• Question: What do you get out of engineering that you couldn’t get from any other kind of work?

    Asked by mattress to Iulia, Katie, Mateusz, Ollie, Siobhan on 9 Mar 2017. This question was also asked by ARandomRussian, Em.
    • Photo: Siobhan Duncan

      Siobhan Duncan answered on 9 Mar 2017:

      That is a really good question.

      Modern jobs require more technology skills so these might not always be things that are exclusive to engineering. For example scientists are needing to learn to use computer programming more, so it’s not just software engineers any more.

      For me personally, what I get from engineering that I haven’t found in other jobs, is this feeling that you get when you get a project working. When you have taken something from an idea, to design and planning, to building, to testing, to removing errors and then improving it, and seeing it work in real life, it’s the best feeling in the world.

      You also get to play with so many cool toys you wouldn’t normally have access to. So I can use any of the robots in the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics for my research and there are so many of them!

      And finally, I’ve been obsessed with space since I was a wee girl. Engineering robots, in my opinion, is the easiest way for me to become an astronaut with the skills that I have. I’m working on getting fit enough to be considered haha.
      Hope this helps, please ask more if I haven’t answered fully or if you have any more questions
      Siobhan

    • Photo: Iulia Motoc

      Iulia Motoc answered on 9 Mar 2017:

      We live in a world that is changing all the time, from a technological point of view. Engineering allows you to help make a contribution to the society. On top of that, everywhere you look, in every job, you use something that was designed by engineers. This allows you to work in different fields, which another job wouldn’t allow that.

      The best thing is that you can never get bored and you push yourself to the limits. you have to do experiments, which sometimes succeed and sometimes they don’t. But that is what makes it fun. You do not have a routine job, doing the same thing over and over again.

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 10 Mar 2017:

      As an academic engineer, I find it to be the best balance between freedom, creativity and control over what I do.

      At least at this stage, I can approach my job any way I like – as long as the job gets done. So, if I can get the job done by waking up at 10:00 – that’s fine, don’t have to be at my workplace 09:00 to 17:00 🙂

      Academia pretty much demands creativity – that how this industry works. So, if you are creative, and people like it – you are in the right place 🙂

      You can also exercise a large amount on control over exactly what to do and how to go about it. So, choosing the robots, the ways you want to study them and tinker with them, who to give them to, and what to get out of it – all of that is in your hands.

      Oh, and, at least in my experience, you can collaborate with people all over the world – just write them an email 🙂

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