What do you do for a living?

Technically you would call it a stream restoration engineer. It falls under the broader category of environmental engineering.

How would you describe what you do to someone?

You could probably boil everything that I do down to the main concept that we want rivers to transport dirt correctly. Now that sounds pretty boring but it entails a river depositing too much sediment or eroding away too much sediment from the banks so what we do is we take the stream systems in urban or in rural settings and we rebuild them to reflect what they would have been had they been left natural.

What does your work entail?

We do all of the site analysis, the initial data collection. We do a lot of surveying with laser survey gear or aerial survey gear if we get flown. We do the request for proposals. We do the scope of work, all the paperwork associated with getting the project, then once we get the initial data we do the design. We do the contracting too and we use a lot of computer system design software. After the design is done we move into the construction that we oversee. And then afterwards, there’s usually some period of monitoring involved where we say OK how has the habitat improved or not improved since we did this restoration so we can learn a little bit more.

A lot of the misconception[about engineers] people get in school is that engineering is just strictly math, science, and formulas and is very boring and you’re always at a computer with a bunch of nerds. But a lot of what we do is outdoors. A lot of it is data collection. A lot of it is site visits. It’s not just the applying of the formulas. There’s a lot of creativity. To design a stream and make it flow wherever you want it is very fun and it’s usually with a lot of outdoorsy and outgoing people.

What is a typical work week like for you?

There is no typical work week. Some weeks in the summer, because we have or we do all our construction during the summer, we can be working straight for ten days. Obviously since we’re working in rivers it’s very dependent on weather so you can be working straight for ten days and then have seven days of rain where you have to get everything out of the river because you don’t want everything washed away so it’s heavily dependent on the weather in the summer. In the winter you’re doing all your extra work and getting things ready for the construction period. But I think it’s probably the same with most jobs these days you could expect to work a 40 or 50 hour week every week on average.

In the summertime it’s mainly outdoors during the day but I’ve done projects in the winter months where we’re in streams in November/December/January where you’re wearing a 5/8 inches or ¾ inch thick wetsuit just to keep yourself warm. There’s blocks of ice hitting you so it is kind of intense. So these projects can be done during the winter but it’s not ideal. Usually in the winter it’s a lot of computer work.

How did you get started in this career?

My dad is an engineer so I’ve been doing engineering since I was just about a knee high and so I’ve kind of had this engrained in my brain. I love being outside. I love getting my hands dirty. I like collecting my own data and then doing the analysis. I guess I just kind of defaulted into it by not wanting to do anything else.

What do you like about what you do?

I like that it improves habitat. I like that it’s good for the environment. I like that you get involved with communities. Plus most of people are usually really happy with the work that we are doing, that we have done, or that we will do for them. It’s also just fun managing people, time, and budgets and seeing your initial site go from something that you designed, to something you constructed, and then to something that people can enjoy.

What do you dislike about it?

The variability in the hours is sometimes very hard to handle. Like when you are trying to work the 60 or 70 hour weeks. Those get you exhausted, you’re tired and your back hurts, your knees hurt, and your hands hurt so it’s not as much fun. You miss out on Friday and Saturday nights sometimes. It’s definitely worth it but maybe not to you at the time.

Also a lot of times we are involved with many, many, many different groups, government and private agencies, and towns so there is a lot of communication that needs to be done.  A lot of people have their hands in these projects a lot of the time and so it’s annoying sometimes to have to report to 50 different people and agencies who aren’t always sure of what they’re talking about even though they’re the ones making the decision.

How do you make money or how are you compensated in this job?

We put out a whatever request for proposal and draft up a scope of work. Whatever we budget for our time for the project is usually what we have to get paid so sometimes you make a bunch, sometimes you lose your shirt but you usually have a good idea of how you’re going to come out so it’s not hourly it’s sort of project by project.

How much money do you make in this job or career?

Well it’s very variable depending on what projects we get and how much we think that we are going to need for each one which can obviously vary greatly from project to project but I would say on average right now I probably make around $50-55 a year.

How much money did you make starting out in this career?

My first job I was paid $42,500 and it was doing more civil engineering. I was doing parking lots designs and things like that. That was with my Bachelor’s straight out of college.

Are there any perks associated with this job?

The fast cars and women are great. Joking. It takes a certain person to want to be an engineer. Usually the first two years of engineering school you see about half the kids dropout and go somewhere else. So it definitely takes a certain type of person but you feel really good about the work that you’ve done and the work that you’ve done hopefully helping people and helping the environment . I think that that would probably be the biggest perk that we see.

Also, you do get to set your own hours. Yes, the work needs to get done but if it rains and you can’t get out there then you don’t have to work that day. Or if you are ahead of schedule you can take a few days off so setting your own schedule and working outside and being very physical in the work that you do is nice. It’s not monotonous, the site is always changing, the people are always changing, it’s very dynamic.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

Again the hardworking thing definitely comes into play and you really have to be a critical thinker. You’ve got to be able to think ahead and be willing to sort of work outside of any scope that people might normally expect to work in. As far as backgrounds it’s a lot of math, a lot of science and engineering classes. People do tend to have a lot of different backgrounds in this field; people can be biologists, zoologists, entomologists as well as engineers. There’s a bunch of different reasons to do stream restoration and so really you want to know a lot about flowers, plants, sediment transport, hydrology, hydraulics, all of that different stuff.

As far as schooling is concerned, as with any degree that you get these days you don’t learn much about the real world in school. You take a lot of engineering classes and they tell you a lot of math and formulas and science and then you get out in the real world and you sort of learn that there are programs to do that or you can’t just apply something. You have to go out and get your hands dirty and figure it out for yourself and how to apply it.

If you’re specifically interested in stream restoration or environmental engineering I would say definitely enroll in engineering your freshmen year of college because you can’t really transfer into it unless you’re coming from something with a heavy math and science background. I would say do internships, get out and volunteer, things like that. That all gives you incredibly valuable experience. But as far as college, just takes your chance in engineering. Who knows, you might like it and if not you can always switch out and you’re already ahead for whatever else you might want to do.

What is most challenging about what you do?

The interaction between project managers, town officials, the public, the outreach to the public—all of that. It’s a very, it can be a sensitive process. It can be time consuming. It can be frustrating. So dealing with the different branches of the people who are involved with the project, it’s a difficult task as well as just the sheer planning that is involved with a lot of these things. You don’t want to flood people. You don’t want to make anybody angry so there’s a lot of thinking ahead and really seeing your projects as a whole.  Those are probably two of the toughest things.

What would you say is most rewarding about it?

Like I mentioned earlier being outside is great. I think it’s really rewarding being able to go from breaking ground or standing on a site doing the survey, taking the existing data, coming up with a design, building it sort of with your own two hands, and then seeing the results afterwards. The entire process is just—it’s a lot of fun to be able to build something like that. That’s one of the more rewarding things and the community responses are usually pretty positive and that’s always fun to see.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Stick with your classes and stick with engineering in school. They try and weed people out in engineering by making you take hard classes and boring and general classes your first two years before you start getting into the interesting stuff. A lot of people think that engineering of any sort, not just environmental engineering, is all just math and science and formulas and books and reading and that type of thing and it’s not. It’s very visible these days in the things that you do. It makes a difference and it’s a lot of fun once you are out of school.

Also with engineering there’s always going to be jobs. Engineers do everything to do in the city like transportation, water, communications, roads, anything like that and so there’s probably always going to be jobs as long as there are humans.

How much time off do you get or take?

Standard one week of sick, two weeks of vacation but really you can take off as much time as you want as long as you get your work done. If you are able to complete it in one day, great then you’ve got the rest of the time of the project off but that’s probably not going to happen. Overall though I would say that I get more than the average person at about four weeks a year.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

Well like I was saying earlier a lot of the misconception people get in school is that engineering is just strictly math, science, and formulas and is very boring and you’re always at a computer with a bunch of nerds. But a lot of what we do is outdoors. A lot of it is data collection. A lot of it is site visits. It’s not just the applying of the formulas. There’s a lot of creativity. To design a stream, make it flow wherever you want it is very fun and it’s usually with a lot of outdoorsy and outgoing people.

The next question is what are your goals and dreams for the future in this job?

Right now a buddy of mine and myself are working to develop a program. It’s a program that we will hopefully turn into a software program one of these days that will take your existing data and all your parameters that you can find into this spreadsheet program and it’ll output all the information that you need for your design. It will take a lot of the danger and human error out of the work.

It will make it so that everyone can do this because we want people to be doing it who are not only engineers but who are biologists or somebody who wants to make a river more healthy for the fish habitat, for butterflies, for anything, even worms. So we want to make it more available for the public to be able to do without having to know what the engineering and math and science is behind it.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

Stream restoration is a growing field. It’s a dynamic field. There are practices that we did five years ago that we don’t use anymore because they’re debunked. They don’t work as well as other things and it’s fun working in a field that is growing. You get to come up with new stuff and new ways to do these things. It’s sort of a playground and it’s creative and you don’t always have a boss telling you what to do and how to do it because we’re always pushing the envelope to come up with a better way to do things.

What do you do for a living?

I work as a manufacturing engineer for a medical device company.

How would you describe what you do?

If I could sum my job up in one sentence I would say it would be to improve the process of manufacturing the products that we build in our business. A lot of what I do though, given that it’s an FDA regulated industry, does involve substantial amount of documentation. Additionally if I could say my job in two words I would say I “fix problems”.

How did you get started in this career?

Well I had known people working in the medical device industry so I got my undergraduate degree in engineering. I was originally pursuing a career in medicine after my undergraduate degree and while applying to med school and in the process of doing that I sort of fell into the job as an engineer for a medical device company.

What do you like about what you do?

I’d say that what I like most about what I do is I know that I have an impact on people not only with the longevity of their lives but the quality of the lives they live. So I feel as though I’m helping people by improving the process of making a device that can save lives.

What do you dislike about what you do?

Definitely too much paperwork. That’s something I would say when you work in a medical device industry you have to do a lot of paperwork and everything you do, any changes you make you have to document and it takes a lot of your time. It takes a lot of your day.

Can you describe what a typical work day is like as an engineer?

I show up to work about 8 o’clock and we have a plant wide meeting to talk about yesterday’s production, did we meet our goals? That sort of thing. If we didn’t meet our goals we talk about what happened and what we can do to make sure that the same issue doesn’t re-occur. I’d say about two to three hours of my day I’m spending in meetings and talking about certain projects. A big part of what I do is project management as well. From start to finish projects can last anywhere from three months to a year and a half so you have to, at least where I work and in my experience, coordinate with every department in the facility. You have to assign and delegate tasks and a lot of it you obviously have to do yourself.

I’d say another two to three hours is spent working on projects and then an hour to two hours of administrative tasks that go with working in an FDA regulated industry so all-in-all I’m probably working forty five to fifty five hours a week.

How are you paid or how are you compensated in this job?

I’m paid on a salary. Obviously working for a large corporation I have full medical and dental benefits. I’ve got 401K investment incentives where there are employer contributions matched up to a certain percentage. I also have options to buy company stock at a fraction of the market value so there’s a lot of added bonuses other than the salary.

How much do you make as an Engineer?

I’m making $62,000 a year.

How much did you make starting out in this career?

In this career it ranges depending on the company but you know in my situation you start out about right about $58-60,000 a year.

How much vacation time do you get as an Engineer?

Well that’s an interesting question. I mean by the book I get two weeks paid vacation; however, after five years you get three weeks of and then of course in this career should you switch companies or switch jobs obviously that’s negotiable. Three weeks is very common for most people with 3-5 years’ experience. Even still with two weeks if I work a long weekend I’ll get at least one comp vacation day so I actually probably end up getting 3-4 weeks vacation because there are a lot of Saturdays I work. I’d say I work at least one day on a weekend every two months if not a weekend a month.

What would you say is most challenging about what you do?

I have two answers. One it’s been my experience that as you’re progressing through your project you run into issues and you need to figure out how to get them done without sacrificing your time line—it’s been my experience that as soon as you overcome one obstacle there’s another one in the way and so it’s just that constant drive to overcome obstacles that’s very challenging. The other thing that is very challenging is when you’re managing a project you have to rely on a lot of other people to do what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it and that doesn’t always happen.  So you have to learn who your best resources are to get your job done because as project manager it’s on you to make sure it all happens by a set date.

What would you say is most rewarding?

It’s completing your projects on time. It’s seeing the difference that your projects make to the production staff, the improvements you’re making, and their level of satisfaction with the changes. Because at the end of the day I’m just trying to help production staff make sure they have all the tools they need to do their job efficiently and effectively.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

I would say that the opportunities in engineering are very high and they’re very numerous because a lot of people going into college couldn’t make it through engineering. It was too much work. It took too much of their free time so they switched to another field.  I would say that if you want to become an engineer you have to realize getting through school isn’t easy but it does give you the tools you need to be successful in your career. The other thing I would say is I think that there will always be a need for the engineering field because everybody wants to do more with less resources than ever before because of this huge push to save money especially in corporate America right now.

What education and/or skills are needed to do this?

As a minimum you need you need a four year bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in the engineering field; mechanical, chemical, electrical, industrial, biomedical etc. As far as skills I’d say one thing needed that probably isn’t written in any textbook anywhere but you need really good people skills and you need to be really resourceful in terms of learning who you need to make sure all your tasks get done and who is the best person or persons to go to for an issue. It’s dealing with a lot of people. You have to be fairly organized. You need a good technical knowledge as a large part of my job is troubleshooting manufacturing equipment. You need to be able to understand how things work. That’s about it.

What would you say is a common misconception about what you do?

I would say that the majority of people, including myself before I did it, thought that we would just go in there and just start fixing things, changing things. You go in it’s quick, it’s easy. I want to change equipment. I want to buy new equipment. I want to change the process and you just go in and do it and that’s not how that happens. In reality it takes several months to even a year sometimes because you have to be sure that all your steps and changes don’t effect form, fit, or function of the product.  And there’s numerous documentation steps along the way.

What are your goals and dreams for the future?

I’d definitely like to move into upper management of corporate America. I think engineering gives you a good foundation of the business; however, I think it’s critical that in my career I spend times in other areas outside the engineering department to get a broader scope on the business as a whole but I definitely see myself in fifteen or twenty years as VP level or higher. That’s where I’d like to be.

And I’d say in the manufacturing industry it’s very common to  see engineers by trade become CEO’s and COO’s because you learn how to make decisions and solve problems without always having all the information.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I think engineering is a very good living for people but don’t expect a lot of money fast. I think that was my big misconception about it too was to realize that it is a good living but you have to gain experience.  And that’s invaluable because as you gain experience situations will occur that you’ve seen in your career and you will have the knowledge of how to handle them and how to fix them.  So if you’re doing something for the money it won’t happen right away but there are a lot of good opportunities once you develop your career.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a software engineer with a Masters in Computer Engineering.

How would you describe what you do?

I work for a small contracting software company. Our company takes requirements from customers (other companies, usually) who need a software and/or hardware package to do a specific task.

I write software on anything from microprocessors to phones to PCs. My specialties are: mobile software, wireless networks, forensics, and user interfaces.

What does your work entail?

Software engineering is a huge field. My career has had me on large interdisciplinary teams, as a single engineer, and as a lead engineer on small teams. I’ve been in charge of: gathering requirements from the user, designing the software system, designing the hardware system, writing the software, assembling hardware, system integration, lab testing, field testing, and delivering the system to the user.

Each engineer I’ve met has brought their own unique flavor of experience to the table. Some stay in a single field for decades and become very proficient in it. Some other engineers (like myself) like to sample many different types of engineering and keep their job changing frequently.

How did you get started as a software engineer?

Math was not an easy subject for in high school, but I knew that I wanted to do something difficult and interesting for my job. 4 years to get a BS in Computer Engineering got me a job working as a low level software engineer. That company then paid me to get a masters in Computer Engineering while still working full time. That method is a very popular path to higher education in the engineering fields.

What do you like about what you do?

The main challenge to staying on the leading edge of technology is also the best thing about the job: you’ll always be learn something new. Many times when a major company comes out with new technology my job will change to match it. New operating systems require new software to be written. New hardware requires tweaks to existing software. There is always something new to learn.

Generally I can choose the direction of my studies and research, which allows me to follow my interests. Can’t ask for much more than that.

What do you dislike?

It can be a very fast-paced and stressful job at times. Some weeks I work over 100 hours. Getting past a difficult technical hurdle or handling a difficult user or customer can be tough.

How do you make money/how are you compensated?

I’m a full-time salaried employee.

How much money do you make as a software engineer?

Right now I make $150k.

How much money do you make starting out?

I made $50k out of college.

What education or skill are needed to do this?

I’ve worked with fantastic developers who never completed college. I have a masters. So…somewhere in there is good.

No matter your level of education, your skill-set is the number one priority. Coding on your own and understanding software and computers at a broad level will get you in the door at most companies. Continuing to write software on an open-source project and/or on your own projects will make you stand out from the crowd.

What is most rewarding about this job?

The entire process of having a customer come to me and describe their problem to the final product that solves it.

What is most challenging?

No one ever asks me to do something simple or something that has been done already. No answers are found online in forums or in sample code–that’s why I get paid well to do my job. I have to take my own understanding of software and hardware and design a comprehensive solution to a problem. The challenge is to not get burnt out and to keep having great ideas that you can follow through and execute a real-world solution.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Write code. Write in any language you want, and then write in another one. Write code that gets reviewed at some point–even if it’s just a fellow programmer. Hiring managers at large companies see hundreds of resumes of people who just do the course-work. Being the person who does well in class and then does extra work will get you the job.

How much time off do you get/take?

Varies between jobs. 3 weeks is average. I take off an occasional Friday, but generally not all three weeks.

What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?

That we’re all nerds who sit in dark rooms and drink coffee/soda all day. Many of us are also athletic and do some neat sports on the side. Most software engineers are just technically-oriented people or enjoy solving problems.

What are your goals and dreams for the future?

Part of me wants to run the department and call the shots. But I also know how much of a pain that could be. I’m pretty happy being an engineer who mostly calls my own shots.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

If you want an easy job that doesn’t require much effort, go work at Walmart. Engineering is a difficult field and takes dedication to reach the higher levels. Getting there is rewarding and once you’re doing well, it’s a good life.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a degreed chemical engineer, but I don’t really do per se, what you might think of as chemical engineering. It’s more of a sub-discipline of chemical engineering.  Right now my job title is Heat Transfer Department Manager.

How would you describe what you do?

I work for a stainless steel fabrication company, builds tanks, pressure vessels, heat exchangers. My particular department is heat transfer, which is along the lines of heat exchangers and general heat transfer applications.

What does your work entail?

My work is multi-faceted, which most engineering jobs will be. You’re kind of the catch-all for everything that others don’t know how to do and don’t want to do, so technically, I’m supposed to be spending most of my time reviewing and approving drawings and assembly layouts for the various components that are sold.

…it’s hard to find an out-of-work engineer…The pay’s good, the benefits are good, so if you’re not a dumbass and you at least show some initiative when you work, it’s pretty easy to make a good living as an engineer.

It’s a very custom line that I manage, so every job is different. We don’t really have a lot of cookie-cutter parts where it’s standard designs with parts off the shelf or piecing together. It’s very blacksmith and thats the part where I come in. I review the drawings for accuracy and also check them for design considerations as far as pressure vessel code is concerned. ASME Code, which is American Society of Mechanical Engineers, has several volumes of literature, which outline the design consideration and rule for pressure vessels.

How did you get started?

It’s hard to say I always wanted to be an engineer. I mean, who always wants to be an engineer? It’s not exactly a glamorous position. But I was always good at math and science and pretty good at school in general. Those things coupled with the fact that it’s hard to find an out-of-work engineer, made it something I wanted to get into. The pay’s good, the benefits are good, so if you’re not a dumbass and you at least show some initiative when you work, it’s pretty easy to make a good living as an engineer. And it’s also a career that you don’t have to make your life, and that’s important to me. I wanted free time to have a life of my own. I’m not working 20-hour shifts like doctors and I don’t have to take my work home.

Pick your engineering discipline in college, something that interests you and then be sure and focus on the grade side of it to some degree because it’s worth its weight in gold when you’re out there in the real world. People really do honestly notice a GPA that is above average.

I shut the door of my office and the work stays there 99% of the time. I currently manage a department and have employees under me which is something that I wanted to do as soon as possible in my career. And it’s something that’s applicable too, it’s a great resume builder. The sooner you can get management experience under you, the better off you are and in just about any case. So, no, it’s not something I dreamt about as a five-year-old boy, but it pays the bills and it’s fun. I enjoy it and it doesn’t bog me down.

What do you like about what you do?

I love the freedom my position has. Everything we make in one form or another is some custom part. So, I get to design a new heat transfer or a heat exchanger application virtually every day, multiple times a day, which is kind of cool. It’s hard to get bored. It’s kind of cool because I see everything from the beginning all the way to the end when it’s shipped out off a dock. That’s something that it’s kind of hard to find in engineering, honestly. That quick turnaround and instant gratification, where you say, Hey, I designed this thing three weeks ago, and now it’s shipping. That’s kind of cool. I’ve had jobs in the past where you’re on a project for two years and you don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere.

What do you dislike?

I guess probably one of my biggest gripes would be the interface that engineering can sometimes have with the manufacturing department where it’s easy to come off as enemies to one another. Maybe our drawing package didn’t exactly spell out every step by step what was needed to manufacture something and then they do it incorrectly. And that can creates issues because, the part gets scrapped, or it’s late, it cost the company a lot of money, all these bad things and everybody starts pointing fingers and that’s frustrating. That’s just the facts of life. But it’s not that way in most cases, but I guess if I had to say what I dislike, that’d probably be the most obvious thing.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I’m salaried employee.

How much money do you make as chemical engineer?

It’s $69,000 right now.

What education or skills are needed to be a chemical engineer?

Well, I guess simply put, a Bachelor’s degree in some form of engineering discipline, preferably mechanical or chemical would be a good place to start. There’s probably dozens of different disciplines within engineering. But really, the meat of them are chemical, mechanical, and electrical. And if you major in one of those, and obtain your degree with a decent GPA, you’re virtually guaranteed a decent salary. You’re guaranteed, health insurance, benefits, 401k, etc.

What is most challenging about what you do?

I guess the fact that I am the final sign-off on just about any heat exchanger or heat transfer design that the company makes. One of the pitfalls of being an engineer is that any time something comes across someone’s desk that they don’t know how to do they typically go to engineering. If any question is too hard for anyone else in the company to answer, they’ll come find one of us engineers. So that’s kind of tough to be the focal point of everyone’s tough questions, because you’ll be thinking you’re intelligent, and all of a sudden someone comes and asks you something and you don’t know.

What is most rewarding?

Every project we do in my department comes across my desk from the beginning when it’s conceived, and I get to monitor it as it goes through the production process and until it’s shipped. And sometimes, even installed on the customer’s site. So, to me, that is rewarding.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Pick your engineering discipline in college, something that interests you and then be sure and focus on the grade side of it to some degree because it’s worth its weight in gold when you’re out there in the real world. People really do honestly notice a GPA that is above average. People realize engineering school isn’t necessarily easy and if you show that you’re at least halfway intelligent and dedicated to something in school, then that will be rewarded.

How much time off do you get/take?

I work Monday through Friday and I have three and a half weeks’ vacation right now plus I get 10 or 11 company holidays. Basically a month and some change, plus or minus.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

People think we are just tucked away in corners, in cubicals somewhere, in dark rooms and no one really deals with engineers. I think that’s the biggest misconception is that engineering is just kind of these guys that do calculations all day and don’t really have to interact with the general public. In each of my past jobs that’s simply not the case. It’s important to have people skills, and if you do, you’re very valuable to a company. If you are an engineer that enjoys working with others and works with them well, you’re a great asset to any company.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

I guess my goal would be to someday leave the technical side of engineering and be more on the business side, and do more of business management or department management. Right now I’m a manager over the design side of things where I’d like to get away from that and do more higher level management on the business side.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

In my opinion, engineering right now is a very good career to go into if you’re going to college or in college just because it’s such a high demand. There are so few engineers right now it’s pretty easy to get a job. Like I said, if you’re an engineer that’s not a dumbass and you want to work, it’s pretty easy to find a well-paying job.