September 11, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR LIZA FULLER IN PA
Most Civil Engineers specialize in one of the following areas:
* Structural: steel and concrete structures, i.e. buildings, dams, walls, bridges
* Hydraulics: study of rainfall, runoff, waterways
* Transportation: roadways, railways, subways, airports, harbors
* Geotechnical: study of earth, foundations for buildings, dams, walls, etc.
* Environmental: sanitary systems, reclamation of hazardous waste sites

And decide to concentrate on being either a:
* Design Engineer
* Construction Engineer

Designer Engineers plan a project in an office. They prepare contract
drawings (visual instructions on how to build the project) and
specifications (written instructions on how to build the project).
Design Engineers also estimate how much a project will cost.

Construction Engineers are on site during construction to ensure a
project is built according to the contract documents and to deal with
any unforeseen difficulties as the project is being built.

So far in my career I have done work in the Structural, Hydraulics and
Transportation fields. In my early career I worked with a design team
to plan the structure to support a large coal fueled power plant in
Iowa. Later, I helped design concrete dams located in Canada. After
that, I got involved in the design and inspection of airport runways and
taxiways in various cities. Lately, my work has been more construction
oriented, being the site engineer during the construction of light rail
transit stations and parking lots adjacent to them. As you can see, a
career evolves at time goes on.
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September 9, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON IN IL AND CLIFF FITZSIMMONS IN WASHINGTON, DC
Hi,
I wrote to my brother-in-law who is a civil engineer with the Army Corps of
Engineers. This is what Cliff Fitzsimmons in Washington D.C. wrote:

Civil engineers work in a wide variety of roles. Most student engineers
pick an area or two to specialize in while they are in college. I was
interested in water and preferred to be outdoors. Therefore, I studied and
later worked with calculating how water behaves in rivers, streams, canals,
and pipes, and how to design all of the things used to move water from one
place to another or to keep it from flooding cities. I have designed
pumping plants that pull the water out of the ground or rivers and the pipe
systems that send it to farms and cities. I have designed dams, levees and
canals that help prevent flooding. I have designed channels and harbors
that move barges and ships so that commerce can continue with less cost. I
have also used civil engineering to correct problems in the environment
created by the past actions of our society. When our nation built roads,
levees and other projects, the environment was often sacrificed. Today,
civil engineers work with ecologists to return some of these damaged areas
back to more pristine conditions - usually by figuring out how to restore
the soil and water in an area to what it once was, so that fish, wildlife
and waterfowl will return and thrive.

I chose to work with water resources, but civil engineers work in many
other areas also. Some work with structures, designing bridges and buildings.
Some design roads and highways. Some work with soils, figuring out how to
best use the soil and the rock underneath to support the bridges, roads and
buildings. Some plan communities. I once used my engineering to lay out
the streets, water lines, sewer lines and property boundaries for a new
subdivision. Some engineers manage the construction of projects. Some
specialize in estimating the costs of projects. All work extensively with
computers. Since our work generally benefits the public, we also have many
opportunities to help government officials find and decide on the right
solutions to problems.

I currently work for the Army which has civil engineers all over the world,
and particularly in Iraq and Afganistan, helping people rebuild their
roads, homes, buildings, water systems, oil refineries, and nearly everthing else
needed to help improve their lives. We also do a lot of work designing and
building army and air force base facilities.

If math and science are fun and interesting to you; if you like solving
problems; and the idea of creating real things that people need and use,
then consider civil engineering. The country will always need good
engineers!