What Type of Engineering Field Should You Choose?
If you are going to study engineering then you will probably already know the many benefits of opting for this career path. There are so many exciting opportunities open to engineers and they can work in practically any country in the world. Companies like CIS (Conductor Installation Services) provide fantastic job opportunities for graduating engineers. But one thing you might not be sure about is which field of engineering to go into. The following are some of the more popular choices when it comes to engineering.• Biotechnology. Those who study this area of engineering will learn all about the pharmaceutical industry, life science and the biotechnology industry.
There is a huge demand for research in this field and there are many really interesting and exciting career opportunities available for those who choose this path. • Aerospace Engineering. Choosing this field means that you would be working with designing, analysing, constructing, testing and operating things like helicopters, airplanes, spacecrafts and rockets. •
Civil Engineering. A civil engineer has to work with planning, analysing, designing, constructing and maintaining many public structures such as buildings, bridges, motorways, waterways, canals, power houses, airports, tunnels and many more. There are also a number of critical problems that the civil engineer will have to deal with.• Agricultural Engineering. Agricultural engineers will have to work with farm machines as well as managing water and land resources and in the manufacture of processed foods. • Chemical Engineering.
There are a number of different subcategories under the heading of chemical engineering including fertiliser technology, food and agricultural product processing, petrochemicals, synthetic food, synthetic fibres, environmental pollution control and prevention and mineral and coal based industries.• Electrical Engineering. People in the field of electrical engineering are working with the various types of energy that we use to run our world such as wind energy, gas, solar, hydro and geothermal to name a few. Information technology and electronics are also the concern of the electrical engineer.• Mechanical Engineering.
Machines are the remit of the mechanical engineer and they work on anything from kettles and toasters to high powered fighter jets. A mechanical engineer will usually specialise in a particular area such as transportation, robotics, air conditioning or manufacturing. There are many who will study mechanical engineering as a way to get their foot in the door for a career in law or medicine.• Materials Engineering.
Materials engineers are responsible for working with new materials that will help in other areas such as mechanical, aeronautical, electrical, agricultural, civil, biomedical, chemical, nuclear or construction engineering.As you can see there are so many areas in the field of engineering that you can study. If you work hard and study you could easily get a fantastic job at a company like CIS.
Problem Solving With Subsea Companies
When it comes to subsea companies, problem solving is one of their strongest points. When a problem occurs with a subsea structure or pipeline, these companies are called in to help solve the problem quickly and efficiently. Problem solving is not always as straight forward as some people would like to believe. When a difficult problem arises, it is up to these companies to find innovative solutions to help their customers prevent their level of downtime.
Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
Creative thinking is an important part of problem solving. Subsea companies do not only value engineers with creative thinking but also with creative thinking skills. When there is a problem with a structure or pipeline out at sea, it might take a very creative solution to help solve the problem and this is what separates the good companies from the great ones.
Long Term Problem Solving
When there is a problem with a structure or pipeline, fixing the problem will usually save a company a lot of money. Downtime is something that companies want to avoid at all costs and they will usually go for the quickest solution to the problem. This is not always a good idea. A problem that is solved with a quick fix might end of recurring and this will only cost more money in the long run. Long term solutions are provided by many professional subsea companies and these are the best options for any company attempting to resolve their problem.
Getting to the Root of the Problem
In order for these engineering companies to be able to solve the problem, they need to get to the root of the problem. Surveys and inspections will usually need to be completed before the project can be undertaken. Once the root of the problem has been located, the entire problem can be resolved so that it does not happen again.
Using the Right Equipment
There is a range of tools that is usually used in order to find problems that have occurred with subsea structures and pipelines. These tools are usually kept by engineering companies so that they can be used whenever they are called in to find a solution. Certain companies find that creating their own tools is a more efficient way of solving the problems that they have encountered and might encounter in the future. Many companies have special teams that are used for this purpose alone. Once a new technology has been developed, they will use their new technology along with the industry standards in order to get the job done. This is not only helping them become more efficient but it is also helping to motivate other professionals to do the same.
Forensic Engineering
Forensic engineering involves investigating the failure of a part or structure that has lead to personal death or injury. This is an important part of engineering and most companies such as Claxton Engineering have aspects of forensic engineering in their midst. However: Forensic engineering as a discipline is a field of study all of its own.
The forensic engineer will typically be called out to the scene of an aeroplane crash to investigate the structural parts in an attempt to determine if one or more of the parts failed, causing the plane to crash. They could also be called out to a scene where a building or a bridge has collapsed – once again to investigate whether the integrity of the structure was compromised or if there was a different reason for the mishap.
In the process of the investigation, the forensic engineer revisits the processes and procedures followed to produce the individual parts, as well as to build the structure. Every step is scrutinised and possible scenarios are investigated. Should there be a flaw in an individual part, it could be due to a faulty production process. If there are no flaws, the forensic engineer will have to look further to find the problem.
Forensic engineers are often called to testify in court cases regarding accidents or structure failure. Most commonly these court cases are civil court cases, but occasionally there are also criminal court cases that require their expert testimony. They are able to pinpoint the exact point of failure and explain why it is important that that specific part caused an accident or other disaster.
Forensic engineers need to be up-to-date with the latest technology and scientific developments. This means that they are constantly studying and learning. Dedicated forensic engineers spend a lot of time at relevant conferences either as an attendee or even as a speaker sharing his experience of a certain aspect of the job.
No matter what part of your life you consider safe, it is important to know that, should you be in any kind of accident, a forensic engineer will be called upon to investigate any strange aspects of the accident. If it is a manufacturer fault, you will be able to claim compensation. If it was a maintenance or other fault, you may be held liable if other people were injured due to your negligence. Of course this is not the case in, for instance, an aeroplane crash.
Without forensic engineers, there will be less data to use when designing new products. They offer valuable opinions about the products that will ultimately lead to safer, possibly cheaper engineering products. Their input is essential to engineering advances.
Peering into the Past
One of man’s primary needs is to know where he comes from. Research has shown that people develop more positively when they know where their roots lie than when they are uninformed.
However, getting the information on your ancestry can be as difficult and treacherous as drilling HPHT wells. There is usually quite a lot of misleading information (usually gathered during family gatherings) and very few facts. Your job is to sift through the debris of ages and find the truth of where you come from.
Genealogy isn’t a new career. It’s been around for hundreds of years and was mainly used for the purposes of establishing royal descent or aristocratic origins. Later it became popular as a hobby as many people from all over the world tried to track down their ancestors. Some found that their roots lay with famous warriors and kings; others found that they have their beginnings with a parlour maid. For some the trail ends abruptly and seems impossible to pick up again.
No matter how you go about it, there is a lot of hard work involved in finding your ancestors. Although there are still many birth and death certificates on record, the further you go back in history, the fewer records were being kept. It is only in the instances of royalty and aristocracy that these records were kept meticulously and preserved for many generations.
Some people are fortunate to have an ancient family bible that has the family tree illustrated in it and it often leaves clues as to where to go to next. Here you will find that you have to research other families as well to establish your true ancestry.
In some families the family tree was recorded and preserved without the prompting of generations. Some commoners (who were exposed to such things and had some education) would put together pages of information detailing each birth, death and marriage. This, of course, makes your job easier.
However, the stories that were carried down through the ages are the ones with the most clues. They’re not always accurate accounts of ancestry, but they certainly describe the starting point and the route to follow from there. They also hold some interesting anecdotes for you to capture for future generations.
Whatever the reason for tracing your roots, the exercise will be arduous work and, often, very frustrating. However, whatever the information that you uncover, you are sure to find something worthwhile of your time and effort. You may even discover that there are links to other families that no-one even suspected.
Genealogy is fun, exciting and hard work that will tend to bring to the fore more questions before it gives you answers.