• Question: How will what you do affect me in later life? well............................

    Asked by larrythesafetysquirrel to Al, Emma, Ivanka, James, Omar on 15 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Al Bartlett

      Al Bartlett answered on 14 Mar 2012:

      Hello larrythesafetysquirrel,

      Brilliant question!!

      If you’re talking in terms of you having a career in engineering, then the engineers of today will have a great influence on it.

      The studies and investigations that engineers are currently working on will provide answers to problems that scienctists and engineers from your generation will bring to life, but you in turn, you will investigate problems and design soluions that the next generation will help to build also – it is an engineering cycle that means that the world will always need engineers but engineers will always need the world!!

      Hope this explains it for you?

    • Photo: James Vokes

      James Vokes answered on 15 Mar 2012:

      If you go into the army you might get intel or you might actually get to control one of the UAVs that I’m writing code for. As for the actual code I write…what’s interesting about writing code for programs is that since people “invented” it people have been freely stealing each others code. Once you’ve written code that does exactly what you want it to and nothing else then that’s code that could be re-used again on the same project or on other projects. Eventually you’ve built up a huge number of building blocks to build programs with. Eventually those programs become blocks themselves etc. etc. I guess what I’m trying to say (badly) is that some code I write might make its way into a project I don’t even know about in the future.

    • Photo: Ivanka Brown

      Ivanka Brown answered on 15 Mar 2012:

      Some of my work has involved maintaining what you already have. I have been involved in stabilising embankment to that trains can continue running.

      I have also been involved in designing the foundation for the electronic message signs that you see on motorways that tell you if there are queues or road closures ahead, or even if there is thick fog so you need to slow down.

      However, with all construction work there is an expenditure of energy and waste. The waste fills landfills (of course we recylce as much as possible) and the energy used often creates more carbon dioxide which is detrimental to the environment. There is continuing work by scientists and engineers to figure out how to keep all our trains running and roads smooth without causing as much pollution.

    • Photo: Omar Mustufvi

      Omar Mustufvi answered on 20 Mar 2012:

      Because of pollution and increasing laws from the governments, we wouldn’t have cars on the road today if engineers hadn’t made the incredible developments in automotive technology. The challenges are getting tougher and tougher, and we need engineers to be able to find better solutions so when you are driving a car in the future you won’t have to worry about polluting the earth.

    • Photo: Emma Bould

      Emma Bould answered on 20 Mar 2012:

      My job is about maintaining security on the high seas (being one of the engineers on the ship is just part of what I do).

      We do this so that you can go to the petrol station or supermarket and buy what you want when you want it. (Think about what is made outside of the UK – TVs, Games Consoles, Mobile Phones) Without safe sea lanes and free trade routes around the world, the whole country would suffer…..90% of our imports arrive by sea!

      I would say that I we didn’t do our job it could have an impact on you now, not just later in life…..

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