<p>I am currently studying to be an engineer, and although I really like technology and the related fields, I find myself enjoying investigations (of crashes, crimes, etc.) more and more, and I was interested since a young age (I used to watch Medical Detectives on Discovery channel when I was 10 with great interest). Would an undergraduate degree in engineering be the right way to go? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>What kind of career path are you interested in? What kind of investigator do you want to be? FBI, Police, DEA, PI, Forensic?</p>
<p>I have the most interest in NTSB, but anything else is fine too.</p>
<p>Check out this intern posting, I think it will give you some idea the necessary qualifications:
<a href=“Page not found”>Page not found;
<p>Edit: Thanks for the link. The NTSB is not for me as it needs citizenship and 50 hours PIC and a private pilot certificate, among other things. I think I will have to wait till after my college to pursue any interest. Thanks.</p>
<p>Weird, it works for me. Google NTSB, on the first result click “Job Opportunities.” At the bottom of that page there is a posting for an internship. Check it out.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>They seem to want people who can fly. </p>
<p>For accident investigations I would think computer science/computational modeling/computational physics would be good. I’m sure there are many paths though.</p>
<p>It’s not <em>exactly</em> what you’re describing, but take a look at it because it might interest you anyway…</p>
<p>Forensic structural engineering (also called forensic engineering, failure analysis, or diagnostic engineering) was my gig for a couple of years before I decided I needed to learn more about how things are designed before I could figure out how things went wrong. The common path is civil engineering for undergrad and structural engineering for your masters degree (1.5-2 years), and then you start working for a failure analysis firm. You crawl around structural collapses and figure out what went wrong by working backwards from the ‘scene of the crime,’ so to speak… My old firm reconstructed TWA Flight 800, moved a lighthouse inland a few miles, investigated the collapse of the twin towers, examined the ENTIRE Boston Big Dig project for the State of Massachusetts, and figured out what happened with the bridge collapse in Minnesota. You can train to eventually do things like rappel from capital domes and shimmy underneath historic structures, and you never know when the big one will hit and you’ll have to go to SoCal and take pictures of rubble for a couple of months.</p>
<p>It’s a really interesting job, and while it’s not precisely what you have in mind, it’s a career that usually attracts the same sort of people as traditional forensic science, though not as many people are really aware that it’s a career option. PM me if you want more info.</p>
<p>Cool job, aibarr! The Big Dig project must have taken awhile - what a mess.</p>
<p>That’s what my dad does, in addition to being a professor. He’s currently helping to investigate the collapse of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility. He’s taught a course in forensic engineering for quite a few years now. </p>
<p>DH volunteered to to to NYC the week after the Towers’ collapse. He wasn’t registered in NY, but they expedited his application and he had a license within two days! But then they decided they had enough help without him.</p>
<p>I’ve climbed around a few mills and bridges myself looking at problems. I think I like the design of new structures better, though!</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply aibarr, it was really helpful. Is civil engineering at undergrad the preferred way to go? I am actually thinking of majoring in electrical engineering or computer science/engineering. If I do that, can I still have a shot at structural engineering at the master’s level, or will the material be too different?</p>
<p>It’s very different… There’s a ton to learn with structural engineering, and it starts in undergrad. You’d spend at least an extra year doing remedial work, and it’d be quite a bit more difficult to convince grad programs to accept you into their programs without a background in civil engineering.</p>
<p>My dad said that at the University of Texas, there is NO way to get a master’s in structural engineering without a BS in Civil or Architectural Engineering.</p>
<p>There are a couple of programs that allow entrance to a joint program for architecture and structural engineering for people with architectural undergrad degrees, but it’s a pretty long shot to try to get into a structural program without a civil or architectural engineering undergrad degree, like ML said.</p>
<p>A couple of other paths you might look into in order to segue into forensic engineering are material science, and just plain architecture. There’s one person I know who went into forensic engineering as a mechanical engineer, but that’s pretty rare.</p>
<p>Thanks again…I guess I should just forget about it (or put in on hold) for now.</p>
<p>There’s this company called Forensic Technology that came to my school’s Career Fair last fall. They specialize in ballistics and firearms identification technology. I know they were particularly interested in people majoring in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Engineering Physics. Here’s their website if you want some more information: [Forensic</a> Technology](<a href=“http://www.fti-ibis.com/c1.html]Forensic”>http://www.fti-ibis.com/c1.html)</p>