Engineering, now, is a well-respected career option in India. Every year more and more students opt for engineering as a career path. The growing demand for IT and design engineers has paved the way for creating this profession, lucrative in all aspects. The Indian education sector has also been able to address this demand by delivering an increased number of world class institutions providing quality curriculum.

Engineering careers are also attractive due to the exciting benefits that accompany the job, which include international travel, exciting growth options within a company, flexibility with work hours and not to mention the high level of compensation in comparison to other careers.

A recent article analysed the  average engineer on the basis of the world renowned Emergenetics evaluation. This evaluation maps individual skill sets on their creative,social, structural and analytical orientation in the context of the left and right brain.

Ironically, this report breaks the myth that engineers are prone to be more structural and analytical and in reality the new breed of engineers are equally social and creative. This is a new trend among today’s engineers, which  is a result of the competitive and dynamic work demands of the ‘global village’ culture.

Parents have seen friends and family over the years who have flourished as engineers. Engineers in general are adaptable and live a contented life. Their training and experience opens up access to careers in many other allied fields in businesses and management.

While looking at the facts, the world is witnessing a transformation in the process of being re-engineered in the 21st century. Emergence of developing countries such as India, that are fueling the world economy, is reshaping the world.
These countries need many new products of different specifications and different applications at different price points. Also, there is an acute shortage of engineers worldwide, as experienced engineers of the cold war era have retired or retiring in developed countries. Today, one needs a new generation of excellent engineers that will architect and construct the new and an emerging world.

An engineering graduate of this decade will have the best of opportunities in the future. This is the best time for passionate engineering graduates to pursue their dreams in the field. The satisfaction one has in seeing a product takes shape in one’s mind, takes form on a paper, prototyped in a workshop, mass produced in a factory and rolls out into the hands of happy people, whose lives have been touched. This feeling that the engineer then experiences, is just sensational.

What makes an Engineer tick?

All this and more have catalysed the average engineer to compete and evolve in his craft. There are many qualities that are quintessential and represent an engineer today. The spark of inspiration and insight towards solving a challenging problem may come anytime. A typical engineer needs to be selfmotivated and is excited to come into work every day to try out new ideas or to advance his engineering task while delivering the project so that the product can be built and tested. An engineer displays strong camaraderie with his colleagues whose help he takes and is eager to help others.

An engineer is highly committed to quickly complete his projects and goes the extra mile. He/ she lives a contented life knowing his everyday contributions are influencing the future-world; a better world that his children can inherit, be it better cars, planes, greener planet or whatever the mind can imagine.

Engineers are analytical by training and think logically, be it an engineering problem or a business challenge. They know how to make a concept (dream) come alive in its journey to becoming a product. They are hands-on and take pride in seeing a problem solved all the way through. Many engineers are also very creative.

They are confident in their approach because they can quickly conceive a step-by-step approach to overcome any challenge. Solving problems, the Engineering way In terms of implementing engineering skills in day-to-day duties, years of education, training and engineering work experience helps an engineer quickly conceive ways to resolve an
issue. While there are many types of engineering branches, all engineers learn a systematic approach to problem solving. They can spot any logical inconsistencies in solutions being proposed by others. Engineers process many ‘what-if scenarios’ quickly in mind that helps them choose an option that is best suited for a particular situation.

Engineers give structure to the way a business issue is addressed in a robust and permanent basis. Knowing every problem has a nice solution waiting to be uncovered and do not get perturbed. Transmit the same confidence, optimism and strength to the team that they work with, in return the team delivers excellent options and solutions. It is an interactive process where engineers learn a lot from the team and like every other engineer.

Advice to aspiring Engineers
Some suggestions to people who aspire to become successful engineers. Parents/Mentors would strongly urge them to pursue this field only if he/ she is passionate about it. Once you have joined engineering,learn the engineering basics very well, learn the art of problem solving, get experience in design and creation of things that you can touch and feel.
The current decade is the best time to graduate as an engineer, pursue your passion for engineering and move ahead with confidence. Lastly, if you are passionate about engineering, please do not waste your future away by joining a xyz.code-all-your-lifeforever. com! Changing Facets: Engineers in general are adaptable and lead a contented life.