Careers in civil engineering
Leadership
Why should CE students think about leadership?
Roles of civil engineers
What are two main roles of civil engineers?
Roles of civil engineers
“From the beginning of recorded history and all
over the earth, engineers meet the basic needs of
the communal society. These needs include
providing shelter, water supply, wastewater
disposal, irrigation, transportation, and
environmental protection.” (Walesh 1990)
Defining characteristics of CE
Technical area
Employer
General function
Technical
Management
Operations
Teaching
Research
Water resources engineering
•
Environmental engineering
•
Structural engineering
•
Geotechnical engineering
•
Transportation engineering
Construction engineering
•
Surveying engineering
Civil engineering materials
Classification of CE employers
How might you classify CE employers?
Distribution of CEs
90,000
80,000
70,000
Number
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
CE general functions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Designing facilities and systems
Managing projects
Conducting environmental studies
Communicating
Administering construction
Estimating costs
Working on regulations
Managing and operating facilities
Conducting financial studies
CE functions: management
• Projects
• Businesses
• Public organizations
• Operations
• Human resources
• Environmental regulations
• Programs
Characteristics of CE work
CE work involves
Starting salaries for engineers
$65,000
$60,000
$55,000
$50,000
$45,000
$40,000
Source: Spring 2007 Salary Survey ; National Association of Colleges and Employees
ISU CE data
BS in CE
Salary range
MS in CE
$43,400 – 51,500 $50,000 – 56,200
Average salary
$48,100
$52,100
Placement rate
90%
88%
ECS, Spring 2007
ISU CE data
% placed
Cooperative
100%
Ave. monthly
salary
$ 2,454
Internship
88%
$ 2,291
Summer
81%
No experience
62%
Message:
Life of a CE project
• Choose a small-scale civil engineering project (utility
access, parking lot, bike path, pedestrian bridge)
• Determine the major steps (i.e., the categories of
actions) needed to complete the project.