Want to see what women engineers have to say about their careers?!  Check out the answers to the questions below.  You can read profiles of the women who answered these questions by clicking on the name next to each response.  If you have a question for one of the women in our Gallery of Women Engineers that has not been answered elsewhere on the site you may submit a question here.  You can also read more questions and answers from 2009 or 2008 or from our 2007 Ask an Engineer Feature by clicking the links.

Dear Amanda,

This is a very good question, and depending on your year in school, a very timely one as well as applications to PhD programs are due relatively soon. Typically, in industry, the researchers who have PhD’s are given the greatest amount of freedom, both in selecting and in managing their projects. Additionally, these researchers will also manage other researchers who will typically have bachelors or technical degrees. However, this freedom is not dependent on the field of engineering that you choose. In fact, to develop a truly innovative product, industry often brings together teams of engineers from different disciplines. For example, one of my colleagues who has a PhD and who works in the biotech industry manages a project which focuses on developing a new type of implantable device. These colleague and her co-workers have PhD’s in bioengineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering and mechanical engineering. I have other colleagues who work in the defense industry and who oversee the development of unmanned or robotic ground vehicles. These colleagues have PhD’s in mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and applied mathematics. If you think you might be interested in engineering, I would recommend participating in research in an engineering research lab at your school. Getting hands-on experience will help you decide if engineering is right for you and, if you decide to go to graduate school, it will strengthen your application. Best of luck!

Andrea M Armani

Dear Nerissa,

The willingness to work hard and to be a team player is every bit as important in the engineering industry as having a mastery of engineering fundamentals. If you want to be an engineer, then I encourage you to “go for it!” You can always learn outside of the traditional classrooms and catch-up on any background material that you think you might be missing. The skills and talents that you bring to our profession are needed. And yes I had similar feelings as an undergraduate but most of those feelings were unfounded in the long-run because I did land my “dream job.” Good luck in the coming academic year!

It's hard to pinpoint the key criteria for what makes a good engineer -- having strong math and science skills are important but do you like to solve problems? I think problem solving skills and the inquisitive nature to find how things work and how they can be made better is important. I'm not so sure you have to worry about creativity as measured by art experience but rather are you curious, do you like to make things better? It is a great career and we need more people to consider it, especially those with strong math and science skills. When I started my engineering classes, I wasn't sure either but I did like math and problem solving. I was concerned that others may be more suited, that more of the guys in my class were confident and knew what they wanted but I soon discovered that didn't matter. I had great advice from a counselor to take the introduction to engineering course and that helped me decide. I would encourage you to keep up your math and science classes and seriously consider engineering as a major - after a few classes you will know if it fits or not and the courses you have taken usually count as science electives. I would encourage you to "go for it" -- good luck!!

Wow….this is the essence of what most women engineers feel and have to be convinced to join engineering. Here is a story I will relate to you from an undergraduate advisor. She said there are some new students who arrive and will timidly approach her with course requests indicating that they are not too sure they can make it. Then she will glance at their prior math and science performance and find they are doing well. Then there are others who walk in with a strut and sit down and announce the courses and she will find that they don’t have an amazing record. The moral of this story is this:

1. Don’t be fooled by the apparent glibness or amazement portrayed in any recruiting videos or by colleagues (it does not really indicate whether or not you are as good or not)
2. The older you get question any limit that you or others impose on you (knowingly or unconsciously). Go for it. There is something certain to spark your interest and you will be excited and feel totally confident. Programs typically offer so much variety that during the senior years (and these comprise most of the videographers stories) students take electives in areas that get them soooo excited that it comes across.
3. The important thing A LOT of women engineers around campus will offer in word or deed or example is that you transition from the kid who appears diffident who thinks they are not as good to the graduate who speaks confidently and realizes they are as good or better than most in some area or the other. That transition will happen. Just let it.

Hope this helps.
Nandika D’Souza

Undergraduate programs differ with each College and University. Some of them offer a degree in biomedical with another major possible, others with a minor, and others just the main program of biomedical engineering. An example is Drexel University in Philadelphia. In Canada, (as at Carleton and University of Ottawa) students normally get a degree in biomedical engineering combined with a major such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or chemical engineering. Since biomedical programs contain a fair amount of physiology, medical devices, etc.. I think it is important to have a strong base in either an engineering discipline like electrical (which is my major) for focusing on medical devices; or mechanical if one is interested in rehabilitation and aids for the disabled. Computer science or computer engineering would provide a good background for medical informatics.

So I suggest you look at the programs from a few colleges you are interested to apply to and decide how the program combines with your interests.

Best wishes for a successful and satisfying career!

Prof. Monique Frize, P. Eng., O.C.
Carleton University and University of Ottawa

Hello Kris,

Does the school that you were accepted to offer courses in engineering or the sciences? If so, you could try to take a class in that while pursuing your original degree. That would allow you to test the waters with engineering. If after taking that class, you decide engineering is for you, you could look to transfer and hopefully have fulfilled some of your general requirements along the way.

If you'd like to be economical about the situation, you could always try to apply for an internship or job in your field of interest during your year "off" between high school and college. However, with the job market being what it is, you might have difficulty finding a technical job. You could look to participate in a "shadow an engineer" program where you are able to follow engineers around. In addition to finding some job experience, I would use the gap year to take courses that are focused on engineering and the sciences. Community colleges are a great place to start with as you are able to take a variety of courses for less money than at a 4 year university. But, some 4 year universities allow for a "student at large" status where you can enroll in a university course without being a degree seeking student. These courses can usually be rolled over to a degree once you are accepted.

If you are set on taking a year off to look at another university, I would definitely recommend trying to talk to as many engineers as possible. If you are unsure about the type of engineering you would like to pursue, I would recommend looking online to find the local chapters of engineering organizations and attending a meeting to talk to their members about their experiences. For example, you could look for the local chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery (www.acm.org), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (www.ieee.org), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (www.asme.org).

Look at your gap year as a fact-finding mission. Engineers have to seek out facts every day. Consider this opportunity as one engineering experience. And don't forget to include your discoveries in your applications to another college.

Regards,
Amy

Hi Daezy,

Not having a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering does not mean you’re doomed to never work in the fields that interest you! While chemical engineering degrees are a wonderful base to approach any career in science, engineering, or technology from (speaking as a reasonably biased chemical engineer), they are not the only option available to you. If you are interested in working in the pharma or food science industries, a degree in biomedical engineering would be very appropriate. I encourage you to stay within the engineering umbrella, because you’ll find a lot of opportunities to explore other career options in engineering that you might find interesting in a few years. And yes, you can definitely try for a master’s degree in chemical engineering, although you may find that you don’t need one to work in the fields you mentioned. My one caution is that biomedical engineering and chemical engineering do have different fields of emphasis, so if you decide to pursue a master’s in ChE, be prepared to do some studying, because they will expect you to know a lot of the undergraduate ChE curriculum in order to do well in the ChE classes at the master’s level. (So, you may want to consider taking elective classes in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, and kinetics, to prepare for a ChE masters, if the BME program at your school doesn’t include those in their curriculum.)

I would recommend looking very carefully at the catalog of classes for the engineering majors offered at Miami, and seeing which classes in which majors sound interesting to you. Also, contact the college of engineering, and find out about their career services programs. They often have informational sessions that give information on different types of careers or industries, and what you need to succeed in each. That might help guide you in picking the major that’s best for you.

Congratulations on choosing engineering!

Heather

Autumn,

Yes, you are being absolutely realistic that you can do this! There will be obstacles, hardships, and sacrifices along the way but there will also be help to overcome them and support to sustain you through them. I think you will be inspiring to be so brave as to take steps – even small, slow steps – towards the life and career you really want. I speak from experience as my mother returned to school when I was young. She made college look fun and her challenges grew great rewards for our family.

My advice is to get all the information about your degree and the type of employment you will be looking for upfront. These are going to start to look like impossible hurdles but the more you know, the more you can prepare. For instance, depending upon the type of engineer you’d like to become, a bachelors degree may not be enough to get you an entry level position. Also, new employees are typically expected to have the steepest learning curve and employers will want you to do some level of travel and work longer hours. College does not completely prepare you for engineering work; in fact your role as an Office Manager has probably taught you more about people skills and project management – skills you’ll need in any employment and highly marketable for engineers.

Find out from the colleges you’ll be applying to who the academic advisors are and ask to schedule a meeting with them. Have a frank discussion about your goals and commitments. As soon as you begin classes, reach out to your college’s alumni office and ask them to set you up with a mentor – or join a program like MentorNet that focuses on women in engineering.

Best wishes to you on this journey!

Hi,

I think it is GREAT that you want to be an engineer in the U.S. marines! This is a very admirable career ambition.

I would focus on mathematics classes – especially trigonometry and coordinate geometry which is heavily used in maritime engineering. I would also recommend strongly another language. Marines travel around the world and it would be great to learn other cultures and languages. It will make you that much more valuable as a marine. Also, I would pay attention to classes dealing with world history and American history. As a part of our armed forces, you will need to understand clearly the heritage of this country as well as our enemies and allies.

Good luck, Shelbie and thank you for your service to the United States of America from one grateful American!

You definately seem to have one of the key ingredients - Motivation. As you go through middle school and continue through high school, try to take as many math and science courses as you can get your hands on. I also suggest trying to join a robotics team (or building/programming your own robot with kits such as the LegoMindstorms or the Vex robot starter kits).

Hello, Marie.

Good questions.....First off, I think that it is important that you get a degree from a school with a strong technical reputation.

Smith is a good school, but when I went there, there was no engineering school. They have been very active in encouraging women to go into engineering, but having been to both Smith and the University of Illinois, for the money, I would go to Illinois. ( I believe that you are an Illinois resident? Much less expensive, although Purdue is also a good school ) I would think that you would get a better education from the U of IL, on the other hand the competition will be more than at Smith. I went to Smith because I thought that having a degree from a Seven Sisters school would look good on my resume, but in the end, I left Smith because at the time, I felt that their physics department wasn’t preparing me for the working world. When I got to the U of IL, it was a real culture shock. I went from a small girls’ school of 4000 women to a school of 40,000 students. It took me a while to get used to the pace of things. After I got used to it, I found it challenging. One thing I learned at U of IL that I don’t think one can get from Smith is how to work in teams with both men and women. That happens a lot in the work place.

I am somewhat partial to the nuclear engineering department, or NPRE as it is called now, and sat on the advisory board for them for a few years.

I do not have first hand experience with their biomedical department, but I know that Illinois is working hard to improve the faculty and expand their department.

What I can tell you, is that when I review resumes, I like to see graduates from a strong science and engineering school and U of IL certainly is one of those.

There are some pitfalls in co-ed engineering schools - if you have a chance to take a quick look at a book written in 2002 by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher entitled, "Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing." Although it is about computer science, it talks about some of the social issues faced by women going into technical disciplines in college. Don’t let it scare you - but it might help you make up your mind. It is a short book and you can probably get it at the library.

Well, this is a long answer to your question, but I hope it helps.

I wish you the best of luck - and keep on going!

Patricia Eng

Not sure if I am the best person to answer this, but here are my thoughts…

Most of my experience has been with students who have a more specialized degree from a larger university. I have had one graduate student in the past who came from a smaller school with a general degree, and this person ended up having to take many additional “specialty courses” as pre-requisites before starting their graduate program. In general, I think for engineering, the specialized degrees and the larger more “engineering” or “technical” schools are the better option for later jobs and graduate programs.

You can do either one. You should choose whatever you like the most. You can find a job in the US either way if you perform well.

I have had many students from Latin America. They come to the Univ. of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez because we speak mostly Spanish, but we are accredited by ABET, which is the US accreditation Agency (PR is part of the U.S.) We do use all textbooks in English and some professors teach in English, but it’s a middle step. All of them have found jobs in the U.S. with no problem if they are good students, some have gone on to pursue a PhD.

Hope this is useful,

Sandra

Make sure that you choose a university that is accredited by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology). This assures you that you can apply to become a PE (Professional Engineer) after 5 years of working as an engineer. Next you should “try on a school to see how it fits.” Go there, talk to some students, think about want kind of environment you like (big/small; engineering only campus; research opportunities).

As far as getting into grad school and getting a job, I would talk with all of the universities that you are interested in and ask them where their students go to graduate school. Ask them how many go to each school and how many go to graduate school in general. I would be happy to give you feedback on specific schools.

Dear Muntariq,

I'm happy to respond to your question.

First, I think it's important for a person to work on something they enjoy.  It makes a big difference to one's satisfaction in life and commitment to work.  Both are worthwhile goals in themselves, but they also tend to correlate with career success.  In addition, there should be many exciting and creative possibilities (for example, in technology, education, or entertainment) for someone like you to combine your joint interests in animation and computer engineering.  I recently saw a video that uses computer animation in a way that you might find inspiring.

I wish you all the best in your career and life,

-- Ann Syrdal

Dear Radhika,

Extremely sorry for not replying to your query immediately. As you have mentioned you are a first year student of Information Technology, I think you are on the right path. Information Technology is a very good blend of computer science and electrical engineering, so a student gets well acquainted with software, hardware as well as communication and networking technologies. Having the basic knowledge of all these areas, it is totally your interest what you want to pursue for post graduation. You may select PG courses offering studies in software development, wireless communication or VLSI design etc, etc... Or you may go for PG in IT or PG in ICT. All these fields have tremendous potential and lot of chances for better placements. As far as scholarships are concerned, even in India all reputed institutes offer stipend for doing post graduation. You need to have a valid GATE score for seeking admission to these institutes. Stipend given is sufficient for a student to make out all his educational as well as personal expenses. I hope your question has been answered to some extent. Most welcome if you further want to ask something.

Wishing you all the best.

Regards,

Gauri Joshi

Being skinny and short does not restrict one from working in the plants. When I started almost 33 years ago I was also skinny and may be weak physically(which I am still) but that did not hamper my chances. If one is fit one can undertake any job. Research and teaching also demands physical fitness. In chemical plants one doesnt have to lift weights which really needs manual strength. The job in plants is mostly to monitor processes, and with latest instrumentation this is almost like working in an office.

Also I would suggest to join a organic chemical industry rather than inorganic, something like specialty chemicals. To get hired the first thing required is clear chem engg concepts, the basics. There is a myth about chem engg that it is based on chemistry. I would say the basis is physical chemistry, but it is highly mathematical.

Secondly to develop passion one needs to go a little deep in any subject. For diploma the real chem engg subjects like mass transfer, transport phenomenon, reaction engg are not taught in depth. Unless one learns these subjects in depth one cannot get the real feel. My advice is try to get into degree . It is easier in India if you can afford to come and stay .

Environmental engg has very little of hard core chem engg and it really doesn't need a specialist like chemical engineer. Chemical engineering has many facets like R@D, PILOT PLANT SCALE UP, PROCESS DESIGN, PROCESS ENGINEERING DESIGN etc and one should choose depending on the aptitude. Applied chemistry is not chem engg. Try to get into a degree course.

Regards, suniti

Dear Tanya,

Your question reminds me of my own experience in college. I was an A and B ME student getting Cs in physics (the class average) and wondering if I should change majors. I didn’t enjoy the classes and wondered if I was actually retaining many of the concepts. I stuck it out though, because I really enjoyed the math, other science like chemistry, and the heat transfer/fluid flow classes. I then went on to graduate school for a MSME and started working for a chemical company after graduation. As an aside, some people are surprised to learn that chemical companies hire about as many MEs as they do ChemEs. I’ve had the opportunity to work in many different roles at my company, and the important common denominator for success is engineering logic and problem solving.

Don’t let some tough physics classes change your career path if you’re enjoying the other ME classes. More of it will “stick” than you think, and very few people are good at all aspects of mechanical engineering – it’s a broad profession! Good luck with your classes –

Best Regards,
Stacey

That’s an interesting question. The answer is: it kinda depends on what kind of engineering you’d like to do. In general I’d say you do not need to know how to draw really, really well, but you do need to know how to look at a drawing that might show you a design and understand what it means. That’s sometimes called “reading” or “interpreting” the drawing. For some engineers, like civil engineers or mechanical engineering designers, drawing is a big part of their day to day life. These types of engineers normally have co-workers, known as draftspersons, who do the actual drawing for them using computer software. But they do have to let the draftsperson know what it is they need to draw. Engineers who design things need to convey what might be a difficult concept. They often use symbols and simple diagrams to illustrate what they need. Some even draw things that get pretty detailed in illustrating how something will look in real life… those engineers are also great artists! And then there are some engineers who do not draw as much, though they usually have to understand another’s drawings, like test engineers or engineers who build things. Like at NASA there are engineers who test the simulators where the astronauts train to make sure they work properly. These engineers do not really draw very much but might use diagrams to convey information back to the engineer who designed the simulator in the first place. This is a bit long-winded answer to say that being able to turn an idea into a diagram is important to all engineers, but you do not need to be so good that you can draw a portrait!

Best of luck,

Linda

The requirement of a Ph.D to design robots that explore other planets really depends on what part of the robot design you would like to do. To put a robot on another planet requires MANY different kinds of jobs.

For instance, the instruments that are selected to go on a particular robot are often designed at Universities by researchers and professors or at private companies. Usually the instrument teams are lead by people who have Ph.Ds in their specific area of research because it is highly specialized. However, those who actually build the instrument may not.

Others design particular parts of the robot, like the propulsion system, the wheels or landing system or the materials that the robot is made of like thermal protection material or materials that have particular properties that can survive the extreme conditions on other planets. People in all of these positions do not necessarily have Ph.Ds but some do. Usually those who do have a Ph.D specialize in a very specific aspect of the design.

As for myself, I work as part of the team who designs rovers to go to other planets. I do not have a Ph.D but I do have a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. I work specifically on the robot’s flight through the atmosphere. For example, I help to design parachutes used for landing the robots by using models of the robot and the atmosphere in computer simulations to determine how fast it has to slow down to land safely. That translates into how big the parachute has to be and when it needs to be deployed. Those results are provided to the parachute makers and the rover builders. Everything we do is interconnected but many people work on a tiny aspect of the whole thing.

All of these are just a few examples of what aeronautical engineers do.

In summary, many engineering jobs do not require a Ph.D, many scientific research jobs do. My advice is to try different things, intern at different places, then decide which is best for you.

Hope this helps,
Alicia Cianciolo
Aerospace Engineer

Environmental Engineering and Engineering Sciences both sound like excellent programs. In order to choose between the two, I suggest researching what types of jobs graduates with these two majors hold and see what interests you. Whatever your engineering discipline, you can apply your degree in several different fields. For example, I am an environmental engineer and I work as a Project Manager for a consulting firm. I assist all different kinds of industries with obtaining environmental permits and applying the environmental regulations that may affect their industry. Other environmental engineers I know are environmental lawyers, business owners, or work for large chemical manufacturing plants.

In response to your second question, there are a variety of possible degrees that could lead you to Green Building design. Certainly architects and environmental engineers could work in that industry, but there are several other disciplines that could be involved as well. For example, civil engineers could research more environmentally-friendly building materials and chemical engineers could research a new chemical that could be applied to that building material to make it even more energy efficient. A degree in engineering can be applied in a variety of ways, depending upon your interest! Good luck!

Surya