Long story short, In the future I want to join some humanitarian groups and travel to poor parts of the world and help build infrastructure such as Power Plants/Houses/Agriculture/Medicine and such.
I want a degree that would give me some kind of authority when speaking up about varies problems and solutions.
Would Engineering Technology be better for me? I hear that its supposed to be more practical but I’m skeptical on whether people would be impressed by it and I’m not sure it would teach me about Biological problems.
Chemical Engineering from what i have read touches most aspects of Engineering but it seems like it focuses on design and not applying and it also seems very difficult to pass.
What do you guys think?
Comparisons of engineering and engineering technology can be found here:
http://www.abet.org/accreditation/new-to-accreditation/engineering-vs-engineering-technology/
http://www.rit.edu/emcs/admissions/academics/majors/engineering-tech-or-engineering
http://www.nspe.org/resources/blogs/pe-licensing-blog/engineering-technologists-and-engineers-what-difference
For infrastructure and houses, civil engineering is probably the most applicable. For power plants, various kinds can be applicable to different aspects (electrical, civil, mechanical, nuclear). For agriculture, there is agricultural or biological engineering. For medicine, various kinds can be applicable to different aspects (mechanical, chemical, electrical).
Power plants - Electrical engineering or mechanical - humanitarians don’t usually get involved in these since it needs lots of capital
Housing - Civil, architecture
Agriculture - don’t need to be an engineer unless you are building dams or provide irrigation in which case you can do Civil.
Medicine - Biomed
Engineers without borders are the engineering group one wants to work with for humanitarian side of it.
Any major with “engineering technology” is viewed as sort of a step down from actual engineering. Chemical engineering is a more professional degree if you are choosing strictly between the two.
What does this mean: “more professional”?
Yes, engineering technology is a step down in terms of theory/rigor, but I am not sure I can figure out how that translates to less professional by any stretch. The two degrees lead to jobs that are in some ways similar, but are still quite different in terms of the actual responsibilities of the degree-holder, and both have plenty of employment opportunity and are often necessary in the process of engineering and manufacturing products. As far as I can see, one is not more professional than the other. They simply lead to slightly different professions.
@boneha3ad “As far as I can see, one is not more professional than the other. They simply lead to slightly different professions.”
BINGO!