Engineering is a great profession. There is the satisfaction of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings homes to men or women. Then it elevates the standard of living and adds to the comforts of life. This is the engineer’s high privilege.
Herbert Hoover (1874 – 1964)
President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a mining engineer.
Engineering is a highly rewarding career for those who are creative and innovative. Be an engineer if you are interested in using mathematics and science to invent new products and give answers to the world’s problems.
There are several engineering specialties to choose from.
Aerospace & Aviation
The playing field of an aerospace & aviation engineer has many names: Aerodynamics, Propulsion, Navigation, Flight Testing. You will likely find him in his playing field building the latest aircraft, testing a satellite and designing better golf balls.
An aerospace & aviation engineer designs, analyses, models, and tests aircraft, spacecraft, satellites and anything that flies through the air, like a rocket. He also deals with any objects moving in liquids and gases.
Singapore is the largest aerospace maintenance repair and overhaul hub in the region, keeping its leadership position in the industry, which has drawn more than S$220 million fixed asset investment and provide employment to more than 17,000 people in the country in 2006, according to government data.
The industry is getting another boost from Spring Singapore, which announced on August 22, 2008, that it is leading a series of testing and certification initiatives to boost the growth of sectors, including aerospace. The testing and certification for industries, including aerospace, is worth S$50 billion globally, and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 8 percent.
Singapore’s aerospace industry recorded an output of S$6.9 billion in 2007, a 10.4 percent increase from a year ago, and is set to meet the country’s target of doubling its 2006 output by 2018, according to the statement released by EDB on April 1, 2008.
Biomedical & Chemical
An artificial heart. A prosthetic leg. Magnetic Resonance Imaging. X-rays. Biomedical engineers combine the knowledge of engineering and biological science to create new things. They invent new technologies to eradicate a health problem, advance medical care or to satisfy a human desire.
Biomedical engineering is also part of Singapore’s fast growing biomedical sciences industry that has seen the manufacturing output quadrupled to S$24 billion in 2007 from 2000, and the research and development expenditure tripled to exceed S$1 billion in 2006 from 2000, according to Singapore Economic Development Board’s website.
Chemical engineers apply principles from chemistry, physics, mathematics to transform materials and chemicals into more valuable forms.
They create high performance materials for aerospace, automotive, biomedical, electronic environmental and military applications. They make better plastics, paints, fuels, fibers, medicines, fertilizers, semiconductors, paper and all other kinds of chemicals. They design processes to make these products economically.
The output of a chemical and process engineer includes ultra-strong fibers, fabrics, Organic Dye Sensitized Photovoltaic Cells, adhesives and composites for vehicles, bio-compatible materials for implants and prosthetics, gels for medical applications, pharmaceuticals, and films with special dielectric, optical or spectroscopic properties for opto-electronic devices.
Singapore’s chemicals industry has an output of S$82 billion and contributes the most at 34 percent to the country’s manufacturing output. The sector has attracted several leading industry players last year to invest in Singapore. Synthetic rubber supplier Lanxess AG is building a S$823 million butyl rubber facility. ExxonMobil Chemical announced last September that it will build its second world-scale petrochemicals complex on Jurong Island. Mitsui Chemical said it will develop a S$230 million plant to boost production of a substance called TAFMER, blended with other resins.
Property & Resort Management
Engineers in this field are adept builders and skilful surveyors who give us Parthenon in Ancient Greece, Great Wall of China that stood the test of time, dams, roads, harbours and commercial buildings of our modern days. They deal with the planning, construction and maintenance of fixed structures, or public works.
This engineering disciple now has a new twist. With intelligent and complex buildings, such as the upcoming Integrated Resorts, mushrooming in Singapore and around the world, engineers of this field have an increasingly challenging and interesting job. They play a pivotal role in making sure that all aspects of a facility, from its ventilation, lifts, escalators, sensors, auto thermostats, to the entertainment rides that run through our future integrated resorts, work as an integrated whole to bring about comfort and efficiency to people living, working and playing in the buildings or facilities.
You will likely find an engineer in this field at the Marina Bay ensuring the smooth operations of the Singapore Flyer, in Sentosa overseeing the installment of the new entertainment ride imported from Germany or checking the escalators at Bishan MRT.
As long as there is a facility, you will find a Property & Resort Management Engineer.
Electrical & Electronics
Electrical & Electronics Engineers design, develop and test electrical systems and electronic devices. The fundamental to the discipline are the sciences of physics and mathematics as these help to obtain both a qualitative and quantitative description of how systems will work. They apply the laws of physics governing electricity, magnetism, and light to develop products and services for the benefit of humankind.
Engineers in this field are everywhere. They can be found in a fabrication plant, offices of a consulting firm, at a mining site, at a laboratory of a manufacturing company. They work with scientists, computer programmers and electricians to build gadgets and tools that meet our needs.
Environment & Energy
Environment & Energy Engineers help improve the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land resources that we live on, discover efficient and cost-effective energy. They rid pollutants that threaten to contaminate our living space, purify our environment so that we can be healthy, power equipments that improve our quality of life.
You will likely meet an environment & energy engineer in a laboratory conducting hazardous-waste management studies, in an office designing industrial wastewater treatment systems, in a manufacturing plant reconciling our economic demands with the harmful effects of acid rain and ozone depletion.
The scope of environmental engineering is varied and covers disciplines including environmental impact assessment and mitigation, water supply and treatment, wastewater conveyance and treatment and air quality management.
Logistics
Logistics Engineering focuses on the complex design of the flow of goods. It deals with issues such as logistics and coordination of different teams and things. It looks at how people, materials, information equipment and energy can work together in an integrated system.
You will find a logistics engineer working on a layout of a manufacturing plant, analysing and planning of workers’ jobs, handling the economics of raw materials, their flow through the production process and controlling the inventory of finished products.
Singapore is one of the top achievers in Logistics in the region. It houses more than 3000 logistics and supply chain management companies, operates the world’s busiest port and one of Asia’s largest cargo airports, EDB said on its website.
Marine & Offshore
Marine & Offshore Engineers design, build and repair boats, ships and vehicles that move in the ocean. They take care of marine structures such as harbors, docks and offshore drilling platforms.
They have detailed technical knowledge of naval construction and need to combine knowledge from mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering to perform their roles.
They examine ships and offshore installations to ensure their safety. They design, build and operate offshore platforms, rigs and pipelines for the oil and gas sector. They make sure engines, instruments and systems work safely and efficiently on ships, submarines or large weapon systems.
Singapore has 70 percent market share in the global conversion of Floating Production Storage Offloading, and also 70 percent market share in the world’s jack-up rigs industry, 20 percent of the world’s market share in ship repair , among the top 3 global centres for oil & gas equipment manufacturing and servicing.
Mechanical & Mechatronics
Mechanical & mechatronics engineers design, build, install and service mechanical machinery, components and tools across a range of industries, including manufacturing, construction, power, transport, sports and medical. They principles such as heat, force, and the conservation of mass and energy to analyse static and dynamic physical systems, to design most of the things we use – automobiles, aircraft, heating and cooling systems and household appliances.
You are likely to find them in an office, manufacturing plant or outdoor sites, assessing new products and innovations, building prototypes, trying research ideas into technical plans and using computer aided design and modeling programs, improving on production processes and planning and supervising the installation of machinery.
In Singapore, Machinery and Systems (M&S) and Precision Modules & Components (PMC) contributed $9.7 billion and $13.8 billion respectively, according to EDB.
Engineering with Business
The fast changing business and technological industry is asking for a new breed of engineers. The industry is asking that the sound knowledge of mathematics, science and technology of the engineers to be complemented with business fundamentals. They are asking engineers to be savvy marketers, astute business development managers and sharp project managers.
The multi-disciplinary education aims to make you the new generation engineers, augmenting your engineering discipline with marketing, sales, project management and business development skills.
IT & Infocommunications
IT & Infocommunications engineering is about finding new ways to make information more accessible. It aims to bring the innovations and creations in the IT and telecommunication industry to the intended users faster and easier. It is about creating superior ways to integrate IT and telecommunications technologies and package them into new solutions, and thus making the transmitting and receiving of information wider, more efficient and more secured.
You will study about how to make a smart phone smarter, use the Internet to make the trading of goods and services more efficient and discover new applications of mobile communications, just to name a few.
Singapore’s infocomm sector revenue hit S$51.7 billion in 2007, a 13.8 percent increase from 2006, according to IDA Singapore. Singapore's infocomm export revenue has grown from $28.98 billion in 2006 to $33.56 billion in 2007. Singapore is ranked fifth globally in the World Economic Forum’s Global IT report, IDA said.
Design & Interactive Media
Design and Interactive Media Engineers transform their ideas and concepts into animated, interactive and captivating visuals by using animation and other various 3D interactive tools. Through 3D modelling and virtual simulation techniques as well as the incorporation of graphics, audios and print medias, viewers are able to take on an active role especially in web based visuals.
Such developments enable the possibility of virtual training, enhance the efficiency of marketing of products as well as metamorphose a complex idea into visuals with presentations and effects for the audiences' viewing pleasure.
Robotics
“Robotics is the study of Robots.” (David Hitt, NASA)
Robotics engineers are involved in the study of electronics, mechanics, as well as computer programming. Studying of robots involve the science, technology, design, manufacture and applications of robots. While a robot is a complex electro-mechanical system, it can be equipped with artificial intelligence that allows it to make decisions based on a set of data in its computerized “memory”.
Both commercial and industrial robots are commonly used to perform jobs economically and efficiently especially where precise accuracy and consistency is of utmost concern. Robots are also employed in jobs which are repetitive, tedious or deemed too hazardous for humans. Manufacturing, assembly and packing, earth and exploration, surgery, weaponry and mass production of consumer and industrial goods are some areas where robots are being utilize.
