Prospects and Avenues in some of the Popular Engineering Streams

Mechanical engineering: This highly popular stream of engineering is related to production and design of tools, machines, parts and other mechanical equipments and machinery. Mechanical engineers are associated with the design, development, construction, production, installation,
operation and maintenance of machines and equipments needed in different industries. The work of a Mechanical engineer is extremely challenging as they are required to produce new tools as per requirement of the industry. When designing and making a commercial product they have to take into account all the business and marketing aspects to make sure that the product is as per the requirement and yet affordable. Within this stream there can be further specializations like thermal engineering, design, and production engineering etc. Mechanical Engineering finds applications in all fields of technology. They could work in many industries including private or public sector industries of various types, and their work varies by industry and function.

Civil Engineering: It offers a dynamic career in the field of planning and designing of cities and towns. Civil Engineering involves planning; designing and executing structural works particularly public works like roads, bridges, tunnels, buildings, airports, dams, water works, sewage systems, ports etc. As the pace of urbanisation is increasing, there has been a spurt in improving the infrastructure in big and small cities, resulting in large scale demand of civil engineers. It is desired that a civil engineer requires should have not only a high standard of engineering knowledge but also supervisory and administrative skills, as their job involves dealing with clients, architects, government officials, contactors and the supervision of work according to standards. Their can be further specialisations in the field of civil engineering including water resources, environmental, construction, transportation, geo-technical engineering etc. A bachelor's degree in Engineering is the minimum requirement to become a qualified civil engineer.

Electronics Engineering: It is one of the most diverse fields inengineering. It is interlinked with other areas including telecommunication, electronics, power, signal processing, computers etc. It is a constantly changing and widening branch of the engineering profession. From household electrical goods to giant transformers, and power machines, electrical engineering is associated with every thing. There is great demand of electrical engineers as they are required by the industries manufacturing all the household and office appliances like refrigerators, televisions, computer, microwaves, etc. They also find good opportunities in atomic power plants, hydroelectric power plants as well as thermal power plants. There are several areas of specialisation in this field including sub streams like Electro-Magnetism, Communication Systems, Instrumentation, Control Systems, Microelectronics, Signal processing etc.

Computer Engineering: Computer engineers are in much demand today throughout the globe. With the spread of IT in almost every sector be it industries, healthcare, administration, there is growing demand for new products and services. As a result, there exists a huge demand for Computer engineering professionals for the development of faster hardware components, new communication systems and software. Within this field those who deal with the computer equipment as such, are termed as computer hardware engineers and those who deal with the computer programs are called computer software engineers. Software engineers are concerned with the design and development of softwares, including computer games, word processing and business applications, operating systems and network distribution and compilers, which convert programs to machine language for execution on a computer. While hardware engineers are involved in the research, designing, testing, manufacturing and installation of computer hardware such as computer chips, circuit boards, computer systems and related equipments. It is desired that students who wish to pursue a career in computer science and engineering need a strong foundation in both mathematics and science, particularly chemistry and physics.

Genetic Engineering: It is an n upcoming stream and has a lot of potential for growth in the near future. A part of the Biotechnology it is related with working on the genetic material of an organism. Aspirants of this field study about the genetic properties of an organism and how traits and characteristics are transmitted through the generations, and how genetic disorders are caused. Their research involves researching the causes and discovering potential cures if any and thus, they have great scope inhealthcare industry. There are specialised research activities going onrelated to plants, animals and human beings. Genetic engineering in plants and animals can play a big role to improve certain natural characteristics of value, to increase resistance to disease or damage and to develop newcharacteristics etc.

Aeronautical Engineering: This popular and glamorous field deals with the development of new technology in the field of aviation, space exploration and defence systems. An Aerospace engineer is involved in the designing, construction, development, testing, operation and maintenance of both
commercial and military aircraft, spacecrafts and their components as well as satellites and missiles. Their can be further specialisations in areas
like structural design, navigational guidance and control systems, instrumentation and communication or production methods or it can be in a particular product such as military aircrafts, passenger planes, helicopters, satellites, rockets etc. Aeronautical engineers are in good demand in airlines, aircraft manufacturing units, air turbine production plants or design development programmes for the aviation industry etc.