<p>Okay, so I am an undecided freshman at a large state university. I've changed my mind about what I want to do so many times that I've lost track. Recently I started thinking about going into engineering (a field I had completely ignored before for some reason) and I was really drawn towards civil engineering because I've always loved designing things. And, if my understanding is correct, it is more "intense" (can't think of a better word) than architecture because you have to use a lot of math and physics to make sure whatever it is you're building stays up and whatnot. </p>
<p>I'm quite good at math (currently taking Calc II and I feel like I understand the concepts better than most of my classmates [hope that didn't come across as too arrogant]). I've only taken one physics course in high school (honors, but not AP) but I enjoyed it. I would say that out of all the major sciences, physics is my favorite. I am an excellent student in that I'm willing to work hard, study, and get good grades. I can communicate with others and work in a team. I have a creative side. I am very detail-oriented and a perfectionist in many areas. So I <em>think</em> that my skill set fits that of a civil engineer. </p>
<p>But there are a few things holding me back. (And these might be silly or insignificant things that I should just get over, but I wanted to ask.) I've been searching through this forum and looking through a ton of sites, but I couldn't find anything so I thought I'd ask you experienced people. Here it goes....</p>
<p>One: in getting my degree, will I have to do a lot of hands-on things? As in, use tools to build things and such? I wouldn't mind (I might sound naive here) designing, drawing, and doing a lot of math/physics problems, but I'm not much of a hands-on person. And I don't like getting dirty very much. </p>
<p>And two: I'm not so sure that I would like to work on a construction site. In other words, I'd much rather work in an office/studio/firm doing the actual designing and problem-solving, not so much of the on-site supervising. I don't know exactly how it works, but do some civil engineers just do what I want to do in their workday? (I am a girl, by the way, if that is relevant at all. A girl with a very skinny build who would probably look quite out of place wearing a hard hat and traipsing about a construction site.)</p>
<p>Whew. I hope that wasn't too long for you guys to read. I would greatly appreciate any advice you may have for me. Thanks in advance! :)</p>
<p>You will not have to build anything yourself with tools as a civil engineer. </p>
<p>As for getting your hands dirty, that may or may not be a problem depending on the job you get and the duties you’re assigned. Quite often, civil engineering firms like to send out the younger people to do inspections in the field. I used to work with a young geotechnical engineer who tested tieback installations and often he’d be covered in mud. Then again, a friend of mine is a recent grad working for a structural engineering firm that deals with bridges and she rarely gets sent out of the office.</p>
<p>Civil engineers don’t do the on-site supervision (excluding inspections). Most do work out of their offices. However, some civil engineering majors choose to go into the construction management field, which includes field supervision.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about being a girl on a construction site as long as you’re not overly sensitive. I’ve worked with a few and they were all able to do their jobs well.</p>
<p>chinatown, I’m a female structural engineer. I was the skinny young thing out on the job site! I just watched a news segment about the towers being built at Ground Zero, and the field structural engineer was a very young, small woman who obviously knew her stuff.</p>
<p>This has been my experience as a design engineer. I was in the office almost all of the time. I probably went to jobsites maybe once every couple of months. I did have to crawl around a few dirty paper mills, but I found it was a nice change from sitting in a cubicle.</p>
<p>The HARD part for me was that as a structural engineer, you’re designing lots of connection details. You really have to understand bolts, screws, and construction materials and methods. I don’t know about you, but I was never the type of kid who went to the hardware store with Dad! I loved the math part of engineering, but I felt a little lost drawing up construction details. THAT is why it’s good to get some field experience, so you can see how buildings really go together.</p>
<p>If you have other questions, ask here or PM me!</p>
<p>Civil Engineering freshmen at ASU do a couple hands on projects. They will tell you to build something with your hands over the course of about six weeks. I think the U purchased a bunch of robots for the Civil majors to play with too.</p>
<p>this sort of generalizes a problem I have with out structural engineering curriculum. we don’t really learn anything to give us a general ‘construction savvy’, so every time a text alludes to some seemingly basic construction technique, material or whatever I still have to dig around online or through a different text to get an idea of what they’re even talking about. the real problem is feeling like this sort of thing is going to happen on an actual job site where i won’t have the ability to look up whatever i don’t know.</p>
<p>Experiment8, you’ve hit the nail on the head (ooh, sorry for the bad pun - I didn’t realize it until I typed it). I’m afraid for most of us, only jobsite experience will help much. I looked pretty dumb quite a bit - it was hard on my ego. My husband was fortunate in that he didn’t go to school for civil engineering until he was 28. Before that, he was a carpenter on quite a few large buildings. He learned a lot about how buildings really go together.</p>
<p>Experienced carpenters are some of the best people to talk to about general building construction. They’re involved in all phases of projects from foundations to superstructure to interiors.</p>
<p>On an actual job site, you can always ask someone. Nobody expects you to know everything. If you have your text handy, nobody will stop you from looking at that either. If schools taught you everything you needed to know, you’d never graduate!</p>
<p>@ken285: So, I suppose how often you go out into the field just depends on what kind of a job you get as a structural engineer. Am I correct in thinking that when you first start out, you don’t have much of a choice but as you gain more experience, you get to choose where you want to work? </p>
<p>@MaineLonghorn: Haha, good to know that there are skinny female engineers out there! I just have this fear of people looking at me and thinking, “She doesn’t look like an engineer at all…” But I guess this just has to do with my preconveived notions of what engineers look like. And no, I was never into hardware and tools and such either, lol. I have a lot to learn! </p>
<p>@Andrewsky: Haha, I don’t go to ASU but I’m pretty sure the intro to engineering classes at UA have similar projects. The robots sound cool, but I just saw a picture somewhere of a civil engineering major working with an electric saw thing and it made me quite apprehensive about going into this major. O.O</p>
<p>I will probably think of more questions later. :D</p>
<p>chinatown, when I was in grad school, one time I accompanied my dad when he went to inspect a mobile home that had structural damage. There was a home inspector present when we arrived. He looked at me and said, “Oh, are you Daddy’s little helper?” It was fun telling him I was working on my master’s degree in structural engineering! That shut him up. Really, 99% of guys are great to work with. There are a few jerks, but that would be true in any career. I had a couple of great mentors who took a lot of time explaining things to me. One would even tell me mistakes he’d made as a young engineer!</p>
<p>Any good firm, in my opinion, will give everybody some experience in the field. It really all depends on your manager and how he/she decides to utilize you. After a few years, you may be able to talk to him/her about what kind of work you want to do.</p>
<p>If all you’re worried about is what other people think of you on construction sites, then you’ll be fine. You will get more comfortable with more time on sites. When I started out, I was pretty nervous as well, didn’t know what to expect, and had no previous experience on construction sites. With time, I gained more confidence and got the respect of the tradesmen.</p>
<p>As for using tools, such as an electric saw, in school, that’s a possibility. If you do, it will be part of a lab, and there will be people there who can teach you how to safely use them. In one of my classes, we designed and built miniature bridges 6’ long and able to withstand 400 lbs.</p>