There are a number of disciplines within engineering, but for second-level students it's worth remembering that civil engineers are currently in short supply. Graduates are being snapped up and this demand is likely to continue for a number of years.
According to the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, which is the professional body for the State's engineers, apart from the general shortage of civil engineers, the number of women in the profession is still only 7 per cent. The IEI is currently witnessing "the beginning of acute shortages of civil engineers. Every local authority is looking for engineers and consultancy engineering firms are beginning to feel the pinch as well," says an IEI spokesman.
Tim Brick Brick, deputy city engineer with Dublin Corporation, says graduates are not going into the conventional engineering routes, with many choosing information technology areas instead. Special service providers will shortly be recruiting for the corporation in Russia, Poland, Eastern Europe and South Africa, says Brick.
The IEI has a total of 17,000 members, who come from all engineering disciplines. Of these, the level of women engineers is still as low as 7 per cent. However, the IEI reports that due to a range of initiatives to attract more women into the profession, colleges now report a rise in female undergraduates and the student population has between 15 and 20 per cent women students.
"If we were able to persuade more women to enter the profession, we'd cure the shortage overnight," says Sean Connolly, of the IEI. Engineering has failed to attract women in the past for a range of reasons, one being that engineering was seen as a dirty job. But, says Connolly, engineering doesn't involve going down manholes or working in greasy, dirty conditions. A civil engineer's work is far more high-tech and sophisticated today.
As well as civil engineering, engineering students can specialise in a number of areas, including: agriculture and food engineering; biomedical engineering; building services engineering; mechanical engineering; chemical and process engineering; computer and software engineering; electrical and electronic engineering; fire and safety engineering; energy-environmental engineering and industrial, production and manufacturing engineering.
Many civil engineerings spend a proportion of their time working abroad, gaining experience or simply by choice. The skills they develop here are transferable to almost all parts of the world, including the US, the rest of Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. "Many top executives in companies throughout the State are engineers who no longer practise pure engineering but those skills stand them in good stead in their advancement in their jobs," says Connolly.
According to the IEI, the qualities a budding engineering should possess include curiosity in order to want to understand why natural and mechanical things work; imagination for coming up with new ways of looking at old problems or solutions; responsibility in order to complete assignments in a dependable way and communication in order to be able to share ideas and get along with other people.
For those studying for a degree, the IEI maintains that the most important element is how to think. The subjects and projects undertaken on undergraduate courses require skills of numeracy, logical thought and creative problem solving strengths. As well as the university degree courses, there is a comprehensive range of established NCEA recognised two-year national certificate and three-year national diploma courses in all branches of engineering.
