Whenever we talk about engineers, skyscrapers, vehicles and electronic devices will come to our mind, naturally. This seems to be the deep-rooted impression of common people towards the profession. However, what engineers do today have gone way beyond that. From the classical engineering disciplines: mechanical, civil, electric and electronic to the modern engineering disciplines: chemical, biomedical, computer and environmental, this shows us how engineering has evolved to meet today’s challenges. There are four broad realms of human concern which await the engineering solution, namely sustainability, health, vulnerability and joy of living (National Academy of Engineering, 2008). In order to solve the various issues involved, engineers have to equip themselves with knowledge and skill not only from the respective fields of expertise, but also from the other disciplines or even from the non-engineering industries. Most of the tertiary education institutions now aim to produce all-round engineering graduates to meet the demand of the employment market. Students are encouraged to take up cross-faculty modules to gain fundamentals knowledge on different fields of study. Business based modules are the most popular among engineering students seeing the use in the corporate world. This explains why engineers are no longer only to be found in engineering firms, construction sites and manufacturing industry. We can now see them contributing to finance, banking, logistics, education, commerce and even healthcare (Ramakrishna, 2007). In fact, a lot of the older batch of engineers is undergoing the transition stage from manufacture to service sector. Versatile engineers who are ready to venture into the different industries are said to be prepared to make great impact to the world.
References
National
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org.cms/8996/9221.aspx
Ramakrishna S. (2007, August 5). The expanding world of engineers.The Sunday Times, pp.25.
2 comments:
It is very true that nowaday, engineers are very versatile among new generation of engineers. They not only contribute to manufacturing and construction sectors but they have also contribute to service sector. Cross faculty modules, other skills and knowledge do prepare us to be a versatile engineer in the future.
Engineers can do a lot of things apart from designing solutions to manufacturing problems. They have critical and systematical mind which can help them to solve problems, no matter in business or other fileds, in a holistic way. Nowaday, there is no need to restrict people to work in a particular field. Engineers can do more than what people expect them to do.
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