Working as an engineer doesn’t have to be boring. You don’t have to avoid engineering if you don’t like crunching numbers and staring at graphs all day. Specializing in engineering gives you the ability to work in a variety of fields. Many seemingly unrelated industries have the need for engineers. This post looks at five interesting careers that open up to you with an engineering degree.
1. Professional Sports Engineer
Even if you don’t have the athletic ability, there’s plenty of room for you to get involved in sports as an engineer. Sports engineers are responsible for researching and developing equipment and making improvements to the sports environment. There’s a lot of room for innovation as a sports engineer.
Sports engineers often specialize in electrical engineering, mathematics, physics and mechanical engineering. Having a passion for sports is also important and will allow you to excel at your job. Sports engineering is a competitive field and having a masters will likely help you stand out.
2. Pyrotechnic Expert
There’s a lot of unseen effort and technical skill that goes into organizing, developing and executing firework shows safely. Pyrotechnic engineers play an essential role in designing fireworks through chemical engineering. Even with your masters, you’ll still need to pass safety certification courses to work with fireworks.
Pyrotechnic experts have the opportunity to experiment with different materials and combinations to create unique displays. Your work will be used to enhance celebrations, improve music performances and even as special effects for movies. Pyrotechnics is a rapidly advancing field as our ability to control chemicals becomes more advanced. Working as a pyrotechnic expert gives you plenty of opportunities to bring your own innovations to the industry.
3. Skatepark Designer
Engineers are an essential part of ensuring a skate park is safe for people to use. It’s critical to have a high level of understanding of angles and spacing in order to keep people safe. Skatepark engineers can bring innovation to the field by using new materials and experimenting with different angles.
In addition to skate parks, engineers are needed to design theme parks, playgrounds, and other recreational areas. If you still have an obsession with Lego, this may be the field for you. Engineers can also get involved with designing courses for Olympics sports. The same safety princes of skateparks apply to bobsled courses, Olympic ski slopes, and other sports.
4. Aviation Software Designer
As an aviation software designer, you’ll be in charge of developing and modifying software to help pilots to fly. Aviation software designers are responsible for planning the development of computer products that will eventually have a real-life application. Computer science is a bonus skill to have if you want to be in the aviation software field.
Aviation software engineers are also responsible for providing practical advice during ongoing projects. You’ll also develop logic flowcharts and block diagrams for specific projects. Aviation software designers also work closely with computer operations staff and other software specialists.
5. Technical Writer
Engineering is a complicated field and writers are always needed to translate technical jargon. Large engineering companies need someone to take what they do and explain it in an easy to understand way to promote their company. As a technical writer, you’ll have a pretty unique career compared to other engineers.
If you enjoy writing, you’ll likely enjoy working as a technical writer more than traditional repetitive tasks. Technical writers need to develop skills in advertising and writing different types of content to excel at a high level. Technical writers often write for newspapers, magazines, engineering journals and other mediums.
