Engineering is a vast field that encompasses both theoretical knowledge and practicum. It contains numerous degrees under its umbrella of stem subjects and engages a vast array of interests. However, the dream of becoming an engineer is not easy as it seems.
As you gear yourself up to fully step into the world of engineering, you will realise that opting for a specific field is not easy. Students find themselves in a constant dilemma about which will be the best-suited field for their career. Previously, it wasn’t much of a big deal to choose an engineering field because there weren’t too many. However, today with new branches sprouting up, it is challenging for candidates to select the one which fuels interest and best serves career goals.
Although the decision often boils down to an individual’s choice, it is imperative to learn about the various engineering disciplines to know what lies ahead. The following guide briefly discusses different engineering streams to help students get on the right track to success:
Civil Engineering
If you’re someone who loves building buildings and can design physically built natural structures, then civil engineering might be your go-to field. The field focuses on constructing buildings, skyscrapers, bridges, roads, airports, roads, canals, etc., and other transportation and structural projects. Some of the subjects you might study in this field include environmental engineering, structural design, earthquake engineering, geotechnical, and engineering surveying.
As a civil engineer, your typical job responsibilities will be:
- Drafting bills of quantities (BOQs) and drawing engineering drawings for various projects
- Monitoring site projects and ensuring compliance with safety rules and regulations
- Providing technical suggestions and alternative approaches about designs to the subcontractors
- Computing water discharge rates, stress & strain factors, and planning the specifications of hydraulic systems
Moreover, there’s always room for career progression in this field. If you consider pursuing online engineering programs, you can take your skills to the next level and be the ideal candidate for firms looking to hire civil engineers with proper education. Online degree programs are designed for candidates who wish to take on advanced roles but find it challenging to balance work and life.
Electrical Engineering
Do you wish to play a crucial role in solving the energy crisis? Or passionate to learn how different electrical plants work? In that case, electrical engineering is the one for you. The demand for electrical engineers has grown drastically over the past few years. Today, as electrical circuits get complicated and smaller in size, the IT sector also employes electrical engineers.
Electrical engineers develop machines and systems that operate on electrical power. The field primarily revolves around complex electrical appliances, power system analysis, power electronics, digital signal processing, and embedded computing. With advancements in technology, electrical engineers also work on compact computing solutions like a system on module (SoM), which integrates processors, memory, and connectivity for industrial automation, IoT, and real-time processing applications.
On a given day, the job responsibilities of an electrical engineer include:
- Designing power models on software to obtain results on a real-time basis
- Writing specifications of electrical equipment, prepare topological maps and engineering drawings for the installation of systems
- Designing power & lighting layouts and integrate alternative energy sources to ensure uninterrupted power supply
- Assessing the working conditions of appliances, machines, product and conduct research on testing procedures
If you plan to opt for this field, you should have strong teamwork skills to work with technicians from other disciplines. Apart from this, you should also know how to manage stress and work under pressure during long hours on plants for testing and programming procedures.
Mechanical Engineering
Have you ever tinkered with the parts of your bike? Have you ever opened up your old toy to see the moving parts? Do automobiles fascinate you? If the answer to these questions is a definitive yes, follow your passion by pursuing mechanical engineering. You can either work in robotics, industrial and manufacturing, or the aerospace industry. You will need to understand the variety of components that are apart of these industries of course, such as Hyperboloid connectors from a top pcb connector supplier to quality stabilizers. Some courses offered in mechanical engineering are thermodynamics, solid and fluid mechanics, internal combustion engines, production engineering, and statics & dynamics.
The day-to-day responsibilities of a mechanical engineer are:
Drawing AutoCAD drawings, preparing budgets, creating technical instructions for operators
Designing, operating, and assessing mechanical devices
Studying faults and failures in plants and providing technical advice to the personnel
Supervising the installation and maintenance of components to ensure the proper functioning
You must possess strong analytical and problem-solving skills to acquire the role of a mechanical engineer. Strong verbal and non-verbal skills are also necessary to convey critical information and solutions to the workers.
Chemical Engineering
Does your curiosity peak when two chemicals react with each other to form a new element? Do chemicals, elements, and substances intrigue you? If the answer’s yes, then you should select Chemical Engineering as your choice of career. Chemical engineering aspirants might even study petrochemicals, chemical reactions and process engineering, process integration, chemical reactor designs, and separation processes if they progress in their careers.
As a chemical engineer, the following will be your work duties:
- Overseeing production processes and confer with chemists to ensure plants run at an efficient speed
- Performing tests and troubleshoot problems by applying engineering knowledge
- Research new chemical manufacturing processes and developing safety procedures for the technicians
- Ensuring workers wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on-site and comply with safety guidelines
- Coming up with the latest processes to divide liquid and gases molecules and produce electricity in controlled conditions
- Assessing mining, distillation, heat transfer, and drying industrial processes
You must have strong negotiation skills to achieve maximum profits and maintain healthy relationships with other parties in the engineering world. Also, it is indispensable to possess analytical skills to understand the blueprints and optimize the chemical processes.
Computer Systems Engineering
Computer systems engineering is the perfect option for you if you are fond of computer programming and always write codes in your leisure time. A subset of electrical engineering, this field emphasises building computer systems and programming them. The core courses in this majors include microprocessor designing, computer architecture, communication networks, data structures, and machine language.
Computer systems engineers generally perform the following duties:
- Staying updated with the latest software and hardware trends
- Resolving computer and gadget related issues and provide technical assistance
- Monitoring the cloud storage services and keeping them safe and secure
- Configuring settings of operating systems and software
- Performing tests on modern as well as repaired motherboards
- Installing operating systems and modifying their parameters
Strong command over troubleshooting skills is a must for systems engineers to detect management flow issues and propose solutions to fix them.
Final Words
The very first step to shape your future career is to gain knowledge about various engineering streams. Before you arrive at a decision, ponder over different options such as job outlook, salary, and career progression opportunities. Undoubtedly, the research will provide you with a bigger picture and alleviate the burden to some degree.
However, an individual is always well-aware of the subconscious voices; therefore, pay attention to the internal monologue. The specialty that builds up the enthusiasm and piques your interest should be your pick for the future. You will most likely enjoy working and pouring in all the hard work in your desired engineering stream. And the efforts will surely pay off at the end of the day.
