Synthesis Post

Engineering helps us as individuals and we as individuals can help society. As students of engineering we are pushed to master technical skills, which then lead to new innovations.

It is made up of 10 concentrations. The illustration below symbolizes how no one concentration is more important than another. Each piece of the circle is critical in the overall picture of engineering.

Specialization:	Focus:	Job Example:
Applied	-Combines business with engineering	Engineer management
Bio-systems	-Makes sure there is safe and enough food, pure water, clean energy sources, and a safe environment to live in	-Drainage, irrigation systems and water control at a factory
Civil	-Works with construction and building things such as transportation systems, environmental protection systems, and planning and designing how water resources work	-Design a bridge
Computer	-Design things such as hi-tech video games, remote control cars, cellular phones, caller Ids, pagers, microwaves, cable TV, satellites, emails, the World Wide Web, and fax machines to name a few recent innovations	-Work for a gaming company and design a video games
Material	-Uses raw materials from the Earth to create every day things like computers, dishes, or athletic equipment	-Design an eco-friendly package for a company
Computer Science	-Combines knowledge about anything computer related with engineering	-Program a machine for a factor
Chemical	-Works in research and development, design and construction, environmental and waste management, or in the operation of process plants	-Work for a company that research and develops medicine
Electrical	-Combine engineering with anything electrical such as the electrical equipment of motors, aircrafts, lighting in buildings, etc.	-Works for Consumer Energy
Environmental	-Combines engineering with biology and chemistry to solve issues in the environment	-Works to decrease pollution output for a company
Mechanical	-Deals with things varying from combustion engines, spacecrafts, power systems, or artificial limbs	-Works for an automotive company designing parts

Even though each concentration has its own purpose to society, when looking at the big picture they are all connected in the fact they all use similar skills, they all involve communication, and the education process is fairly alike.

As an engineer, communication is more important than one might think. A normal work day consists of a lot of communication ranging from verbal communication or writing. Students learning to become engineers learn these communication skills in specific classes such as a university required writing class at MSU or basic engineering classes.

In the university required writing class, students are taught the skills of writing in different formats. Depending on the specific class, the types of writing formats practiced are reports, essays, presentations, blog posts, creating websites, and many more.

Certain basic engineering classes such as EGR 100, focus primarily on specific communication skills important for being an engineer. Students are required to write memos every week in EGR 100, which merely take the format of an email. Students also are required to write a professional report every week about how much they have accomplished of the project. The emails and reports must include the following:

• Introduction, Results, Discussion, Conclusion sections
• No first person
• Diagrams, Images, Graphs, Charts

Also in this class students are exposed to working in groups to complete a project or task. Being able to work in groups is very important as an engineer because everyone works on their own part to complete a greater goal. Group work teaches students how to communicate in a professional way with others they do not know very well and learn about where they like to stand in the group as a leader or follower. Presentation skills are also practiced in this class as students present their final projects as a group to a bigger audience.

When giving a presentation, the following is important:

• Slides containing at max. 50 words
• Bullet points of main ideas
• Visual aids
• Eye contact with audience, rarely looking at board
• Equal time each member in group speaks

Different types of skills can also be mastered through what the university has to offer outside of the classroom. Getting involved with activities on campus related or not to engineering looks good on a job application and can be fun. MSU has a lot of organizations and events anyone can go to, to get more involved in their interests. A particular club a lot of people, especially women, are involved in is the Society of Women Engineers. They do multiple events in the Lansing community, host guest speakers from well known companies, and so much more.

MSU also hosts a lot of career fairs and expos where students can talk to representative of companies and submit an application for a job, co-op, or internship. There are two main events held in the year, one per semester. This is a good opportunity for students, even freshmen to get their name out there to companies. Showing interest early on can sometimes be the deciding factor for companies to hire you in the future. Also having internship experience is very important before you graduate because it is the first experience in the real world. When applying for internships, going to events is important but also think about people you may know at certain companies and see if they could put in a good word for you.

Key to being a successful engineering student at Michigan State University is to constantly challenge yourself by exercising your creativity. Civil engineers are responsible for majority of the inventions that society uses daily especially when it come to construction bridges, roads and other sources of transportation.

MSU Civil Engineers 2016 North Central Conference 2016  Concrete Canoe:

Tie back to technical skills to improve society, innovation

 As a engineering student I learned it is very important to keep your creativity stimulated. Creativity is key to being a better engineer. For example MSU’s participation in 2016 North Central Conference 2016. Curing this competition a team of MSU civil engineering students are competing among other engineering programs from other schools this past week. The student s were given their first task to construct a canoe by using concrete.Concrete usually sinks in water but in this challenge, the task is to create a canoe that can float above water.The next part of the competition Each team had to create a steel bridge from scratch that will be able to support 2,500 pounds in a short amount of time. Constructing these projects required much skill from the Spartan team. Building a bridge requires much a variety from geometry algebra and trigonometry along with physics on a high level to apply to real life solutions. Civil engineers have to be natural problem solvers which requires creativity even when your resources may be limited  as for this competition. I was able to see part of the competition myself still unsure of the results but regardless of the competition it is great exercise for an engineer.

Bridge:(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4NafANo5hc)

Canoe:(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2fBmVyilFo&nohtml5=False)

Curiosity is what drives us to explore things, it’s what ignites the sense of learning. One important process of learning is actually searching for new stuff. Searching is an integral part of learning and acquiring knowledge, and for engineers it’s important to keep up with the latest technology and other innovations. Through searching and further exploration, engineers will extend their perception about different aspects which will help them apply that knowledge and turn it into reality. For instance, Steve Jobs was intrigued by calligraphy so he decided to take a calligraphy class. What Steve learned had no practical application in his job, but after 10 years this knowledge he grasped from this class helped him in designing Macintosh computers. Here at Msu engineering majors are required to take certain subjects that are not related to engineering whatsoever. These subjects will give the engineering students more perspective and different views which could be incorporated further in the future. Engineers do actually benefit from studying the way the birds fly and the way fish dive, since these techniques could be incorporated in real life projects. For example, engineers studied how roosters keep their head in a fixed location even if their body moved, so Mercedes incorporated this technique in their new cars which made the vehicles more stable on roads. For engineers everything in science is relevant, it all connects together in a complicated web. With new innovations and problem solvings all other fields benefit from that and consequently the society does too.       

What is the current demand for an engineering job?

Engineering in universities and colleges was at a stand still until 2010, when it's popularity shot up 33% amongst students. Currently, according to Forbes Magazine, engineering is the most popular major amongst high school seniors about to enter college. The U.S. has about 1.6 million engineering jobs right now which get paid a median wage of about $42 per hour. As a whole, engineering jobs have risen by 7%, yet certain concentration have a bigger growth than others. As seen in the graph, civil engineers have the most jobs. More specific civil engineers focusing on petroleum engineering or geological engineering have the highest growth rate. However, the most common engineering is mechanical, which also is still constantly growing with numbers of jobs. All in all, engineering is rising and becoming more popular, leading to more engineers in the future. This abundance of engineers can quickly lead to new unique innovations in the near future. 

Where do you work as an engineer?

Engineering is such a big and broad field that students studying engineering must choose a specific concentration. These are listed and talked about in a previous post “What different types of engineering are there and what are they?”. Different concentrations work in different places indoors or outdoors. Some engineers work in large corporations, others in small firms or own their own. They also work at manufacturing plants, hospitals, research labs, construction sites, or even regular business offices. Some work outside of the plants or in the fields or for government agencies. Engineers can work all around the globe so they often have the chance to travel and work in a foreign country.

MLA Citation: 

"EngineerGirl." News Rss. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.

By: Fiona Muegge

What you possibly didn't know about Engineering

It is often said that "Scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been." Many people do not realize what engineers actually do, where they work, and what they accomplish. Engineers work in almost every category, almost everywhere including:  Health, Medicine, Robotics, Environmental and Technology. Engineers work in the Health and Medicine aspect of things by often designing and creating technology to improve people’s health. An example is biomedical engineering which designs and creates prosthetics or equipment used in hospitals/medical practices. Engineers are often known for their reputation with creating robots. Robots are used everywhere to relieve the work of human labor to make production more efficient. It is usually not known that engineers have a huge role in the environmental field. They come up with solutions to environmental problems to ensure a safe and clean environment. Engineers not only use complex technology in their day to day jobs, but also develop new technology to improve society and make things easier. All of these aspects join together to create a field in which people use their creativity and knowledge for the better.

By: Fiona Muegge

Megan Arlt: Do You Have What it Takes

No matter what college is hard. It'll test studying skills, test taking abilities, and how one manages their time but with recent studies from thebestcollege.org, engineering is supposedly in 2016 the hardest degree to major in. Taken from the same website, the picture below talks about the difficulty of becoming an engineer. The facts may be deceiving to some but I'm here today to tell you that you can do it and in the end it'll be worth.

As many others, I came to college thinking it couldn't be as hard as they say. I was ready for it. I was prepare to balance my education and social life, so i though... It's second semester and i'm doing alright. I made it through first semester with a fairly decent GPA and I'm managing second semester but it's definitely a lot harder than I expected.

After first semester I had to step up my game. To major in engineering takes a lot of dedication. One must understand that past study techniques may have to change. There will be disappointments but thats when you must take the upsets and learn from them. One exam doesn't define you. As long as you're able to adapt to the ways that help you in college, you'll do great and if you ever doubt that remember what Thomas A. Edison said "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work".


                     


http://www.thebestcolleges.org/top-10-easiest-and-hardest-college-degree-majors/

Megan Arlt: Left or Right

Engineers are very professional and analytically skill people. This is why many people believe engineers are very left brained people. Left brained people are typically known to be organized, math inclined, and introverted. This is a common misconception, modern day engineers need to be well rounded. It isn't fair to say engineers need to be one way or another. Engineers should have skills in many different areas. It's obvious that engineers should have multiple skills from their left brain such as math, science, comprehension, and organization but they also need skill in creativity, outside of the box thinking, and people skills. 

Todays engineers aren't just walking, talking robots, they are used in every aspect of a company. There are so many roles an engineer can play, especially now with all the different specializations that exist. An engineer can run a business meeting, manage an entire floor of a factory, or even work in a laboratory. There is a very strong stereotype that exists that engineers are a type of bland, left brained people, however, with the recent increase or engineers in the world left brained personalities are a silver lining. Their innovative brains allow them to problem solve in a way left brain people wouldn't be able to do. 

Below is a graphic example of the differences between the left and right sides of the brain.    

                                           

                            


                        Are you more left or right? Click the link and find out!
                                http://braintest.sommer-sommer.com/en/


http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-208792069/stock-vector-creative-brain-idea-vector-concept-sciences-and-arts-back-to-school-icons-left-and-right-brain.html

How is engineering Good for Society?

By : Ibrahim Sairafi

If it’s more about fetching out solutions to the technical problem, engineers can be of great help. This wouldn’t really turn up as deniable anyway if it’s stated that they are the one, who develop the most economical solution to almost all the technical problems. Ironically, engineering is more about the perfect combo of the blended scientific discoveries into the commercial applications as well as boundaries. When the analytical skills combine with imagination to result into something useful, there is an engineer behind the scene. As a matter of fact, engineers soon become really the commendable team players after digging into so many things experimentally, which usually end up being successful and even the disaster sometimes.  Making it quite obvious now, everything we see around has been engineered in some way or the other and that’s exactly what makes the engineering of a noteworthy significance.

Undoubtedly, engineers are the great resource of your society having more than enough tendencies to come up with amazing and appreciable innovations. Initially, engineering comes up with just little bit of glitches of what this field actually is all about especially at the academics level. Conversely, the reality is quite, fun, dusky as well as exciting when an engineer happens to step into the real field. Really, engineering would have turned up into something extremely boring if it wouldn’t have had flavors. Just like all the other fields, engineering does have its branches that enable this whole field not to let any of the aspects of our lives leave untouched. In fact, it’s been quite deep to play its role on an amazingly broader scale. So just dig into some variety of flavors that the engineering offers you;

Starting with the Chemical engineers, they usually implement the principles of chemistry to solve problems that are anyway related to the chemical reactions and its further utilization. Moreover, they also specialize in designing equipments for manufacturing chemical on the larger scale. For that because, they usually happen to plan and test methods in order to manufacture products. Chemical engineers are really keen at working in or it would be much determined to mention as settling in several of manufacturing industries as well. It was supposed to be clarified as many out there have an ambiguity that the chemical engineers can only work at chemical manufacturing industries. For the chemical engineers, there is a huge ground to roam around with their skills just like producing energy, clothing, food and paper as well. Mainly, they prefer to work at biotechnology and healthcare sectors.

Aeronautical Engineers usually have two categories; one is Aerospace and another one is Aerodynamics. The one with aerospace skills, happen to look into the electronic and featured functionalities of an airplane. Whereas the aerodynamics is mainly focused at the aero modeling, wing shaping and further jet posture while having flight etc. Both of these are significant at their place and in some way or the other these two branches put a great impact to the aviation industry.

In case of Electrical engineering, they usually happen to look into the designing, development as well as the supervision of the electrical equipment that's being manufactured. Equipments like the wiring stuff, navigation systems, machinery controls and etc. there happens to be much more when you dig into it further.

Undoubtedly, engineering has made a great different to our society and even the world if we sight over it through a broader perspective. As per the engineers themselves, this field has made them realize of an extent a human being can strive to make a great difference to the society. For all the apparent reasons, engineering does occur to reward the society with a top-notch approach in order to excel with further advancements.