Ask an Engineer

You will find a job in engineering. The restrictions that we have in jobs are there to keep us safe. You cannot have someone operating machinery while wearing clothing that could get caught. That being said, I am sure that there is an OSHA person who can ...

Conservative dress is just fine for office work and presentations at conferences. However, loose clothing when working near machinery may cause a safety hazard. This should be reviewed in consultation with your Safety Officer and appropriate precautions ...

In general, yes! You can dress conservatively. The only exceptions I can think of when you may not have 100% say in the outer layer is when safety comes into play. In a machine shop, or place with moving machinery, you are often required to wear steel ...

This is a tough question for those of us who have spent our entire career in engineering related fields. Naturally, there are some areas which I loved more than others. In school, I struggled with thermodynamics but excelled at heat transfer which ...

Engineering is a very broad field so if you study engineering you can choose from a huge variety of jobs which all have pros and cons. I have had some engineering jobs that I didn't enjoy so much and others that I have found very fulfilling! I will never ...

Hello! What a great question. First and foremost, I applaud you for understanding your likes and contemplating career choices while in high school. It will be important in college and class selections.

Secondly, I wanted to answer your question, “have ...

Recognize and acknowledge your feelings: Understand that imposter syndrome is a common experience and that many high-achieving individuals, including Maya Angelou and Einstein, have felt the same way. Gather accomplishment evidence: Collect tangible ...

It may help to hear from people who had similar experiences, so here's mine:

When I first started studying Electrical Engineering, I'd get anxious when I saw my male colleagues get their electronic circuits to work much faster than I did. On paper, I ...

I wish I had a magic answer on how to deal with imposter syndrome. I believe it will diminish for you as you continue to work hard and gain more experience and more confidence. But that may not offer much comfort to you right now!

What I can say is that ...

Actually, one of the best parts of an engineering career is the ability to fundamentally improve peoples' lives through innovations and sound design. In any engineering role, there are clearly defined standards that have been developed over time that ...

Very rarely do we design something by ourselves. When designing a product or a process, there will be an entire team involved. The team will look at the engineering design from different aspects such as ergonomics and safety. Marketing will do market ...

One of the great things about engineering is you are never working alone. There are multiple people/ teams involved in a design or process. This provides multiple eyes on a project to ensure everything is going smoothly and will not cause any negative ...

 Explain to your family the benefits of a STEM career and how engineering impacts society and everyday life. Share stories of women in engineering and their contributions. Demonstrate your seriousness about becoming an engineer through your actions and ...

You’re right, you can’t force your family to be proud of you. But your career choice is just that - your choice. The benefits of choosing a STEM career far outweigh the risks of your family’s lack of understanding. If you do want to try to convince them, ...

This question really came at the right time and resonated with me. I am 59 years old, and I have been working in the field of computer science, networking, and now telecommunications engineering for 30+ years. I did an interview for the National Academy ...

I am currently working in Contruction management with my civil engineering degree, and we frequently build LEED and Envision certified buildings. These buildings become certified by making sustainable choices. If you choose to go into construction, you ...

Hi Crystal-- there are lots of ways!  Some civil engineers focus on infrastructure, like designing buildings, dams, roads, and bridges. They might focus on lowering energy requirements, increasing resilience to natural disasters, or improving integration ...

I would polish up on my writing skills and communication skills early on during college or even in high school.  I would learn acting skills that would help me with presentation and dealing with difficult people.  Emotional Intelligence and how to win ...

My advice: don’t hesitate – speak up and share your ideas. Everyone has a voice, use yours when you know you have a valid point.

Until I was a junior in college I thought the people who volunteered to do things in class knew what they were doing, even if it was a new subject. I finally asked a young man how he was going to do the problem the professor had asked someone to do? He ...

Let me start by acknowledging that changing schools is tough. It seems simple on the outside, but it takes time to resettle yourself and find your groove.
Mathematics is an underlying component to nearly all of engineering. There are many types of math ...

Not every class has to be your best class. You will excel at some topics and not other for may reason such as how the material is taught, whether you have a natural inclination towards that topic, or whatever else you have going on in your life (e.g., if ...

Remember that no one is born knowing everything. In fact, we are born knowing nothing and have to learn. Even people who will say mean things to others, have had to learn things at some point. We all have different paths in our lives, learn at different ...

Great question! I had the same situation.

I also didn’t do well in math in high school, and I was asked to drop a class because I was failing. After some tutoring, I learned my learning capability was different from others. I am an auditory learner. In ...

In principle, the job is the same independent of gender.  However, as a female engineer, it is very important to identify mentors, role models, sponsors, and other key individuals to help overcome challenges associated with engineering as a historically ...