<p>I'm considering changing my major to mechanical engineering, civil engineering, or environmental engineering, but my problem is I absolutely do not want a job where I'm stuck behind a computer all day. I can handle some computer time but after a whole day my eyes and shoulders and wrist hurt so I could never handle it day in and day out.<br>
Out of these three fields, which one would spend the least time on the computer, or are they all bad? I would love to build things but not if it means I have to be on the computer all day.</p>
<p>One of the engineers I met at aecom water said that he does roughly half of his work on a computer. </p>
<p>It’s widely variant, even within a “discipline.” I can’t speak for mech, but for civil:</p>
<p>geotechs spend most of their time outside
structurals spend most of their time on the computer
civil/enviro is somewhere in between</p>
<p>and of course those are generalizations</p>
<p>“Mechanical engineers” is an even more nebulous term than “civil engineering.”</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say we spend most of our time on the computer as structural engineers. A lot of time is still spent doing calculations and sketches by hand.</p>
<p>Of course, these days just about everybody is on the computer a good bit, just answering emails! Clients expect to get answers immediately when they email you!</p>
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<p>That’s why they invented the Blackberry!</p>
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<p>If you’re willing to go outside the realm of engineering, but in a related field, consider construction management. There are some jobs in this field where you’re typically out of the office 60%-70% of the time. However, there are also some where you’re in the office 100% of the time. If this interests you, you should still stick with civil engineering as a major.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! It’s good to know that its definitely possible to get an engineering job that’s outdoors based or even indoors working on paper. Geotechnical sounds really cool as it sounds to me that it somewhat combines earth sciences and engineering, but out of curiosity what kind of stuff do geotechnical engineers do when they’re outside?
Also, would majoring in environmental or civil engineering be better for that type of job?
Thanks so much for the info, I guess majoring in civil or possible environmental engineering would be better than mechanical. I just want to be extra sure since declaring engineering would already push back my graduation at least a semester, so I won’t really be able to switch majors once I pick one.</p>
<p>Allot of entry level geotechs get put on drills rigs taking soil samples. You could also be in the lab analyzing these samples, doing construction observation, or working on soil reports. I am basing this off my internships and all the times I have bugged other engineers with questions. Its a field I am very interested in but I also have my concerns. The big negative I always hear is it involves a huge amount writing very similar reports. Geotechnical engineers are often hired to do a site investigation, write the report, then move on and do it again. I want to get into more of a mix of structural and geotech rather than site investigations. THESE ARE MY OBSERVATIONS. I am sure it varies. </p>
<p>One of the best things to do is just google entry level geotech positions and read the job descriptions.</p>
<p>For geotech you need to major in civil not environmental.</p>