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Niche Areas
As already noted repeatedly, there are many areas of specialization in the field of engineering. So when you are enrolled in an engineering program, you will have the opportunity to focus on several aspects of the field and eventually narrow down the choices to the one specific aspect that is most appealing to you. These areas of specialization include:

• Computer Methods
• Electrical
• Environmental
• Materials
• Mechanical
• Systems
• Thermodynamics
• Systems Engineering
• Computer Science
• Information Systems
• Chemical Engineering
• Chemical/Biochemical Regulatory Engineering
• Mechatronics
• Design and Manufacturing
• Computational Thermal Fluid Dynamics
• Structural Mechanics

Types Of Associate, Undergraduate & Graduate Programs Available
Engineering degrees run the gamut from Associate's all the way up to Doctoral. The expected consequence of this is that you may not only pursue the field to as high a level as you choose, but you also may specialize in one or two particular areas, depending on your goals. However, you should keep in mind that an Associate's degree in engineering will not necessarily make you a marketable job candidate in the field. Rather, you should pursue this degree if you have an interest in working in the field but have little previous experience, as an Associate's degree often leads to a Bachelor's degree, which is generally the minimum educational requirement for work in the field. Graduate degrees not only afford you the opportunity to earn more money as an engineer, but they also give you the option of working in the academic side of the field, teaching at a college or university.

Typical Admissions Requirements
Getting into an engineering program can be rather difficult. This is due to both the highly specialized nature of the field as well as the commonly high caliber of students applying to the various programs. As a general rule, however, the better your academic record and standardized test scores are, the greater the chance you have of receiving an offer of admission. And if your grades are not quite as good as you'd like them to be, then work experience in the field may help. Just make sure it is relevant work, and that you take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way during the work experience.

Careers In This Field
There is a vast array of possible careers within the field of engineering. This is perhaps self-evident, as no one is really "just an engineer." Rather, professionals work in a particular aspect of engineering, and therefore attain a great deal of specialized knowledge. Some of the specific careers graduates of engineering programs may pursue include:

• Aerospace engineering
• Agricultural engineering
• Biomedical engineering
• Chemical engineering
• Civil engineering
• Computer hardware engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Electronics engineering
• Environmental engineering
• Health and safety engineering
• Industrial engineering
• Marine engineering
• Materials engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Mining and geological engineering
• Nuclear engineering
• Petroleum engineering ( www.bls.gov )

Salary Ranges In This Field
It is difficult to discuss in general terms the amount of money engineers can make, because there are simply too many specific aspects of the field for generalizations to be terribly accurate. However, as a general rule, Associate's degrees do not really lead to jobs in the field, Bachelor's degrees lead to entry level work and from there it is up to you to work your way up the professional ladder, and graduate degrees allow you to work at higher levels of the profession, as well as to teach in a college or university, in which case standard professorial-salary guidelines apply.

Future Outlook
"Overall engineering employment is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations over the 2004-14 period. Engineers have traditionally been concentrated in slow-growing manufacturing industries, in which they will continue to be needed to design, build, test, and improve manufactured products. However, increasing employment of engineers in faster growing service industries should generate most of the employment growth. Overall job opportunities in engineering are expected to be favorable because the number of engineering graduates should be in rough balance with the number of job openings over this period. However, job outlook varies by specialty· Competitive pressures and advancing technology will force companies to improve and update product designs and to optimize their manufacturing processes. Employers will rely on engineers to further increase productivity as investment in plants and equipment increases to expand output of goods and services. New technologies continue to improve the design process, enabling engineers to produce and analyze various product designs much more rapidly than in the past. Unlike in other fields, however, technological advances are not expected to limit employment opportunities substantially, because they will permit the development of new products and processes. There are many well-trained, often English-speaking engineers available around the world willing to work at much lower salaries than are U.S . engineers. The rise of the Internet has made it relatively easy for much of the engineering work previously done by engineers in this 1 country to be done by engineers in other countries, a factor that will tend to hold down employment growth. Even so, the need for onsite engineers to interact with other employees and with clients will remain." ( www.bls.gov )

Resources

1. www.aea.org (The American Engineering Association)
2. www.isr.umd.edu (The Institute for Systems Research)
3. www.aaes.org (The American Association of Engineering Societies)