Discussion Thread

  • 1.  Guidance for choosing stream for Masters Degree.

    Posted 07-05-2019 10:41 AM
    Hello,

    Please help with your expertise in the field of civil engineering by explaining what is the future of the industry?

    Also, out of Structural engineering, transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, construction management and Environmental engineering, which stream will have a boom in the coming years?

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    Samruddhi Mangrulkar S.M.ASCE
    Undergraduate student
    Thane MH
    91 9833972259
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  • 2.  RE: Guidance for choosing stream for Masters Degree.

    Posted 07-08-2019 02:06 PM
    Good Afternoon - 

    The future of the industry, as I see it in the States, is going towards alternative delivery methods.  The backlog of work has created a volume and schedule that cannot be maintained without producing a set of plans and specifications on very short order and working ahead.  I also see the unfortunate commoditizing of our industry, wherein the amount of fee and profit are being held to unreasonably low levels, yet the liability is ever-increasing and litigation is never-ending.  

    I believe that construction management will have the biggest boom in the coming years.  I believe we are already sorely understaffed for a number of projects already and that trend likely will continue until further notice.  

    Hope that helps.

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    Jason Fuehne P.E.,M.ASCE
    CE
    Burns & McDonnell
    Kansas City MO
    (816)8237034
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  • 3.  RE: Guidance for choosing stream for Masters Degree.

    Posted 07-08-2019 04:57 PM
    Thank you sir! Yes, indeed that helped!

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    Samruddhi Mangrulkar S.M.ASCE
    Undergraduate student
    Thane MH
    919833 9833972259
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Guidance for choosing stream for Masters Degree.

    Posted 07-09-2019 10:07 AM
    ​ASCE just published a "Futures" document. It is a great vision of the future of Civil Engineering. That may give you some ideas ?

    https://www.futureworldvision.org/

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    Michael Avery P.E.,M.ASCE
    Associate Division Administrator
    FHWA
    San Juan PR
    (202)258-3615
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  • 5.  RE: Guidance for choosing stream for Masters Degree.

    Posted 07-11-2019 11:45 AM
    ​Hi Samruddhi,

    From my recent experience of internship/full time/career fair/online applications/interviews, what I have observed is that the following streams have a huge job market (with respect to civil engineering specializations) in the US
    1) Transportation engineering: traffic, ITS, highway/roadway and pavements
    2) Construction management
    3) Geotechnical/foundation engineering

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    Yogesh Kumbargeri, PhD, EIT, A.M.ASCE
    Senior Staff Engineer
    SME
    Plymouth MI
    (517)515-4073
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  • 6.  RE: Guidance for choosing stream for Masters Degree.

    Posted 07-12-2019 12:40 PM
    In my opinion, I think the the coming years will see a boom in environmental engineering. More specifically, that would be in water resources. With the uptick in climate change, we are already seeing major needs for coastal engineers due to extensive coastal erosion (especially in arctic settings). The industry is tending towards coastal resiliency to solve these problems at the moment and this field will need new engineers with new ideas on how to tackle these problems. Additionally, with the planet heating up, there will be more droughts in the future and I think the management of aquifers will have a huge impact on the way we live our lives day to day, depending on where you live of course.

    I also see there being a large uptick in renewable energy from water. I believe more dams will start to be built, as well as advancements in tidal energy. It is relatively new to the green energy line but could be the greatest source due to its reliability (i.e. the tides are always there). The Cook Inlet of Alaska possesses 90% of the entire US's tidal budget, so there is great interest in conducting studies here. The biggest issues right now with it is designs have not yet been optimized due to its infancy, it is currently very expensive to implement due to lack of investing, and there are environmental impacts to get around (i.e. effects on sediment transport and marine mammals). Advancement of this will require mechanical and electrical engineers, but also water resource and environmental engineers to study the effects it has on the environment in order to help the mechanicals and electricals improve their designs. 

    Lastly, you will always need someone to build things. It is fine and dandy putting things down on paper but once you are in the field it is a whole other world. Actually building something and making things on paper work is very difficult. There will always be a need for construction (labor and engineers).

    Take all this with a grain of salt though, this is purely opinion and I am not the most experienced person out there. Hope this helps you with deciding where you want to go with your future!

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    Grant Warnke EIT,A.M.ASCE
    Waterfront EIT
    Moffatt and Nichol
    Anchorage AK
    (907)313-5004
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  • 7.  RE: Guidance for choosing stream for Masters Degree.

    Posted 07-14-2019 02:48 PM
    Hello,

    Thank you so much for such helpful insights. 

    Regards

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    Samruddhi Mangrulkar S.M.ASCE
    Undergraduate student
    Thane MH
    919833 9833972259
    ------------------------------