‘Engineering As A Career’

Presented by: Queen Elizabeth College Juveryah Jawaheer Mona Prayag Keshilya Naidu

Table of Contents The History Of Engineering

Engineers Themselves Types Of Engineers Green Engineering The Mauritian Educational System And Engineering Tuition Fees Of Engineering Studies Subjects To Be Studied At The University Level Tricky Engineering Engineers In Mauritius Who Employs Engineers? Earnings Engineering As A Misleading Career Ethics Of An Engineer Engineering And Its Advances Engineer Without Borders Women And Engineering A Last Note

Presented by : Juveryah Jawaheer Mona Prayag Keshilya Naidu Group Name: Power Puff Girls The History Of Engineering In prehistoric times, men and women had to use their minds and resources in order to survive hunger, fight enemies, withstand harsh climate. In other words, there have always been engineers around, many of whom were involved in activities we would not associate with engineering today. After simple tools, they developed wedges, wheels and levers.

The first engineer known by name and achievement is Imhotep, builder of the Step Pyramid in Egypt about 2550 BC. Engineering was brought to remarkable heights on the basis of empirical methods, aided by arithmetic, geometry and physical science. The list of all the engineers who have walked the earth is endless. However, a few have distinguished themselves in various disciplines. Isambard Kingdrom Brunel was one of the most versatile and audacious engineers of the 19th century, responsible for the design of tunnels, bridges, railway lines and ships. George Stephenson was a pioneering railway engineer and inventor of the 'Rocket', the most famous early railway locomotive. Michael Faraday was a British chemist and physicist who contributed significantly to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Franck Whittle was a Royal Air Force officer who made a major contribution to the invention of the jet engine.

Engineers Themselves

The term 'engineer' itself cannot be defined for it depends on various aspects. There exist many types of engineers. In general, engineers are those persons who innovate and find solutions to technical problems: they fuel our future. The food in our plate, the microwave oven in our kitchen, almost everything around us can be categorised as the fruit of an engineer's work. ‘An engineer is not only someone who anlayses and constructs, but it also someone who makes use of his imagination and follows his instinct,’ says Mr. Mohonee, a Mauritian engineer.

Types Of Engineers The number of categories of engineers exceeds the hundredth, the most popular ones around the world being civil engineering, chemical engineering, software engineering and even petroleum engineering. While biomedical engineers ponder about new treatments in their laboratories, civil engineers design on new infrastructures to be implemented in our cities in a near future. While choosing engineering as a career, the decision should be based upon the various industries found in Mauritius and look for job opportunities, for

instance, a petroleum engineer is less likely to find a job here in our tourist industry.

Green Engineering

Over the years, it has been noted that environmental engineers are in higher demand. It is news to no one that our blue planet is in danger due to the adverse climatic change. While the concept of sustainable development is being put in the lime light, the whole humanity is relying on environmental engineers to rescue the planet with their innovative ideas. However no one shall disagree with the fact that the survival of the planet lies in everyone’s hands; environmental engineers are just shaping the population’s goodwill. This further shows that engineering touches every field of the life. It nearly determines the survival of the human race!

The Mauritian Educational System And Engineering

Locally the educational system does not allow students to have a concrete perspective of what engineering is about. There is no diversity on the subjects taught at school such that students are restricted to a small bunch careers. It is true that chemistry, physics and mathematics are the fundamentals of engineering but still, ‘Further Mathematics’ which is not taught at school, is often required for an entrance at university. The current syllabi in schools are not geared towards engineering. The few demonstrations performed at school are not enough to click the child to decide to choose engineering as a career. The only way to do so is to assign them projects which provide them with the opportunity to do some research and discover new things which they might be interested to learn more about. “Electrical, mechanical and optical physics in their practical aspects would help more than one would think,” says a Physics teacher when asked how much of the contents of science syllabi would help an aspiring engineer. “Apart from differentiation and integration, the Mathematics syllabus is not related to engineering although it does provide knowledge of some basic concepts,” he continues. He believes that with the level of maturity which students have in upper secondary is not enough to study a subject like Further Mathematics. To him, even the students who actually do well in these exams only

do so by rote learning of concepts rather than really understand them.

Tuition Fees Of Engineering Studies

To become an engineer, one needs to be patient, hard-working and perseverant. However one also needs money. Unless one has been granted a financial aid or attributed a scholarship, studying engineering is costly. The tuition fee may sum up to amounts as high as 1 million rupees. It has also been noted that Universities grant scholarships to those students who have participated in extra curricular activities. Also if one really needs financial aid, one may seek so from private organisations.

Subjects To Be Studied At The University Level

‘Engineering is not only about how good you are in your respective field, but it also about the person you become while majoring in it,’ explains Kaditya Naidu, a civil engineering student at the University of Cornell. She further explains that on her freshmen year, she faced much difficulties as a Mauritian student since she was not used to such an educational system where she had to balance between her studies and extra curricular activities. ‘ Engineering helps me to have a wider perspective of things and to become more independent,’ she affirms. This engineer-to-be also admits that the competition between the students in that field is very high and that many of her friends dropped after completing the first year since they found it too bulky and tough. All engineers must acquire a broad knowledge of sciences and mathematics. Also, with the increasing reliance on technological advances, it is important for an engineer to be acquainted with machine applications. As engineering disciplines vary, the distribution courses that the engineer-to-be needs as background for upper level courses also vary. For instance, the student in biological engineering shall acquire a strong background in chemistry to most effectively understand the functions found in biological systems. An engineer is a professional. Therefore as all respected professionals, an engineer shall have a rounded education. Many universities around the globe include liberal studies in their

curriculum where the students shall have the opportunity to learn a foreign language or study literature.

Also, written and oral communication is stressed throughout the

curriculum of an engineer. An efficient and approved engineer shall master all his subjects from calculus and computer programming sections to the liberal arts studies. For Amira Prayag, who got a seat at the University of Cambridge for engineering, time is critical. Indeed, in just a few weeks she will be flying to England to start her tertiary education. She shares her apprehension by saying ‘I do not know if I am prepared enough for such a course. Being such a competitive domain, I will have to give my best.’

Tricky Engineering

It is clear that the strength of even the largest engineering structure depends in part upon chemical and physical events happening upon a molecular scale and so engineers do not only have to let their ideas range freely up and down the scale of physical dimensions from the very big to the very small, but they also have to jump backwards and forwards from the ideas of chemistry to those of engineering. In the current phrase, engineering is ‘interdisciplinary’.

Engineering is all about making things work but sometimes, they don’t. Sometimes there are miscalculations or unforeseen variables that can cause problems or even disasters. Slender, elegant and graceful, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge stretched like a steel ribbon across the Puget Sound in 1940. After four moths, the great suspension collapsed in a windstorm. The bridge became famous as the most dramatic failure in bridge engineering history. This created a ripple effect across the nation and around the world. The event changed forever how engineers design suspension bridges. As professionals, engineers learn from their mistakes and do everything possible to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future. It is said that doctors hold life and death in their hands. The slightest mistake they make could result in disastrous consequences. The same thing could be inferred about engineers. If one of them had not carefully designed the engine of the car we drive, the fly-over which we go through every day or the very walls that hold our house together, our lives could be in danger. In many aspects, engineers contribute

either directly or indirectly, not only to our comfort, but also to our security.

Engineers in Mauritius Engineers determine our lives, from the food we eat to the car we drive. In well developed and resourceful countries such as the United States of America or China, there is an increase demand of engineers. However, in the local context engineers are often ‘neglected’. As a consequence Mauritian engineering apprentices, studying abroad, prefer staying back where they are assured a job security and a decent pay. In many cases, high school science student shift to law or finance once at university level.

Who Employs Engineers?

Engineers are normally employed by the government or in private companies and sometimes decide to pursue their dream of set up their own companies. In Mauritius, most of the engineers working for the state are civil engineers. Their job consists basically of designing public infrastructures and maintaining the government buildings. Also, they provide for advisory services when it comes to building or land development. On the other hand, private companies employ a wide range of engineers. The Forges Tardieu Ltd. Now commonly known as OISEL Ltd. is a local company found on the exit of northern Port-Louis. This company among many others, deals with the sugar industry and has spread to further horizons such as Reunion Island, Madagascar and Rwanda. Lately, the company has been working with a team of fifty engineers and technicians.

Earnings The annual salary of an engineer depends on his level of education and the industry in which he works. At international level, petroleum and aerospace engineers are known to

earn the most with an salary reaching up to $166000 and sometimes even above. In average, the salary varies between $68000 and $108000. The earnings of engineers is affected by the fluctuations in demands of engineers. Also, this salary is totally dependent upon the economic situation of a country. Mauritian engineers are remunerated monthly for thirteen months. For instance, a young civil engineer may obtain a job in the government and earn a starting salary of Rs22000. The salary varies with the types of engineering and normally increases with experience. Another example can be found in the 2008 survey carried out by the CCIFM, Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie France Maurice, stating that an experienced infrastructural engineer working in the private sector had a total annual remuneration estimate of Rs478032. Though money has become an important issue and is needed to survive in this rapidly changing society, one should bear in mind that choosing a career according to the entitled salary would not prove profitable. A career in engineering should be guided by the love of applied sciences.

Engineering As A Misleading Carrier

Bomb attacks and gun firings are the everyday headlines of various newspapers. If one gives it a deeper thought, one shall realise that engineers are at the root of these problems. Indeed, engineers are indirectly connected to these attacks since they are the ones who analyse, design, construct and innovate the weapons. This, in some way, empower engineers for they have the potential and knowledge of constructing from simple things such a dynamo to complex weapons like bombs. So, are engineers to be feared? Aspiring engineers and graduate ones shall at any cost respect the ethics and integrity of such a job.

Ethics Of An Engineer

As all professionals, engineers have codes to follow. These are rules established by the professional society to ensure that engineers follow guidelines to work productively. By abiding to the laws, engineers accept that they should work for the quality of the things

they produce. They should accept that engineering involves not only intelligence or ingenuity, but also responsibility and maturity. As stated by the many national societies of professional engineers, the latter should honour their profession and behave responsibly. Usually, similar to the constitution, the codes of an engineer are written in the form of articles. The first fundamental canon is that they should never act against their customers' consent nor they should disclose personal information about the former; engineers should be faithful. Secondly, they should act only in their area of performance, that is, they should not consider to work in a field which is not within their expertise. Then, engineers, as well as aiming for an outstanding quality, should care for the wellbeing of the public at large. The rules of practice following the main ones mentioned are numerous but are as important, for they contribute to the high standards and integrity of the engineering society.

Engineering And Its Advances

Engineers without Borders After doctors without borders, engineers without borders is another non-profit making organisation created to help people in developing countries. Founded in 2002,this is an interesting and generous concept involving benevolent engineers who set out to help rebuilt or improve the infrastructural situations in the most retired villages of African countries. The tasks are simple and productive. Both professionally active engineers and aspiring engineers work to improve those people's lifestyle. It can be done by simply providing them with home water filters or if the materials are available, introduce new structures such as rain catchments systems. Unfortunately, this organisation exists only in the States and it is difficult for Mauritian engineers, though willing to contribute, to acquire memberships. Implementing such an organisation in Mauritius would confirm the fact that being an engineer does not mean simply sitting behind a desk, but also world exploration and charitable acts.

Women and engineering

Women were once known to avoid science and mathematics. Nowadays, more of them are taking scientific careers, engineering on the top of the list. They are often encouraged by the government to

opt for science at high school level. In industry, women prove to

be more committed to work and produce a higher quality of work. Mauritian women engineers are very small in number. In 2009,the government has launched the Women Entrepreneur Program to emphasize the importance of women contribution in the economy of the country. Similarly, encouraging young girls to chose engineering as a career by promoting the job would be beneficial for the country. Many of those students still fear gender inequality and prefer to stay abroad. This threatening ideology should be quickly erased to allow more women engineers in the Mauritian society. Furthermore, as it was suggested and approved in the states, an organisation such as the Society of Women Engineers(SWE) could be created to help those women to adapt and face the situation with a fresh vision. Mrs Mohee, Dean of Engineering at the University of Mauritius, explains that her love for sciences and understanding of concepts directed her towards engineering. ‘As a woman, how do you feel in such a manly world?’ To this question, Mrs Mohee answers ‘ In fact, it is not such a man’s world. Actually women can be better at it than men. While men may be adept at mechanical engineering, women clearly distinguish themselves in chemical engineering. Of course it is a very demanding job where a lot of work and effort are required. However having the support of my family, I am able to cope with it.’ She continues by saying that it is a sector where more women are emerging. Indeed as the Dean of Engineering at the University of Mauritius, she asserts that more applications from girls are being received. ‘ This is an encouraging path that the students of tomorrow shall follow.’

A Last Note

Engineering is a wonderful job. Be it behind a desk or in a charcoal mine, the only tool required is the mind. As for the imagination, its limits have never been far-stretched as it is in engineering. Students choosing a job in this field should feel lucky to be one of the future leaders of tomorrow’s innovations. Engineering can be the most beautiful subject while being the worst at the same time. Becoming a good engineer is not done overnight.

On the other hand, it demands years of study, work and experience. However if one is really determined and willing to strive, one will be able to make it to an engineering career. ‘There is always a time when I want to give and abandon my career for the difficulties I face are too much to take. However in the face ‘adversity’, I wake up and struggle harder. That is mainly what happens to an engineer most of the time.’ says Kaditya Naidu. A career in engineering surely means hard work, but the path to success is paved with sacrifices.

Acknowledgements Mrs Mohee, Dean of Engineering, University of Mauritius Mr. Mohonee, Mauritan Engineer Physics Teacher, Queen Elizabeth College Kaditya Naidu, Civil Engineering Student, University of Cornell Amira Prayag, Engineering Freshmen, University of Cambridge