Depends what you mean by 'growing'. Revenue? Recruitment? Salaries? Stock value? Dividends?
  

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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
 

i would say... recruitment or revenue.

what i am looking for are published studies (that you don't have to pay for)....  

Thanks,
Scott

You might want to contant the technical recuruiters, such as Thinkjobs and Monster.com, as they would have the mmost accurate statistics.

In terms of "growing" in the area of training new engineers, a review of the ads for new professors at universities gives a clue as to the areas that universiites think the trend in technology is heading. The research and teaching area which the new professors must be qualified probably reflects their interpretation of where the research funding is growing.

thanks. enr has some stuff for the US but nothing worldwide. probably have to go to barnes reports, etc..

Thanks,
Scott

yep, enr has a decent report...

the environmental engineers have got a pretty good outlook. the structural guys are pretty much tied to the construction / real estate economy.  

Thanks,
Scott

ENR magazine only covers constructed products. The other half (manufactured products) it ignores.

My guess would be the green aspects or LEED.  The government is giving out a lot of money for building new designs utilizing the new energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies.  This factors into several disciples.  For the company I'm working for a lot of it is Mechanical.  I wouldn't expect it to slow down any time soon.

I don't need a study to say that what's growing today will often be what wasn't growing 20 years ago- and what probably won't be growing 20 years from now either.

I've seen one buzzword after another turn into a bust.  Biotech, hydrogen, the "information society", nanotechnology- not that all of those buzzwords don't represent areas of human endeavor that many people are employed in now and may be in future, but none of them ended up being the unmitigated growth engine that sopped up all the engineers they could find for twenty years and kept wanting more.  None of them had a hope of living up to the hype.  

Booms don't last.  They inevitably end in a bust.  You might be able to catch one early enough to profit from it, but just realise that the end will come when nobody expects it.

Build versatile skills across a number of industries, keep sharp, don't get complascent, and avoid being pidgeon-holed, and be willing to move where the work is or choose to live in an urban centre with a widely diversified economy- these are the keys to staying employed as an engineer over the long term.

How about managine off-shored engineering?

it was a simple question. what do the data miners see as the fastest growing (worldwide) sectors of engineering. not the "next big thing". just the facts..

 

Thanks,
Scott

My point was simply that "the facts" are VERY difficult to separate from "the hype".

 

yesterday I was a civil engineer, right now I am doing structural (mainly) work, tommorrow I will be an environmental engineer, or perhaps a windmill engineer, or an offshore platform designer, or whatever other market is paying the most.

get the picture?

don't pigeon-hole yourself, employers don't want single track specialists - and it's a very risky career path to follow.

roytyrell,

you got in this profession for money?..... you got in the wrong profession.
yeah, i get the picture.

Thanks,
Scott

It's kind of hard to pin down research in a field that is based on innovation; however, our society seems to be moving towards envoronmental friendliness in multiple dimentions.

There may be other factors playing than simple popularity. For example, the rumor I hear is that many power company electrical engineers are scheduled to retire during the next 5 years, so even though that field might not be as new and 'exciting' as others, the jobs might be finacially rewarding.

Those of us in the power industry are pigeon-holed, and frankly I like it like that. It has ment that the utility companies have created expert positions, to keep us without having to put us in the position of managing people.
But frankly it is not cut out for any one. You have to love the work.

It has also become necessary to hire part timers/retirees, to fill the positions, as the number of new blood just isen't enough to fill the positions that are opening up.

We tried to hire plain EE's, but with out the power option, they just seem to not take the deepest technical positions (project managers, customer service engineers, and field engineers).

Just checking one consulting company, and they are looking for 15 experenced power engineers.

cranky108,

I have been working in power plants since I graduated from college in 2006.  In my experience so far I have seen more union personnel retire than the non-union technical guys.  Although I have not seen a lot of technical staff members retire yet, losing even a few is a big deal because they have an enormous amount of "tribal knowledge" stored away in their memory.  Written records are not very good and the ones that do exist are not managed well, so it can be a struggle for a new engineer to research certain things.  The older guys seemed to have grown up in a culture that favored technical knowledge and training.  Right now nearly all kinds of training are denied because of budget.  

Scott,

I don't think any market is booming right now, but to answer your question - yes, I DID get into this profession for the money. Maybe i should have been a nurse or a pharmacist, but I am what I am and I do OK. I work in the oil and gas industry, I'm not doing this for charity purposes and I get paid accordingly.

To answer your question - anything to do with power *or* water I see growing.

Be flexible and patient and you can make a pretty good living. Where you live and how much you are willing to travel and relocate make a big difference too.

Retirement, With the aging population I see many engineers entiring the retirement market.  

Power plants seem to be the black eye of the power industry. The drawings seem to have never had as built updates, rarely updated, and in some cases lost in a house cleaning measure.

Sadly when the accountants, or other non-techinical people try to make thing more efficent, they start by tossing out the old stuff.

Good drawings start with good as built drawings, and they must be kept up to date.

When a technication complains about the quality of the drawings, I point to a mirror and say he has the power to fix it.

After 25 years, I'd say the fastest growing segment is the waistline.

My company does a pretty good job with updating electrical and controls drawings.  Finding certain structural drawings can be a challenge but not always.  Most of the necessary drawings are online.

The main challenge I deal with is tooling for maintenance mechanics.  Every time new tooling is bought it vanishes after the project is over.

Have you tried painting your tools? Pink is a color that should make them less likely to walk.

Actually power engineering isen't growing that much, as it seems to be retiring.
But there is some growth with alternate energy, and load growth. However some of that has slowed a bit.

I don't control the tools.  As an engineer I will buy tools for my outage projects but then maintenance takes them away after that.  And since the maintenance manager doesn't want to properly manage the tools, people are free to take them and hide them.  Some people lock them in their personal tool carts.  And other tools find their way to peoples' houses.

i think we'll find that environmental is going to be the fastest growing segment worldwide....

Thanks,
Scott

Quote:

Actually power engineering isen't growing that much, as it seems to be retiring.

Interesting comment. In terms of installed base it's probably shrinking over here as the UK de-industrialises, but in terms of recruitment it is resurgent as it struggles to replace the retirees.
  

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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
 

If you buy the tools, then why can't you specify the color?

Like at the convience store, they tape plastic spoons on the ink pens, so people won't take them.

Personally I think the fastest growing field of engineering traffic engineering. There seem to be more cars on the road each day.

It would not matter anyway.  Plant management does not support any control system for the storage and dispensing of the tools.  The tool room is now always unlocked and no one is there to man it.  I bought some of my own storage bins for my upcoming project (turbine outage) but once the project is over the maintenance foreman and mechanics will simply take those bins and take all of the tools out.  As a member of the technical staff, I have no direct control of the tools.   

From what I can see, Environmental- (due to global warming), Alternative Energy/Biofuels (as Oil prices race to $100/ barrel again ), Power/Utility (to redesign power grids and integrate alternative sources) and for the Oil folks-Offshore Petroleum engineering services (to mine oil from the miles deep into the sea). Those in these fields can diversify, but when you have all your experience in High tech-semi conductor industry that is sailing off to the Asia, despite using the same instrumentation like other fields, no recruiter really wants to look at you or pass you onto another employer to diversify your skill set. For the Oil folks- question, I hear this industry is a boom and bust type, is this true, do they hire and fire as a function of the price of oil?    

"For the Oil folks- question, I hear this industry is a boom and bust type, is this true, do they hire and fire as a function of the price of oil?"

I relatively new to the industry, but it's pretty savage - mass layoffs and even recent attempts at outsourcing design are the norm. I've even seen recent ads offering "part-time" engineering positions - explicitely no benefits,  with major "reputable" EPC's.

My advice is don't even go near this industry without a P.E. or you will be stuck professionally and they will take full advantage - and you *will* be out on your rear-end as soon as profits are in jeopardy.

For "part-time" spots, offer to work under non-exclusive contract - must have a P.E. though.