The future is bright for the engineers of tomorrow! Engineering offers employment options, growth, high salaries, and challenging work. Are you looking to be a mechanical, civil, electrical, computer, chemical, aerospace, or a nuclear engineer? Consider some expert sources of information to help you plan.
Interestingengineering.com lists the top five engineering jobs as a robot programmer, sensor system integrator, algorithm designer, 3D printing specialist, and augmented or virtual reality programmer.
ITcareerfinder.com lists civil engineer, environmental engineer, and biomedical engineer highly as well. Forbes magazine states that the most common engineering jobs—civil, mechanical, industrial, and electrical engineering—make up two-thirds of the entire American engineering workforce!
According to Forbes, “Huntsville, Alabama—home to a NASA flight center and other aerospace and military establishments” has over five times more engineers per capita than the national average. In general, Forbes notes that the most common places to find engineering work are the South and in Detroit and Dayton, Ohio.
What do employment options look like in this field? The following are some quick overviews of the variety of jobs within the engineering industry.
» An aerospace engineer develops and produces aircraft and spacecraft. They might work on macro designs or in a more in-depth manner on one of the many complicated subsystems of the crafts.
» Civil engineers supervise and direct the construction of roads, bridges, buildings, and other utility systems. They may work in a proactive sense, such as city planning and expansion, or in a reactive sense when a natural disaster occurs and essential systems must be restored.
» Chemical engineers specialize in energy storage, chemistry-based research and development, and nanotechnology. According to educatingengineers.com these professionals work alongside other engineers to solve humanity’s greatest problems.
» Electrical engineers work directly with electrical equipment manufacturing and systems. They design, develop, test, and oversee the use of these systems. From small tasks such as wiring and lighting installations to the largest systems within energy production plants, electrical engineers are an essential part of the industry.
» Mechanical engineers use knowledge of motion, energy, and force to develop mechanical solutions to an array of problems. Using material, economic, and human resources, mechanical engineers design and build biomedical devices, appliances, motor vehicles, and other essential products.
» Nuclear engineers, according to educatingengineers.com, are the most integrated of the engineering disciplines. With nuclear systems, both reactors, and medical imaging equipment, nuclear engineers must be experts in nuclear science and also the engineering of the systems themselves.
With a myriad of career paths, how can college students select the right major and skills to learn to prepare for employment? According to tryengineering.org, when preparing for an engineering career, students should not only focus on having the technical competence needed for their desired path, but should also develop communication skills, leadership skills, and teamwork skills.
College students can also seek to enter one of many engineering societies, such as:
» American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
» American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
» American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
» American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
» Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
» American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
» Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
» SAE International (SAE)
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