Engineering Forums

[cons]

I was wondering if any of our intellectual engineers on this board could provide some good engineering forums (specifically architectural/civil).

my brother, who is still in high school, asked me the other day where he could get some more info on architectural engineering as he is becoming interested in this field.

even some sites on where we could get some more info on this type of career would be great, but forums would be better.

also, what do you engineers think about this field of engineering?

thanks for any advice
eddie

 

[Marshac]

I have worked around civil engineers, and from an outsider's perspective, it always looked like a fun job- good combination of office/on-site time, and every project is different. I also suspect that unlike other engineering fields (EE for example), it's unoutsourcable..... yes, I made that word up.

 

[justin]

Civil engineer here - yes, rather unoutsourceable (at least what I do). Some areas are outsourceable (technical drawing/drafting, "hard" engineering/numbercrunching). I had an interesting lunch with a bunch of civil engineering execs at the last engineering management conference I went to. They are planning on outsourcing to Mexico and India. They already have 15 draftsmen in Mexico, but India is cheaper.

Fun? - It's a job. Numbercrunching and writing reports all day isn't always fun. Site visits can be fun. Some really suck (snooping around a site at midnight taking readings in the dark near a graveyard in Redneckville where adjacent property owners have a "shoot first, ask questions later" policy for trespassers or near trespassers). The work is frequently varied. I like the exposure to land development, real estate, and business and legal issues.

I think it is more fun than practicing law.

Cons, tell your brother to get an internship in the summer or after school in an engineering firm. He may be making photocopies. But he'll get to see sort of what goes on in the firm. If he's good with numbers and attentive to details, he may get to do some data entry grunt work for one of the engineers. I got a job holding the rod on a survey crew (rodman) during High School since I wanted to be a civil engineer, and it was a good experience personally, financially and professionally. Hacking through miles of jungle-like vegetation in a swamp in 100 degree weather wasn't that fun though...

 

[ProfHaroldHill]

I think it is more fun than practicing law. 

Justin -- I don't mean to pry. But I think I remember from another of your posts that you are a lawyer. Have you decided to forsake law in favor of civil engineering? I'm just curious . . .

HH

 

[justin]

In a nutshell, yes, I decided to practice civil enginering instead of law. I finished law school but never got fully licensed to practice law since I had no desire to practice law. In hindsight, I believe I made the right decision, for me at least.

 

[ProfHaroldHill]

In a nutshell, yes, I decided to practice civil enginering instead of law.  I finished law school but never got fully licensed to practice law since I had no desire to practice law.  In hindsight, I believe I made the right decision, for me at least. 

I think that law school is good and valuable training, whether you ultimately practice law or not. Especially since it's so different from engineering school. The two together are especially good . . .

HH

 

[justin]

I think that law school is good and valuable training, whether you ultimately practice law or not. Especially since it's so different from engineering school. The two together are especially good . . .

HH

Couldn't agree more. I think my law school education and training is invaluable now. It changes your perspective of business, economics, life and the world in general. VERY different from engineering school.

 

[Glo]

I've worked with engineers for almost 30 years (all disciplines) and gave birth to a civil engineer (LOL!). The work is varied and you can pick from many many disciplines and become an "expert in the field". My son's speciality is "pavement". (One thing is for sure--we'll never run out of problems with that!) The job is very busy with lots of travel. You'll never become a milllionaire but you can make a very nice living. My son has progress rapidly in his field and loves his work.

 

[Dude]

I've worked with engineers for almost 30 years (all disciplines) and gave birth to a civil engineer (LOL!).....You'll never become a milllionaire but you can make a very nice living.

This 35 year old Electrical Engineer most certainly plans to become a MILLIONAIRE !

 

[unclemick]

Hmm

Possibly true - engineers often don't become millionaires.

Stopped being an en-ga neer - Jan 1, 1993 (about 200k plus a duplex(5k/yr income in those days). Er'd and shortly thereafter stopped managing my investments.

Became a millionaire in 2000 and again today - just counting financial investments( not junk- house, cars, timberland, gold coins, or an LLC(complete with stinking Spotted Owls) or the NON working) gold mine in CO.

Engineers have bad habits - confuse numbers with reality and think they know stuff. 1966 - 1992 - I read a lot and thought I understood more than I did.

De Gaul and the Norwegian widow ride on! - with minor praise to Bogle and Ben Graham.

heh heh heh heh heh

Dumb Curmudgeon here.

 

[Brat]

Civil/structural engineering is closely tied to the construction cycle.  Of the construction related professions construction managers make a higher return on their education/work time investment.  Next come engineers, electricians, plumbers, and architects (in that order  :).  Consider the relative liability for a moment.

Materials focused engineering (such as the pavement engineer) can be an interesting field IMHO.  They do a lot with the chemistry of concrete, for example. 

 

[maddythebeagle]

I second the opinion on getting an internship. Most of engineering school mates ended up with the place they interned at and stay there for awhile and internships are relatively easy to get.

 

[Spanky]

forum: http://www.cseforum.net/index1.asp

Civil engineering is one of the oldest and will be around for a long time. There are various disciplines with civil engineering, i.e, soil mechanics, structural (buildings and bridges), traffic. The probability of outsourcing should be low. My nephew is a traffic engineer for the LA county. He enjoys going out, visiting various sites, and performing calculations.

The technology does not appear to be fast paced in comparison to electrical and computer engineering.

 

[Nords]

The technology does not appear to be fast paced in comparison to electrical and computer engineering.

Au contraire, look at the incredible acceleration in the quality & variety of custom concrete formulation!

I wonder if Carnegie-Mellon University still has their concrete-canoe races...

 

[Brat]

Too many think that concrete is just cement with rocks and water.. any one in the construction business knows it isn't so. Had a client who has patents on a device that fine tunes the mix, need I say he is an engineer who isn't wondering about how to pay the bills. He probably could retire early but is having too much fun.

 

[ferco]

Anyone have any information on the biomedical engineering field? How's does one get started? Where can you find internships or apprencticeships. I have a biology degree and a masters in public health.

I'm really not looking at the field as a "money making" pursuit, but have an interest in medical instrumentation and innovations etc.

 

[Spanky]

Our company, Guidant, recruits biomed engineers from college campus. Some of the best biomedical engineering schools are University of California at San Diego, USC and U of Wisconsin at Madison. The career center at any major college campus should have info regarding internship. You might visit Guidant web site to submit your resume (www.guidant.com) or other companies such as Abbott, Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, etc. All of these companies have intern positions.

 

[justin]

Au contraire, look at the incredible acceleration in the quality & variety of custom concrete formulation!

I wonder if Carnegie-Mellon University still has their concrete-canoe races...

Ah.. fond memories of undergrad! The American Society of Civil Engineers has a national concrete canoe competition every year where dozens or hundreds of schools compete (I know of ~10 schools in my region that compete annually). Pretty amazing stuff. Canoes are light and very thin. Amazing that they float. (I'm a former concrete canoe team helper!)

 

[chrisdut]

Cons:
I am a civil engineer and partner at the consulting firm where I work.  Although forums are nice, I agree with Justin and believe that an internship may be more beneficial.  My understanding of architectural engineering is limited to knowing that you needed about 30 or 35 more credits to graduate in that field when compared to civil engineering.  At Penn State, architectural engineering was essentially a five year program.
Justin and Nords:
My firm sponsers Penn State each year in the concrete canoe race.  I send them a couple hundred bucks and get a "free" geeky t-shirt and a newsletter with their results.  They usually do pretty well each year....must not party as much as I did.

 

[Nords]

My firm sponsers Penn State each year in the concrete canoe race.  They usually do pretty well each year....must not party as much as I did.

I don't see how they can concentrate on their designs when they're constantly pestered by concrete-canoe groupies. The distractions must be overwhelming, and I bet most rock musicians are kicking themselves for not studying civil engineering!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Thats one boating accident you want to avoid...

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

John Greaney is/was a civil engineer. Don't say they can't become millionaires.

 

[cons]

just wanted to give an update on what my brother has decided to go into. he has decided that he may go into mechanical and/or electrical engineering. he starts college next month and his major will be 'Electronic Technology - Optical Communications Concentration '. the college that he will be attending does not have an electrical engineering program yet, however, they do have a mechanical engineering program and a brand new 'Mechatronic Engineering' program. he can transfer many of the credits from one program to another (within the college) since many of the courses in the curriculums for the different programs are similar.

i told him that as long as he keeps taking math/science courses, he should be fine if/when he elects to switch programs/majors and transfer to a different college/university.


he's 17 yrs old now, so even if he decides that this is not what he wants to get into, or if it gets to be too difficult for him, he would have time on his side to change majors.

 

[chrisdut]

Nords,
You would not believe how many chicks I had to fight off in college when they found out I was an engineering major...must have been about....0 (with a # that high you gotta estimate)?
Cons,
I started in electrical enginering and transferrred to civil engineering after my freshman year. I was fortunate that all of my credits transferred. I recommend that he register for courses that are required for either major.

 

[Brat]

Notwithstanding the 'housing bubble' all the civil and structural engineers my DH has contacted for help have as much work as they can handle.