Who Should Study Civil Engineering?
Students wishing to go into Civil Engineering should enjoy science, math, and problem solving. They should also have good communication skills and a practical sense when evaluating the risk and reliability of their designs.
A Brief History of Civil Engineering
- 2700 B.C. Egyptians utilized surveying techniques to plan the building of the great pyramids,
- 750 B.C. Assyrians create the oldest written record of the work of road engineers,
- 300 B.C. Romans use complex arithmetic to create engineering projects,
- 250 B.C. China begins uses engineering techniques to build large scale projects such as the great wall, long distance water canals and bridges,
- 1747 France establishes the first school to formally train road and bridge engineers,
- 1782 for the first time someone uses the word Civil Engineer to define their work,
- 1794 Congress re-establishes the Army Corps of Engineers,
- 1813 U.S. Military establishes first formal training school in America,
- 1887 first formal institute created to monitor water and sewage waste,
- 1928 Hoover first professional engineer to become President,
Variation of Work
The work place for Civil Engineer varies. Some work inside at planning, design, supervising, administration. supervisory, and teaching positions, while others work onsite as field reconnaissance, project layout, construction supervision, and inspectors. Civil Engineers usually work near major industrial and commercial centers, often at construction sites. It is not uncommon to find Civil Engineers running their own businesses or high profile fortune 500 companies
Travel Opportunities are Vast
There are many opportunities for Civil Engineers to work abroad in foreign countries. Civil Engineers can be found hard at work from Argentina to Zimbabwe, in fact there are over 65 countries that hold membership with the American Society of Civil Engineers.
A Steady Job Market
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Civil Engineers hold about 250,000 jobs in the United States.Over half of Civil Engineers in the U.S. are currently employed with engineering consulting firms, and most work primarily on developing designs for new construction projects. Almost one third of engineering jobs were in Federal, State, and local government agencies. Construction and manufacturing accounted for most of the remaining employment. About 12,000 Civil Engineers were self-employed, many working as consultants. For more information on jobs see the new Civil Engineering job site.
In Alaska
Over 60% of the engineers in Alaska are Civil Engineers, upon graduation, Civil Engineering students usually find work right away with various corporations, Government, or consulting firms.
