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09/22/03 |
     
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--N. W. Dougherty (1955) The
Engineering Alphabet: Careers in engineering span the alphabet. From aerospace to manufacturing to transportation engineering, no other career field offers young men and women such a wide choice of options. Here is a partial listing of these disciplines:
Just as there are different fields of engineering, there are different fields within engineering technology. In fact, almost every engineering discipline has a related engineering technology discipline. Because this directory lists only four-year engineering technology schools, which focus on preparing students to be technologists rather than technicians, we'll examine what technologists do in some of the most popular engineering technology disciplines. If you're interested in becoming, a technician, however, keep in mind that they often do similar work. Here is a partial listing of these disciplines:
Aerospace Engineering
Agricultural Engineering
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Architectural Engineering
Working alongside architects, architectural engineers focus on the safety, cost, and construction methods of designing a building. For example, as the US population grows in the Southwest, more and more architectural engineers are investigating new ways to build on land where there is only sand and sagebrush.
For more information, contact the Architectural Engineering Institute.
Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering
Bioengineering combines biology and engineering. Some of these engineers work closely with biologists and medical doctors to develop medical instruments, artificial organs, and prosthetic devices. Others investigate questions that involve technology and humans such as: How does working with computers all day affect one's health?
For more information, contact the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at the University of Georgia or the Biomedical Engineering Network.
Ceramic Engineering
Ceramic engineers direct processes that convert clay, nonmetallic minerals, or silicates to ceramic products such as automobile parts, tiles on space shuttles, and solar panels.
For more information, contact the American Ceramic Society.
Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering involves the processing and treating of liquids and gases. For example, some chemical engineers are studying ways to desalinate seawater—stripping it of salt to make the water safe to drink. Many chemical engineers work with petroleum and plastics, although both of these are the subject of independent disciplines. The term "environmental engineering" also applies to certain areas of chemical engineering, such as pollution control.
For more information, contact the American Institute of Chemical Engineers .
Where do chemical engineers work?
Civil Engineering
One of the largest branches of engineering, civil engineering is a field that deals with buildings, bridges, dams, roads, and other structures. Civil engineers plan, design, and supervise the construction of facilities such as high-rise buildings, airports, water treatment centers, and sanitation plants. Civil engineers will need to design the special rail beds for the magnetic levitation trains of tomorrow. Soon we will be able to travel on these environmentally safe and efficient trains from coast to coast at 200-300 miles per hour.
For more information, contact the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Computer/Software Engineering
Computer engineers deal with all aspects of computer systems including design, construction, and operation. Some computer engineers specialize in areas like digital systems, operating systems, computer networks, and software. For example, we rely on computer engineers to design the software for a computer simulation that will test stress points in a bridge before it is built.
For more information, contact the Software Engineering Institute or the Association for Computing Machinery
Where do computer/software engineers work?
 | Cisco Systems |
| IBM |
| Microsoft |
| Oracle |
| Sun |
Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering, the discipline that employs the largest number of engineers, covers everything related to electrical devices, systems, and the use of electricity. Electrical engineers work on power plants, computers, and other electrical devices. Electrical engineers are designing the dashboard computers that will monitor engine functions on automobiles of the future.
For more information, contact the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Where do electrical engineers work?
| AT&T |
| Motorola |
Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineers assist with the development of water distribution systems, recycling methods, sewage treatment plants, and other pollution prevention and control systems in the water, air, and land. Environmental engineers constantly seek new ways to reduce air pollution and pesticides.
For more information, contact the American Academy of Environmental Engineers .
Where do environmental engineers work?
|
Environmental Protection Agency |
Fire Protection Engineering
Fire protection engineers design systems and equipment that prevent or combat fire. Engineers in this field are also concerned with the fire safety of structures.
For more information, contact the National Fire Protection Association .
Where do fire engineers work?
| US Fish and Wildlife Service |
Industrial Engineering
Industrial engineers organize the people, information, energy, materials, and machines involved in the production process. They are concerned with plant design and management, quality control, and the human factors of engineering. Industrial engineers perform tasks such as finding the best location for a high-tech company's new plant.
For more information, contact the Institute of Industrial Engineers, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, or the International Council on Systems Engineering.
Manufacturing Engineering
Manufacturing engineers design tools and equipment and work with all aspects of manufacturing—from production control and materials handling to mechanization and automation. Manufacturing engineers design the sensitive equipment that make vaccines. These specialists also improve manufacturing systems, enabling the United States to stay competitive with other industrialized nations.
For more information, contact the Institute of Industrial Engineers, Society of Manufacturing Engineers,
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineers use mechanics and energy principles to design machines such as engines and motors. Many mechanical engineers work in the areas of air-conditioning and refrigeration, automotives, manufacturing, welding, and robotics. They designed the robotically controlled braces that people with disabilities use to walk.
For more information, contact the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
Metallurgical and materials engineers extract, process, refine, combine, and manufacture natural substances to create new materials that are stronger and resist corrosion. Metallurgical engineers work with metal only. Teams of metallurgy and materials engineers created the US Air Force's "stealth" technology that makes a fighter plane's surface nearly invisible to radar.
For more information, contact the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration.
Mineral and Mining Engineering
Mineral and mining engineers locate, remove, and appraise minerals they find in the earth. Mining engineers lay out the mines, supervise their construction, create a materials transportation system, and return the area to its natural state upon mining completion. Mineral and mining engineers need to know how to mine the natural wealth underground without destroying the land above or disrupting the people that live on it.
For more information, contact the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration.
Nuclear Engineering
Nuclear engineers design, develop, and control plants that use nuclear energy for fuel
and medical purposes. Some nuclear engineers are busy working on a nuclear-powered
spacecraft that will travel to Mars.
For more information, contact the American Nuclear Society.
Ocean Engineering
Ocean engineers direct the exploration and utilization of the ocean's resources. Their work is closely tied to petroleum and civil engineering. For example, ocean engineers might focus attention on underwater oil or gas exploration (petroleum engineering tasks), or they might design structures such as offshore drilling platforms, harbor facilities, and underwater machines (civil engineering tasks).
For more information, contact The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Careers in Oceanography, Texas A&M, and the Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering Division (OOAE)
Transportation Engineering
Transportation engineers design streets, highways, and other transit systems that allow people and goods to move safely and efficiently. For example, before constructing a new sports stadium, city officials rely on transportation engineers to plan traffic patterns that will prevent major tie-ups after the game.
For more information, contact: The Society of Automotive Engineers
Where do transportation engineers work?
| US Department of Transportation |
| Washington State Department of Transportation |
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Federal Aviation Administration |
Other engineering disciplines
For information on other engineering disciplines, contact
Engineering Technology Disciplines
Chemical Engineering Technology
Chemical engineering technologists are involved with building and operating the chemical plants that produce the many materials we use that must undergo chemical changes when they're manufactured. Such products include plastics, pharmaceuticals, food products, synthetic rubber, and synthetic fibers. Many chemical engineering technologists focus on projects that create and maintain a clean environment. These technologists create substitutes for our shrinking natural resources and supervise processes that clean up and prevent pollution.
Civil and Construction Engineering Technology
Civil engineering technologists oversee the construction of the facilities that are essential to modern life. Such facilities include high-rise buildings, roads, mass-transit systems, canals, water treatment facilities, dams, bridges, and airports.
In supervising the construction of these projects, the technologist is usually involved in managing people, machines, and money and may work in the office, the field, or both. Civil engineering technologists are often project managers, estimators, schedulers, and cost technologists. Their work may also involve surveying and mapping.
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology
Electrical and electronic engineering technologists are concerned with electrical devices and systems and with the use of electrical energy. Electrical engineering technologists help create our microwave ovens, computers, and communications technology.
Electrical engineering technology is a large field with many different concentrations. Many electrical engineering technologists participate in the development and testing of new communication devices—such as more advanced telephone systems—as well as in supervising the manufacture of these devices. Others specialize in electronics and assist in the design, manufacture, and use of various circuits and electronic devices that produce, amplify, or detect electrical signals. Others focus on instrumentation—the use of electronic devices to make measurements such as pressure, temperature, speed, acceleration, voltage, and current. Still, others concentrate on the construction and operation of computer systems.
Manufacturing Engineering Technology
Manufacturing engineering technologists help create and supervise the processes for manufacturing products. They translate the concepts and specifications of design engineers into the actual production of manufactured goods at the lowest possible cost. Manufacturing technologists direct and coordinate manufacturing processes in industrial plants, and work in areas such as automated testing and product improvement. Technical areas of work include planning, production methods, fabrication, assembly, materials handling, scheduling, and quality assurance.
Mechanical Engineering Technology
Mechanical engineering technologists convert materials and energy into objects and services needed by the public. For example they help create the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems that make our homes and schools comfortable year-round as well as the power plants that we rely upon. They also help develop the machines we depend upon in our daily lives, including automobiles, airplanes, trains, copying machines, and fax machines.
Positions are available in power generation, manufacturing operations, project planning, production supervision, plant operations, quality assurance, reliability testing, and technical sales and services.
Taken From: Engineering: Your Future
This site was last updated 09/22/03