Civil Engineers Part II

Civil engineers focus on building the future by the Houston Chronicle

Check out the news article above (click the link). Sounds like good news! I know many fresh graduates have been struggling in this market, but apparently "the job outlook is promising for civil engineers". 

While I was reading the article, I thought I'd create a post and share some of my limited insight for newly graduating civil engineers (this is just my opinion and views). 

We all know as civil engineers (as stated in the article above as well), you need to be very strong in mathematics and science. It is extremely important you are an analytical thinker, detail-oriented, have clear communication skills and the list goes on and on. These are must-have skill sets you need to bring to the table. As you hone your skill sets to become a civil engineer, also consider the following advice, which  I feel are not emphasized enough or at all. 

Area of Specialty

Find it! Do whatever is necessary to find your area of interest. Civil engineering is a very broad field. Civil engineering branches off into multiple disciplines such as water resources, transportation, geotechnical, structural, etc. Within these multiple disciplines, it branches off into  further specialty areas. Gone are those days when a civil engineer can be "the jack of all trades". Yes, our civil engineering fathers were able to do it. It is mind boggling how to this day, we are using the theories and equations developed by these geniuses who never had the luxuries we take for granted - technology. 

I believe finding your "area" is very important and the earlier, the better because quality experience is important in our career. If it wasn't for my early internship experience, I would have never found my passion for water resources. When I was a freshman, I thought civil engineering = structural engineering. 

Pay Attention in College

Sometimes, I hear experienced engineers telling younger engineers that you never use what you learned in school. 

I strongly disagree. Pay attention to the fundamentals taught by your professors. We are supposed to be strong thinkers and problem solvers. Knowledge is power in our industry. We have been blessed with technology, however, without understanding the fundamentals and where and what equations you are using and how it is being applied and derived from, you would simply be "plugging and chugging" a.k.a blindly inputting numbers. Garbage in = garbage out. 

Advice: save your textbooks, at least the ones that are focused on your discipline.

Find a Mentor

It is important you find a mentor especially in your young career. Unfortunately, finding that mentor may not be easy or available. A mentor would provide you with valuable inputs from his or her experience, sound technical advice, career advice, etc. Don't mistaken this person to be someone who you expect to spoon-feed you in your career. No one is going to spoon-feed you. Your engineering career is ultimately up to you. 

Passion

This one is, in my opinion, the most important. This probably applies to all professions as well. I feel this is not stressed enough for civil engineers. Without it, you will not survive in this industry because you won't enjoy it. There will be many times of high stress, high demands and pressure, long hours, etc. And let's face it, everyone cares about salary and there are people that are in it for the money. Well, let me tell you what they don't tell you in undergrad. You're not going to be making banker money. You really have to enjoy what you do. As a civil engineer, you have great responsibilities that will have an impact on society. You will deal with complex problems that you need to solve (sometimes may even bother you so much you can't even sleep). The reward may not (will never) be a million dollar bonus, but you will know you are part of a profession planning and designing the infrastructure our society can't live without. 

Just my 2 cents... this post is a work in progress. I will continue to add to it. 

Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head...

Random, but related...

Passaic River Basin Flood Preparedness Workshop
Very good presentations from the workshop focusing on the Passaic River Basin. Check out the link above. Presentations by the speakers can be downloaded by clicking their names (it took awhile for me to figure that out...). Many topics focusing on green infrastructure. 

From Presentation "USGS Involvement in the PRB" by Heidi Hoppe

I was reading an interesting article titled "The Energy Balance Method of Stormwater Management" from this month's STORMWATER MAGAZINE when this image captured my attention:

This office complex is on green infrastructure steroids! It's the Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc.'s HQ building in Virginia. For more information, check it out on ASCE.

By the way, if you are a stormwater professional and have not subscribed to the Stormwater Magazine, you definitely should. Great articles and best of all, it's FREE! STORMWATER

Until next time, good night or good morning?

Dredge Baby, Dredge!

I was cleaning out my old laptop and found some of my dredging photos/videos from back in grad school. I've been working on a lot of dredging projects as of late so I thought I'd share!

What is dredging? It is basically excavation underwater (e.g., in rivers, bays, etc.).

 Source: http://huron.lre.usace.army.mil/

There are several types of projects involving dredging work. Some examples are:

• Remedial dredging for removal of contaminated sediments in the waterways; 
• Capital dredging to increase depth of navigation channels/harbor access channels to accommodate for deep-draft ships (more cargo = more $$);
• Maintenance dredging to remove accumulated sediments in navigation channels in order to maintain channel depths. 

Here are some photos/videos I "dredged" out of my laptop. I believe this was in Port Newark area. This monster is a mechanical dredge. I have yet to meet a hydraulic dredge in person. =)

Photo of the clam shell bucket in action:

Photo of the bucket in open position:

View from the Operator's Seat:

 

Video of the port cranes in action (Tom Cruise is operating it):

Photo of your goodies! Wonder how much that is worth?:

Remember, Safety First!

ENJOY!

Civil Engineers

I am currently at a Starbucks in Upstate NY (my only day off). As I briefly mentioned in my previous blog, I am up here conducting oversight for a major project. There isn't much to do near my hotel (this place is filled with generic chain restaurants, shopping centers, etc.) so I will post.

For this post, I will re-circulate what our 31st president, Herbert Hoover, had to say about civil engineering:

"It is a great profession. There is the satisfaction of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of living and adds to the comforts of life. That is the engineer's high privilege. The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope that the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned. That is the phantasmagoria that haunts his nights and dogs his days. He comes from the job at the end of the day resolved to calculate it again. He wakes in the night in a cold sweat and puts something on paper that looks silly in the morning. All day he shivers at the thought of the bugs which will inevitably appear to jolt his smooth consummation. On the other hand, unlike the doctor his is not a life among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort and hope.

No doubt as years go by people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it. Or they credit it to some promoter who used other people's money with which to finance it. But the engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness that flows from his successes with satisfactions that few professions may know. And the verdict of his fellow professionals is all the accolade he wants."

So far in my young career, I have been fortunate to see some of the projects I worked on become a reality. I must admit, when you see your calculations, designs and all your late nights and hard work pay off, whether the project is big or small, the feeling is priceless.

 Image Source: http://civilengineerlink.com

How come I never get to wear a business suit to a project site? =)

- e|3