My answer is simple: it’s the fact that engineering is a creative enterprise, one that requires intense imagination and sometimes lots of sweat, blood and tears. The greatest inventors of the past were creative, intelligent thinkers who imagined solutions. This to me embodies engineering today. As a software engineer, I’m called upon to answer difficult technical problems that involve creating solutionsthat require innovation and invention. Engineers are modern-day inventors. Engineers simply think differently than many other professions.
This ostensibly creates differences in mindset and opinion between engineers and managers who do not think similarly; it’s that difference in thought process at work that creates strife. Successful managers, or managers who were or are developers, learn to understand the whimsical (in the playful and imaginative sense) and creative nature of engineering and empower engineers to imagine, innovate and invent. Engineering is an exciting profession, but one of its greatest advantages is that it will leave you time for all the other things in your life that you love!
Engineering is a great outlet for the imagination—the perfectfield for independent thinkers. Engineering takes teamwork, and you’ll work with all kinds of people inside and outsidethe field. Whether they’re designers or architects, doctors or entrepreneurs, you’ll be surrounded by smart, inspiring people. Come up with solutions no one else has thought of. Make your mark on the world. Creative problem solving will take you into uncharted territory, and the ideas of your colleagues will expose you to different ways ofthinking. Be prepared to be fascinated and to have your talents stretched in ways you never expected.
Engineers not only earn lots of respect, but they’re highly paid. Even the starting salary for anentry-level job is impressive! An engineering degree offers you lots of freedom in finding your dream job. It can be a launching pad for jobs in business, design, medicine, law, and government. To employers or graduate schools, an engineering degree reflects a well-educated individual who has been taught ways of analyzing and solving problems that can lead to success in all kinds of fields. Field work is a big part ofengineering. You may endup designing a skyscraper in London or developing safe drinking-water systems in Asia.
Or you may stay closer to home, working with a nearby high-tech company or a hospital. Everywhere you look you’ll see examples of engineering having a positive effect on everyday life. Cars are safer, sound systems deliver better acoustics, medical tests are more accurate, and computersand cell phones are a lot more fun! You’ll be giving back to your community. Imagine what life would be like without pollution controls to preserve the environment, life-saving medical equipment, or low-cost building materials for fighting global poverty. All this takes engineering.
In very real and concrete ways, engineers save lives, prevent disease, reduce poverty, and protect our planet. No hero, or team of heroes, is complete without the techie. Everystarship has an engineer. Every secret agent has his (or her) gadget-maker. Every superhero team has the person who can fix stuff. Usually, this person is pushed to the background — but they end up being our favoritecharacter anyway. Here are 10 reasons whywe love fictional techies and engineers best of all. 1. They save the day at the last minute. You think Captain Kirk is the master of the last-minute saves — what about Scotty?
He’sthe one who always comes through just when things are at their diciest, by getting the engines back online or by coming up with a totally brilliant, never-before-seen use of the ship’s deflectors. And even if the main hero takes credit for a last-minute save, you know it’s reallythe techie who made it happen, by rigging something up. 2. They always have the coolest lab. Sure, it’s cool to be the main hero and ride around in the fancy car or sit in the captain’s chair, but that’s boring compared to being down in the lab testing exploding shoes and fountain-pen lasers, and an endless assortment of booby traps.
Basically, blowing shit up and creating the world’s most lethal toys for a living, day in and day out. Plus, the engine room on any starship always seems like the coolest place to be. 3. They’re the first to throw a punch. It’s really true. While the hero is keeping a cool head and judging the situation, the engineer goes in and starts slugging. Just ask Scotty in “Trouble with Tribbles. ” Or B’Elanna, who practically earned the nickname Slugger. Engineers aren’t afraid toget their hands dirty — including getting a spot of someone else’s blood on their hands.
