are engineering related in the ski field. Whether it be production of skis, layout of resorts, lifts structures, etc. I really love the concept of engineering, and of course skiing. I'm looking to go to school out west as well. I live in Northern IL at the moment. I'm visiting a bunch of schools in Colorado Utah area this spring.
Thanks

Feb 18 2014 4:39PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,860
You have to know how to math to be an injuneer. Can you math?
Feb 18 2014 4:44PM
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Colorbrahbro
Posts: 190 - Karma: -27
Lift designer maybe?Im in the same boat as you as a junior myself...
Feb 18 2014 4:46PM
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J_Berg
Posts: 562 - Karma: 2,031
Yeah?so, thats not what I was asking...?
Feb 18 2014 4:46PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,860
Math are important. You need able to add and numbers
Feb 18 2014 4:48PM
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Colorbrahbro
Posts: 190 - Karma: -27
Not true, you need to able do numbers but not add em
Feb 18 2014 4:51PM
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Wolfgang.
Posts: 807 - Karma: 866
Teleportation devices. Great market.
Feb 18 2014 5:02PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,860
Teleportation devices? This kid is asking for help and you come in here with that bullshit. Fuck you. You're a terrible person
Feb 18 2014 5:09PM
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Stadtski
Posts: 972 - Karma: 3,349
materials engineering sounds like what you want if you want to design skis. thats what my friend is looking into.
Feb 18 2014 5:13PM
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easy.steezy
Posts: 2931 - Karma: 1,056
Materials engineering, engineer the next base/edge combo that will never break.

Mechanical is a solid choice because it's general and you can specify in whatever you want to, but specifically for skiing idk what to say. Honestly, your degree is for your first job, then you make your career out of what you wanna do. You use less than 10% of what you actually learn in college in your career.
Feb 18 2014 5:14PM
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easy.steezy
Posts: 2931 - Karma: 1,056
Also, Boulder in Colorado has a great engineering school, I would've gone there except the distance was just too costly for me. The best engineering universities in the country are on the East Coast. Scratch that, the best universities in the world are on the East Coast.
Feb 18 2014 5:17PM
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TOAST.
Posts: 7466 - Karma: 35,837
ski boot designer (materials engineering)
Feb 18 2014 5:31PM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
an injury-free, perfect realise binding; mech engineering
Feb 18 2014 5:36PM
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.Duncan.
Posts: 1375 - Karma: 459
How about no.
Feb 18 2014 5:38PM
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Pikachu.
Posts: 1290 - Karma: 1,641
Stanford, Cal Tech, UCLA, UC Berkeley,
Feb 18 2014 5:42PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,860
I will suck 5 dicks for every NS who got into MIT


Oh look I'm not sucking any more dicks than I usually do
Feb 18 2014 5:51PM
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mski
Posts: 4791 - Karma: 3,803
If you make it in that field, you'll pretty much have your pick of jobs.

Thats a demanding major tho, be ready to put some time in if your not getting great marks as a student already.
Feb 18 2014 5:53PM
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J_Berg
Posts: 562 - Karma: 2,031
Im really strong in math and especially physics. I get pretty decent grades, like 3.7 gpa and I got like 28 on the act. I have the grades to get into a school like boulder.
Feb 18 2014 6:13PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,860
I scored a 6.8 on the Richter. Bet you feel pretty stupid now huh?
Feb 18 2014 6:15PM
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.Duncan.
Posts: 1375 - Karma: 459
MIT is arguably the best in the country for certain engineering tracks but if you think the Ivy League has better engineering then cal tech, stanford or berkley you're stupid.
Feb 18 2014 6:22PM
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whoa-dere
Posts: 10596 - Karma: 7,103
Haha boulder is easy as fuck
Feb 18 2014 6:37PM
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J_Berg
Posts: 562 - Karma: 2,031

for general admission ywah, but not for something like engineering

Feb 18 2014 7:14PM
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,313
I've already designed that, pat. pending even.

Herby I will unveil the astonishingly revolutionary omnidata labs' DT Radical X bindings featuring these technologies:


Feathertechnic 1.2: special technology making these the lightest alpine bindings on the market, even lighter then crosscountry bindings!

Hyperfeel R2: which minimizes the distance between the ski and boot for maximum control and feeling, it's like walking barefoot!

Omniflight S7: complete omnidirectional release preventing knee injury.Infinitedin PX: no more confusion, the DT Radical x provides you with a DIN setting from 0 to practically infinity.

Rubberwrap B10: extreme omnidirectional elastic travel to provide shock absorption.



Click for larger image
Feb 18 2014 7:20PM
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S.J.W
Posts: 7609 - Karma: 31,183
if you do get into ski design, please invent a ski in which i can do whirly birds and helicopters on so i can be cool like the snowboarders in the stunt ditch and extreme park
Feb 18 2014 7:20PM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
Yes
Feb 18 2014 7:58PM
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AT-AT
Posts: 3281 - Karma: 3,256
Civil, Mechanical, and material engineering could all be used. I'm sure there's several more. As yoski said above, as long as the school is ABET accredited and you pass your FE it doesnt really matter where you go.
Feb 18 2014 8:09PM
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will.engler
Posts: 22 - Karma: 11
Mechanical and electrical engineering - work with lifts, gondolas. Or if you get into civil/ architecture - development of resorts, chalets, villages. environmental and chemical you might even be able to find some jobs too
Feb 18 2014 8:26PM
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vinnypaz
Posts: 146 - Karma: 540
I just got done with my engineering degree. I had the same dream as you had when i started, i wanted to become a ski engineer. There is hundred of kid like us that have the same dream for 1 available place in a ski office. So to get a job you have to be the best, do has much research, project, developpement related to skiing while your in the program and maybe ski company will spot you.

And remember, its not a piece of paper(diploma) that will get you a job in that industry, its what your willing to do to get in that will
Feb 18 2014 8:31PM
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SnowMiser
Posts: 801 - Karma: 3,150
*cough cough* Logan Imlach *cough*

excuse me :(
Feb 18 2014 8:33PM
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Scaredwhiteboy
Posts: 1395 - Karma: -944
There definitely are engineering careers in the ski industry. Whether you'll be able to get one is a different story. A lot of people end up taking a job with whatever company will offer them one. If you want to choose your job, your resume is going to have to be top tier. Try to get internship experience as soon as possible and keep your gpa high (3.75 or above). The better the school you attend, the better your chances are of getting the job you want.

If you want to start hunting for jobs you may want to do, go to a company's website and click on 'careers.' Most big companies will tell you what they're hiring for on their website.
Feb 18 2014 8:42PM
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Avifarer
Posts: 5926 - Karma: 598
this. i know a guy who helped create the k2 ski boots, he had 30 straight months of winter
Feb 18 2014 8:49PM
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Jahaws
Posts: 632 - Karma: 508
I know that the easiest way to break into the industry would be some sort of civil oriented engineering degree. As these will be the guys doing round the year testing/inspection/accreditation of construction quality around the mountain(AKA make sure the lifts don't fall and make sure the state government knows this)

***FYI:For those on the east coast, Sunday River is looking for a new engineer fitting the description above

For me however, I chose the wrong major(chemE) and am working my ass off to somehow find a utilities job(snowmaking) which would be ideal. The future looks dim for this dream but fear not, as I believe I will be pursuing the path of a papermaker in the beautifully forested PNW....we all know how much they love their trees in washington ;)


also, don't go to UVM for engineering...GO BLACKBURRZ
Feb 18 2014 9:23PM
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skitheeast77
Posts: 224 - Karma: 6,577
No?
Feb 18 2014 9:30PM
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S.J.W
Posts: 7609 - Karma: 31,183
Bro do you even future spin?
Feb 18 2014 9:40PM
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Uncle.tito
Posts: 192 - Karma: 139
Your profile picture means book in Chinese, jabrone
Feb 18 2014 9:54PM
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whoa-dere
Posts: 10596 - Karma: 7,103
no it doesn't
Feb 18 2014 10:02PM
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KennyD
Posts: 264 - Karma: 537
You could be a biomedical engineer and design prosthetic legs that work for skiing
Feb 18 2014 10:37PM
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S.J.W
Posts: 7609 - Karma: 31,183
it actually means wood...
Feb 18 2014 10:38PM
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S.J.W
Posts: 7609 - Karma: 31,183
means wood actually, lets take this what we wish....
Feb 18 2014 10:38PM
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gravel
Posts: 5518 - Karma: 42,195
Nah, it's still pretty easy to get into the CU engineering program.
Feb 19 2014 12:35AM
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broto
Posts: 9039 - Karma: 25,662
make me a brake that doesn't suck. die rich
Feb 19 2014 12:44AM
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SKI.ING
Posts: 2695 - Karma: 2,535
You're such a douchebag it's amazing. And you're probably an idiot.
Feb 19 2014 1:30AM
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ski_powpow
Posts: 1247 - Karma: 1,200
Engineering could potentially offer you more opportunities then any other post-secondary education could in the ski industry. Just because you study engineering, does not necessarily mean you have to work directly as an engineer. Employers have a huge respect and desire for the technical prowess engineering grads come out of school with, and if you can pair that with a personality, you'll make waves. Getting in on the business/resort management side of thing comes with experience, working in the industry as an engineer or with an engineering background offers you a good chance to build that experience. Almost the entirety of resort development hinges on big time work commitment, and technical planning. In my experience, asides from the strictly finance side of things, the bulk of the work in resort development comes from, technical planners, project managers, construction contractors and consulting contractors. Every single one of these fields is generally led by someone with strong experience in their field of work, and a technical background, engineering more often then not.
Feb 19 2014 1:40AM
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Montana_Hoodrat
Posts: 1953 - Karma: 1,481
Haha nice.
Is that engineering or marketing?

It's shit like this that the ski industry needs less of.

I love all the different names companies have for rocker and other ski technologies. Why can't we just standardize the language and move on to better things?

Thank god for J skis finally providing measurements for the amount of rocker his skis have. The qualitative adjectives describing the amount of rocker a ski has were getting pathetic. who knows how much "jib" rocker is compared to "powder rocker"?

To OP:

Stick with engineering. It's trending right now because the demand for engineers is growing faster than most fields, ensuring you'll probably have no problem getting a job right out of college.
If you want to work in the ski industry, I'd guess the most important thing is to meet the right people. It's still such a niche market in the grand scheme of things. If you don't make friends with an exec at a ski company, just work in the energy industry and make a shitload of money, then start your own custom ski factory like DPS, Wagner, Praxis, or Folsom. They might be the ones on the leading edge of ski construction anyway. Ski technology has a long way to go still, especially with the touring bindings, boots, and outdated chairlift designs.

Or you could always think a bit outside the box like these guys. It's projects like these that give me hope there will still be a place for creative engineering in the extreme sports world.

https://www.newschoolers.com/ns/forums/readthread/thread_id/774596/https://www.newschoolers.com/ns/forums/readthread/thread_id/774596/
Feb 19 2014 2:11AM
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Stadtski
Posts: 972 - Karma: 3,349
But theyve already designed full tilts. Theres nothing left to be done
Feb 19 2014 7:07AM
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Deforestation
Posts: 1606 - Karma: 3,192
It doesnt mean wood. Mú does not have a hook on it. The closest character to this is schuî which means water, however schuî does not have a connected single line at the top, it looks like this: 水 (that probably didnt work)
Feb 19 2014 7:38AM
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TOAST.
Posts: 7466 - Karma: 35,837
Idont think a single person at my mountain has an Engineering degree. They are all just mechanics,welders,and machine operators.
Feb 19 2014 7:54AM
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brewhaha
Posts: 24 - Karma: 32
I graduated in Mechanical Engineering, and applied for a few different jobs in the field. I am a design engineer now for a non ski related company.
The two jobs i think you could try and apply for (as a mechanical engineer) would be the ski lift design (towers and the main motor portion, but i think those are more so a 'packaged' deal now days) and designing sno-cats.

You will need to be taking extra classes beyond the pre/co requirement classes in automotive, vehicle design, and fatigue seeing that all equipment are design for some sort of cyclic life requirement.
Feb 19 2014 9:51AM
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TurkeyCircus
Posts: 33 - Karma: -7
Civil and mechanical engineering will apply to lift design and installation. If you're looking to design skis, mechanical engineering with a concentration in failure mechanics, manufacturing, or materials science (probably better to focus on the first 2).

More importantly, you need to stand out when you apply and your education will not do that for you. My advice would be to start making your own skis - there's plenty of information out there. I would be much more willing to hire someone out of college who has actual experience with ski design and testing than someone with no experience.
Feb 19 2014 10:50AM
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bradwestwood
Posts: 25 - Karma: 112
Lift Maintenance in pretty much any resort in the world.
Feb 19 2014 11:13AM
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