Expert: Jeanette A - 9/20/2008

Question
Hi My name is Terry DiCorcia and I was wondering if I could interview you about your engineering field. I'm a junior in High School and I'm doing a project on different types of engineers so I'd love it if you could answer these and get back to me. Thanks!

1.   What exactly is a civil engineer?

2.   What type of education and licenses do you have to maintain to become a civil engineer?

3.   What types of things (bridges, houses, dams, roads etc.) and designs do civil engineers construct?

4.   What are the working hours of a typical civil engineer?

5.   What is your favorite part about your job?

6.   What is your least favorite part about your job?

7.   Are there any specialized fields or subcategories to civil engineering that a person can be?

8.   Do you use a lot of historical designs in your present constructions or go for a different, innovative look?

9.   What is your favorite building/creation that was designed/built by your company?

10.   Typically how many years does a civil engineer work for and is it easy to move around to different specialized fields if you wanted to?

11.   What types of scientific laws and principles do you have to take into consideration when building or constructing certain things?

12.   What types of math do you use while constructing a building, dam, highway, etc.

13.   Are there any of the fields of engineering you wished you had gone into or even a total different profession?

14.   Does your job require working with other people or is it mostly individual assignments?

15.   Why did you choose to go into this field?


Answer
Hello Terry,

I will answer this based on my experience as previous Student Engineering Consultant in the Roads and Highways Department.

1. What exactly is a civil engineer?
A: A civil engineer basically deals with design, construction and maintenance of physical/natural environments. This includes a wide variety of works such as; bridges, roads/highways, dams, buildings, drainage structures etc. They can be in either organisations:
-Consultants
-Contractors
-Public Service

2. What type of education and licenses do you have to maintain to become a civil engineer?
A: In order to work as a Civil Engineer you must first hold a Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering (usually four years). Some choose to continue their studies with a Masters Degree (usually 1 or 2 years) in addition to their Bachelor Degree. After completing a certified degree the engineer must satisfy a range of requirements (including work experience and exam requirements) before being certified. Once certified, the engineer is designated the title of Professional Engineer (in the United States, Canada and South Africa), Chartered Engineer (in most Commonwealth countries), Chartered Professional Engineer (in Australia and New Zealand), or European Engineer (in much of the European Union).

3. What types of things (bridges, houses, dams, roads etc.) and designs do civil engineers construct?
A: Civil Engineers deal with construction from a vast range of disciplines. They build the future including various structures from differing sub disciplines such as:
-Tunnels
-Buildings/High Rises
-Structural Components of a building eg. steel or concrete frames
-Landfill/Quarry Design
-Drainage Design
-Sewerage Plants
-Delivery Systems for fresh water

4. What are the working hours of a typical civil engineer?
A: Working hours for a Civil Engineer are typically 40hrs/week, however, this could vary depending on work load and deadlines that MUST be met for a specific project.

5. What is your favorite part about your job?
A: Constantly being challenged to think outside the box. Every project has its own challenge and being able to think in a logical and efficient manner to solve the task whilst being restricted to the Engineering Trilogy of Cost, Time and Quality.

6. What is your least favorite part about your job?
A: Working with people who are very reclusive and those who do not co-operate and function as a team. Makes everyones job more difficult.

7. Are there any specialized fields or subcategories to civil engineering that a person can be?
A: Yes. There are many! Such as:
-Structural Engineering
-Geotechnical Engineering
-Environmental Engineering
-Transport Engineering
-Surveying
-Materials Science
-Construction
-Hydraulic Engineering
-Water Resources Engineering
-Transport Engineering
-Fire Protection Engineering

8. Do you use a lot of historical designs in your present constructions or go for a different, innovative look?
A: This should cover this question;
Civil engineering is the application of physical and scientific principles, and its history is intricately linked to advances in understanding of physics and mathematics throughout history. Because civil engineering is a wide ranging profession, including several separate specialized sub-disciplines, its history is linked to knowledge of structures, materials science, geology, soils, hydrology, environment, mechanics and other fields.

9. What is your favorite building/creation that was designed/built by your company?
A:Albury to Wodonga Hume Freeway Project. $524 million freeway is the largest roads infrastructure project ever completed in regional Australia. The new route caters for through traffic and provides local residents with seven interchanges and a second road crossing of the Murray River.

10. Typically how many years does a civil engineer work for and is it easy to move around to different specialized fields if you wanted to?
A: As long as they wish to work for. Yes, it is a versatile career and you can move from different sub-disciplines, this might require some training in the use of programs etc. however, it is possible.

11. What types of scientific laws and principles do you have to take into consideration when building or constructing certain things?
A: building information that will be in accordance with current planning laws and building regulations and legislative boundaries of the construction industry.

12. What types of math do you use while constructing a building, dam, highway, etc.
A: These days most engineers use software to help them analyse and design structures, however, to understand what the program is doing good foundation of basic math and general engineering is required. This includes; algebra, arithmetic, geometry and calculus. For more intricate applications much advanced maths is required.

13. Are there any of the fields of engineering you wished you had gone into or even a total different profession?
A: I am currently at this phase in my education. I have tried Roads and Highways and I would like to experience Structural Engineering. That is the best thing about being a Civil Engineer, there are many different disciplines you can work in given you have the basic knowledge of a civil engineer.

14. Does your job require working with other people or is it mostly individual assignments?
A: Civil Engineering mainly deals with group work. Decisions and design stages are usually carried out together, assigned work however, is usually carried out individually but this will be checked by another team member eg. your team leader/supervisor etc.

15. Why did you choose to go into this field?
A: To create a playground for humans! To gain satisfaction from improving the worlds infrastructure while simultaneously improving the quality of life for humankind.

I hope this is helpful. Goodluck with your project!

Warm Regards,
Jeanette