Engineering Disciplines
Engineering is a field of study that is closely associated with science. Typically it used to be about mechanics and how machines work. However, with time many new branches of engineering have evolved. We will now discuss about the various engineering disciplines in more detail. This will help you to understand what each of these stands for. In case you are planning to take up engineering as a subject and planning to make it your profession you will find this article of great help. We will list them in an alphabetical order so that you get a better idea.
Let me also state that in this single article, it would not be possible to include detailed information about each engineering discipline without making the article super-long so have just touched upon the names and a brief description.
A
Well the first Engineering discipline that we are going to start with is the aerospace engineering. This is mainly a study of aircraft and spacecraft. This helps people to build aircrafts and spacecrafts. The field also deals with how these crafts can be maintained.
The next is audio engineering. This is a field that deals with broadcasting and communication. A comparatively new field, and the person having these skills is know by various names such as recording engineer, sound engineer and so forth.
We now move on to automotive engineering. This as we all know is quite an old form of engineering. This is an applied science and includes a little bit of mechanical, electrical and safety engineering. Nowadays they are also using software engineering to assist in the design of automobiles. These softwares can be used to design all sorts of automobiles such as buses and trucks. The subject is quite vast.
B
Biology seems quite opposite of engineering as a subject. However, not so anymore the next engineering that we are going to discuss is a study that brings these two diverse fields together. The first subject is biological engineering. It works in close association with medical science and help in making artificial limbs etc. Biological engineers also help in making modern medicines and develop innovative mechanisms such as how human life can sustain in different weather conditions and so forth. I am sure you must not have thought that engineering and biology can be so well connected.
The next field is broadcast engineering. This basically studies how radio and video transmission works. How the signals are transmitted and film technologies develop. Due to the growth in the entertainment industry all across the world this is becoming a very popular field in engineering.
Building engineering is the next that we are going to discuss in this article. The study is basically about how a building should be designed so that it is well ventilated. The materials that must be used in construction, how the drainage should be, the elevator designs, etc form a part of this field.
C
Now we move on to the alphabet C. The first name in the list is ceramic engineering. It is basically the study of the technology that is used to make ceramic material. The study also deals with what other uses ceramic can be.
Chemical engineering is an old line of study and is quite popular too. This is taught in most of the universities across the world. This study too involves a combination of biology, chemistry and physics. The study primarily deals with how different raw materials and chemicals can be transformed and used for some valuable purpose. It has a very close association with chemistry. This also has many subfields that can be associated with it like biotechnology, nanotechnology, thermodynamics to just name a few.
The next field is civil engineering. This field studies how houses and buildings must be constructed so that they don’t get affected easily by weather conditions. It can be classified into several subcategories such as hydraulic engineering, coastal engineering, earthquake engineering, etc.
Civionics is a combination of civil engineering with electronics. It is soon becoming very popular.
Computer engineering is the next field of study that we are going to discuss now. In today’s world where information technology has taken such a prominent position we cannot complete this article without the mention of the same. However, the craze has now reduced after the major downturn that the industry saw of late. The study is mainly about computer software and hardware.
Cloud engineering is used to study cloud computing thus is a vital engineering disciple.
Control engineering helps in designing control environments that are required to get desired results.
Construction engineering is a field of engineering that looks into designing and constructing roads, bridges and dams.
E
Earthquake engineering concentrates on creating buildings that are safe from earth quake.
Electrical engineering, another very prominent stream of engineering that basically studies electromagnetism and electricity. It is a very popular stream in engineering.
Electronic engineering is a vast stream with several subjects and subcategories. The field studies circuits and networks amongst a whole lot of things.
Energy engineering is a line of engineering that studies petroleum, power engineering and solar engineering. It is the study of the various power sources and how they can be combined with technology to make them more useful.
Environment engineering is another field that we must mention here. This studies how the environment can be protected and the environmental resources can be used for development of the nation. It includes twelve sub categories to name a few are flood control, water supply, waste treatment technology, etc.
Engineering psychology combines the two fields and tries to study improve the relationship between man and machine. Basically a technology that is used to, make appliances user friendly. It is becoming very popular in today’s world where the competitions in gadgets are so high.
F
Food engineering is the field of engineering that uses technology to process food fast and in the healthiest manner.
Forensic electrical engineering is basically a field of study that is concerned with electrical failures and accidents that might happen in legal systems.
Facilities engineering is a field of study that prepares people to operate a plant and maintain the same. Frugal innovation is a field of engineering that works on reducing the cost of production without compromising on the quality.
G
With this we move to the alphabet G. The first field in this category is genetic engineering. It has several sub categories that study genetics. They help in inventing technology that can improve the quality of genes and remove genetic abnormalities. This is primarily a research field.
The next is glass engineering and science. It has about nine sub categories. This as the name suggests this subject studies how glass can be made and how the glass making technology can be improved. It includes subjects like glass physics, glass architecture, glass chemistry, etc.
Geomatics is the field of engineering that collects and uses geographic information for various analysis that needs to be done using these information.
H
Health systems engineering is majorly a research oriented field where scientists and researchers use complex theories to improve the health care technologies. It started only in 1970.
I
Industrial engineering is another interesting field it deals with how to make the industries more profitable by using industrial computing and engineering statistics.
Another new form of engineering is informatics engineering that is slowly becoming popular. It combines information technology with engineering so that both the fields can benefit from each other.
K
Kansei engineering is a very new concept. It is derived from Japanese language. It basically studies the consumer requirement and then using modern engineering technology develops the products in such a way that consumers like them more. It is basically used in product designing.
M
Marine engineering as the name suggests it is to do with ships. It has several subjects that include marine propulsion, naval architecture, diving engineering, etc. These subjects are taught in marine engineering colleges and are mostly not a part of the curriculum in normal engineering colleges.
Mechanical engineering is one of the most popular streams of engineering. It is taught in most of the engineering colleges. The study is about using physical principles for the creation of useful devices and objects. It is a vast field of study and has several subjects from thermodynamics to engineering drawing and so forth.
L
Logistics engineering as the name suggests is a field of study that understands how logistics systems work. They try to come up with new technology that can help in better transport and storage of materials.
M
The next Engineering Discipline that starts with M is military engineering. It is a subject that is taught in army colleges. The subjects that it includes are mine warfare, fortification, military engines, etc. The subject is not taught in general engineering colleges.
Now we move on to another very interesting field of engineering that is called mining engineering. As the name suggests it is basically a study of how mining is done and the technology used to mines.
Molecular engineering studies and manufactures molecules. These molecules are mostly not found in nature. Methods engineering studies how human elements can be better used in the industries to come up with faster production rate and better quality. In this world of high competition this is soon becoming a very popular field of engineering.
O
The next in the list of Engineering Disciplines is offshore engineering. This is comparatively a new field. It basically studies how offshore installations are done and what drilling technology can be used to get the maximum productivity.
The other engineering subject that starts with O is operations research. It is also called O.R. It is a stream that uses algorithm and mathematical models that help in decision making. This field uses applied mathematics that can help managements and industries to take vital decisions.
P
Petroleum research is a subject that has several subjects. It studies how petroleum can be processed using technology.
Planetary engineering is the next field of engineering disciplines that we are going to discuss now. As the name suggests it studies planets and their changing conditions. It has two major subjects namely geo engineering and weather modification. It is used quite extensively in space research.
Patent engineering helps in preparing and prosecuting patents. These engineers are also called patent scientists.
Plastic engineering deals with technology, which is required to manufacture plastics and improve their quality. The same description also fits paper engineering.
R
Reliability engineering is another very important discipline of engineering that we will be discussing now. It basically studies how reliable the machines used in an industry are. There are few major subects to it that are fault tolerance, reliability analysis and safety engineering.
S
Now we move on the to the alphabet S. The first subject that comes in this is software engineering. It is the application of computer science and project management to create software that is used to run the modern computers.
Structural engineering is the next field. This basically studies how structures can be designed so that they can support and resist loads.
I am sure you must have definitely heard of systems engineering. It is an interdisciplinary approach. It is basically using systems approach to engineering efforts.It is a very new concept of engineering we must say. However, it is becoming popular very fast.
Systems science is another of the very common Engineering Disciplines that we are going to discuss now. It is the science that studies system theory. It is the science of complex systems we must say. It has many subjects to name a few are systems ecology, operations research, systems psychology, etc.
T
Telecommunications engineering studies technology that can help the world to come up with the most cost effective medium of telecommunication. It is becoming a very popular field as information has become the most important resource in today’s world. Without information you are nothing actually. The few of them are wireless, signal processing and radio technology.
Textile engineering as the name itself suggests studies how to make textile in the most cost effective and efficient manner using technology.
Transport engineering helps in planning efficient, rapid and cost effective transport system and thereby help in developing infrastructure using engineering principles.
V
Vacuum systems are a field of Engineering Disciplines that studies vacuum and how it can be used in the industries and product development. The two major sub categories of this subject are vacuum gauges and vacuum pumps.
W
Wind engineering helps in analyzing the effects of wind as a power resource. It also studies what can be the harms and benefits of wind energy, how to conserve it and utilize it.
These are the various Engineering disciplines that are taught across the world. I hope this will help you to decide better what exactly you want to study. Each of the fields mentioned above are vast so there is no possibility that you can learn them all. You have to select any one and specialize in that. This article will give you to decide if your interest lies in that particular field. All the best with your studies!
NB: You think some discipline has been left out, please feel free to contact us
