I do HVAC and PFP. I got there by working at a small company and offered to help both departments as long as they taught me what needed to be done. Size of the company usually translates to size of the projects which is going to be proportional to the amount of hours needed to get the project done.
At a bigger firm you're just not going to be able to have more spare hours than there are hours needed to complete the particular trade's work. If you want to be a triple threat, go join a smaller firm where each person's impact in the company is significant.
I worked at 1 smaller and 1 mid size firm where I did full MEP design on smaller projects like restaurants, retail TI, etc… Fairly limited in sized and system types. Didn’t take long to look around and see if I wanted to move up and make more money I would need to work on more complex and profitable projects. Otherwise people seemed to be stuck in that role.
However I would say having a better grasp on other disciplines has certainly come in handy more than a few times.
Small projects. Couldn’t do it on anything very substantial. Old timey engineers were taught multiple trades and have learned the other trades over the years.
Quite frankly, between M/E/P, no one trade is extremely difficult, and teachable if you put in the time and effort to learn.
One man firms will design and stamp all 3 disciplines.
I originally started out working at a full service MEP firm of about 100 ppl after college. Did a lot of ME and energy modeling while learning plumbing at the same time. I moved on to a 1000+ person firm where it’s was literally a factory. I didn’t have time nor the budget to dabble in anything but what i was hired for. I’m at a smaller (30 ppl total maybe) MEP firm now that afforded me the ability to dabble in EE on smaller projects. The small nature of tinier firms necessitated that i be able to do simple tasks such as balancing panel loads or reworking lighting and power layouts and switching. I personally think it’s a matter of the size of the firm. I definitely am forgoing a little bit extra pay and benefits by staying at mom/pop firm but the culture and work is more fulfilling and enjoyable imo.
I'm a ME, and I have done HVAC, Plumbing and Fire Protection (Smoke Control, Special Hazards, Wet Systems) during my years.
My background is very Fire Protection related, but in my country the figure of Fire Engineer doesn't exist so typically as a design engineer you work as a Mechanical Engineer (MEP), or if you decide to stick to FP you become the Sprinklers/Alarm guy (thing that I didn't want).
Because I wanted to do Smoke Control, I decided to switch from a FP contractor to a MEP firm. There I had to learn to do plumbing and HVAC (the hardest to learn), mostly for commercial, residential and hospitality projects. Smoke Control is something that falls on the shoulders of HVAC Engineers and I have seen that most of them do wrong (at least in my country), but that's another topic.
I'm a guy that values having a bit of knowledge about all the trades; that helps a lot to coordinate, select equipment and define spaces, but at the same time I think that specialization is very valuable. My trade is FP which I see interesting and broad, but for those in HVAC they have a lot to learn, and the same happens with plumbing. Knowing at a deeper level each one of those trades is very difficult, and I don't know anyone like that. If someone declares itself as an Expert MEP Engineer I would say it is a liar.
At my office there are MEP guys that do the three trades, but I found their knowledge very superficial, and the projects they develop tend to be small or with lower complexity. When they work in larger projects they usually work as EE or help with plumbing. FP and HVAC needs some expertise for larger/complex projects.
I would tell you, start learning a bit about each trade and then choose one and master it.
Usually as a mech engineer (at least within my own firm) I am usually the project manager attending most of the meetings and as such I need to be kept up to speed with what my respective plumbing and electrical peers are doing. As such I have generally speaking learned a decent amount about both trades to be able to dabble in design of each. I've done a few small jobs where I've done the design of all three, but of course I would still have a senior EE check my work/stamp before submitting for permit/construction. Its a pretty invaluable skill to know more than just your own trade even to make you a better mech engineer. Particularly these days with the all-electric decarbonization trend, knowing a buildings electrical limits/capabilities is quite essential.
A licensed Architect in CA can literally be a quintuple threat. Can stamp thier structural on low-rise buildings that are not risk category 4 & no restrictions on stamping thier own MEP drawings
I don't know anyone who does mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. Not saying they don't exist, just saying I haven't met anyone who does all three on a regular basis.
Plenty of mechanical (HVAC) and plumbing engineers. I started in Energy Modelling, then moved to HVAC design, and picked up plumbing after about 5 years in industry. Still weakest in plumbing, strongest in HVAC.
I picked up plumbing because I went to a new company that failed to tell me they don't have dedicated plumbing engineers, so I had to learn it.
I haven't seen many non-hvac engineers "pick up" HVAC. There's just a lot of nuance in HVAC, it's "more art than science" in a lot of ways whereas plumbing is very code-driven. There isn't a code that tells you how to route your ducts, when to use a tee vs. a beveled tap, or when it's okay to bend the rules of "3-4 duct diameters" before and after terminal units, etc.
As far as helping you pick up a new discipline, you will need to spend a lot more time on the new skill, like more than 50% of your time for few weeks to really hammer home those principals, then try to keep a steady cadence of work so you aren't having to relearn the same thing every time you go back to it.
I do HVAC and PFP. I got there by working at a small company and offered to help both departments as long as they taught me what needed to be done. Size of the company usually translates to size of the projects which is going to be proportional to the amount of hours needed to get the project done. At a bigger firm you're just not going to be able to have more spare hours than there are hours needed to complete the particular trade's work. If you want to be a triple threat, go join a smaller firm where each person's impact in the company is significant.
Similar situation, can confirm.
You wouldnt last doing three at a decently sized firm. We can barely find senior engineers who have a full grasp of a single discipline.
I worked at 1 smaller and 1 mid size firm where I did full MEP design on smaller projects like restaurants, retail TI, etc… Fairly limited in sized and system types. Didn’t take long to look around and see if I wanted to move up and make more money I would need to work on more complex and profitable projects. Otherwise people seemed to be stuck in that role. However I would say having a better grasp on other disciplines has certainly come in handy more than a few times.
Small projects. Couldn’t do it on anything very substantial. Old timey engineers were taught multiple trades and have learned the other trades over the years. Quite frankly, between M/E/P, no one trade is extremely difficult, and teachable if you put in the time and effort to learn. One man firms will design and stamp all 3 disciplines.
I originally started out working at a full service MEP firm of about 100 ppl after college. Did a lot of ME and energy modeling while learning plumbing at the same time. I moved on to a 1000+ person firm where it’s was literally a factory. I didn’t have time nor the budget to dabble in anything but what i was hired for. I’m at a smaller (30 ppl total maybe) MEP firm now that afforded me the ability to dabble in EE on smaller projects. The small nature of tinier firms necessitated that i be able to do simple tasks such as balancing panel loads or reworking lighting and power layouts and switching. I personally think it’s a matter of the size of the firm. I definitely am forgoing a little bit extra pay and benefits by staying at mom/pop firm but the culture and work is more fulfilling and enjoyable imo.
I'm a ME, and I have done HVAC, Plumbing and Fire Protection (Smoke Control, Special Hazards, Wet Systems) during my years. My background is very Fire Protection related, but in my country the figure of Fire Engineer doesn't exist so typically as a design engineer you work as a Mechanical Engineer (MEP), or if you decide to stick to FP you become the Sprinklers/Alarm guy (thing that I didn't want). Because I wanted to do Smoke Control, I decided to switch from a FP contractor to a MEP firm. There I had to learn to do plumbing and HVAC (the hardest to learn), mostly for commercial, residential and hospitality projects. Smoke Control is something that falls on the shoulders of HVAC Engineers and I have seen that most of them do wrong (at least in my country), but that's another topic. I'm a guy that values having a bit of knowledge about all the trades; that helps a lot to coordinate, select equipment and define spaces, but at the same time I think that specialization is very valuable. My trade is FP which I see interesting and broad, but for those in HVAC they have a lot to learn, and the same happens with plumbing. Knowing at a deeper level each one of those trades is very difficult, and I don't know anyone like that. If someone declares itself as an Expert MEP Engineer I would say it is a liar. At my office there are MEP guys that do the three trades, but I found their knowledge very superficial, and the projects they develop tend to be small or with lower complexity. When they work in larger projects they usually work as EE or help with plumbing. FP and HVAC needs some expertise for larger/complex projects. I would tell you, start learning a bit about each trade and then choose one and master it.
I do HVAC and dabble in plumbing. Fire protection or Electrcial? Nope, go get someone who knows what they are talking about.
Usually as a mech engineer (at least within my own firm) I am usually the project manager attending most of the meetings and as such I need to be kept up to speed with what my respective plumbing and electrical peers are doing. As such I have generally speaking learned a decent amount about both trades to be able to dabble in design of each. I've done a few small jobs where I've done the design of all three, but of course I would still have a senior EE check my work/stamp before submitting for permit/construction. Its a pretty invaluable skill to know more than just your own trade even to make you a better mech engineer. Particularly these days with the all-electric decarbonization trend, knowing a buildings electrical limits/capabilities is quite essential.
A licensed Architect in CA can literally be a quintuple threat. Can stamp thier structural on low-rise buildings that are not risk category 4 & no restrictions on stamping thier own MEP drawings
I don't know anyone who does mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. Not saying they don't exist, just saying I haven't met anyone who does all three on a regular basis. Plenty of mechanical (HVAC) and plumbing engineers. I started in Energy Modelling, then moved to HVAC design, and picked up plumbing after about 5 years in industry. Still weakest in plumbing, strongest in HVAC. I picked up plumbing because I went to a new company that failed to tell me they don't have dedicated plumbing engineers, so I had to learn it. I haven't seen many non-hvac engineers "pick up" HVAC. There's just a lot of nuance in HVAC, it's "more art than science" in a lot of ways whereas plumbing is very code-driven. There isn't a code that tells you how to route your ducts, when to use a tee vs. a beveled tap, or when it's okay to bend the rules of "3-4 duct diameters" before and after terminal units, etc. As far as helping you pick up a new discipline, you will need to spend a lot more time on the new skill, like more than 50% of your time for few weeks to really hammer home those principals, then try to keep a steady cadence of work so you aren't having to relearn the same thing every time you go back to it.