Career By Design

Civil engineering is so broad, and it's impossible for a professional to be a master of everything. However, as the CE industry grows and companies look to maximize efficiency, it seems there's a push to specialize more and more. Specialization can be helpful to hasten workflow, but it can also limit us from the interdisciplinary breadth necessary to holistically evaluate our designs. Site designers need to understand construction, water resources engineers need to understand soil mechanics, transportation engineers need to understand the structural components of their bridges. Everything in CE works together.

What advice would you give for someone looking to balance breadth and depth? How might you convince your employer to give you new opportunities when it may sacrifice efficiency?

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Anna Lisonbee EIT, ENV SP, M.ASCE
Sandy UT
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Dear Anna,

Thank you for initiating such a timely and vital conversation, one that speaks to the heart of our profession's evolving identity. Over the past 15 years, from field supervidsor engineer, leading the Rosaries Dam Heightening Project to developing Sudan's first system dynamics model and scenario-based fleet stress and CO₂-e emission simulations; I've witnessed how hyper-specialization can yield short-term efficiencies while masking systemic risks, limiting collaboration, and undermining sustainability goals.

Civil engineering thrives when expertise transcends silos. A site designer fluent in water-resource principles, or a geotechnical engineer versed in carbon accounting, can anticipate trade-offs earlier, streamline workflows, and deliver more resilient, climate-conscious outcomes.

To balance depth with breadth, I recommend:

- Scenario-Driven Modeling: Apply your specialty across structural, geotechnical, and environmental domains, quantifying CO₂-e impacts, mechanical strain, and interdisciplinary dependencies. In one infrastructure scenario, this approach reduced projected CO₂-e emissions by 60%. This was achieved solely through sustainability-aware scheduling that optimized vehicle stress factors, no budget overruns, no contract amendments, just strategic timing and systems thinking.

- Institutional Cross-Pollination: Encourage short-term rotations, peer-led design workshops, and carbon-footprint hackathons. These build shared technical language, foster adaptive problem-solving, and strengthen systems thinking across disciplines.

These aren't distractions from efficiency, they're strategic investments in risk mitigation, innovation, and alignment with global performance standards.

I'd be keen to learn: how have you fostered interdisciplinary thinking in your projects, and what impact has it had on sustainability, collaboration, or innovation?

Warm regards,  

Abubakr Elfatih Ahmed Gameil

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Abubakr Gameil, R. ENG, M. ASCE®️, SEI Member
Chairman & Director General
Almanassa Engineering International Co. Ltd
Khartoum, Sudan
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Anna:

Excellent question.  Here's several things I've done over my career to engage that breadth.  

1. Understand that the depth you need in your non-specialty is not the depth you may have experienced in university or if this were your specialty.  For example, as a geotechnical engineer, I can understand a column load is 75 kips (or reasonably estimate it to 65-85 kips), but not be able to analyze the same column in depth to determine a load of 73.6 kips accounting for biaxial bending and support conditions.  
2. Use ASCE and other professional groups to gain PDHs outside your specialty.  Learn from all viable sources.  Go to a webinar about transportation.  Watch a documentary on anaerobic digestion.  There is a wide variety of "free" information, should you choose to pursue it.   
3. Network.  Network with professionals in other disciplines.  Network with land developers, architects, contractors.  Ask them what their challenges are when getting professional services.  They'll tell you.  Go find retired engineers and offer to buy them breakfast for an hour of their time conversing about engineering.  As a geotechnical engineer, I get asked about grading and erosion control, which end up being issues for contractors.  So, through the next point, I learn and I try to have some solution - even if not at design-level - for the folks in my network.  
4. Utilize independent study.  Go back to your university textbooks (if you have them) to research about topics that come up in conversations with other professionals.  
5. Whenever possible, establish a formal or informal mentoring relationship, preferably more than one.  As a young engineer, I had two main mentors - a Vice President that could talk about engineering business, and a Chief Engineer that could talk about deep technical topics.  I utilized both to grow my knowledge base.  By asking if you can work with a more senior staff member, or co-mentor with a peer in a different discipline, you can broaden your knowledge.  
6. With employers, ask.  Show initiative.  The initiative and willingness to learn is the key to get the "investment" from the company for your future growth.  If I have an employee that wants to gain knowledge in a certain area, I have to balance "today's needs" with "tomorrow's opportunities".  So by asking, it may be something like this - "I don't have a specific opportunity for you to work on today, but let's set up a monthly meeting for an hour that we can discuss a specific topic you choose - be it within your technical specialty, or about engineering business, or about another specialty".  And do this for six months or a year.  See how much you've learned.  
7. Accept that omnipotence is unachievable.  Having a "working knowledge" outside your specialty is something that will always be useful.  Don't be upset that you don't have all the knowledge that a specialist does.  

Hopefully this is helpful to you and other young engineers with similar questions.  The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  

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Joseph M. Rozmiarek, P. E., M.ASCE
Chief Engineer
Marine on Saint Croix, MN
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Anna - great question!

I fully concur with Joseph Rozmiarek's suggestions.

Codes - both construction material codes as well as design loading codes - have become much more complex in the 35 (plus....) years I've been practicing.  It's a double edged sword - the additional code detail addresses design issues that were previously ignored, unknown, or just left to professional judgement.  But at the same time the additional complexity (sometimes unnecessary added complexity, in my opinion) makes it a challenge to keep current with all the codes.  I think the code and design complexity is driving the specialization as much as (or in concert with) business considerations.

I would suggest picking one 'business line' or type of work and limit your 'in-depth' depth to material and design codes related to that line of work.  For instance - if you design commercial buildings for a living, stay in-depth with the AISC steel, ACI concrete, TMS Masonry, and AWC wood codes as well as the IBC (and state versions) design codes.  If you do bridges, go in-depth in the bridge versions of these material and loading codes (primarily AASHTO, I believe?).  If you do water and sewer structures, go in-depth in the special requirements for those structures, such as ACI 350 for concrete or the government UFGS guides for Army Corps type work.  These examples are all for structural engineering - I'm sure there's parallels for environmental, civil/site, and roadway design.

It's good to also have a little bit of 'shallow-depth' exposure to related topics and codes, such as AREMA for railway design if you do buildings or sitework around railroads, for example.  If you do site or structural work for power companies, it's helpful to have shallow-depth knowledge of the NEC and of ASCE specialty design guides and codes.  If you do work in manufacturing, it's good to have shallow depth knowledge of different types of equipment and machines and how they affect your design.

The biggest challenge - especially if you're a naturally curious person - is accepting that you can't know everything about everything.  Smart companies don't try to be everything to everyone (or have specialized groups for different types of work).  You can't and shouldn't expect yourself to be an expert at everything either (I find that a challenge, partially from personal curiosity, partially from work expectations).

One last point - there are some specialties that can make for a good and rewarding career if you find them interesting - blast design, hydraulics, dynamics, light gage steel design, and pre-engineered metal building design, to name a few (again- sorry, that list is a bit structures-heavy!).    I would recommend getting a broad, general design background early in your career before diving deep into a specialty.  The exposure to a general background will make you better in your specialty and will also serve you well down the road if your interests change.

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Greg Thein, PE
Cleveland, OH
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-12-2025 03:52 PM
From: Joseph Rozmiarek
Subject: Risk of Hyper-Specialization in CE

Anna:

Excellent question.  Here's several things I've done over my career to engage that breadth.  

1. Understand that the depth you need in your non-specialty is not the depth you may have experienced in university or if this were your specialty.  For example, as a geotechnical engineer, I can understand a column load is 75 kips (or reasonably estimate it to 65-85 kips), but not be able to analyze the same column in depth to determine a load of 73.6 kips accounting for biaxial bending and support conditions.  
2. Use ASCE and other professional groups to gain PDHs outside your specialty.  Learn from all viable sources.  Go to a webinar about transportation.  Watch a documentary on anaerobic digestion.  There is a wide variety of "free" information, should you choose to pursue it.   
3. Network.  Network with professionals in other disciplines.  Network with land developers, architects, contractors.  Ask them what their challenges are when getting professional services.  They'll tell you.  Go find retired engineers and offer to buy them breakfast for an hour of their time conversing about engineering.  As a geotechnical engineer, I get asked about grading and erosion control, which end up being issues for contractors.  So, through the next point, I learn and I try to have some solution - even if not at design-level - for the folks in my network.  
4. Utilize independent study.  Go back to your university textbooks (if you have them) to research about topics that come up in conversations with other professionals.  
5. Whenever possible, establish a formal or informal mentoring relationship, preferably more than one.  As a young engineer, I had two main mentors - a Vice President that could talk about engineering business, and a Chief Engineer that could talk about deep technical topics.  I utilized both to grow my knowledge base.  By asking if you can work with a more senior staff member, or co-mentor with a peer in a different discipline, you can broaden your knowledge.  
6. With employers, ask.  Show initiative.  The initiative and willingness to learn is the key to get the "investment" from the company for your future growth.  If I have an employee that wants to gain knowledge in a certain area, I have to balance "today's needs" with "tomorrow's opportunities".  So by asking, it may be something like this - "I don't have a specific opportunity for you to work on today, but let's set up a monthly meeting for an hour that we can discuss a specific topic you choose - be it within your technical specialty, or about engineering business, or about another specialty".  And do this for six months or a year.  See how much you've learned.  
7. Accept that omnipotence is unachievable.  Having a "working knowledge" outside your specialty is something that will always be useful.  Don't be upset that you don't have all the knowledge that a specialist does.  

Hopefully this is helpful to you and other young engineers with similar questions.  The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.  

------------------------------
Joseph M. Rozmiarek, P. E., M.ASCE
Chief Engineer
Marine on Saint Croix, MN
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