If you’re interested in pursuing a career in engineering, you need to know what type of engineering field you’d like to specialize in. Sometimes it can be hard to narrow down the choices but you can try to identify what it is that you’re passionate about to help you choose. There are various branches of engineering and some are listed below.
1. Aerospace engineering
Aerospace engineers can earn up to $130,000 a year and the average aerospace engineer in the USA earns around $80,000 per year. As an aerospace engineer, you’ll be able to evaluate the designs of aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles in order to analyze whether the designs which you assess are aerodynamically sound. As an example, if you end up working for NASA, you’ll be able to assess whether blueprints for future spacecraft would be sound to fly.
2. Software engineering
As a software engineer, you can expect to earn around $70,000-$295,000 a year, which is a highly competitive salary. If you enjoy programming and working with computers, you’ll enjoy getting to create new, innovative software to meet new demands.
As a software engineer, you may be hired by a large international bank, in order to create innovative new banking software. Not only that, but software engineers are also employed in a wide variety of businesses from technology companies, gaming companies, to government departments.
3. Mechanical engineering
Another branch of engineering which you may be interested in is mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineers specialize in designing and building large pieces of machinery such as internal combustion engines, steam turbines, gas turbines, and commercial elevators and escalators. Mechanical engineers are even responsible for designing air conditioning units and high tech refrigeration systems.
How much does the average mechanical engineer in the USA get paid? The average mechanical engineer in the USA gets paid around $91,000 a year.
4. Chemical engineering
Chemical engineers specialize in finding new, innovative ways to turn basic, raw materials into new products that solve common problems. Chemical engineering is a particularly interesting field of engineering to get into as it combines practices from multiple disciplines such as chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and economics.
So if you’re excited by the idea of pursuing a field in engineering that is multi-faceted, it’s well worth finding out more information about pursuing a possible career as a chemical engineer. If you’re tempted, the average salary for a chemical engineer in the USA is around $75,000 a year.
5. Civil engineer
What does a civil engineer do? Most civil engineers focus on building pieces of key infrastructure such as buildings, bridges, tunnels, dams, airports, and roads. So if you’re interested in being part of a team that creates important structures that are critical to the success of a business, town, city or country, it’s well worth considering becoming a civil engineer. Especially if you have an active interest in buildings and design.
6. Electrical engineer
If you have a keen interest in electronics and designing electrical systems, you may be drawn to become an electrical engineer. Electrical engineers tend to be very highly paid and some electrical engineers can earn over $240,000 a year. So if you have a logical and analytical mind, it may be worth considering becoming an electrical engineer.
So if you’re looking to pursue a long term career as an engineer, it’s well worth considering which of the 6 options listed above, best suits you.
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