Did you spend an inordinate amount of time as a youngster tinkering with toys for insight into their inner workings? Have you always had a fascination with the physical construction of buildings and other structures? Do you derive great delight at the prospect of designing modern architectural marvels?
If any of these pictures include you within their frames, you should take a good look into a Civil Engineering career. These highly-skilled professionals are trained to maintain and enhance our environment in many ways. Remove the hard hats and steel-toed boots. Seat yourself comfortably and prepare for serious exploration into environment of a civil engineer.
Everyday workday experience
Civil engineers, or CEs exercise their skilled craft in widely varied settings. Found in both public and private settings, these professionals deal with all aspects of design, maintenance, construction, and repair of major environmental features.
Frequently found on construction worksites advising supervisory staff, civil engineers function as the “eyes and ears” of the entire project. When major infrastructural crises occur such as the collapse of municipal water mains or utility poles, CEs are invariably on the scene. Accurate damage assessment and efficient solution development are vital to restoring essential public services.
Civil engineers also engage in extensive community consensus development and project planning activities. Upon becoming a CE, you might find yourself planted behind a desk doing detailed analyses of architectural drawings one week.
The next week may find you conducting on-site inspections of municipal drainage systems. A month later, you could easily find yourself by the side of the road surveying local highway dimensions. A mere quarter-year later, you may be climbing utility poles for a closer peek at their external wiring and electrical apparatuses.
Academic accoutrement acquisition
Educational requirements of entry-level civil engineer positions typically include a bachelor’s degree with a Civil Engineering major. Typical coursework covers subjects such as Design, Mathematics, Project Management, and Physics. Initial years of study usually cover a broad range of engineering subtopics. Subsequent study usually focuses on a specific civil engineering sub-discipline.
