Pre-Engineering
Career and
Major Information
Related Career
Titles
Web Sites
Salary
Information
The Associate of Science degree at Walters State Community College is designed to fulfill the freshman and sophomore year requirements for
a bachelor’s degree in engineering. The two schools to which WSCC students
transfer most often in engineering are the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN.
Career and Major Information:
Engineers apply mathematical theories and scientific
principles to refine and develop materials, processes, and services. Engineers
design products, machinery to build those products, plants in which those
products are made, and systems that ensure the quality of the products and the
efficiency of the workforce and manufacturing process. Engineers design, plan,
and supervise the construction of buildings, highways, and transit systems.
They develop and implement improved ways to extract, process, and use raw
materials, such as petroleum and natural gas. They develop new materials that
both improve the performance of products and take advantage of advances in
technology. There are many kinds of engineers; a short description of
different opportunities in the field follows.
Aerospace engineers create extraordinary machines, from
airplanes that weigh over a half a million pounds to spacecraft that travel
over 17,000 miles an hour. They design, develop, and test aircraft, spacecraft,
and missiles and supervise the manufacture of these products.
Civil engineers
design and supervise the construction of roads, buildings, airports, tunnels,
dams, bridges, and water supply and sewage systems. Civil engineering,
considered one of the oldest engineering disciplines, encompasses many
specialties. The major specialties within civil engineering are structural,
water resources, environmental, construction, transportation, and geotechnical
engineering.
Chemical engineers build a bridge between science and
manufacturing, applying the principles of chemistry and engineering to solve
problems involving the production or use of chemicals. They design equipment
and develop processes for large-scale chemical manufacturing, plan and test
methods of manufacturing products and treating byproducts, and supervise
production. Chemical engineers also work in a variety of manufacturing industries
other than chemical manufacturing, such as those producing electronics,
photographic equipment, clothing, and pulp and paper. They also work in the
healthcare, biotechnology, and business services industries.
Industrial engineers determine the most effective ways to
use the basic factors of production—people, machines, materials, information,
and energy—to make a product or to provide a service. They are the bridge
between management goals and operational performance. They are more concerned
with increasing productivity through the management of people, methods of
business organization, and technology than are engineers in other specialties,
who generally work more with products or processes. Although most industrial
engineers work in manufacturing industries, they may also work in consulting
services, healthcare, and communications.
By combining biology and medicine with engineering,
biomedical engineers develop devices and procedures that solve medical and
health-related problems. Many do research, along with life scientists,
chemists, and medical scientists, to develop and evaluate systems and products
for use in the fields of biology and health, such as artificial organs,
prostheses (artificial devices that replace missing body parts),
instrumentation, medical information systems, and health management and care
delivery systems.
From the global positioning system that can continuously
provide the location of a vehicle to giant electric power generators,
electrical and electronics engineers are responsible for a wide range of
technologies. Electrical and electronics engineers design, develop, test, and
supervise the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment. Some of this
equipment includes broadcast and communications systems; electric motors, machinery
controls, lighting, and wiring in buildings, automobiles, aircraft, and radar
and navigation systems; and power generating, controlling, and transmission
devices used by electric utilities.
Mechanical engineers research, develop, design, manufacture,
and test tools, engines, machines, and other mechanical devices. They work on
power-producing machines such as electric generators, internal combustion
engines, and steam and gas turbines. They also develop power-using machines
such as refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, machine tools, material
handling systems, elevators and escalators, industrial production equipment,
and robots used in manufacturing. Mechanical engineers design tools that other
engineers need for their work. The field of nanotechnology, which involves the
creation of high-performance materials and components by integrating atoms and
molecules, is introducing entirely new principles to the design process.
Related Career Titles:
Architects
Mathematicians
Geoscientists
Astronomers
Physicists
Web Sites:
JETS-Guidance, 1420 King St.,
Suite 405, Alexandria, VA 22314-2794.Internet:
http://www.jets.org
American Society for Engineering
Education, 1818 N St. NW., Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036-2479. Internet:
http://www.asee.org
The Occupational Outlook Handbook 2004-2005
http://bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#related
Salary Information:
Median annual earnings of aerospace engineers were $72,750
in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $59,520 and $88,310.
Median annual earnings of civil engineers were $60,070 in
2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $48,360 and $74,700.
Median annual earnings of chemical engineers were $72,490 in
2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $58,320 and $88,830.
Median annual earnings of industrial engineers were $62,150
in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $50,160 and $75,440.
Median annual earnings of biomedical engineers were $60,410
in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $58,320 and $88,830.
Median annual earnings of electrical engineers were $68,180
in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $54,550 and $84,670. Median annual
earnings of electronics engineers, except computer, were $69,930 in 2002. The
middle 50 percent earned between $55,930 and $85,980.
Median annual earnings of mechanical engineers were $62,880
in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $50,800 and $78,040.
Salary figures quoted are based on national figures. Local
or regional salaries may be lower.
The information presented was taken from the Occupational
Outlook Handbook 2004-2005, which is published by the Department of Labor.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos088.htm
Additional information is available from the Tennessee
Career Information Delivery System:
http://tcids.tbr.edu/
