Matthew Harrison: A career in engineering gives you the freedom to choose the life you want

Published: 02 November 2006

It's easy for me to be enthusiastic about my life in engineering as I can make it pretty much anything I like. If I get fed up with how it is, I can change it - simple as that. Engineers are more in demand than ever before, and right now it's a sellers' market and we engineers have more freedom to choose than at any time in the past.

So why are engineers in such demand? Easy. Almost every aspect of modern life is shaped by technology and that technology is conceived, designed, developed, manufactured and operated by engineers. Without us things tend to stop.

It sounds far-fetched I know. But think about it and make up your own mind. As a hint, think about some of the biggest challenges facing us all: carbon neutral lifestyles, over-crowded cities, ageing population, obesity in some of the world yet starvation elsewhere, energy on demand for all at all times, clean water. Will these get fixed by good-intentioned politicians alone? Probably not. In fact, there are engineering solutions to these problems being worked out right now, in universities, research institutes and in everyday companies.

So what did I mean about a freedom to choose? A list helps here: the freedom to work all of the time or just part-time, the freedom to work for myself or for someone else, the freedom to work anywhere in the world or to stay at home, the freedom to work for high pay or to volunteer, the freedom even to leave engineering for a bit of a change and the freedom to choose to come back again.

Benefits go beyond the freedom to choose. Six out of the top 10 professions in terms of pay are different types of engineering. Engineers are snapped up in all walks of life - in finance, in management, in places where difficult decisions need to be made based on facts and good judgement. So choosing engineering now doesn't close down future options, it opens up all kinds of interesting avenues.

Also there is the satisfaction of doing something worthwhile. This means different things to different people of course. For some it is about improving their lifestyle and being able to provide well for their families. For others it is about the creative process - seeing your own work being used daily. For some it is about using their time to make a difference to their surroundings and to other people.

For me it is about my design work on lightweight cars, on novel types of engine, on railway bridges, viaducts and stations. It is also about my teaching of engineering in universities. But increasingly it is about things like writing this column - promoting a life in engineering.

When I do my job right, people ask how they too can get some of these advantages. At this point things get complicated because there is so much choice (so maybe sometimes choice can make things difficult).

Some things are simple though. For starters, engineering is open to all. If you want to get involved, you can, regardless of who you are, where you're from and what you look like. You can start at 16 if you want, as an apprentice. Stick with your maths and science GCSEs and you will go far, and earn while you continue to learn at college. For those who want to stay in education longer before starting your career, then A-levels, an HNC or HND, a BTEC or, from 2008, the new 14-19 engineering diploma are all good choices. These lead onto a whole variety of different college and university courses. Some have engineering in the title. Others do not. The Royal Academy of Engineering sees engineering as a super-wide field with computers, medical devices, food and nano technologies all playing their part, along with what otherwise might be thought of as traditional engineering activities: transport systems, buildings, manufacturing and so on.

With all this to choose from, how do you start making a choice? My advice is to start sampling all kinds of engineering as soon and as often as you can. That way you can check if a life in engineering and technology is the life for you and you can also zone in on the aspects that suit you best. My advice is also to do something active: design and make something, test something, improve something. There are excellent school-based schemes available to guide you through this. Some are part of The Royal Academy of Engineering best programme (www.raeng.org.uk) while others are offered by universities, companies and charities. The very best link everything they do to either industry or commerce and to the school curriculum, so that the time spent better prepares you for both forthcoming school tests and exams, and for the world of work. So, make a choice.

Matthew Harrison is director, Education Programme, The Royal Academy of Engineering

www.raeng.org.uk