<p>I think it's fair to to say that what you study in school is not exactly the same as what you do on an actual job, and I think it'd be quite beneficial to get some info as to what engineering graduates actually do when they're on an actual job. It should help future prospective students get an idea about what is in their future and whether they will enjoy it.</p>
<p>Please state the following:</p>
<p>Discipline(s) studied (please indicate additional qualification/training):
Current/Past job title:
Duty/Responsibility description:
Working environment:
Qualities preferred for the job:
Room for professional advancement:
Room for leadership advancement:
Overall satisfaction:</p>
<p>Thanks in advance to anyone that contributes!</p>
<p>Discipline(s) studied: BE in Mechanical Engineering
Current/Past job title: Power plant Engineer
Duty/Responsibility description: Managing a turbine overhaul, provide technical support for plant operations
Working environment: Office, power plant environment. Office is used for project preparation, email, phone calls. During project I spend my time in the plant to monitor the work and address technical issues.
Qualities preferred for the job: Technical knowledge, excellent communication, 24/7 onc-call status, etc.
Room for professional advancement: Yes
Room for leadership advancement: Yes
Overall satisfaction: Satisfied.</p>
<p>Depending on your role as a power plant engineer, you may do a lot of engineering or very little. My role right now is project planning...coordinating resources for a turbine overhaul. The real engineering will be done by turbine experts. I am just the coordinator to make sure all of the work is completed on time and under budget.</p>
<p>Discipline(s) studied: ChemE
Current/Past job title: Process Technologist (have been a Validation Engineer and a Process Engineer over the past 8 years)
Duty/Responsibility description: Technical Supervisor to pharmaceutical manufacturing personnel; assist with tech transfer, troubleshooting, and project coordination
Working environment: Plant and office, spend about 50/50 on floor and in office
Qualities preferred for the job: Communication skills, manufacturing knowledge, expertise in bulk pharmaceutical processing and FDA regulations/guidelines, solid team player
Room for professional advancement: Yes
Room for leadership advancement: Yes
Overall satisfaction: Love it</p>
<p>My position is generally filled by engineers and awnsers in to manufacturing. We have a manufacturing group which is primarily concerned with equipment where as I am more concerned with the overall process, procedure, and best practices. I work closely with the engineering group, quality, manufacturing, and supply chain personnel to ensure smooth production. I really enjoy my job as I get to interact with great people in many departments, I like troubleshooting, and I manage projects of my selection. I did interview with the engineering group and am debating whether or not I would take the job if offered. They are more equipment based, and because of this receive less option for leadership roles and tend to favor project management roles. Either way my work/life balance is really good right now and is allowing me to persue an MBA, so I'm not sure if I want to upset that right now.</p>
<p>Duty/Responsibility description: I design software systems and structures, write software, and design, write, and run tests, for computer science research purposes. I keep up with the literature in various areas of computer science and software engineering. I also help research and write proposals for DoD grants, and will eventually get to author papers and present in conferences.</p>
<p>Working environment: Company of ~85 people, including the finance & administration division and three R&D divisions. The R&D people are about half scientists and half engineers, though really it's more like a spectrum.</p>
<p>Qualities preferred for the job: Technical knowledge, interest in applied AI, the usual interpersonal skills, able to get a security clearance, domain knowledge in other areas of science and engineering is a plus.</p>
<p>Room for professional advancement: Yes
Room for leadership advancement: Yes
Overall satisfaction: High</p>
<p>Discipline(s): BS and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering</p>
<p>Current/Past job title: Digital Design Engineer</p>
<p>Duty/Responsibility description: design digital hardware mainly with FPGAs for larger subsystems used in RADAR and Communications. Perform verification and integration of subsystems to achieve certain specification and requirements. perform research and development to road map our company's technology uses.</p>
<p>Working environment: Larger aerospace and defense company, lots of process and but numerous resource to gather and increase knowledge.</p>
<p>Qualities preferred for the job: Able work within a multi-discipline team and effective use of your technical and communication skills</p>
<p>Room for professional advancement: As with most bigger companies, you would need a solid foundation to advance. They also provide educational assistance through fellowships and scholarships.</p>
<p>Room for leadership advancement: Yes, but again, you will need to have a good foundation of both technical and communication skills. You also need to be more proactive in this respect.</p>
<p>Overall satisfaction: Pretty good, I have really enjoy all my experience with my current company. I have gain many valuable knowledge and had the opportunity to learn from some great engineers.</p>