Engineering

As a student of engineering I always find it intriguing to listen to peoples' ideas on what they think engineering actually is. Further, I just spent an all nighter doing a report for it, so the idea kind of popped in to my head. So,

Personally I think it is one of the most fulfilling careers you could hope to pursue. However, what do YOU think engineering actually is?

 

When I think of engineering, I think of the people that are building stuff such as cars or even advanced space shuttles.

I know it's a well paying job and has a lot of math included.

 

I'm an engineering student as well but I highly doubt I'll end up working as an Engineer as I'm much more interested in a doctorate in nanotechnology. As for what engineering is. I personally believe it is a process or processes that through manipulation yields a favorable whether it offer a solution to a problem or a more efficient method of achieving the same result.

 

Well I hope to get accepted to do an electrical engineering course focusing on wind powered renewable energy this autumn I suppose you would recommend engineering if I were to ask?

I'm quite interested in the design and building side myself, but depending on how you specialise it obviously branches in to different fields but what I suppose the average person would describe it as is machines, maintenance and getting really greasy

 

Well, whenever I describe the word "engineering" the first thing that comes to mind is "problem solving."

Suppose you work for an engineering firm, you can be contracted with a certain problem (anything from a brand new design to a process optimisation). You would then research / review prior art, brainstorm possible solutions, run a cost-benefit analysis and compare the merits of each possible solution you come up with (often there are a lot of them).

Ultimately what that boils down to is you've selected what you and your team think is the best possible solution. After that you start entering the design phase, and eventually you'll be able to construct a prototype to report on.

My university handles first year engineering as a more general field before branching out in to majors. All first year students have to partake in one of four different projects each for semester 1 and semester 2, and ultimately a prototype (working or not) has to be constructed by the end of semester.

My first project was an environmental engineering project with Engineers Without Borders, which was the design of a sanitary latrine / toilet for developing countries for which any waste would be safely reusable as fertiliser with no risk of disease. My second project was an automated mixer which would be able to mix two streams (hot and cold) and achieve an overall desired output temperature, and that was able to deliver 10L within 5 minutes. Both sound simple, but there was a lot of work for people who had never done it before and it was very fun.

My major is currently chemical / process engineering. It's particularly useful in pharmacy, bio-engineering, nanotechnology, mining, refining, environmental sustainability, and so on. I was actually involved in a project at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotech. briefly in regards to a biodegradable plastic produced from bacteria, which was quite fascinating.

The grease monkeys are the mechanical engineers, haha. Electrical engineering I think you'll find is both fascinating, difficult, and involves a lot of sitting in a lab wondering why your circuit doesn't work (oh the painful memories). Certainly, I'd recommend engineering though, as you can probably tell by what I just wrote that it's incredibly diverse and fulfilling.

 

I really, really want to get into engineering (it's a life goal of mine). However, I'm gifted with bad mathematical genes, meaning I have a hard time understanding any new math concepts I learn because I tend to over question everything I learn (which could be good or bad, in my case bad). By over question, I mean why does this happen and not this? Then i'll think that that answer is weird so i'll question it, etc... At the moment, I'm currently doing my mathematics after having complete a 3 year program at my college, in general sciences (I know, good game 3 years of my life.) I'm hoping once I have my high school math, i'll be able to get on the right track to engineering.

 

Generally speaking it's a good thing to be questioning and critical of your results. That's actually key to UNDERSTANDING what you learn instead of just knowing what to do in a specific situation.

 

I think of engineering as basically designing parts, essentially. My knowledge on it is very limited so I could be completely off.

 

Some fields in Engineering include Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, Bio-Medical. Engineers apply Scientific and Mathematical concepts to build complex and useful things. A Bachelors in Engineering is one of the most lucrative and well respected among 4 year degrees. An Engineering degree is worth about 4 humanities degrees.