So, What’s an Engineer?
by Nia Johnston
The roads you and your parents drive on, the products you buy, and the amusement park rides you enjoy have all been touched by engineers in some way. They design new spacecrafts, develop environmental solutions and apply computer technology to solve problems in the 21st century.
Engineers are in demand. With an anticipated labor shortage in the United States, the time is right for those with technical aptitude and a willingness to do their homework now in order to prepare for an engineering career in the future.
Engineers are problem solvers. They are people who make things work better, more efficiently, quicker, and less expensively. You’ll often find them working with other people on projects as an engineering team. The engineer has to have a strong science, math and technology background and is also a leader. Engineers plan, design and supervise engineering projects from concept to completion.
For example, chemical engineers seek to make our world better by devising systems to control pollution by trapping harmful pollutants before they spread into the air; looking for hardier strains of wheat, rice and corn that will survive drought, insects, and disease to ease world hunger; design high strength plastic composites that are stronger but lighter than steel.
Civil engineers design solutions to cope with many of the world’s most serious problems – decaying cities, roadways and bridges; clogged airports and highways; polluted streams, rivers and lakes. They also design the transportation systems we use and the buildings we live in.
Electrical engineers design products that meet human needs for today and tomorrow- huge power generating systems in dams as well as the tiny electronic circuits that keep spacecrafts on correct trajectory a billion miles from earth. They create the electronic components that run computers, TVs, stereo systems, and automated factories and seek ways to improve the transmission of messages by laser beams.
Mechanical engineers can make our lives more comfortable by designing more efficient transportation and delivery systems for raw materials or products – improving the use of cryogenic techniques for super conductivity; use of automation and robotics, more efficient heating, ventilation or refrigeration. They may even completely redesign the manufacturing process with special machinery to make production easier and more efficient.
Other engineering specialties include:
* Automotive Engineering
* Aerospace Engineering
* Architectural Engineering
* Bio-engineer (Bio-medical, Bio-mechanical, Bio-chemical)
* Ceramic Engineering
* Computer Engineering
* Engineering Management
* Engineering Science/Physics
* Environmental Engineering
* Fire protection Engineering
* Geological Engineering
* Geothermal Engineering
* General Engineering
* Heating, Ventilation, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
* Industrial Engineering
* Manufacturing Engineering
* Materials Engineering
* Metallurgy Engineering
* Mineral and Mining Engineering
* Naval Engineering
* Nuclear Engineering
* Ocean Engineering
* Optical Engineering
* Petroleum Engineering
* Plant Engineering
* Plastics Engineering
* Robotics and Automated Systems Engineering
* Safety Engineering
* Software Engineering
* Systems Engineering
* Transportation Engineering
Regardless of the type of engineering you may be interested in, you will need a solid foundation in math and science that begins as early as middle school and high school. Once you’ve addressed the basics – taking four years of college prep math and science and all of the requirements for the colleges you would like to attend – then it’s time to give your engineering education some thought.