Engineering Animations

Engineering - Areas of Study

Aerospace engineers design aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missiles. In addition, they must create and test prototypes to make sure that they function according to design. They often specialize in areas such as aerodynamic fluid flow, and instrumentation systems. Aerospace engineers can further specialize in designing different types of aerospace products, such as commercial or military airplanes and helicopters, and rotorcraft. These specialists are involved primarily in designing aircraft and propulsion systems and in studying the aerodynamic performance of aircraft and construction materials.

Architects are responsible for designing houses, factories, office buildings, and other large structures. Architects can be commissioned to design anything from a single room to an entire complex of buildings or public housing project. In some cases, architects may provide various predesign services, such as feasibility and environmental impact studies, site selection, cost analyses, and design requirements.

Urban Planning covers everything from ensuring water-supply networks, to designing municipal solid-waste management and disposal. In the case of underground utility networks, it also includes maintaining conduits and access of electrical and telecommunications cables. Civil engineers conceive, design, build, supervise, operate, construct and maintain infrastructure projects.

Chemical engineers apply the principles of chemistry, biology, physics, and math to solve problems that involve the production or use of chemicals, fuel, drugs, food, and many other products. They design processes and equipment for manufacturing, test production methods, and oversee byproducts treatment. Process engineers are specialists working in a particular process, such as oxidation or polymerization (making plastics and resins). Chemists may specialize in a particular field, such as nanomaterials or biological engineering.

Biotechnology uses the DNA of living organisms to bioengineer new products artificially. Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the related fields of biomedicine, pharmacology, and genetic engineering. Modern biotech methods are used to manufacture existing medicines more easily, in order to treat human diseases. Further, biotechnology has enabled emerging techniques like gene therapy. Agricultural biotechnology includes plant cross-breeding techniques, trait selection, and genetic engineering in some cases.

Environmental engineers use the principles of engineering, soil science, biology, and chemistry to develop solutions to environmental problems. They work to improve recycling, waste disposal, public health, and water and air pollution control. Environmental engineers may be called upon to conduct hazardous-waste management studies in which they evaluate the significance of a hazard and advise on containing it. They also design systems for municipal and industrial water supplies and industrial wastewater treatment, and research the environmental impact of proposed construction projects.

Petroleum engineers design and develop methods for extracting crude oil and natural gas from deposits below the Earth's surface. Petroleum engineers also find new ways to extract oil and gas from older wells. Oil reservoirs and gas deposits are located deep in rock formations underground. These reservoirs can be accessed only by drilling wells, either on land, or at sea from offshore oil rigs. Once oil and gas are discovered, petroleum engineers work with geoscientists and other specialists to understand the geologic formation of the rock containing the reservoir. They then must determine the appropriate drilling methods, design the drilling equipment and commence operations.

Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering fields. Mechanical engineers design and oversee the manufacture of many products ranging from medical devices to new batteries. They also may design power-producing machines, such as electric generators, internal combustion engines, and steam and gas turbines, as well as refrigeration and air-conditioning systems. Further, mechanical engineers may be called upon to design custom machinery inside buildings.

Electrical engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacturing of electrical equipment, such as electric motors, radar and navigation systems, communications systems, or power generation equipment. Electrical engineers also design the electrical systems of automobiles and aircraft. Electronics engineers, on the other hand, design and develop electronic equipment, including broadcast and communications systems, such as portable music players and Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. Many also work in areas closely related to computer hardware development.

Industrial Robots are finding application in manufacturing facilities around the world. In the USA, Japan and China particularly, use of industrial robots grew by 70 percent in the past 5 years alone. Robots all have some kind of mechanical construction, a frame, form or shape designed to achieve a particular task. For example, a robot designed to travel across heavy dirt or mud, might use caterpillar tracks. Further, specific sensors deliver control signals in order to measure sound, position, and even vision. Autonomous robots are well-suited to perform tasks that are dangerous and often repetitive, as well as to function in extreme environments.

Nanotechnology research includes nanofilters, nanofilms, and nanostructures such as microtubules. At its most basic, nanotech relies on tailoring the structure of materials at an atomic or molecular scale, to achieve specific properties. When particles are created with dimensions of about 1 to 100 nanometers, properties change significantly from those at larger scales. This is the size scale where quantum effects rule behavior and physical properties.