Undecided Major

Question: Hey, there! I'm hopefully off to university next year and am hoping to study engineering. I love maths and I also study physics and chemistry. I love art too and I think my creative side would be helpful in engingeering. I like to design things and know how they work. Problem is I haven't a clue what area to specialise in. I have an awful tendancy to like everything I do anyways! I dunno if this question has been asked before but I'd greatly appreciate any help. I need to make up my mind pretty soon! Thanks again, Fiona
posted by Fiona, Ireland on March 28, 2012

Answer 1 by Jan Hilbi

Hi Fiona, What an exciting time for you! There is a tremendous need for creativity in engineering, so your talents will be put to good use. An area of engineering that comes quickly to mind: biomedical/neural engineering. This encompasses a broad spectrum in engineering; artificial intelligence, robotics, the development of medical devices and considerably more. The medical engineering field in general, offers great potential for an inventive mind. Maybe the environment is your passion. You might want to consider Environmental engineering or Ocean engineering. But then nanotechnology is also fascinating... All of these fields offer cutting edge opportunities that require using your imagination to create a vision of tomorrow. The same can be said for both electrical and mechanical engineering - they work hand-in-hand with all of the engineering disciplines listed. One place to explore options is Wikipedia. They have a great list of engineering disciplines and sub-disciplines with decent descriptions. The trick is to find your passion and then identify the field of engineering that will let you play while you create solutions. If the work you do is fun, your creative energies will help you produce interesting and inventive solutions. Good luck with your studies, let us know how you do! Cheers! Jan

Answer 2 by Dr Anne Spence

Fiona: Sounds like you might be interested in creating your own major. We allow students to do that here at UMBC. Maybe a combination of engineering and visual arts. Faculty in our department of mechanical engineering are working with a visual arts professor to create better devices for use in pediatric medicine †something that might not look so scary to kids. If you donnâ€t have that option, I suggest that you pick a major like mechanical engineering and then take some time to attend the meetings of the student chapters of professional societies on campus. This will give you an idea of the types of things that those types of engineers do. Mechanical engineers like to know how things work and how to make them better. And, you are right, your creative side will be very helpful in engineering! Good luck! Dr. Anne Spence