Essentially, the definition of engineering centers around the precise and accurate application of both mathematics and scientific knowledge to solve complex and multi-layered problems and issues.
As in other areas of industry, it is often the figurehead or spokesperson for a product or innovation that receives the bulk of the credit and notoriety, and the engineering industry is no different. When a particular, significant scientific discovery is made, the inventors and scientist involved usually receive the praise and industry recognition where, in actual fact, it is the complicated and tireless work of the engineers behind the scenes that made such inventions and innovations possible at all.
As a qualified engineer, or indeed someone who has ‘worked their way up the ladder’ with hands-on work experience and teaching themselves the skills for the job, continue reading for a comprehensive guide to a prosperous and productive career in engineering.
A Career In Engineering Management
If you are looking to pursue a career in engineering management, it is strongly advisable that you invest the time, money and extreme amounts of dedication and passion to studying for a master’s in engineering management from a reputable and well-established academic institution.
There is a plethora of extremely advantageous benefits to acquiring an engineering management degree, not least the superiority in knowledge, competency and experience over your competitors and colleagues. With technology becoming more and more integral to daily life both inside and outside the world of engineering, postgraduate students in engineering management are equipped not only with a vast and multi-faceted insight into the practicalities of engineering, but additionally how the application of business knowledge and legal requirements and laws regarding engineering can greatly enhance and improve a business and the industry in general.
The Different Career Fields of Engineering:
Electrical Engineering
The specialized area of electrical engineering is one of the more innovative and relatively new and exciting areas of engineering and it only really came into proverbial play at the end of the nineteenth century.
Electrical engineering involves any piece of technology or equipment that uses electricity, from minute computer microchips to full scale power stations and large and powerful generators. There are a number of specialized categories within electrical engineering that have morphed into their own productive and profitable sectors in their own right, including control and battery systems, the generation of power, the transmission of power and electronic motorized equipment. Other specific areas of electrical engineering include telecommunications, the processing of signals, video and audio, systems enabling radio frequency output and optoelectronics.
Aeronautical Engineering
The sub-sector of aeronautical engineering is, as perhaps is quite obvious, the area of engineering that specializes in aviation and concentrates on cutting-edge inventions and innovations, especially in the areas of computer aided design and lasers to enhance the efficiency and productivity of all services related to the aviation industry.
Additionally (especially in the wake of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic), there is an incredibly increased amount of public and private pressure on the industry to ensure passengers and staff are as safe as possible in the air. Careers available to the skilled and passionate aeronautical engineer include the roles of flight mechanic, maintenance engineer, computer aided technician, manufacturing systems engineer, assistant aircraft engineer, assistant technical officer and even, perhaps surprisingly, a racing car designer.
Computer Engineering
The branch of engineering that is solely concerned with computers fundamentally combines computer science with electronic engineering. Computer engineers design and cultivate the amalgamation of electronic computer systems and other technological devices.
Arguably, computer engineering is one of the most necessary branches of engineering due to the increased usage of computer hardware and software in not just the engineering industry but the general public’s day to day life. It is for this reason that computer engineering is one of the most attractive and simultaneously sought-after employment areas within engineering. Careers in computer engineering include machine learning engineering, full stack developer, data analyst, computer software developer, computer network architect, information security analyst and big data engineering.
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering, more commonly referred to as bioengineering, combines research studies and extensive biological knowledge with fundamental engineering principles and is the force behind many modern advancements and developments in medicine and healthcare in general.
Biomedical engineering is perhaps the most fascinating, rewarding and altogether complicated and worthwhile branch of engineering. It is directly responsible for some of the most impressive and life-changing medical developments in recent years, including prosthetics, artificial organs, kidney dialysis, new and innovative pharmaceutical drugs and even the absolutely mind-blowing concept of surgical robots.
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is the field of engineering in which most people not involved in any way with the industry would perhaps most associate with engineers.
Mechanical engineers study the motion of systems and individual objects and, as one might expect, this makes mechanical engineering the most accessible and applicable to modern life out of all the branches of engineering; it can even be applied to the human body as it is, after all, one of the most impressive and complex systems of all.
The range of the mechanical engineering industry and skillset engineering graduates have, provides the opportunity to essentially choose the area of engineering they themselves would like to specialize in. Irrespective of the specific route they foresee for themselves, a mechanical engineering degree inspires graduates with inventive and resourceful skills to create a thrilling invention or system, methodical and critical tools to attain their goals of creation, and the collaboration skills required to create, produce, and physically make their system or product idea a physical reality.
Civil Engineering
Civil engineering, not unlike mechanical engineering, is one of if not the oldest engineering specialism and can be traced all the way back in time to when early humans began to build shelters and settlements across the country.
There are numerous iconic civil engineering projects that will always remain in the hearts and minds of not just people involved in the engineering industry but the general public, both nationally and internationally. Exceedingly notorious and prestigious civil engineering projects include the Eiffel Tower, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Panama Canal and the Hoover Dam.
Nuclear Engineering
Unlike some of the other, more complex and multi-faceted branches of engineering, nuclear engineers are solely and completely responsible for the safe, secure, efficient and productive running of a nuclear power station.
- The principal tasks involved in being a nuclear engineer include, but are categorically not limited to:
- The scrutinizing and evaluating of the levels of radiation
- Ensuring that the nuclear plant is constantly compliant with legislation
- The supervision of the technicians assigned to the nuclear plant
- The creation development and construction of new power plant equipment
- The safe and efficient carrying out of any required maintenance
- The supreme responsibility of health and safety station wide
Structural Engineering
Engineers with a particular penchant for design and a keen eye for detail are predestined, if one believes in that sort of thing, to specialize in structural engineering.
Structural engineering involves basically what it says on the tin: designing and helping to create incredible and breathtaking manmade structures that often break records in terms of height, materials used and even functionality. Such a discipline focuses on, perhaps incredibly obviously, strength and durability, in extreme weather conditions and high pressures, output and usage.
As a rough idea, a structural engineer will design a building to last approximately fifty years without needing one single iota of maintenance or changes to the structural foundations. The same can be said for bridges, except this time they aim to ensure the bridge needs no human care or repair for over a century as a standard minimum.
Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering is perhaps the one branch of engineering specialisms that fails to be thought of when considering engineering as an industry, perhaps because many people unassociated with the industry may wrongly believe them to work under the heading of ‘scientist’ rather than engineer. Essentially, the role of the chemical engineer is to construct and expand on the individual process to create, adapt and move materials and products, sometimes on a miniscule level.
There is a hugely wide, expansive plethora of reasons why chemical engineering would be an excellent area in which to specialize.
One fundamental reason to choose chemical engineering as a lifelong and progressive career specialty is the opportunity afforded to chemical engineers to work for some of the largest companies in the entire world, as the biggest gas and oil suppliers fall under this category, as do pharmaceutical producers. Other rewarding careers within chemical engineering the amazing and truly life-enhancing opportunity to work in third world countries, politics, business finance, within the world of crisis management and emergency responses and national security and, not to mention, the copious travel and lifestyle opportunities working as a professional chemical engineer will afford you. The pay for professional chemical engineers is also considerably higher than average.
