• Question: Are all engineering jobs the same- for example, are Paula and Phillippas jobs basically the same; they both help to stop people from dying?

    Asked by Jade_Mads to Matthew, Neil, Paula, Pete, Philippa on 11 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Matthew Gall

      Matthew Gall answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Hey Jade,

      Great question! No two engineers do exactly the same job. Now I can’t speak for Philippa or Paula, but taking a quick look at their profiles, Philippa is a civil engineer and her job is to work on infrastructure (such as roads, and railways) around the world and make it easier for you guys to move around! Paula on the other hand is an aero-mechanical engineer and is responsible for making sure aircraft fly properly, taking a look at their design of their individual parts!

      I am a software engineer, so my job is developing applications for computers to work out big problems, like, is the website you are visiting dangerous, is it going to infect you with malware? Should you be able to visit it?

      Engineering is a big word, but it encompasses all sorts of disciplines, from computers to aircraft, to roads and pipes! We’re all using similar skills, but in different ways for different jobs!

    • Photo: Pete Symons

      Pete Symons answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Hi Jade,

      No two engineering jobs are the same, as you can see from all our profiles we all do very different things. We do all consider safety though and what risks are posed by the projects we work on.

    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Hi!

      I think you are right in a way – they do both improve the health and wellbeing of people… Although they do that in different ways and in different industries.

      Some engineers do more calculations that others, some do more report writing than others, some do very specialised work, some do work spread over many disciplines. Some optimise the designs of cars, some ensure we have energy to keep the lights on, some ensure we have water to drink… If you can think of a product or process, there’s probably an engineer that’s involved at some stage!

      But at the end of the day, they’ll all tend to be working towards an outcome that affects people positively.

      Hope this helps!

    • Photo: Philippa Jefferis

      Philippa Jefferis answered on 13 Mar 2015:

      Hi,

      We do all have a common goal – to protect and improve lives. However, how we go about that is in lots of different ways.

      So I am a civil engineer – which means I tend to work with structures like buildings, bridges and tunnels. However, I also studied drainage and flood defence at university.

      Paula is more a mechanical – in particular and aero-mechanical engineer – so would be involved in the design of vehicles, engines, pumps.

      Now a days there are lots of similartities and overlap between engineering, but also some very specialist people too. We all need to work together to find creative solutions to problems.

Comments