There are a lot of exciting things happening in modern engineering, especially in the auto industry. Automotive engineering uses information from other subsets of engineering, including mechanical and electrical. Today, automotive engineers have a wide range of projects, including everything from creating self-driving cars to making cars safer and more fuel-efficient. From researching to problem-solving and designing, here are some things that you can expect to do in a career in automotive engineering.
Research
With the modern focus on sustainable living and the development of new types of cars, a large part of what automotive engineers do is research-based. Like other engineers, you will look at problems that face your industry, ranging from fuel to safety, and try to fix them. This will involve seeing what has already been done and trying to improve on existing technologies. Researching involves figuring out what your research question is and then gathering all of the information together to answer it. This includes conducting experiments and reading up on past projects.
Problem-Solving
Problem-solving is part of the job of an automotive engineer. After the research is done, it needs to be put to practical use.So, once you have all your information together, the next logical step is to solve the problem. Basically, now that you have all of your information, you can answer the question that you were working with during the research phase. If there were several different solutions, you now get to figure out which one is the best. This means that there is a lot more experimentation in this stage of the process, as you figure out what works and what just looks good on paper.
Just like there are different solutions to the problems you will be fixing, there are multiple things to consider in automotive engineering. The field is broad and it is continually growing. Since automotive engineering degrees can be challenging to find, an online civil engineering degree can be a good fit. Some programs offer a concentration in different aspects of engineering that can support a career in automotive engineering. An online MCE degree teaches the skills you will need to be a successful engineer, in any field.
Design
A third thing that you can expect to encounter as an automotive engineer is to design new products. This stage takes the research and problem-solving aspects of automotive engineering and goes one step further. Not only do you create a new product, you also work on improving the things that are already running. How can modern cars be safer? You have the data, now is your chance to put your ideas into practice. When you’re an engineer, your ideas have the potential to be used by consumers all over the world, and automotive engineers are no exception.
Whether you are a new student of automotive engineering or already in the process of your degree, there is no shortage of challenging jobs available. For a person who enjoys identifying problems, researching the ways to fix those problems, testing out solutions, and designing a product using those results, automotive engineering is a career worth taking a second look at.