A Career in Engineering

Kayla Forest

English III Honors Pd. 4

Mr. Alburger

February 23, 2017

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Kayla Forest

Mr. Alburger

English III Honors

23 February 2017

A Career in Engineering

As an engineer, mathematical and science skills remain the most important skill sets

needed for success. The different kinds of engineers all obtain different types of jobs, such as

building roads, houses, machines, planes, buildings, airports, ships, devices, etc. Without the

field of engineering, the world would not advance in reference to technology, structures, and

business development. Studying to become an engineer takes work, but once the hardships end,

all the engineers focus goes to making improvements in the world. Engineering involves

mathematical, science, and critical thinking in a day to day life, a long and hard educational path,

including many different fields to experience, and a long history of engineering as well as an

uprising future.

Engineering dates back to 2550 BC when the first engineer, Imhotep, built the Step

Period at Saqqarah, Egypt (Smith). With many different fields of engineering, each one brings an

unique background and began at different times. In 2016, a report said that the population of

engineers increased from 1.1 million in 1960 to 6.2 million in 2013 (Gonzalez). Thirty years ago,

most work done by an engineer involved only pencil, paper, and the basic fundamentals of

engineering (Bishop). Engineering improvements in the future will reflect off of the

improvements made in history.

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Taking many factors into consideration, science will prove what the future of engineering

may look like. Today, engineers focus on the use of computers more than the use of pencil and

paper. According to Jamie Bishop, now and in the future, engineers will not use the

fundamentals taught to them when they become an engineer (Bishop). The increase of

technology continues to help engineers solve problems, store data, and design products

(Engineering). In the future, engineers may need to improve on the conflict involving the

number of people in society. The population of the world continues to increase and the

environment continues to go downhill, so engineers in the future will have to look more at

environmental problems and solutions. Not only will the environment degrade, but also with

more people in the world, engineers will need to improve transportation, design more energy

efficient buildings, make more materials, etc (Katechi). As the future approaches, the best

engineers around will begin to retire and put engineering in their past. In the future, the program

of engineering will continue to grow and help satisfy the people living around the globe.

Engineers go through a difficult educational path to begin their lives as a skilled engineer.

Engineers need to graduate college with at least a bachelor's degree. Once obtaining a bachelors

degree and completing four years of college, engineers may choose to pursue a doctorate or

master's degree. Shown in a study, most engineers finish their studies with a doctorate degree

(Gonzalez). In the United States, most colleges and universities offer unique engineering

programs, but not all excel in their engineering programs. The top ten engineering programs

according to the U.S. News and World Report constitute Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Stanford University, University of California- Berkeley, Georgia Institute of Technology,

University of Michigan, California Institute of Technology, University of

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Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, Carnegie Mellon University, Comnil University, and Purdue

University (Schools). In college, the classes taken relate to the majors studied. Most of the

engineering students take the same classes sophomore year and junior year; however, the classes

will become more specialized for the specific major studied (Bishop). Engineers may still take

elective classes should they desire to obtain a minor or an additional major in another subject.

Engineers should consider taking entrepreneurship classes when becoming an engineer because

engineers can possibly become more successful by having some insight into entrepreneurship.

The research has shown that gaining knowledge in entrepreneurship can take an engineer

anywhere, so having a background in engineering and entrepreneurship can give someone a lot

of success in life (Duval-Couetil et al). Some of the fields of engineering require professional

engineering licenses, but that depends on the field and job wanted (Gonzalez). If a field requires

a licenses then an engineer must take professional engineering (PE) test. A engineer must

complete a fundamentals of engineering test in their junior year of college (Bishop). The field of

engineering requires both testing and licensing for success.

Many engineers finish school after four years and obtain one degree; however, obtaining

a higher degree will increase an engineer's success, such as income (Gonzalez). The income for

an engineer that has 25 years of experience and a bachelors degree made $122,000, an engineer

with a masters degree made $131,000, and an engineer with a doctorates made $140,500

(Gonzalez). The level of education impacts the income given to any engineer, so any engineer

who wants more success should consider continuing their education. Also, returning to school to

gain a higher education can improve the knowledge an engineer already obtains with new

improvements made in the engineering field today (Gonzalez). When returning back to school,
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people do not want to leave work because they still need the income, even though their education

will become an important aspect of their life. Continuing education online helps to keep

engineers employed, so they do not lose their source of income. The following top five schools

offer online classes to continue education: University of California, University of Southern

California, Columbia University, Pennsylvania State, and Purdue University (Gonzalez).

Continuing education helps anyone become more successful in their field, but as an engineer the

techniques change all day, every day.

Chemical engineering dates back to the 19th century when the industrial age began to

experiment with chemical reactions (Smith). Most of the knowledge chemical engineers need

focus around the fundamentals of chemistry. Chemical engineering includes designing,

constructing, and managing factories of the process that uses chemical reactions. The future of

chemical engineering ties in with technology because the number of production increases

(Engineering). Similar to all other types of engineering, as chemical technology increases,

chemical engineering will improve.

While similar, aeronautics and aerospace contain a few differences. When mechanical

engineering evolved, so did aeronautics. Aeronautical engineering brought the attention of

Leonardo da Vinci when he sketched the first plane (Stanzione). Ever since then, aeronautics

and aerospace engineering has grown and taken off. Aeronautics focuses on the planes designed,

processed, built, and tested for the use of anyone wanting to transport by air (Engineering).

These planes remain in the hands of engineers from the request and requirements to the final

stages (Bishop). Aeronautical engineers have given their full attention or had hands on all planes

that fly today. All aircraft flown need to pass an inspection before take off and if a problem
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occurs, aeronautical engineers receive a call in order to remedy the problem. On the other hand,

aerospace engineering involves the aircraft flown to outer space. Not only do aerospace

engineers focus on the aircraft for space, but they also focus on different machines that people

may send into space (Engineering). Aeronautics and aerospace determine how planes,

machines, and spaceships flown in air will improve.

Engineering started as a basic form of civil engineering, but civil engineering split off

into its own branch of engineering in the 18th Century (Smith). Most fields of engineering all

have a specific job to focus on, but civil engineering almost covers it all. Civil engineers improve

the society every day by coming up with new innovations to sustain the environment. Also, civil

engineers focus on building houses, roads, buildings, bridges, railroads, canals, airports, harbors,

docks, as well as transportation and water-systems, etc (Engineering). Graduating with a civil

engineering degree gives the student the opportunity to take a variety of paths. Civil engineering

requires knowledge of surveying, construction, fluid mechanics, soil fundamentals, and structure

requirements (Engineering). This type of engineering offers the only branch of engineering to

provide different options to easily find work.

In the 17th century, electrical engineering became an enlightenment to many European

thinkers, such as Samuel F.B. Morse who invented the telegraph (Fink). Electrical and electronic

engineering deals with the design, application, and manufacturing of systems and devices that

require electric power (Engineering). Electrical and electronic engineering have different

branches to succeed from. The four main branches of electrical engineering: electronics, electric

power and machinery, communications and control, and computers each describe improvements,

inventions, and knowledge in electricity. Without electric power and machinery, the world would
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not have advanced as far with AC motors (Engineering). Civil engineering has a wide variety

of different jobs to focus on; however, electrical engineering focuses on just electronics, but in

different branches.

Geological and mining engineers focus on exploring mineral deposits and developing,

constructing, operating, financing, and marketing crude minerals and products (Engineering).

A mining engineer focuses his or her studies on minerals and processes involving minerals.

Geological and mining engineers learned about historical geology, mineralogy, paleontology,

and geophysics, as well as learning how to control tools like the seismograph and the

magnetometer (Engineering). These engineers do not only focus on mining and exploring

beneath the surface of the earth. They also work above the earth, for example, to build a dam, a

geological engineer first determines whether a dam will work in that location depending on the

geological structure (Engineering). This type of engineer studies geology.

Industrial engineering began before the first department of industrial engineering actually

began (Tanabe). Industrial engineers work to make machines, products, and materials superior,

so costs and safety do not develop into waste (Engineering). This kind of engineering focuses

on making products more useful, instead of letting products go to waste. Industrial engineers

focus on taking courses such as systems simulation, operations research, economy of

engineering, administration, human factors, manufacturing engineering, etc (Tanabe). Industrial

engineering will improve over time because machines, products and materials improve everyday.

In England and Scotland, after James Watt and machinists of the Industrial Revolution

created new inventions, mechanical engineering formed (Smith). The tools and items invented

led to testing of the inventions. Mechanical engineering tests and builds all kinds of machines, as
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well as certain goods (Engineering). Many people refer to a mechanical engineer as the person

who fixes cars, but these engineers have many more machines to focus on. For example,

mechanical engineers work on heat exchanges, refrigerators, ventilation systems, lasers,

biomedical devices, automobiles, airplanes, robotics, etc (Mechanical). As many know,

systems and machines make up the job description of a mechanical engineer. When a person

trains to become a mechanical engineer they must study mechanics, hydraulics, thermodynamics,

and become familiar with machine design (Engineering). Mechanical engineers continue to

improve the problems found within all sorts of goods.

Military engineering has always evolved around the military and their needs. Military

engineering first begun during the Iron Age in Europe (Military). Military engineers contribute

to the success of war because of the appliances made by them. Mechanical engineers use

engineering sciences by applying them to the military (Engineering). Military engineering

supports the military and continues to assist with the safety of the United States.

Naval engineering and marine engineering share common aspects. On one side, Naval

engineers, also known as naval architects, design and construct ships (Engineering). Basically

the ships made by these naval engineers can range from small fishing boats to humongous cargo

ships. In contrast, marine engineers focus on the operating systems and designing of ships, which

contain some similar aspects of mechanical engineering (Engineering). Both of the engineering

fields work together to make and sell a safe and successful ship.

All nuclear explosions that happen around the world would not exist if nuclear engineers

did not create the reactors. Nuclear engineering remains one of the newest types of engineering
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brought alive in the 20th century (Smith). Nuclear weapons and reactors have become much

more famous around the world. Nuclear engineers design and construct nuclear reactors as well

as nuclear devices. (Engineering). Nuclear engineers develop methods to keep people safe

from the harmful radiation released by nuclear reactions (Engineering). So, not only do nuclear

engineers produce the harmful radiation in the reactors, but they also keep people safe from the

radiation.

Both safety and sanitary engineering keep workers safe in their work environments as

well as protecting the environment. Safety engineering jobs involve designing machines,

factories, ships, and roads as well as providing safe methods for workers in dangerous situations

(Engineering). A safety engineer sticks to his or her job title by actually contributing to

people's safe and healthy life. For example, safety engineers help design machines to ensure that

the machine contains certain safety parts that keep workers out of dangerous situations

(Engineering). Safety engineers provide safe situations for other engineers in different fields.

Other branches of engineering train their engineers to become familiar with the techniques of

safety engineering (Engineering). On the other hand, sanitary engineering focuses on the

hazardous situations in the environment. Sanitary engineering deals with problems such as water

supply, community wastes, pollution control throughout the environment and atmosphere, food

sanitation, sanitation in houses, insect control, etc. (Engineering). Safety and sanitary

engineers improve the publics day to day life in and out of their working environments.

In all engineering jobs, the engineers seek satisfaction in knowing they will continue

working with the same company, stay in the same location, or have their salary raised. Salary

remains a key component of job satisfaction among 2013 respondents, but issues such as
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work/life balance and job security rank high as well (Nelson). Engineers make a great deal of

money that benefits the engineer along with his or her family. The location effects the salary of

an engineer; the West Coast has the higher salaries and the Southeast has the lowest salaries

(Nelson). Most of the citizens in the United States know that the cost of living on the West coast

remains different than living in the Southeast. Security ranks as another important thing when

working in any job; therefore most engineers feel comfortable and safe in their career (Nelson).

Engineers should consider those three factors of job satisfaction when employed.

A day to day life as an engineer may differ depending on the type of work done in the job

type. Engineers on average spend 9 to 10 hours a day working in an office and outside of work

they may answer phone calls, emails, or continue to work on unfinished material (Bishop).

Engineers, similar to all others, need to disconnect from work and live their lives outside of

work. Depending on the position held, most engineers work in a team. An engineer receives as

well as completes the tasks, the manager manages the workload, and the director strategizes what

the group as a whole should do (Bishop). Engineers have different options to consider when

deciding their job as well as the position upheld.

When society hears the word engineer, male builders, workers, designers, etc. come to

mind, but now the engineering program seems to pull more women to the workforce as an

engineer. Back in the 50s and 60s, men made up the majority of engineers (Bishop). Today, the

world has become more diverse when it comes to working in general. A report by the

Congressional Joint Economic Committee states that NASA employs approximately 14 percent

of women engineers (NASA). With females beginning careers in engineering, more and more

females will follow in their footsteps. Women engineers who become successful will start trends
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that make engineering improvements as a whole (Bishop). The uniqueness of women engineers

will cause engineers all over the world to follow the trends the women engineers start.

SWE magazine shared the stories of women engineers such as Mabel Esteves-Velzquez,

Courtney Gras, and Ashley Johnston. An electrical engineer, Mabel Esteves-Velzquez,

graduated with a bachelors and masters degree. Also, Mabels employers hired her as the first

woman employee at their company. Also, another electrical engineer, Courtney Gras, studied

entrepreneurial vision at the University of Akron (Perusek). As previously discussed,

entrepreneurship classes can help an engineer become more successful, as evidenced by

Courtney Gras accomplishments. Her entrepreneurship background helped her co-found Design

Flux Technologies (Perusek). Ashley Johnston, a mechanical engineer at Precision Valve and

Automation in Cohoes, New York, lives an abnormal life compared to most engineers (Perusek).

Engineers should look up to Ashley due to her courageous and impressive career and because of

the life she balances. Ashley still works a normal schedule, but on the side she practices the

second thing she loves, hockey (Perusek). Most athletes pick an easy major to major in, but

instead Ashley took a different route and showed how strongly she can stand. Mabel, Courtney,

and Ashley, as well as other amazing women engineers, can make a difference, just by having an

unique way to become the people they have turned into today.

The history of engineering as well as the future, improves the education and the day to

day like of an engineer to make engineering unique. All universities and colleges contain

different engineering programs to help a student become an engineer. Satisfaction as an engineer

depends mostly on the salary given to the employee; however to receive a high salary the

engineer should graduate with an advanced degree. A person who desires to become an engineer
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better start studying their options, because engineering has many different paths someone could

take.
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