12 Specialties of Engineering Explained

Engineering is one of the most lucrative, growing and interesting careers. There is a wide range of specialties within Engineering itself and we cover a few of them here:

• Electrical Engineering

Electrical Engineers create, design, test and oversee the building of electrical equipment. They understand electricity as a power source, and have the ability to create complex calculations and blueprints to harness that power. After designing, they oversee manufacture and test the devices.

• Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineers design power-producing machines such as electric generators, internal combustion engines, and steam and gas turbines as well as power-using machines, such as refrigeration and air-conditioning systems.Mechanical engineers design other machines inside buildings, such as elevators and escalators.

• Civil Engineering

Civil Engineers create, improve and protect the environment in which we live. They plan, design and oversee construction and maintenance of building structures and infrastructure, such as roads, railways, airports, bridges, harbors, dams, irrigation projects, power plants, and water and sewerage systems.

• Chemical Engineering

Your job duties as a chemical engineer would include researching new methods of manufacturing chemicals, creating the process by which gas or liquid components are separated, gathering estimates of the cost of production and designing and implementing safety procedures for employees working with potentially hazardous chemicals.

• Aeronautical Engineering

Aeronautical engineers work with aircrafts. They are involved primarily in designing aircraft and propulsion systems and in studying the aerodynamic performance of aircraft and construction materials.

• Petroleum Engineering

Petroleum engineering is the branch of engineering that focuses on activities related to the production of hydrocarbons such as crude oil or natural gas. They assist in locating the natural reservoirs of the petroleum deposits as well as the establish the ways they are developed and depleted. It is one of the highest paid engineering disciplines. Though they mostly work in offices or labs, sometimes they are required to work on drilling sites to monitor operations.

• Environmental Engineering

Environmental Engineers are concerned with protecting and improving the environment and human life. They are involved in the development of technologies, processes and strategies to control and reduce pollution and waste.

• Mechatronics Engineering

Mechatronics is a unique combination of mainly electrical and mechanical engineering however it also has elements of robotics, computer, systems engineering and more. Mechatronics Engineers usually work in more high-technology sectors. Among their roles are designing, developing, maintaining and managing high-technology engineering systems for the automation of industrial tasks.

• Computer Engineering

Computer Engineer are responsible for researching, designing, developing and testing computer hardware and equipment, including chips, analog sensors, circuit boards, keyboards, modems, routers and printers. They also help in the development of new computer games and business applications, or even in the design of entirely new operating systems. Though it often overlaps with computer science, the main difference is that computer engineers focus more on hardware and the integration of software.

• Systems Engineering

Systems engineering is an overlap between the more human centric engineering disciplines such as industrial engineering and more technical ones like mechanical engineering. It deals with the development and management of complex systems over their life cycle. System engineers identifies problems, provide solutions and continually monitor its performance.Thus, they work in a variety of industries such as software development to construction.

• Industrial Engineering

Industrial engineering is a more business oriented discipline engineering, where most industrial engineers work in firm and service industries. It involves optimizing complex processes, systems, or organizations through enhancing or implementing integrated systems. Thus, they utilize mathematical, physical, and social sciences, together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to improve productivity of systems.

• Nuclear Engineering

Nuclear Engineering is the branch of engineering that focuses on the application of nuclear physics. They research and develop technologies, processes and systems that involve nuclear energy and radiation such as nuclear reactors, nuclear power plants, or nuclear weapons.