@BrendanG
Thought this article related well to your concerns about the future of engineering jobs. Check out https://www.wpi.edu/news/economic-renaissance. It reflects the national interest with a $1,000,000,000 investment in teaching and researching for the future. It did not stop with the wheel nor with the computer. However, studying for yesterday’s applications of engineering may not be the best route.
With the rapid changes brought about in engineering fields by the growth of science, students need to “learn how to learn.” Your four or more years of study will only get you started in a field. Like medicine, you will have to continuously study new developments to remain competitive. As the patient, you would not want a doctor who does not know the latest research in medicine. It is a professional’s responsibility. It does make a good living, Some get very rich and we here about them in the media. To be good at something, you have to want it.
With engineering, you can help people and also MIGHT get rich. Dean Kamen can explain this better than I, watch https://www.ted.com/talks/dean_kamen_previews_a_new_prosthetic_arm.
:bz