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DragonSharp was nice enough to share this link with us. Thank you
Well. If you could, what type of engineering would you suggest to someone who decides to start and engineering major?
Poll: So?Computer Engineering (22) 23% BioEngineering (16) 17% Chemical Engineering (16) 17% Electrical Engineering (13) 14% Mechanical Engineering (11) 12% Civil Engineering (5) 5% Nuclear Engineering (4) 4% Industrial Engineering (4) 4% Aeronautical Engineering (3) 3% Other (specify in the comments) (1) 1% 95 total votes Your vote: So? (Vote): Mechanical Engineering
(Vote): Civil Engineering
(Vote): BioEngineering
(Vote): Nuclear Engineering
(Vote): Electrical Engineering
(Vote): Chemical Engineering
(Vote): Computer Engineering
(Vote): Industrial Engineering
(Vote): Aeronautical Engineering
(Vote): Other (specify in the comments)
As of myself, I love physics but I think that it would be pretty useless to study just physics coz I am more of a type of person that is interested in how the nature works so he could use it to improve human life.
And how about finding job? I am sure that every engineer will probably find a work, but which are do you think will have the major breakthrough in the next 10 years?
Please discuss, I am really interested in your opinion.
EDIT: I changed the list, coz I made some mistakes
 
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As an aerospace engineer who was recently laid off, I am having trouble finding a job even with NASA on my resume and being involved in cutting edge work for past few years (helping design the new shuttle until Obama axed the whole project). You may just contribute that to the overall economy lull, but I've been looking for aero-jobs for almost 3 months again now... not many out there.
I don't see it up there but I recommend materials engineering.
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As a CompSci/CompEng guy myself, I obviously vote for that. I find it a very interesting area of study, with many different paths to choose from when it comes to actual work.
There is currently several 'slow revolutions' going on within CS that will make programming in 10 years possibly very different from what we do now, and very different from what was done 10 years ago. At least if we are talking consumer hardware.
First of all, the push for parallellisation has been going on for a while, starting (as always) on 'big iron', supercomputers and the like. Getting Twin/Quad/Eight-core boxes on consumer hardware has changed a lot of stuff already, and is set to change things even more as programming shifts to ways where it is easier to determine what can be done in parallel.
Further, the smaller transistors get, the more 'leakage' you get in the signal, i.e. you no longer have a 'clean' binary when current is measured in individual electrons. This makes processor design a bit hard, to say the least, and I know there are several projects and other stuff going on to find solutions. Needless to say, that may also change how you work with various things.
And of course there is the ever-ongoing fight to make things faster, smaller, more flexible, more useful, etc. etc. where everything changes constantly. A lot of cruft has creeped into programs as a result of programmers thinking 'oh, that'll work better later with better hardware', but as devices get smaller (iPhone/Android etc.) I think that people actually may start paying attention to what they are doing again.
In general, just making the damn computer do what I tell it to do is enough satisfaction to me.  Solving problems using programming is a pretty special occupation, but the feeling when you have spent the last 4 hours frantically coding, debugging and rechecking your program, and then seeing it work beautifully, efficiently and correctly, no matter what kind of abuse you submit it to is a very good feeling.
And as for physics, if we jump past the obvious physics of circuit design, there's always a need for better simulation of various phenomena.
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Ill be quite honest with you, if you are interested in eng, u really dont wanna just jump into the major if your still uncertain. main reason people give up on eng isnt because its not interesting, or they dont think its awsome. no, in fact most students love eng, but no student loves the first 4 semesters (other eng's feel free to chip on xD) almost no uni you go to will offer you eng courses that dont require most of your basics coures to be finished (like diff eq and calc 3 or phy2 with calc etc)
for jobs, cevil eng and industrial will land you the most jobs, next being computer (only if you like programming, remember most computer eng's do mostly programming) but what name your degree hasnt doesnt make the job you get. An electrical eng can get a job doing programming, or even a civil eng job, its not as cut and dry as most students think coming in.
i hope this post came out helping you, and if your really still curious, feel free to PM me, but try to see your self in 10 years, are you doing research? working outdoors? want to have your hands on whats going on? or oversee it? if you can answer this question, then the eng major you choose is pretty obvious, not to mention what you find interesting.
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Interesting the first post about aerospace engineer. I was thinking about it too, and seemed cool. In the future I presume there will be needed a lot more aerospace engineers just because of our space exploration that is growing larger and larger.
As of the second post, yes it seems pretty interesting, but coz I was in a dilemma whether to choose pure physics or engineering (read applied physics) I think there wouldn't be a lot of satisfaction for me programing various software. Nevertheless you think that computer engineering will have a major growth in the next 10 years?
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I'm curious, what can an industrial engineer do that an economist, mathematician, or actuary can't?
It seems like they mostly solve optimization problems, which are pieces of cake to any of the above professions.
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Bioengineering with some computer courses mixed in.. learn how to make nano computers 
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i'm a comp sci major, but I'm feeling more and more that programmers are the factory workers of the next generation. go with mechanical engineering. it's a flexible all around major, and you can move into any other subject after a mech engineering degree.
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On June 15 2010 04:53 jalstar wrote:
I'm curious, what can an industrial engineer do that an economist, mathematician, or actuary can't?
It seems like they mostly solve optimization problems, which are pieces of cake to any of the above professions.
Supply chain management, human factors and ergonomics design, and process and production control come to mind, but I'm not an IE. Well, almost all of engineering is optimization in some sense, but different training and experience helps one person formulate the problem and communicate those ideas better than another person.
Really though, I would say that most all engineering disciplines are pretty good to go into if you are interested in that kind of thinking. However, I wonder if bioengineering and related fields are graduating too many students right now, which can be dicey from a future employment perspective.
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@Sid That's only partially true. My uni worked on a quarter system and got you into some entry level engy classes within your first few quarters. I'm not positive, but if you find an engineering focused school it should work like this.
As for the OP. The engineering fields you listed are so wildly different it's hard to comment. Which one fits you is really going to depend on your interests and your skill set.
What part of physics do you like. If you are interested in stuff like gravity, friction, etc. then maybe Mechanical, Aeronautics, or Civil engineering will be for you. If you take more interest into physics as it related to energy, waves, magnetic fields, etc. then Nuclear, Electrical, or Computer engineering may be more up your alley.
Chemical and Bio engineering can be a bitch (well all engineering can really), if you're not really into chemistry and biology I'd shy away from them. Though these areas have a lot of room for future discovery of course. Then again all engineering fields do to an extent.
As for finding a job, get internships while at school, get good grades, and know your stuff. People are always on the lookout for highly skilled, knowledgeable, and sociable engineers.
I'd say clarify what kinds of problems you like to solve and what types of things get you interested. If you aren't into your engineering field it will be hell, well to an extent. The most important thing is whether or not you're the engineering type at all.
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Chemical Engineering if you want to have 0 free time in undergrad, but its a great field to be in.
Personally I'm computer science, and would actually recommend EE or evne a pure science like physics/chem for a lot of work I see CS people doing now. It's honestly not that hard to learn to program well if you're someone who's completed another field of fairly challenging undergrad studies
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No way I can see myself in something related to chemistry or biology. As for the part which interests me I'd say the whole physics, but if I have to narrow it, it would probably be nuclear physics.
I was thinking mechanical engineering, but then again I would find myself best if I could design robots/sattelits/sondas and so on.
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I come from a family of engineers and am pumped to star taking my Chem Engineering classes this fall (going to be a Sophmore at the University of Minnesota.) I chose ChemE just becuase I love chemistry and because it has the most opportunities for avante garde jobs and research.
Just looking at what you can do with a ChemE degree (I'll be going for my masters as well) is very exciting. You can work for oil companies (not the most popular thing to do, but if you want money...), pharmacuetical design, designer chemicals, materials science (metamaterials), biomedical engineering (the fields are very similar depending on what you focus on), and my favorite: nanotechnology which is probably going to be the biggest technological revolution of our generation and maybe even ever, as nanotech has HUGE wide raging implications in almost every area of science.
just my 2 cents
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I'm double majoring in Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering, love both so it was a simple choice. Pays well and jobs are not impossible to find.
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I'm in Computer Science and I like it so I voted for Computer Engineering (even though they're two separate things).
Computers are going to produce a lot of jobs in the future, but I went into it simply because I'm fascinated with them. You can't really go wrong with any engineering, engineers are pretty much the backbone and thinking behind just about everything.
You said you like nature, so maybe civil engineering in the one for you.
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On June 15 2010 05:38 MadVillain wrote:
I come from a family of engineers and am pumped to star taking my Chem Engineering classes this fall (going to be a Sophmore at the University of Minnesota.) I chose ChemE just becuase I love chemistry and because it has the most opportunities for avante garde jobs and research.
Just looking at what you can do with a ChemE degree (I'll be going for my masters as well) is very exciting. You can work for oil companies (not the most popular thing to do, but if you want money...), pharmacuetical design, designer chemicals, materials science (metamaterials), biomedical engineering (the fields are very similar depending on what you focus on), and my favorite: nanotechnology which is probably going to be the biggest technological revolution of our generation and maybe even ever, as nanotech has HUGE wide raging implications in almost every area of science.
just my 2 cents
This. I am a great deal interested in nanotechnology, however I think that almost every type of engineering will be applied into it. Especially bioengineering and mechanical, no?
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IMO, go for Bioengineering. There will be a growing demand for those guys.
If it is not your cup of tea, then yea mechanical engineering is a safe bet. I'm going as mechanical as well.
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Computer Engineer here, recommended. As far as jobs go, unless if your GPA is great, I'd recommend internships prior to graduation or you may have a tough time getting that first job due to a lack of professional experience. This of course depends on the location and job market at the time you graduate.
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On June 15 2010 05:53 Art.FeeL wrote:Show nested quote +On June 15 2010 05:38 MadVillain wrote:
I come from a family of engineers and am pumped to star taking my Chem Engineering classes this fall (going to be a Sophmore at the University of Minnesota.) I chose ChemE just becuase I love chemistry and because it has the most opportunities for avante garde jobs and research.
Just looking at what you can do with a ChemE degree (I'll be going for my masters as well) is very exciting. You can work for oil companies (not the most popular thing to do, but if you want money...), pharmacuetical design, designer chemicals, materials science (metamaterials), biomedical engineering (the fields are very similar depending on what you focus on), and my favorite: nanotechnology which is probably going to be the biggest technological revolution of our generation and maybe even ever, as nanotech has HUGE wide raging implications in almost every area of science.
just my 2 cents This. I am a great deal interested in nanotechnology, however I think that almost every type of engineering will be applied into it. Especially bioengineering and mechanical, no?
I'm pretty sure other types of engineering will work on it as well. Much like airplanes except this field is much smaller.
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Hello fellow engineers, I have a question I have long needed to ask and I feel this thread is the good opportunity for it so here goes:
I am currently in college studying computer science ( programming), one of my teacher said that software engineering is more of talking to the client and analyzing what is needed, is that true ?? Will I stop being a programmer myself when I step into being an engineer ? Because, what I really like is programming, not preparing documents explaining what to code.
Thanks in advance.
EDIT : I don't mean that all I want to do is type, analyzing is obviously something I like to do, but analyzing without getting into programming at all, only describing objects needed for the application is just plain boring to me.
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I think the poll kinda revolves around popularity. Like which major has more people.
That said biomedical has the best job prospects. I like computer engineering. Choose your cup of tea.
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I lot of cool things (and more importantly, investment) happening in electrical engineering these days what with all the new challenges in power generation and storage. It's a good field if you're looking at successful employment as a useful characteristic.
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one of my teacher said that software engineering is more of talking to the client and analyzing what is needed
You generally won't talk to a client, but the 2nd part is an important part of your job.
Coding is always a central part of a software engineer / developer's position, but it's not the entirety. Depending on what company you work and current phase of the project the time spent coding will vary. The only time you may fully away from coding is if you become a manager or get to be something like a software architect, but you also never really spend 100% of your day coding.
Still you do need to understand analyzing problems (bugs, design issues, etc.) and explaining what you did or will do is a big part of your job. In reality your coding skill is often going to be secondary in importance to the other stuff you do. That doesn't mean you don't code, or knowing how to code isn't important. It's just that it's taken for granted. You're expected to code as a basic functionality of your job and it's assumed that you can write reasonably efficient code. It's your ability to analyze problems, determine good design, and explain what you are going to do that sets you apart as a great software engineer.
I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you love to program you'll be decently happy in comp sci as long as you get a good job. If you aren't happy and are self motivated you can always try to find a small company to work for (startup, indie dev studio, whatever). Generally the newer and smaller the company the more you will be coding.
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Biomed, Electrical and Petroleum are the strongest 3 by quite a bit. Computer engineering isn't going to go out of style anytime soon, so that's a safe bet too.
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Whichever engineering you pick, always aim for project management positions. Like of you want to become a software engineer, stay clear off people who would want to pull you into being one of their little coders.
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On June 15 2010 06:22 Logo wrote:Show nested quote +one of my teacher said that software engineering is more of talking to the client and analyzing what is needed You generally won't talk to a client, but the 2nd part is an important part of your job. Coding is always a central part of a software engineer / developer's position, but it's not the entirety. Depending on what company you work and current phase of the project the time spent coding will vary. The only time you may fully away from coding is if you become a manager or get to be something like a software architect, but you also never really spend 100% of your day coding. Still you do need to understand analyzing problems (bugs, design issues, etc.) and explaining what you did or will do is a big part of your job. In reality your coding skill is often going to be secondary in importance to the other stuff you do. That doesn't mean you don't code, or knowing how to code isn't important. It's just that it's taken for granted. You're expected to code as a basic functionality of your job and it's assumed that you can write reasonably efficient code. It's your ability to analyze problems, determine good design, and explain what you are going to do that sets you apart as a great software engineer. I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you love to program you'll be decently happy in comp sci as long as you get a good job. If you aren't happy and are self motivated you can always try to find a small company to work for (startup, indie dev studio, whatever). Generally the newer and smaller the company the more you will be coding.
Hey thank you a lot for your great post.
Like I said in my edit I LOVE to analyze, especially finding a solution to a problem, but my only analysis class I had was all about using UML and describing objects which is just such a slow paced analysis imo.
Between a bachelor in computer science or software engineering, what do you recommend ? I don't know which to pick.
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Civil Engineering student here. Wouldn't change it for anything.
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On June 15 2010 06:35 Sharkified wrote:Show nested quote +On June 15 2010 06:22 Logo wrote:one of my teacher said that software engineering is more of talking to the client and analyzing what is needed You generally won't talk to a client, but the 2nd part is an important part of your job. Coding is always a central part of a software engineer / developer's position, but it's not the entirety. Depending on what company you work and current phase of the project the time spent coding will vary. The only time you may fully away from coding is if you become a manager or get to be something like a software architect, but you also never really spend 100% of your day coding. Still you do need to understand analyzing problems (bugs, design issues, etc.) and explaining what you did or will do is a big part of your job. In reality your coding skill is often going to be secondary in importance to the other stuff you do. That doesn't mean you don't code, or knowing how to code isn't important. It's just that it's taken for granted. You're expected to code as a basic functionality of your job and it's assumed that you can write reasonably efficient code. It's your ability to analyze problems, determine good design, and explain what you are going to do that sets you apart as a great software engineer. I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you love to program you'll be decently happy in comp sci as long as you get a good job. If you aren't happy and are self motivated you can always try to find a small company to work for (startup, indie dev studio, whatever). Generally the newer and smaller the company the more you will be coding. Hey thank you a lot for your great post. Like I said in my edit I LOVE to analyze, especially finding a solution to a problem, but my only analysis class I had was all about using UML and describing objects which is just such a slow paced analysis imo. Between a bachelor in computer science or software engineering, what do you recommend ? I don't know which to pick.
def engineering, just getting a bsc on comp sci doesnt really get you much at all. At least around here there's no jobs for pure comp sci students you need to double major and such
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aren't they all good? it just depends what interests you have.
heck, i'm a BS aerospace engineer yet i currently work in emissions controls for vehicles. i work with many chem Es and environmental Es. i actually don't particularly like my job, but it pays well and i definitely want to keep it until the economy booms.
my brother is a BS computer engineer, yet he got his masters in teaching and is currently a high school teacher. he loves his job.
i would never tell a person who wanted to be an engineer to go into a specific discipline. i would tell them to figure it out themselves, read books and read interviews by professionals already in the field to get a good understanding of what they actually do.
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I was thinking about heading into the engineering field, but looking ahead at what I would actually be doing as a chem E (glorified plumber comes to mind) I decided to go a more pure biochemistry path.
Hopefully that way I can end up somewhere that I can work with neat stuff like brain chemical interfaces and more complex relationships between chemical signals in the brain.
MMMMM brains.
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Nice to see so many engineers here. I was talking with some ppl and they said that the biggest engineering boom in the next 10 years will witness Material Engineer as well as Energy Engineering. What do you think about it?
I am interested in robots / nanotech...that would be Mechanical Engineering, no?
And yeah it seems to me that I have a pretty rigid view on this topic. I mean if I choose one engineering major I am afraid that I won't be able to specialize in some other are, like choosing mechanical and than wanting to specialize in energy. I guess it's not like that, am I right?
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double e without a doubt, you get lots of mech e and comp sci training as well so it's really nice.
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On June 15 2010 08:00 Art.FeeL wrote:
Nice to see so many engineers here. I was talking with some ppl and they said that the biggest engineering boom in the next 10 years will witness Material Engineer as well as Energy Engineering. What do you think about it?
I am interested in robots / nanotech...that would be Mechanical Engineering, no?
Definately Material Engineering since it is on the rise with Bioengineering but not sure about Energy Engineering.
For robots, yes Mechanical Engineering if you are working on moving parts and not working around with circuits like for Electrical Engineering. Not sure about nanotech but it feels like it is under Chemical Engineering. In my university, UCSD, there is Nano Engineering (brand new major too!) under the Chemical Engineering department.
Can't say about other the stuff since I haven't gone there yet. :l
Btw, here is a website for the future outlook for engineers:
Just look under "Job Outlook"
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#outlook
This link should in OP, IMO. Just take it with a grain of salt.
Edit: Your welcome!
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EE of course! No contest!
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If you want to pursue a higher level degree and stay in academia doing research go for nano. The industry really isn't developed right now. It's pretty much a mix of materials and chemical engineering.
Otherwise, go for biomedical or computer engineering!
Computer engineering is EE with a focus on digital logic... hardware AND software!
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Calgary25988 Posts
"I like physics. What kind of engineering should I study?"
Fucking impossible thread. If you have any real questions I can help but you've set yourself up for a fistful of subjectivity.
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On June 15 2010 07:22 kainzero wrote:
aren't they all good? it just depends what interests you have.
heck, i'm a BS aerospace engineer yet i currently work in emissions controls for vehicles. i work with many chem Es and environmental Es. i actually don't particularly like my job, but it pays well and i definitely want to keep it until the economy booms.
my brother is a BS computer engineer, yet he got his masters in teaching and is currently a high school teacher. he loves his job.
i would never tell a person who wanted to be an engineer to go into a specific discipline. i would tell them to figure it out themselves, read books and read interviews by professionals already in the field to get a good understanding of what they actually do.
As echoed by previous statements, personal preferences vary wildy. You should just follow the bolded advice above.
Plus, your preferences/tastes may change once you start or even in the middle of your engineering studies.
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do chem. i did chem and look forward to being a illicit drug manufacturer out of my basement if i ever get tired of 9-5
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On June 15 2010 09:47 Chill wrote:
"I like physics. What kind of engineering should I study?"
Fucking impossible thread. If you have any real questions I can help but you've set yourself up for a fistful of subjectivity.
No need for you to answer if you don't know how to contribute. That's why I opened it as a blog
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On June 15 2010 14:54 Art.FeeL wrote:Show nested quote +On June 15 2010 09:47 Chill wrote:
"I like physics. What kind of engineering should I study?"
Fucking impossible thread. If you have any real questions I can help but you've set yourself up for a fistful of subjectivity. No need for you to answer if you don't know how to contribute. That's why I opened it as a blog
He's right though. Engineering is a very, very diverse field. It'll depend on what makes you go "wow, I want to do that" rather than "which is the best one".
Personally, every time I turn on the tap and see the clean water running, or I turn on our stove and light the gas fire, I'm amazed at the engineering that went into creating such a sophisticated network.
Whenever I see a building, I'm amazed at the amount of work that goes into the building codes. I mean, come on, to the average person, when are 2X4's okay, and when to you have to use larger pieces of timber? Guess what, those building codes let you know. How thick does the cement foundation for your shed have to be? Look no further than the building codes.
Then there is the sewage system. The waste not only gets away from your house, but it gets treated and clean(ish) water is put back into the river.
Going further, the dams, dykes, and canals that have been created to make it easier to traverse the water is also amazing.
Any time I see a high-rise building, I'm in awe at our ability to create such large structures. And to know they've been tested for worst-case scenario natural disasters, and should withstand them, is incredible.
Look at the road systems? How often have you taken them for granted?
I could go on.....
Basically, if there were no civil engineers, our society could not function. And only 5% of the people who answered the poll on TL would suggest it as a field of engineering to study.....
And, everything needs to be maintained, and eventually destroyed to make room for the new. There will always be jobs in Civil Engineering. And it is such a diverse field.
I'm specializing in Structural and Geotechnical engineering (buildings, foundations, and aggregates, basically). There is sections in environmental, management, water resource, and others, offered at my university. Other universities have different options.
But, honestly, I'm jaded. I like the program I'm in. Of course I'm going to favor it. My answer here is totally subjective. And you did open yourself up to it, with the mere wording of the OP.....
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Absolutely fair Impervious. I opened this blog coz i wanted to hear your opinions (even subjective ones).:-)
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On June 15 2010 04:12 Art.FeeL wrote:
As of myself, I love physics but I think that it would be pretty useless to study just physics coz I am more of a type of person that is interested in how the nature works so he could use it to improve human life.
And how about finding job? I am sure that every engineer will probably find a work, but which are do you think will have the major breakthrough in the next 10 years?
Please discuss, I am really interested in your opinion.
EDIT: I changed the list, coz I made some mistakes
If you love physics, you should definitely see if there isn't some facet in that massive field that fits what you're looking for. When I got out of high school I knew I loved chemistry and thought very hard about becoming a chemist.
Life didn't work out that way and I went for chemical engineering. I did so because of the love of chemistry and the love of problem solving. It took over a year to find out what a chemical engineer actually did and another 6 months for me to accept it.
A lot of chem-e's with bachelor degrees go on to work in a process plant while fast-tracking their way into plant management. I was skeptical about this until my internship. A process engineer just seemed to be a stepping stone where all I was really interested in was becoming a scientist. For the longest time it looked like I was in the wrong field.
At the end of that second year I took a course on environmental engineering and found that I loved the idea of pollution abatement and environmental cleanup. Like a lot of people in their early 20's I wanted to save the world and this was a place I saw myself doing it. I took as many chemical engineering classes on the enviornment as I could. My senior year, I finally found where I fit in. I went to a conference where numerous individuals lectured about green-collared jobs. Setting my sights on this, I decided to take a full fifth year to minor in environmental studies. I went to the conference again and at one point got into a conversation where Ifelt "Wow, these peopel have interests just like me!". They were all University professors researching the environment.
Several months later I apply for grad school and in the fall I start work in a 5-year PhD program at a school with two professors studying abatement and remediation.
So why this personal diatribe? Engineering majors aren't entirely what you think they are. There's a huge gap between what they tell you in school and what the job is really like. A lot of these field of study aren't even described very well and when reality hits you may not like it.
Nevertheless, if you love physics I'd suggest looking into electrical, mechanical, and nuclear engineering as they deal with phsyics the most. If you want to improve human life you need to look into potential employers as much as possible when the time comes. Remember that the goal of business is to make money, not necessarily improve human life (as I found with the environment).
In the next few years alternative energy is going to become huge, at least in the chemical and mechanical engineering fields.
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Calgary25988 Posts
On June 15 2010 14:54 Art.FeeL wrote:Show nested quote +On June 15 2010 09:47 Chill wrote:
"I like physics. What kind of engineering should I study?"
Fucking impossible thread. If you have any real questions I can help but you've set yourself up for a fistful of subjectivity. No need for you to answer if you don't know how to contribute. That's why I opened it as a blog
Haha fantastic way of interpreting this. Best of luck.
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EPT
