<p>Hi,
I want to be an environmental engineer. First of all is there a good future for this field of engineering ? Are there any better fields of engineering to be in ?
Secondly, I told my dad about it and he told me not to do an environmental engineering degree for undergrad and only to specialize in environmental engineering at grad level. He suggested pursuing mechanical or chemical engineering for undergrad then specializing in one particular aspect of environmental engineering at grad level. Which is the best way to go about being an environmental engineer ?
By the way I took chemistry, physics, math and geography for my A levels (Junior and senior year)
Please help me out with the two questions. I live in Singapore by the way, I would like to know if environmental engineers are in and will be in demand in places such as the US and UK.
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>If you do environmental for undergrad, it will not be as flexible a degree. If you do chemical/mechanical, you will have widely-applicable skills for many different types of engineering - including environmental. That’s not to say you shouldn’t take some enviro classes during undergrad if you think it’s interesting. Perhaps you could minor in it or have a concentration in enviro at the college you end up going to. Look at the degree offerings at schools and see if the above are possible.</p>
<p>thanks 
sounds like a good option. could I ask what I could do in environmental engineering with a chemical engineering degree and a mechanical engineering degree respectively ? like which part of environmental engineering I can work/specialize in.
thanks again</p>
<p>For traditional environmental engineering Civil Engineering would probably be best. If you want to design environmentally friendly devices then mechanical. Environmentally efficient processes then chemical. What are you picturing yourself doing as an environmental engineer?</p>
<p>thats a tough question, I would like to be out doing fieldwork as much as possible, basicall open to anything. what would you recommend ? and could you also please explain what you mean by environmentally efficient processes ?</p>
<p>I don’t know why there’s so much advice about doing MechE or ChemE. Environmental engineering was originally a subdiscipline of civil engineering and became large enough to earn it’s own type of engineering. Therefore, I recommend majoring in civil engineering if you know that’s what you want to do. CivEs work closely with EnvEs and many are a little bit of both. This would also lead very nicely into postgraduate coursework. You would be brought up to speed with any chemical or mechanical-related stuff when necessary too.</p>
<p>The engineering industry is one of the few industries where jobs are currently in demand and there’s a shortage of qualified engineers so you’ll probably be fine doing environmental engineering. Just make sure you attend a top engineering school, there’s a good list here - [2013’s</a> Top Engineering Graduate Schools - Graduate School Guru](<a href=“http://www.graduateschoolguru.com/top-graduate-schools/top-25-engineering-schools-for-2013/]2013’s”>http://www.graduateschoolguru.com/top-graduate-schools/top-25-engineering-schools-for-2013/)</p>
<p>Keep GPA high, environmental is usually seen as low tier engineering and there are few jobs in it. When I look at job postings for my school, Mechanical electrical and chemical usually dominate the listings.</p>