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| The Field of Study | What is it all about? | A Day in the Life | The Workplace |
CIVIL ENGINEERING
The field of Study
The next few decades will be the most creative, demanding, and rewarding of times for civil engineers,
and now is the best time to find the right career for you. Civil engineers are in the forefront of
technology. They are the leading users of sophisticated high-tech products - applying the very latest
concepts in computer-aided design (CAD) during design, construction, project scheduling, and cost
control. Civil engineering is about community service, development, and improvement -- the planning,
design, construction, and operation of facilities essential to modern life, ranging from transit systems to
offshore structures to space satellites. Civil engineers are problem solvers, meeting the challenges of
pollution, traffic congestion, drinking water and energy needs, urban redevelopment, and community
planning. Our future as a nation will be closely tied to space, energy, the environment, and our ability to
interact with and compete in the global economy. You, as a civil engineer, will perform a vital role in
linking these themes and improving quality of life for the 21st century. As the technological revolution
expands, as the world's population increases, and as environmental concerns mount, your skills will be
needed. There is no limit to the personal satisfaction you will feel from helping to make our world a
better place to live. Whatever area you choose, be it design, construction, research, teaching, or
management, civil engineering offers you a wide range of career choices for your future. Civil
engineering is grouped into seven major divisions of engineering: structural; environmental;
geotechnical; water resources; transportation; construction; and urban planning. In practice, these are
not always hard and fixed categories, but they offer a helpful way to review a very diverse and dynamic
field.
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