Most Creative/Productive Career in Engineering

[bilalch213]

There are many careers in engineering. Civil, electrical, mechanical, etc. It confuses me a lot. I basically, likes Applied Physics and Mathematics. And I love to create things. I want to know what is the career in engineering which is most creative in nature. From creativity, I mean the amount of productivity in it. And please give me an appropriate and 'straight forward' answer. Also, it is opinion-based question. In Civil engineering, there is creativity in terms of structures that are tall and stable. Similarly, in Electrical engineering, there are 'simple' to 'complex' options of creating things in terms of circuitry, etc. Well, there should be a big range of productivity 'size' as well for what I desire. In a nut shell,
What is the best career in Engineering for creativity/productivity?

[HowardE]

That's a difficult question to answer and I'll say that deep inside, you probably know what's right for you already.

You said you like to create things - what sort of things do you create? Structures? Mechanical wonders? Things that light up? What I would suggest is that you think of the creations you've most enjoyed creating. What additional skills might make it easier for you to build these things? What can you think of which would enhance your creations that you don't know how to do yet?

You'll have some opportunities when you're in school to try your hand at different engineering disciplines. You can take lab courses where they teach you some basics and then let you apply them to projects. Maybe a professor is working on a project and needs some help in their lab? Pick out a few disciplines to work on and see which ones makes you excited to get to the lab that day. Ultimately, the most creative and productive area in engineering - FOR YOU - is the one that will excite you to create something new every day.

In my case, what makes me happy is seeing something on a shelf wrapped in shrinkwrap. Consumer devices have to be easy to use, and my background is in engineering human-machine interfaces. To become a project design engineer what worked - FOR ME - was to get a degree which includes computer science, electrical engineering, architecture and design and good healthy dose of research experience in a lab that specialized in designing advanced systems that are easy to use.

It may be hard for you to think of what areas fascinate you the most. I'll bet if you made a list of creations and ranked them in order of awesomeness - most awesome at the top, you may see a different picture of what you love to do. Post it here if you like and I'll bet that engineers from different disciplines will have something to suggest. Or keep the list to yourself - just making it will help you pick out a few areas to learn more about.

A career path is a complicated journey and you're not expected to get it right the first time. Some people do and some have to explore. A good friend of mine became a doctor, started practicing and decided he hated it. He gave up medicine and started a small technology company instead. He's now a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry. He could have just started in pharmaceuticals but he had no idea that's where he wanted to be at first.

Don't stress too much over a choice. Keep your options open in school, take a variety of courses in different areas and just see what works for you. A choice will become obvious. If it doesn't end up being the final choice, well, that's how it is.

Howard

[bilalch213]

Yes, it is hard for me, to think what is right - FOR ME. Sometimes, I think that I should study all science stuff which is very stupid because the knowledge of science is very vast. Apart from that, not all science is the part of anyone's interest. So, I think that life is precious, we should be conservative and be very careful about choosing a career.

I made some circuits very basic though, but I got excited whenever I think of having a lot of circuit parts and combining them to make something awesome. Similar is the case with structures, making towers of cards and tissue rolls. Also, made small dams and barriers with mud and water ^Dirty works^. I love a video game called Minecraft in which you can built enormous structures as well as use logic to make 'circuits' very similar to the one in real world. Due to some command-ish reason, Minecraft leads me to programming. I learned some programming languages but later on focused on one (called C++) and developed some games with it (only one of them is graphical). I am a good author as well as a poet (composed 15 poems till now). I also did some smoky and explosive experiments (all that are not of great significance). Nothing 'biological' appeals me very much!

My well-wishers wanted me to become a Doctor. I don't! My brother and some other people who watch my activities, believed that I am interested in programming and so, computer science is alright for me. But I always loved Physics and Math! The problem was that, I didn't get a platform to do some project work related to engineering. Whatever, I got is a desk with blank copies(for writing, composing as well as solving Mathematics), an average PC(as well as a smartphone), some wires(for circuits), lawn without grass outside(for dirty works), cards, tissue rolls, etc. (Actually, I don't really know the meaning of a project!)

Programming is fine but I want more of science(Physics) than that. I believe that whatever you imagine more, is what you are interested in. But imagining is only good for such a cause when you really knows what to imagine. I always get an excited feeling about developing a video game but same is for a quad flyer or a skyscraper. Few things that I can say with complete sureness are:-

-I love to create and Creativity is my interest.
-Whatever Engineering field is right for me, it must have Applied Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science.
-It must not be completely Computer Science!

[HowardE]

It's just as useful to rule out career directions as it is to pick one. Being a doctor is a lot of work. I was on that track for a while too, then decided that wasn't what I wanted to do. You end up studying a lot of biology and chemistry along the way. I'm finding it useful both as general science knowledge as well as talking with students here. I don't use it every day.

What I found helpful is to spend time working with small companies. I had a summer job once with a big manufacturer in their data processing center and that was fun - but I spent all day writing JCL, COBOL and PL/1 (antique computer stuff - you can look it up). What I loved doing was walking through the engineering department. The factory made televisions back when those were still made in the U.S. The assembly line had thousands of CRTs whizzing by overhead waiting to be stuck into TVs. Hundreds of people were soldering parts onto boards and combining the boards and CRTs into cabinets to make 25" TV sets (which seemed huge at the time). The best part though, was in engineering. They often tested samples of the TVs for safety by putting them in a room, shooting large metal balls into the glass tube with an air cannon and measuring to see how far the glass flew out. It gave me a really good feel for practical engineering - something that I didn't get working in data processing on warranty cards. These test engineers were a mix of mechanical, electrical and test engineers along with practical physicists.

If you have a chance to intern or get a summer job at a small company where you can try all sorts of things, that might give you a better feeling for what you love to do. You don't sound to me like someone who wants to be stuck behind a desk all day working on one thing. Small companies usually love to have access to summer help who is eager to learn and contribute. Your last statements suggest that you really do have a good handle on where you'd like to end up. Explore and try some things and I'm confident the answer will come to you.

Howard

[bilalch213]

Thanks for helping me out! I will act upon your suggestion and will try out new things out there. Summer job is a good idea. Maybe, I have not seen the good part of Biology. Apart from that, man learns something from his mistakes. So, if I am going to do a mistake, it is for the sake of learning what is right for me. Yeah, it doesn't make any logic but gaining knowledge is always good. So, after much discussion, it looks like doctor is worth a try! What do you think?

[HowardE]

There is a lot of problem solving and puzzle solving in medicine which is a lot like engineering in many ways. There are quite a few doctors in my family and I sometimes regret not going down that path but ultimately I'm not sorry I stayed in engineering.

If you're reconsidering medicine as a possible career, ask for some time with your (or some other friendly) physician that works in an area that interests you. They're usually happy to talk with you about they they do, what they went through to become a doctor and how they feel rewarded for doing their job. It's a lot of work to become a doctor and except for my one friend (who didn't realize upfront that he dislikes patients) everyone I know in the profession is happy with their choice. If you're good at it and pick a good area of expertise you can get well rewarded (paid well) for your efforts too. Along the way you'll have to decide what area of medicine interests you - heart and circulatory system? Bones? (you said you like structures) One of my summer jobs many years back was as an assistant in a dermatologist's office. He treated skin conditions and one of my jobs was taking closeup pictures of various lesions and rashes. Not my favorite part of the job but I got to play with some spectacular camera equipment. I knew for certain that if I stayed interested in medicine I would *not* be going into dermatology.

Don't think you have to decide today or tomorrow what you plan to do with the rest of your life. Ask around and see if your parents, friends of your parents, local industry or someone that you can connect with will let you work in their lab or factory for the summer. There's really nothing better than getting your hands dirty to help with these decisions. Yes, it's important but please don't take away the fun of choosing a path.

Howard

[bilalch213]

I already met many of the doctors and one thing is common in all of them: they are happy and contented, both in terms of interest and finance. I was reading a book of general biology and I couldn't just say that everything in it, is not appealing to me. The only thing that I really liked is the genetics, the DNA (abbreviated as deoxyribonucleic acid and I hate such lengthy terms) and also some of the biotechnology. Apart from bones, DNA have structural complexities but are microscopic. Biology have some elements that feels totally nonsense but literally, are not. For example, the scientific names! Frog's scientific name is Rana tigrina. This name only makes sense somehow, in Latin and Greek. And the problem is that these names are considered universal. Meanwhile, we have to learn two names for every species we see around!

Ok, I believe that Biology is not a plain science. It simply uses the principle of Physics and Chemistry to describe its own terms. In other words, it is a derived science from the basic sciences! For example, the mechanism by which plants takes the water from root to the stem. It can only be explained through Physics and Chemistry. Or maybe, I should say that Physics and Chemistry are independent of using Biology to explain their terms. I have a lot of questions regarding Biology. But what do you think about this? Silly or fine!

[HowardE]

I think a more accurate way to look at the various sciences is to think of each one as a slice through the physical world where each discipline has a different way of studying it. Think of the story of the three blind men and the elephant. None of then had ever seen an elephant before and they were all taken to one and asked to describe what an elephant was. The first wrap his arms around the elephant's leg and declared that an elephant was like a treee - proud and strong. The scond one was in the back and took ahold of the elephant's tail. He declared that an elephant was like a rope, flexible and supple. The third was up by the head. Annoyed by the other two, the elephant who had recently had a drink of water, showered the man with a spray from his trunk. The man shook off the water and declared that an elephant was like his morning shower. Each of the men, in their own way were right. Biologists, chemists, geologists, engineers all work to describe the physical world and turn pieces of it into other things. They're all dependent on each other and rely on other disciplines. Yes, biology uses terms from chemistry but so does food science. Everyone uses math. That's just how things are.

Howard

[bilalch213]

That story truely, describes the nature of science. Really, I must say that your answer is very appropriate and good! Actually, it reminds me of various "theories" of Chemistry which are still debatable. We just imagined an atom and its structure, its interactions with other atoms, the molecules and more of these, just like the three blind men might had imagined the elephant! Just think, what if all such theories really, are non-existent and have no basis? Hey, it took many hours to study and it is nothing! Ofcourse, these theories cannot be completely wrong.

Sometimes, I wonder that why are we, humans, are just one? I mean that no other species can't think like us! No other species are evolved to the level of human but it must happen according to the theory of natural selection. This is the only point which proves it wrong to some extent. This also connects the point with one's religion (it requires deep thinking though).

[HowardE]

The connection between the sciences and philosophy is indeed a rich one, but this isn't the time and place to discuss it. You'll have plenty of time to sit around with your friends as you go on in school and have a lively debate over a cup of hot chocolate some cold, wintry night.

I hope our conversation has given you some ideas where to look to get more hands-on information to help you along in your decisions. Remember that's not always the destination which is the reward, but the journey getting there.

Howard

[bilalch213]

Thanks for responding to all my posts! I will not forget all your pieces of advice! ScienceBuddies is really, a good place to talk all science. I am going to go for Doctor, I think, or Electrical Engineering feels good too! Perhaps, I still have some time to think on it.

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