gaining and loosing engineering specialties 6

[2dye4]

What engineering disciplines are on the way up from
the perspective of demand and what are on the way down??

My take on it

Advancing
Chemical,Eniviromental,Aeronoutical,Civil,Petroleum,Structural

Declining
Electrical,Mechanical,Mining,Computer

Agree / Disagree

Who did I leave out??

2d4

 

[49078]

I am not really sure, I just usually try to stay anonymous on internet forums.

But I guess that is being unnecessarily paranoid, I am from McMaster as well.

 

[RDK]

Almost all things in a marketplace go in cycles.

Take computer engineering for example. 5 or 10 years ago it was a hot field to get into and now the market is saturated with mature technologies and there is not as much demand for new technologies. Sooner or later there will be some new discovery that pushes the computer engineering envelop and the market will take off once again.

Look at my own discipline, civil. In the 50’s when massive prosperity and the military buildup associated with the cold war drove the demand for civil engineers. Anyone with a degree had good jobs no questions asked. Once the Interstate was more or less completed and the demand for civil engineers dropped off the market for that discipline was greatly reduced.

Now in Manitoba Canada where I live there is some concern in the association that we are so far below replacement rates for the profession that when my cohorts and I retire (70’s grads now 50 and up) that the current younger engineers will be pressed into the upper senior levels without the necessary experience and seasoning. The entire civil engineering undergraduate population today is smaller than my graduating class was in 1977.

If any good comes out of Katrina it will be that people will start paying attention to the crumbling state of our infrastructure in Canada and the US (and presumably elsewhere) and start repairing the infrastructure. This is good news for the civil engineering marketplace.

That happened here after the Red River of the North flooded in 1997. I was working on building emergency dikes and we had to get guys out pf retirement to have sufficient manpower to save Winnipeg. Grand Forks ND was totally flooded. Now the first contracts are being let to increase the size of the Winnipeg Floodway and other flood control works. (Several hundred million dollars worth of civil works.)

Of course sometimes technological advances will make some industries totally obsolete. I cannot remember the last time I met a buggy whip engineer.

If an industry is cyclical, I’d advise a new high school graduate considering a career in engineering to take a good look at the disciplines that are down right now. In 4 or 5 years when he or she graduates there just may be a major demand with a corresponding lack of new graduates.

Of course they would have to first be happy with the field because if you hate your work it will be hell to get up every morning and go to the office.

Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[HgTX]

"I'm not sure where the problem lies, but I would guess it is a problem with academia pandering to the "Needs" of industry, curning out tons of VERY SPECIFIC NEED ENGINEERS, that are subject to the ebb and flow of industrial need and government funding, instead of men and women who can approach any problem (from a circuit design to a hypersaturated hillside sliding down on houses), and solve it in an effective manner... "

Jack of all trades, master of nothing whatsoever? It's lovely to think of the "Renaissance Man" equivalent of engineer who has dabbled in it all, but can they then do anything well?

I wish I'd been able to specialize MORE than I was able to as an undergrad. I came out of it not feeling like I knew enough about anything in particular to be able to do anything interesting.

It's one thing for a structural engineer to be capable with all of steel, concrete, wood, masonry and both bridge and building design (even some of the PE exams are reflecting that people tend to specialize in either bridge or building, but not both). It's a slightly different thing to expect a "civil" engineer to have a pretty solid grasp on geotechnical matters and a fair clue about structural design. But it's another thing entirely to expect someone to do everything that a structural engineer does AND everything that an electrical engineer does AND everything that a chemical engiener does etc. If nothing else, there are few jobs that would allow one to do enough with each of those to maintain fluency.

Hg

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[wes616]

I wish I'd been able to specialize MORE than I was able to as an undergrad. I came out of it not feeling like I knew enough about anything in particular to be able to do anything interesting.

When you graduate you are not supposed to know how to do your job. Jobs are to specific. What you do as a structural engineer or environmental engineer at one company my not apply at all to what you do at another. Listen and learn from the people who have been doing what your company does. You'll find that a general approach to problem solving is better than a specific knowlege of how to do one particular thing (in theory only). And The more specialized you are the more you are limiting yourself to a "nitch" in the industry.

An interesting survey in Machine Design Magazine, from last year, stated that for engineers with 1 to 5 years of experience, they wish they'd taken more specialized engineering coursework. From 5 to 15 year, more courses in business and management. 15+ years, more liberal studdies and arts classes.

My statement was not about specialization, in general. It was regarding specialization during the undergraduate education. I wholeheartedly believe that specializing in during this phase of your education is the anthesis of a professional education. If you want a specialization, and you don't feel like you would garner this from "practicing engineers" whom you work with (lets not forget that professor are rarely practicing engineers), then by all means specialize in a masters program. But by doing so realize that you may at 21 be a little better prepaired to answer the questions, "Do I really know what I'm getting myself into?"

If nothing else, there are few jobs that would allow one to do enough with each of those to maintain fluency.

Here is my story, I work in the aircraft industry. I have a specific job... working on integrating systems into Aircraft Structures. I deal constantly with electrical engineers, Stress/Structural engineers, chemical engineers, environmental engineers and various other scientists and engineers. I am not proficent in any of their fields. I am proficient in mine (which i knew nothing about when i graduated from college, and 10 years later I still learn somthing new every day). However, I can easily converse with each of them regarding their fields, through a basic understanding of the science behind it. Better than most other people here in my office. I owe this to the generalization of my education (which I forced on my school, not the other way around... because I had NO CLUE what I wanted to be when I grew up...and honestly I still don't.... Maybe I'll see if I can find a job in the buggy whip industry)



Wes C.

 

[rb1957]

"An interesting survey in Machine Design Magazine, from last year, stated that for engineers with 1 to 5 years of experience, they wish they'd taken more specialized engineering coursework. From 5 to 15 year, more courses in business and management. 15+ years, more liberal studdies and arts classes."

very interesting ... maybe it reflects that new grads have to acquire a lot of knowledge quickly to do their jobs, then realise that there's more money to be had on the non-technical side, then (as retirement gets more relevant) maybe there are other things to be interested in !

 

[GregLocock]

I did a very general degree - in fact it was just called engineering, not even mechanical engineering.

As a result it has given me the fundamentals for many disciplines, but taught me absolutely zip about (for example) what size bolt I should use in the presence of certain defined forces, which at the time I graduated I thought was a big failing in the syllabus.However, that sort of data is easily available and in practice has never been a problem.

The strength of the thorough generalist approach with an emphasis on fundamentals is that I have been able to move between several fields easily and with confidence, and also been able to fill te gaps between them, which, from a systems engineering perspective, is where the problems usually happen.

Taling of which the biggest failing in my degree was that we didn't study Systems Engineering in any significant fashion.



Cheers

Greg Locock

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