Future of Engineering in the world

[alphadog0309]

I am currently a high school sophmore in the United States and am very involved in robotics, math, science, and programming in my school. Both my parents have computer science masters, while my dad has an electrical engineering degree as well and my mother has a mathematics degree as well. I am currently torn between two majors, engineering and medicine. My mother wishes for me to go into medicine while my father wishes for me to do whatever i wish, except mechanical engineering (he thinks there is no opportunity in that field these days)

bottom line is... i want to decide what to focus my efforts on in my high school years so as to improve my chances in excelling in which field i choose. What is your opinion on the future of engineering and the related sciences, and on medicine?

 

[Wax]

Ask your parents to take you to work with them to see what they do all day long. Maybe you'll like it?

 

[alphadog0309]

my dad is a software engineer at IBM and I've been to work with him and programmed a lot of stuff... i love programming too lol I've also been to work with an uncle of mine who is an anesthesiologist and i love his work too... i really like engineering, especially the computer sciences and robotics, but biology is another favorite of mine... so I am confused...haha

 

[Wax]

my dad is a software engineer at IBM and I've been to work with him and programmed a lot of stuff... i love programming too lol I've also been to work with an uncle of mine who is an anesthesiologist and i love his work too... i really like engineering, especially the computer sciences and robotics, but biology is another favorite of mine... so I am confused...haha

Then your choice only comes down to how long you want to be in school. It takes at least 8 years to become an anesthesiologist and then an extra 3 years of residency. Residency means you'll going to be paid a low wage to learn on the job from another doctor. You'll basically be in school until you're 30.

Generally engineering only takes 4 years to complete. If you feel you have a creative mind then go with engineering. I don't think there's any creativity inside of medicine.

 

[alphadog0309]

yeah that seems like it'll probably be what it comes down too...

my current worry is that if i don't focus on one or the other, i won't be able to get into a good school for engineering or medicine. I also didnt want to pick engineering if there would be a saturation of jobs in the market, i.e. many well qualified, better experienced workers on the market for the same job as me...

as far as i know there is not excess of doctors in the country so i know i will have a job waiting for me somewhere...

this is pretty confusing...

 

[Wax]

yeah that seems like it'll probably be what it comes down too...

my current worry is that if i don't focus on one or the other, i won't be able to get into a good school for engineering or medicine. I also didnt want to pick engineering if there would be a saturation of jobs in the market, i.e. many well qualified, better experienced workers on the market for the same job as me...

as far as i know there is not excess of doctors in the country so i know i will have a job waiting for me somewhere...

this is pretty confusing...

I'm assuming you're a straight A student? What you can do, which I find that meets your need is to major in engineering when you go to college and minor in biology. That way, you'll have an engineering degree at the end of college but still have the requirements to get into Med school. If you're sick of school by the time you finish college, you can go straight into the working field.

This actually works to your advantage since 90% of all medical school applications have a biology degree. An engineering degree with an average Mcat score is more then likely to get you into Med school.

 

[alphadog0309]

do you think taking a biotech or bioengineering major is worth it as it will similarly allow me to remain diverse? yes i am a straight A student and i am taking many advanced courses. I plan to take AP Physics, AP Bio, AP Chem, Calc AB and BC, and possibly AP Statistics... do you think that sort of course regiment will fulfill my needs?

 

[Wax]

do you think taking a biotech or bioengineering major is worth it as it will similarly allow me to remain diverse? yes i am a straight A student and i am taking many advanced courses. I plan to take AP Physics, AP Bio, AP Chem, Calc AB and BC, and possibly AP Statistics... do you think that sort of course regiment will fulfill my needs?

Good Gracious. You are taking a lot of advance courses for just a sophomore in high school. Those two engineering degrees sounds like a good fit for you and a degree in bioengineering would do wonders for getting you into Med school.

 

[alphadog0309]

lol not all in one year i would hang myself if i did that hahahaha
my plan goes like this (Just math and science):
Freshman- bio I, Alg. II H
Freshman Summer- Chem I, Precalc, Physics I
Sophomore- AP Physics, Geometry H
Sophomore Summer- Calc AB (or equivalent at local college)
Junior- Calc BC, Ap Chem or Ap Bio
Junior Summer- internship somewhere...
Senior- AP Statistics? Ap Bio or Chem (whichever not taken yet), Anatomy and Physiology or something else maybe...

its a lot of stuff but i have to stand out somehow and I am not amazing at sports or anything and i do robotics but that's not nearly enough so... that's my plan... half way there almost :)

 

[Ben Espen]

The http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/mcat2003.pdf" certainly back up the idea that bioengineering is decent preparation for med school, but my caution is that in my experience hiring engineers to build and design medical devices, I have found bioengineering programs do a poor job of teaching biology and engineering together, giving one about half of each rather than a mastery of either subject. Based on this experience, I would tend toward a more traditional engineering degree with a minor in biology, but my opinion is only one of many.

However, you are clearly thinking ahead on this subject, so that is in your favor. I think one needn't worry all too much about a saturation of engineers, it is probably more the case that more established industries are slowing down while others are picking up; medical devices for example. My company is still hiring engineers, in fact has trouble finding engineers at this point in time. If you do decide to go into medicine, an engineering background would certainly make my job easier. Doctors often assume that I can make anything they want work!

 

[kate88]

Advice

I think Engineering is the great choice of you and has an excellent future.I agree with your suggestion.The future of engineering is bright.You shouldn't miss this opportunity.Good ideas....

 

[mal4mac]

You are lucky to have so many relatives in careers you are thinking of pursuing. So ask them lots of questions! Become a two year old again, ask them questions, hang out at their work sites, until they chase you away :-) I have doubts about the poster who said "medicine is not creative". So ask your uncle about this. Don't be afraid to ask the *big question" - would you rather have done something else? If so what? Post any insights here please, many people aren't so lucky as to have such a "brains trust" on tap!

 

[xxChrisxx]

e my father wishes for me to do whatever i wish, except mechanical engineering (he thinks there is no opportunity in that field these days)

bottom line is... i want to decide what to focus my efforts on in my high school years so as to improve my chances in excelling in which field i choose. What is your opinion on the future of engineering and the related sciences, and on medicine?

Mechanical Engineering is the broadest field of engineering (and if you are unsure of which part to take is the best option) and will never ever have 'no opportunities' as the world will always need machines designed and analysed. By saying what he said, you dad is being a typical sparky (electrical engineers always like bashing people who work with metal, its like a friendly rivalry between disciplines).

Basically you can't go wrong with either engineering (any type) or medicine as the world will always need both. Even if you don't know yet, at some point in the future you will gravitate towards one or the other. Also never ever be gravitated to the best paying job/career, just because its the best paying, you need to be fully happy with your decision.

 

[avant-garde]

Aren't CS grads likely to be in way greater demand than all the engineering fields combined?

I once saw a poster board published by UT, and it showed "STEM careers" likely to grow in the future ( a bar graph )... CS's bar was 10x bigger than EE, which was 3x bigger than the next, and so on. But yeah, apparently software is the future according to UT lol.

 

[Wax]

Aren't CS grads likely to be in way greater demand than all the engineering fields combined?

I once saw a poster board published by UT, and it showed "STEM careers" likely to grow in the future ( a bar graph )... CS's bar was 10x bigger than EE, which was 3x bigger than the next, and so on. But yeah, apparently software is the future according to UT lol.

Nope, environmental engineering is the largest and fastest growing field. Most other engineering fields are growing at 8% while environmental engineering is growing at 25%.

 

[aquitaine]

As long as we use any kind of machines (mechanical, electrical, or otherwise) engineering will always be useful.

 

[avant-garde]

Nope, environmental engineering is the largest and fastest growing field. Most other engineering fields are growing at 8% while environmental engineering is growing at 25%.

I could swear that I heard somewhere that environmental engineering grads are crying with joy when they find out they've been hired as a barista at a coffee shop... but I wouldn't know. lol

 

[Wax]

I could swear that I heard somewhere that environmental engineering grads are crying with joy when they find out they've been hired as a barista at a coffee shop... but I wouldn't know. lol

Could be true, I'm not sure but here are some detailed stats straight from the government. It says the percent change is 25% at the very top line.

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ep/ind-occ.matrix/occ_pdf/occ_17-2081.pdf[/URL]

 

[Ben Espen]

It all depends on the number of graduates versus the number of jobs. If anyone can find a pointer to that info, it would be handy. The large percentage increase of Environmental Engineering is probably just a reflection of the relatively small numbers of jobs in that area. For example, using the http://www.bls.gov/emp/emptabapp.htm" that Wax so helpfully pointed to, we can see that they expect about 14,000 new Environmental Engineering positions in the next 10 years. That is a high percentage since there are only 54,000 positions currently. For Industrial Engineering, the BLS expects 43,000 new jobs, that is compared to 227,000 existing positions.

 

[Wax]

It all depends on the number of graduates versus the number of jobs. If anyone can find a pointer to that info, it would be handy. The large percentage increase of Environmental Engineering is probably just a reflection of the relatively small numbers of jobs in that area. For example, using the http://www.bls.gov/emp/emptabapp.htm" that Wax so helpfully pointed to, we can see that they expect about 14,000 new Environmental Engineering positions in the next 10 years. That is a high percentage since there are only 54,000 positions currently. For Industrial Engineering, the BLS expects 43,000 new jobs, that is compared to 227,000 existing positions.

Ah... I didn't notice that. I only quickly glanced at the percentages.

 

[Ian_Brooks]

have you then considered biomedical engineering? It could be the best of two worlds for you.

in australia we get to choose what our under grad specialization is - whether it be electrical, chemical, mechanical or software engineering.

 

[avant-garde]

Isn't it true that America's engineers/programmers, although there are only a few skilled ones, will be competing against Indian and Chinese programmers (who are extremely abundant) for the same jobs?

 

[avant-garde]

I'm asking out of complete curiosity (don't know much about this issue)
So, aren't the high salaries of entry level CS/engineering grads misleading considering the fact that the US can either 1) outsource the jobs or 2) provide H1-B visas to foreign programmers?

I imagine that when technology allows for even better telecommunication, there wouldn't be much need to hire from US grads at all.

 

[Ben Espen]

Out-sourcing is a reality, but there are some factors that work against it being used for everything. Not all engineering/programming jobs can be outsourced in the US. Some jobs *must* be done by US citizens. In other cases, the language and time barriers are just not worth the trouble.

 

[rootX]

I am currently a high school sophmore in the United States and am very involved in robotics, math, science, and programming in my school. Both my parents have computer science masters, while my dad has an electrical engineering degree as well and my mother has a mathematics degree as well. I am currently torn between two majors, engineering and medicine. My mother wishes for me to go into medicine while my father wishes for me to do whatever i wish, except mechanical engineering (he thinks there is no opportunity in that field these days)

bottom line is... i want to decide what to focus my efforts on in my high school years so as to improve my chances in excelling in which field i choose. What is your opinion on the future of engineering and the related sciences, and on medicine?

People with good working skills and strong passion have a bright future in any field.

 

[avant-garde]

However, India and China are rigorously educating their kids to have a good background in English. The language barrier exists, but will become less and less of a barrier.

 

[Locrian]

A note on the engineer vs anesthesiologist business - while there are exceptions, very few engineers are directly and immediately responsible for whether a human being lives or dies. Sure, engineers are sometimes involved in works that can influence public health and safety, but you are usually part of a group and there are always lots of steps between you and another person’s life.

While this probably affects some people more than others, I wouldn’t underestimate the gravity involved.

 

[avant-garde]

Does anyone see natural language processing going anywhere?

 

[freydawg56]

Nope, environmental engineering is the largest and fastest growing field. Most other engineering fields are growing at 8% while environmental engineering is growing at 25%.

Thank you Al Gore .. lol

 

[avant-garde]

engineering/CS... not looking so good.
In both corporate america and the academica.

corporate america: salaries peak early, knowledge becomes obsolete, competition from the youngins

academia: glut of PhDs, massive debt, no guarantees even if you are skilled