Israt
As an environmental engineer, do you feel as useful as you thought you would before you chose the career?
The reason I'd like to pursue a career in environmental science is because I am genuinely passionate about being educated about the ways in which I can improve our environment. I'm curious as to whether or not most environmental engineers fulfill this passion during their careers. #environmental-science #environment #environmental-engineering
3 answers
DAVID WEBER
DAVID’s Answer
YES, because you put a lot of personal input into a design, almost like an artist. You grow technically and get a personal satisfaction on solving a water or wastewater issue that was your idea. I might add my joy on designing is still the same 30 years later. As you grow you can stay in the technical side or move from engineer, senior engineer to project engineer, to project manager to office manager a management path, One day you do a pump station next a wastewater plant. You must work as a team with structural, electrical, geotechnical and architectural.
Your rewards are very personal.
kamal elfahssi
kamal’s Answer
A very unusual question, yet it is so worth replying to. Being an environmental engineering is certainly a difference making career, if one can be patient enough to become professionally qualified for great deeds. You have to know that you will start at an entry level before you work your way up.
Mark Hibbs P.E., GCDF
Mark’s Answer
This is a bit of a loaded question. In my career as an environmental engineer, I have worked as a consultant in a firm that serves the fuels, power, and mining industries. Clearly these are industries that consume or extract natural resources. That, in itself, is opposed by some people. Some of my clients expected that we would use any "grayness" in rules and regulations to their advantage. Hence, much like a lawyer, our job was to advocate for our client, even if we thought they could do more to protect the environment. As a student, I pursued environmental engineering with the expectation that my work would necessarily benefit the environment. In reality, that wasn't always true. Having said that, you could choose to apply your environmental engineering skills as a regulator, an environmental advocate, or in a company that develops technologies that protect or clean environmental media. If environmental engineering excites you, don't abandoned your pursuit of a degree; just be mindful of where you go to work and have a clear expectation of the job and who/what you'll be serving.