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Each member of a research group visited either the Virgin Islands or Hawaii...
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by Alex Kingsbury
American universities churned out nearly 70,000 engineers during the past school year, but it was not nearly enough to meet the demand. In fact, despite outsourcing some high-tech jobs overseas and importing foreign talent, the country is still seriously understaffed with engineers, says Al Gray, executive director of the National Society of Professional Engineers. Training more engineers has become a national priority, but the educational pipeline is long and engineers who have already made it to the graduate level will find their skills in high demand. "Older engineers are retiring and need to be replaced, and there are rapidly growing areas that can't be staffed fast enough," Gray says.
Traditionally, engineers have flocked to the manufacturing sector to design, build, and improve production equipment. Those jobs still exist, but engineers are also needed in a variety of service industries, which will be the source of most of the expected employment growth in the coming decade, according to the Department of Labor. It is also becoming common for engineers to capitalize on their technical knowledge and move from strictly engineering jobs into other fields, like management or sales, within the same company, leaving open positions for new workers.
After several lean years, engineering graduates are receiving multiple job offers, lucrative signing bonuses, and relocation allowances. Recruiters are flocking back to campuses, particularly in search of students holding advanced degrees. "The bachelor's of science degree has become a common commodity, so the most exciting careers in industry and academia now demand a graduate degree," says Sandra Arnn, assistant dean and director of engineering career services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where the number of students applying to graduate engineering programs has more than doubled in the past four years. "I don't see that look of anxiety in students' eyes this year, which means they're finding jobs," adds Mark Savage, head of career services for engineering students at Cornell University.
Engineers are needed in a wide variety of roles, from building superhighways to designing MP3 players. Here's a look at some booming fields:
Civil engineering
Streets, tunnels, levees, and bypasses all need to be built. Then, after a while, they need to be rebuilt--note the $286.5 billion highway bill passed by Congress last year. Because of the nation's expanding population and aging infrastructure, jobs abound for civil engineers at the local, state, and federal levels, both in government and the private sector. Overall, the field should expect up to 17 percent growth in employment through 2014, according to government estimates. Salaries for grads holding master's degrees start at $48,ooo and at $59,600 for doctoral grads.
Environmental
Like the nation's transportation network, the aging sewer and water-treatment infrastructure is in need of repair, upgrading, or outright replacement. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the country will need to invest $390 billion in wastewater management systems alone over the next 20 years. The job market for environmental engineers is expected to grow by a scorching 27 percent or more by 2014, according to Department of Labor estimates. Average salaries for environmental engineers are $66,500 per year.
Biomedical
Aging infrastructure is not the only thing in need of replacement and upgrading. As the baby boomers approach their twilight years, there will be an acute demand for biomedical engineers to design both artificial body parts, like hearts and limbs, and machines for advanced medical procedures like magnetic resonance imaging. That demand should fuel a 27 percent or higher increase in jobs for biomedical engineers through 2014, according to the Department of Labor. And, unlike in other engineering fields, many entry-level biomedical jobs require graduate degrees, which means a far less competitive job market for those with advanced degrees. Starting salaries for master's degree graduates average around $60,000.
Industrial
As businesses seek to cut costs and payroll, and increase the effectiveness of their remaining workforce, industrial engineers find their services in high demand. The job market is expected to expand steadily for those trained to maximize efficiency by cutting waste, cost, and delays. Salaries for industrial engineers with master's degrees start at around $56,600, while a Ph.D. should net about $85,000. Industrial engineering skills are also highly transferable to management jobs, and engineers leaving their jobs for management will further expand employment opportunities in the coming years, according to government estimates.
Mechanical
Members of one of the broadest disciplines in the field, mechanical engineers research, design, and develop tools, engines, and other machines. The continued development of more-powerful and efficient mechanical devices can mean life and death to a company. "Better machines make companies more competitive, and they need the best people to design them," says Jeff Beavers, assistant dean and director of engineering career services at University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. The number of recruiters on his campus is up 20 percent this year and has more than doubled in the past two years. Salaries start at $60,000 for master's grads, while Ph.D.'s can expect to pull in $68,000 at their first job.
Nanotechnology
This catchall discipline encompasses different fields of engineering at the submicroscopic level and is used in the making of products like computer components, fabrics, and microcircuits. A boom in the demand for nanotechnology has prompted colleges and universities to erect a slew of nanotech facilities in the past decade. Now those programs are turning out graduates trained in interdisciplinary work, and employers are scooping them up. Chemical engineering is one of the lead nanotech disciplines, and that field is expected to see job growth of as much as 17 percent in the next eight years. Starting salaries for chemical engineers with a master's degree average $57,300 per year.
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Copyright © 2004 U.S. News & World Report, L.P. Used under license. All rights reserved.
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