<p>I am doing ECE at champaign but am wondering the fate of engineering in the west. The western governments have forced manufacturing out while favoring a 'service & investment' economy. I wonder what use engineers will have where there is no manufacturing, i mean guys in mechanical, ee, AEE, & compE etc. right now, most electronics like computers, TV's, flatt screens, office and house equipment are made in china. even more mechanical equipment like cars and planes are made in china bz of insurance costs, taxes, cheap minerals and cheap labor. So what will engineers in the west do other than being simple technicians doing maintenance in buildings? Not to mention that the number of engineering students increases every year, i wanna quit.....</p>
<p>Engineers are not technicians. It’s the design that engineers do day in and day out.</p>
<p>Engineers design what is being built abroad, which in turn boasts the American economy because our products are known for being the best. But if you personally don’t like ECE then switch to a major that you will enjoy. YOLO!</p>
<p>Honestly, no one knows for sure what the future will hold. There’s trends in both directions, and no one can predict the future. Don’t fool yourself into thinking your question can be answered.
However, IMO, the complete outsourcing of all engineering is a long shot. I don’t see it happening. Jobs have and likely will stagnate though.</p>
<p>Research a bit more what engineers do. Like the others have said…Engineers are designers. Technician/Maintenance is not part of the job description. Im doing IE. A big part of IE is Manufacturing, but im not doing it, and have a LOT of job opportunities anyway. Seriously, there is so much more out there than manufacturing.</p>
<p>You said: “Not to mention that the number of engineering students increases every year, i wanna quit…”</p>
<p>I would say: You snooze, you lose. IF you dont have faith in Engineering then perhaps you just have to change your major into Biz, etc. </p>
<p>In the fashion industry, there is dress maker then there is designer. Have you heard the top designers what they do? they all use their creativity and experience to design thousand dollar dresses, etc. They dont do the cutting and fitting the dress but they design only…now Engineers are just like that.</p>
<p>Software can be used to improve service and get an edge over other investors. As such, I don’t think CS/software is in any danger of dying out in the West. In fact, in many ways, a service/investment economy offers many more opportunities for software development than does a purely industrial/manufacturing economy.</p>
<p>EDIT: Of course, if the current investment/service economy isn’t sustainable, and if when it crashes the economy regresses to something more like an agricultural or subsistence-farming barter economy, then CS/software will be basically annihilated.</p>
<p>I’ll put this link here for extra discussion</p>
<p>[Chinas</a> Ambitious Goal for Boom in College Graduates - NYTimes.com](<a href=“China’s Ambitious Goal for Boom in College Graduates - The New York Times”>China’s Ambitious Goal for Boom in College Graduates - The New York Times)</p>
<p>I think it shows how American students are not interested in math science and engineering. in any given math or science class there are 1-5 American kids and there are 25-30 Asian students. If there are no engineers to fill the jobs then they will be filed by foreigners. but don’t be naive business majors lawers doctors all need to worry as well. you think China can’t produce an accountant?</p>