<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I'm a HS junior. I've been thinking about majoring in Engineering once I enter college. As of right now there are three majors that interest me- Electrical Eng, Industrial Eng, and Nuclear Eng. I sort of understand Elec E and Nuclear E.
I have a question about Industrial E (Operations Research), does it have any relationship w/ the business field (finance, management)?
How is demand in this field? and also in Nuclear Eng.</p>
<p>I also thought about majoring IE but I heard that the demand is just decling in the manufacturing sector hence the demand for IE is decling.
BLS says Nuclear Eng. has low demand as well.</p>
<p>Going into EE is better, i guess.</p>
<p>thanks for the info</p>
<p>That's really not true. Demand is still high for IEs. IEs don't just work in the manufacturing sector. They are needed everywhere. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industrial engineers are expected to have employment growth about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2014. IEs do have a tendency to move into management positions because the nature of the work is closely related to that of managers.</p>
<p>"Demand is still high for IEs. IEs don't just work in the manufacturing sector."</p>
<p>Most IEs work in the Manufacturing Industry, thats what I heard.
and IE mainly concentrates on manufacturing sector.</p>
<p>oh, I see</p>
<p>is that the reason why you chose not to go for IE?
what do you major in now?</p>
<p>bumping this thread up ^</p>
<p>is there anyone else who knows sth about Elec Eng, In Eng, or Nuc Eng?</p>
<p>I know nothing about Industrial Engineering. I believe the demand for Electrical Engineering has been pretty steady for a long time. From what I've heard, the Nuclear Engineering demand fluctuates with the political schema. Unless your whole interest is in Nuclear Engineering, it would probably not be the best area to study if you want a large variety of occupational choices with high salary. It's a niche market. However, nothing says that you can't study one subject but take a career in another.</p>
<p>There's no way IE/OR is declining in demand. Look at companies like UPS - just getting into supply chain management. There's a huge market for that type of thing (and as such ORIE majors).</p>
<p>I have to agree w/ live-</p>
<p>BTW, I'm thinking nuclear engineering will be becoming the fastest growing type of engineering extremely soon (with extremely high paychecks). Just looking at how the energy industry in this country is progressing...</p>
<p>
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I have a question about Industrial E (Operations Research), does it have any relationship w/ the business field (finance, management)?
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<p>Yes, IE (specifically, the fields of operations management) is deeply intertwined with business. IE is therefore a natural transition to a management career. </p>
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How is demand in this field?
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<p>
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I also thought about majoring IE but I heard that the demand is just decling in the manufacturing sector hence the demand for IE is decling.
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</p>
<p>Traditionally speaking, IE's have concentrated in manufacturing. And there is some truth to the notion that the demand for people is declining in US manufacturing. Note, that's not to say that US manufacturing is declining, as it is not (I believe the GDP of manufactured goods within the US is near its highest levels in history). But it is also true that manufacturers are becoming ever-more-efficient, which basically means producing high levels of output with fewer and fewer people. Hence, one could argue that there will be less manufacturing demand for IE's in the US</p>
<p>However, that's not to say that IE's as a whole is going to decline. For example, as the country becomes more globalized and trade becomes more important, supply chain operations and distribution becomes more important, and many IE's are now taking jobs in those fields. For example, Amazon has become a large employer of IE's even though Amazon doesn't really manufacture anything. They need IE's to optimize their warehouse operations. Similarly as large traditional manufacturing companies begin to source components from other countries, they need to have people managing that sourcing. Boeing, for example, engages in less true manufacturing - having outsourced much of the basic component manufacturing to foreign countries (especially China and Japan), and now is akin to a systems integrator in taking pre-build parts and assembling them into a final product. Hence, Boeing needs IE's to supervise the components supply process. </p>
<p>And of course, who's to say that you need to work in the US anyway? I know plenty of operations managers who oversee foreign manufacturing processes and thus spend a majority of their time overseas. For example, I know an operations guy who just graduated from MIT who took a job for the supply chain operations of Apple (for the Ipod division) and now spends the majority of his time in Asia (China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.) managing the Apple supplier partners who produce the parts that go into making the Ipod. And, no, in case you're wondering, he's not Asian himself. He's a white guy who speaks no Asian languages. It's a very cool job, as he gets to travel throughout Asia. </p>
<p>The BLS indicates that the growth of IE jobs will be average. It won't be spectacular, but it won't be bad either. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#outlook%5B/url%5D">http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#outlook</a></p>
<p>Alas, there is great confusion about the major titles in this field. There are several that overlap signficiantly.</p>
<p>Operations Research is about optimization of decision-making, using a wide range of computer and mathematical tools. The decision-making is broadly defined, and <em>might</em> include the industrial sector.</p>
<p>Industrial engineering is about design of processes throughout the industrial sector. This can be manufacturing, but it could also include service or transportation sector stuff. UPS is a great example of IE needs in a non-manufacturing industrial sector.</p>
<p>Systems engineering is about building the right system (as opposed to building the system right). It includes OR-type decision theory, but also a lot of hardware and interface design. Often systems engineering is taken to mean the InfoTech area--computers and software. But, the major will help you work in a wide range of areas. Anything that builds large, complex systems.</p>
<p>Every university program is a little different. Some combine: IE/OR. OR/SE. etc. It boils down to the interests and experience of the faculty. Some schools have a heavy 'manufacturing' flavor. Others are more oriented toward government decision-making. There are tons of niche programs in this field, such as aviation operations research. </p>
<p>How in demand is OR? (My degree is in OR, so I always direct my answers there...) Well, check out the website salary.com. OR analysts earn more than most engineers in most markets, when experience is equal. That's your market signal (as opposed to the government's Department of Labor, which is the 'command economy' signal). I can attest to the fact that the salary.com numbers are right.</p>