future prospects of different fields re: Science, Technology, Engineering..

Parents Forum
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<p>It seems to me that the age of discovery and innovation in fields like mechanical and aerospace engineering has passed and this coming century will be the time for computer/software engineering and biotech. do you agree? according to the BLS, projected growth for biomedical engineering through 2018 is 72% while that for mechanical engineering is only 6%. granted the raw number of BME engineers is much smaller than that of mechanical engineers, but their rationale behind the ridiculous projected growth of BME makes sense and supports their estimate. source: <a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#projections_data%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#projections_data&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm entering college next year. i really would love to work in space exploration and sending people to Mars, but the growth prospects in that field don't seem so hot -- there's not much money to be made in space exploration as of now. i would definitely prefer doing something like bioengineering (which i also enjoy but a little less so than aerospace) and working on cool and innovative new stuff over doing aerospace and working on not-as-significant projects.</p>

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<p>The first year of most engineering programs is going to be pretty general, so you don’t necessarily need to make up your mind now. Take the intro courses and see what you’re good at and enjoy. Whatever the abstract job numbers, you’re going to have a better chance of career success if you’re working in an area where you have talent and passion.</p>

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<p>Good job researching OP and good advice jingle. Shelve the major/job concerns for now. See what happens once you are on campus and taking courses. Many/most students change their major, no need to feel you have to have your final plans decided before you have the knowledge/experience being a college student provides.</p>