An engineer is one who practices in this field and engineers with a license may avail the designation like a Professional engineer, European engineer, incorporated engineer or even Chartered engineers.
Engineers do the work of research and provide solutions to the various developments related to technical problems. They do it via the application of principles and theories of mathematics and science. In engineering there are various branches and therefore the career prospects and options are many. The branches are: engineering in agriculture, aerospace, biomedical, civil, chemical, computer, electrical, industrial, mechanical, materials, nuclear, geological, mining, and petroleum.
Engineers working in the field of development and designing have the job of planning, designing, and supervising the construction of highways, buildings, and systems of transits. Then they also implement and develop ways of extraction, processing, and also the use of various raw materials. Their responsibility is also the development of new materials for the improvement of a product's performance. And finally the engineers would also have to do the product analysis that they develop or even the design of systems keeping in mind the people and environment.
Then there is separate job responsibility of engineers working in the production, testing, and maintenance field. These are, determination of the various causes for breakdowns, supervision of the factories production, testing and maintenance of the products quality while being manufactured and to do the estimation of the total time and cost for the completion of projects.
Engineers must acquire the knowledge of codes applicable to buildings of state, local, and federal and also the laws of safety. They must have skills in advanced math. They must also have the ability in comprehending abstract principles that are broken in physics and mathematics. Engineers should have the possession of CAD tools' knowledge.
In the entry level, engineers achieve knowledge and experience. They might have to work independently, develop various designs, make important decisions and also provide solutions to many problems. As experience is garnered, engineers advance as supervisors or even technical specialists, under whom a staff or even other engineers and technical teams work. As they progress, their level increases and is promoted to the managerial position or a sales executive.
For an engineering job in the entry level, an engineer must have an engineering Bachelor's degree. A degree in mathematics or physical science might do too at times, especially if there is a high demand for particular specialities. Students of engineering can also find work in other related branches of engineering in spite of specializing in individual branches of this field.
Engineers offering direct services to the public forum must obtain a license. Engineers with an acquired license are called PE or Professional Engineers. To obtain the license, one must get a degree in an accredited program by ABET or Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. This is acquired if the person has at least 4 years of experience in this field and who has also completed a state examination with success, though the requirements differ from state to state.
Generally the employment aspect in this field of engineering is growing globally and also at a fast rate. It is estimated to grow, providing the average amount of jobs in the year 2016 in all branches of engineering. As per the Bureau of Labour statistics of America, it is predicted that the engineering branch of industries, civil and biomedical would grow much faster than others in the future. So this would be the growth in environmental engineering. Engineers of aerospace, health and safety excluding safety in mining, chemical, and agriculture, marine, nuclear, and geology would witness an above average growth rate. Apart from these the other engineering branches would either slow down or ultimately decline.
Salaries on an average rate vary as per the branches in this field of engineering and also as per the degree of the engineer. Engineers specializing in branches like agriculture, aerospace, bioengineering, biomedical and architecture have the highest paid salaries. This increased with the increase in the level of degree attained. Salaries of engineers are usually between $60,000 to $90,000 annually depending on the branch and nature of engineering. The highest paid are the nuclear engineers, having $90,000 per year as their salary.
In the year 2006 it was estimated that around 1.5 million engineers had jobs. The maximum number was in the branch of civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, and electronic engineering excluding computer engineering.
