The Engineering career?
Engineering is usually pretty math heavy, although some branches of engineering are more math-intensive than others. To list some of the more popular engineering disciplines: electrical/computer engineering -- e.g. Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia mechanical engineering -- make cars, airplanes, robots, anything with mechanical parts civil engineering - buildings, bridges, etc chemical engineering material science biomedical engineering Most engineers have at least a bachelors degree and majored in engineering during college. Here's a real life engineering problem: You have built a space probe for NASA, and you're going to send it off to explore Mars. You want to send the orbiter to orbit mars, and study the planet for scientific purposes. This requires a lot of math and physics. How fast does the orbiter have to travel? How do you get it to maintain orbit around a planet and not crash or drift off into space? What kinds of instruments should the orbiter have, and what failsafes should be in place in case something goes wrong? In this case, despite NASA's technical brilliance and expertise, the orbiter crashed because one team used the metric system, and the other team used the English system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climat... I majored in electrical/computer engineering, but I deal mostly with the software side of things.
Chemical Engineering in forensics?
Chemical Engineering is a distinctive branch from forensic science but they do have many common grounds. Colloids and surface science as well as materials and product characterization have same content as forensic chemistry. As far as intellectual capacity is concerned they are not that different. With a background in chemical engineering you can specialize in forensic engineering which deals with identifying faults in a chemical plant or reconstructing the scene after an accident. But forensic careers have very few openings but that does not mean they do not exist. There are not many experts available with the right skills. This means that people tend to get disappointed once they get done with a BS or MS in forensics due to the lack of opportunites. The solution to this problem is that like any other branch of science and engineering, to show that you are an expert in the foundations and advanced level of the subject, you need a PhD. Not many people are up for that challenge, so you would find a lot of forensic grads but who ultimately move to other fields. If you have a background in chemical engineering then I suggest you continue with grad school and specialize in areas which requires qualitative analysis. For example, in chem eng you study fluid mechanics. Fire investigations have a lot of applications of those concepts. You study enviromental engineering which has direct applications in environmental forensics. You might study of how to build chemical and biological sensors which are again tools for forensic detection esp for fingerprints. At a grad level you might want to look for a professor who would be interested in specialzing in forensics. Many good schools have professors who are open minded. But the gist is that forensics is highly interdisciplanary and to be respected you need to be an expert of your field - in your case chem eng. Salary: Chem eng and chemistry PhDs earn around twice as much as forensic chemists or biologists, with just a MS in forensics.
What common household items were created by accident?
Post-it notes (product of 3M)No one set out to invent sticky notes. Instead, in 1968, Dr.Spencer Silver, a chemist at 3M Company, invented a unique, low-tack adhesive that would stick to things but also could be repositioned multiple times. He was trying to invent a super-strong adhesive, but he came up with a super-weak one instead.Who Invented Sticky Notes? | WonderopolisWho Invented Sticky Notes?
What are the negative outcomes can come from using engineering materials?
Probably quite a few, although less than in the past. Obviously there are accidents engineering. People have accidents with machines and stuff that whittles metal has no problem whipping digits or limbs off.With respects to materials themselves, material like asbestos was routinely machined to make components. We now know they were carcinogenic. Strangely things like talc, which we used to throw all over ourselves (and babies) has a risk of asbestos contamination.There are plenty of things coming to light each year that are bad for us. There is therefore always a risk of using materials in engineering that will have a negative impact on health. For the most part though, does it matter? You have to die of something at some point.
What is the difference between an ENGINEER and CONDUCTOR?
About 20,000 a year in pay.It's a common misconception that the conductor is responsible for the safe movement of the train.Both the engineer and the conductor are now jointly responsible for the safe operation of the train.That came about when the standards for training conductors dropped.You used to have to have 175(i believe that was the number) road trips as a brakeman before you could be promoted to conductor.By then you hopefully had learned a few things.Now your a conductor almost before you learn to spell it.That resulted in a bunch of clueless people turned loose on the railroad.The accident rate soared.Now we work as a team(more so than in the past).We discuss the paperwork to make sure it all looks good.Things like train make up,train orders,any speed restrictions,speed of the train,etc.Then once were on the train the engineer runs it and the conductor handles talking to the dispatcher.He is also supposed to remind me of any speed restrictions coming up.Here on the UP the conductor also keeps a log book of our trip and does inspection of passing trains.He also does any work on the ground such as switching and repairs to the train.The conductors job is usually pretty easy while we're moving unless things go wrong.When the train is moving it's the engineer that's doing most of the work though.A passenger train conductor has a lot more responsibility and is much more in charge of the train's operation.The engineer still runs it though. Edit AJ a restricting signal is not 15 mph.Restricted speed has all kinds of things you have to be on the look out for(train,engine.railroad cars,derails.switches not properly lined,stop signals.broken rails,etc. but the speed listed is not exceeding 20 mph.The key is you have to be able to stop within one half the range of vision.So restricted speed could be 20 if you can see a long ways or it might be 2 mph if your in fog or snow or tight curves where sight line is restricted.
Is nuclear engineering a dying field?
Yes, the danger of nuclear accidents thru terrorism, environmental storms, and failure of maintenance is prevailant in the industry. it is no wonder that Germany has recently declared that it is shutting down all of it's reactors and will be closing them before 2022. Japan's tsunami has also changed it's direction to look for alternatives. These are (2) of the largest economic powers in the world. Nuclear waste has always been a problem and has a half-life of 250,000 years. Most of the salt mines are to capacity and many of the plants store expended fuel rods locally. It is no wonder that major catastrophic events are not more common. Ask yourself; would you really want to work in a nuclear reactor for over your lifetime with all the risks ?
What is the reason that most of the engineers in India passing out now and in recent past feel they became engineer by accident and not by passion?
Lack of opportunities in other fields: In India, engineering has become a kind of Plus Three equivalent (after Plus Two), because there are not enough opportunities in other fields like Arts, Humanities, science and social studies. Not by passion means , they are driven [most probably] by placements [fast money] or they see it as an opportunity to go to USA /UK or abroad for higher studies. In all probability, your ‘real passion’ would not fetch that much $$ so quickly.Peer/Parental pressure: Engineering/ Medicine is a professional course and it requires a specific kind of aptitude. It requires patience and understanding in face of so many failures. But driven by #1, most of us go towards engineering out of peer parental pressure. (Not all parents are like that).Brand/Tag-name: Engineer has a brand-name. It creates news for people to gossip about. This might cause some initial excitement, but will not sustain long. Once the enchantment wears off, then you will find it tough.Disconnect between college and industry: Most of the colleges have almost nil contracts with top industries in their area/city to conduct any programmes so that student get some real- on-floor exposure or a floor-walk. Mostly we have to go via recommendations. Those who are lucky, make it. Those who are not lucky, they feel frustrated.College pressure: The fault lies with colleges too. Except for a top few- most of them dont encourage any innovation or entrepreneurship. As a result- students wont find the career appealing enoughIn the days of preveious generations, there were hardly more than 10 - 15 engineering colleges and there were not much competition for engineering courses. And engineering was a boys-club.[ You had mostly mechanical and civil branches].With liberalization, more colleges opened and with IT boom, many girls have also started competing equally with boys. Thus what used to be a luxury in the olden days has become a norm now.
With current engineering and technology, what is the realistic probability that a plane will crash?
Over what time? Do you mean what is the probability that a plane will crash on any one flight, or the probability that new plane coming from the factory will end its life in a crash rather than by being scrapped?What do you mean by “plane”? Do you mean only commercial airliners, or do you include private flight, military aviation, and microlights? Private flying and ultralight flying is much more dangerous than commercial flying.Whichever way you define it, talking about “current engineering and technology” is irrelevant. To estimate the probability, count the number of crashes in your required category of aircraft, flights, etc and divide by the number of such aircraft, flights etc. Knowing the technology doesn’t tell you about the reliability of that technology. A quick Google give this site: Airplane Crash Statistics with some statistics that look, at a glance, OK to me. The most relevant to me seems the first: chance of crashing in a single airline flight: 1 in 29.4 million.
Best Minor for Industrial Engineering majors?
Most schools do not allow engineers to take a minor as it will take away from their GPA in their engineering classes. If you have time for a minor you need to take more engineering classes/. A minor is only for personal enrichment and matter for nothing when you look for an engineering job. Besides, once you have an engineering degree those other fields are so simple and basic in comparison that you can master them by learning them on your own. Myself I am an electronics engineer but from self study and my subscription to the Economist I am a better economist than a minor would make me. As for finance, I have learned on my own how to do business plan financials including for to Initial Public Offerings and one corporate takeover. I also manage my own self directed portfolio and I am a real estate investor, buying up several distressed properties for cash right after the crash. That stuff is so easy compared to engineering it is not funny. As for management, I could have been appointed engineering manager a couple times but made sure I snarled at people enough to get passed over for the promotion. Then I would just tell the person who became the manager, who never made as much money as I did, what to do. I My point is that you need to become the very best engineer you can be. You can always learn the other stuff on the go as you need to know it. That other stuff is so easy for a good engineer to understand. It is why most of the politburo who runs china are engineers.
What are the current problems that we have that can be solved by (mechanical) engineers?
An example which I have recently come across.My relatives live in a small town of Jharkhand.The power cut has become a normal phenomena over there.Even during summers,they sleep without fans,their children cannot study after evening hours,the street lights don't function.Being Mechanical engineers,we can work in Electricity Generation field.1.Can be done by trying to improve efficiency of turbines.2.Researching and developing Non Conventional Energy Sources.3.We can also solve problems like providing hot water during winters by using sources like Geothermal Energy.4.We hear about road accidents everyday, we can design some good safety mechanisms either in the form of safety devices, or design something for the vehicles like a device which can sense an obstacle from a distance and alert the driver.5.We can help in developing Robotics field which can be of great help to Defense of the country.6.By application of Fluid Dynamics laws,we can improve working of Pumps so that water accessibility in rural areas becomes easier.Also can help in irrigation.7.We can also develop devices which can help in cleansing of our water resources like Ganga.The Sonar devices can be used to detect areas of high concentration of pollutants with a mechanism to collect them and remove.