I'm in High School, and I'm just starting to look at colleges. The problem is that I don't know what I want to major in yet. I know I want to go into some type of engineering, but I really don't understand the different kinds. Could someone give me a brief overview of a few of the different kinds? (biomedical is my #1 choice at the moment, so details on that would be wonderful)(I know this sounds like I'm trying to get answers for a school project, but I sincerely promise that its not, I'm just confused about my future)

If you type in a Google search Types of Engineering Jobs, I am sure that you will get a good idea as to what is out there.

You could also try typing in Biomedical Engineering Jobs.

Check out the engineering page on Wikipedia:

Portal:Engineering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It breaks out the major disciplines.

Here's another suggestion... consider studying physics as an undergrad, and consider going to a large school that has research groups in lots of different areas of Physics and Engineering. As an undergrad, you'll get some exposure to different things that are out there.

As for studying Physics vs. Engineering, the reason I did that was to keep my options open after graduating (since I knew I wanted to be in the space industry, but I was worried about being "locked in"). In the decade+ since I graduated, I've had zero regrets and have done lots of different things such as controlling satellites, software engineering/development and even running my own retail store. :)

Good luck!

-Adeena

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Originally Posted by Marissa890

I'm in High School, and I'm just starting to look at colleges. The problem is that I don't know what I want to major in yet. I know I want to go into some type of engineering, but I really don't understand the different kinds. Could someone give me a brief overview of a few of the different kinds? (biomedical is my #1 choice at the moment, so details on that would be wonderful)(I know this sounds like I'm trying to get answers for a school project, but I sincerly promise that its not, I'm just confused about my future)

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Don't feel bad about not knowing what type... most freshman aren't sure either. MOst Engineering schools do not require you to select which type of engineering you want to study until your second year of study. They generally have a Freshman Engineering course that talks about Engineering in general as a career and also looks at each type. At most colleges, all engineering students take a common (or very close to ) set of courses their first year.

There are engineering disciplines that focus primarily on concrete things (civil engineering), others that focus primarily on abstract concepts (software engineering, process engineering). Still others combine the two realms to some degree (electrical engineering). Then there's the problem domain: computers, software, roads, chemicals, bio-systems, etc.).

Spend your first year in engineering school learning the basics - all engineering disciplines follow a similar underlying process. Try to decide on the problem domain you'd most like to work in: what turns you on and energizes you? If you decide to be a software engineer and really hate computers and software you probably won't be happy in your career.

And realize that the skills you will learn may be transferable - that means if you're an electrical engineer for a few years and decide to switch to biomed, you'll need to get more education but the problem solving skills you've learned will be transferable to the biomedical field.

Make sure you hone your writing and other communication skills in college - too many engineers come out of engineering school barely able to write a coherent sentence. And employers increasingly do value communication skills in their employees. It's the sort of thing that will really help you stand out from the crowd!

Vasily