Careers Opportunities in Engineering

Engineers are known for being systematic and analytical. They are the problem solvers who, behind the scenes, make the world run. As the engineering profession grows more inventive and entrepreneurial, you can make the most of your hands-on college experience and problem-solving flair in the world of engineering.

College co-op programs and industry-sponsored projects will give you valuable contacts with leading companies and enable you to combine paid on-the-job experience with your studies.

Engineers influence many lives in a lot of different ways. Therefore, communication skills are stressed – both report-writing and teamwork – as engineers often work with other disciplines, and other non-engineers.

Civil Engineering
Civil engineers created the Pyramids, the Roman aqueducts, and the Great Wall of China. Throughout history, they have built the infrastructures that enable societies to operate.
Today, one of the America’s most serious problems is an aging infrastructure serving a growing and mobile population. Half of all bridges, for example, need replacement in the near future. Civil engineers are called upon to solve these problems, using the 21st century concept of sustainable development.

A typical career path sees the graduate starting out as a design engineer, later becoming a project manager, and eventually setting up a partnership to do project and consulting work.

Civil engineers often specialize in one of the following subfields: construction engineering, environmental engineering, hydraulic engineering, structural engineering, and transportation engineering.

Civil engineers work for:
• construction firms
• government agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers or state departments of transportation or water resources
• consulting or testing firms
• their own firms.

Computer Engineering
Computer engineers design and implement complex computer technology in a myriad of consumer, industrial, commercial, and military applications. For example, every major automotive subsystem (engine, traction, brakes, suspension, climate control, instrument cluster) is computer-controlled.

Computer engineers work in:
• manufacturing: factory automation, robotics, automated metal removal machines, automotive painting systems
• communication systems: internet, satellite, telephone, cable, fiber optics
• consumer: entertainment systems, control of appliances, home security, communication systems.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts computer engineering to be the second fastest-growing occupation. The field is projected to double in size from 1996 to 2006, producing high-salary jobs in fast-track occupations.

Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is the occupation with the largest number of engineers. Electrical engineers deal with the controlled application of electricity to solve problems. They may work with huge power-generating plants or tiny transistors, motors or lasers, computers or radar, power lines or stereos.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that job opportunities for electrical and electronics engineers will grow faster than the average through 2008. Electrical engineers may work in design, manufacturing, installation, operations, or research in the following fields:

• automotive electronics
• power plants
• computer electronics
• aviation electronics
• electrical equipment
• industrial robots
• communications systems
• consumer products
• lighting and wiring in vehicles, buildings, aircraft
• bioelectrical devices
• entertainment industry.

Mechanical Engineering
Unless you read by candlelight, gather drinking water with a bucket, and ride a horse to work, you use devices designed and built by mechanical engineers. Mechanical engineers are involved throughout the product development and manufacturing process, from concept and design to application and installation. They apply scientific principles of the dynamics of heat, gasses, air, fluids, and solid materials to the solution of mechanical problems.

The mechanical engineering degree is versatile. Opportunities abound in the auto, aerospace, biomedical, oil, utilities, and processing plant industries. Graduates may use computers to design machines or to determine how to manufacture them, analyze the acoustics of a new building, test products for their ability to withstand stress, design energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems, invent medical instruments or sporting equipment, or devise innovative ways to clean up water and soil.

In most companies today, the mechanical engineer works in a team with other specialists to do "concurrent engineering.” This means that considerations of ease of assembly and repair, price, and marketing are all integrated into the design function.

Engineering Technology
What’s the difference between engineering and engineering technology? Engineering technologists often start their careers as technicians first, so they’ve had most of their technical classes early in their educational cares. Most engineers complete math and science courses in the freshman and sophomore years, followed by technical subjects later.

In the workplace, the engineer and the engineering technologist work on the same team. The technologist takes the ideas conceived by engineers and turns them into reality.

Graduates enter careers in industry related to their technical specialty, often in design or production leadership positions. They may function in both technical and managerial capacities.

Editorial provided by Kevin Finn, Director of Career Services at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.