Most high school students who are going to study Grade 12 in the
coming fall are probably thinking about what programs they can take in
university and colleges or what job they want to do. As an engineering student,
I would like to share my knowledge about the engineering program in
universities in Ontario.
What is Engineering?
By definition, an engineer is a person whose job is to design and build
machines, engines, electrical equipments, roads, railways, or bridges.
Generally speaking, engineers are a group of professionals who design something
using scientific principles. Engineers use their technical expertise and
problem-solving skills to answer the challenges our society faces. They also
responsible for inventing better computers, improving a city's transit systems,
reorganizing a corporation, designing robots for dangerous jobs, refining new
fuels, cleaning up pollution, or creating tools to fight disease.
Types of Engineering Fields that Exist Around the World:
There are more than ten engineering fields in Ontario available for
specialization. They are Aerospace, Biomedical, Chemical, Civil (e.g.
Infrastructure, Geometric), Computer, Electrical, Engineering Physics,
Environmental, Geological, Industrial Engineering, Material Science and
Engineering, Mechatronics, Mechanical (e.g. manufacturing), Mineral,
Nanotechnology, Software and System Design.
Descriptions of Engineering Fields:
The following are five popular engineering fields (Chemical, Civil, Computer,
Electrical and Mechanical) in Canada.
Chemical
Chemical engineering involves the design, refinement, and control of processes.
At the beginning of undergraduate life, students build a firm foundation on
core courses such as fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and equilibrium stage
separations. In the upper year, students would apply class knowledge such as
specific process design and analysis software (e.g. ChemCAT, CaCHE) onto
research and design projects.
Upon graduation, chemical engineers would apply the results they obtained from
chemical research and transform laboratory processes into manufacturing plants
for petroleum refining, materials recycling, plastics, fertilizers,
pharmaceuticals, paints, electronic components, and biotechnology. Working at
length scales from molecular to macro, chemical engineers also design systems
for applications such as targeted delivery of drug molecules, precise delivery
of micro droplets in automated chemical synthesis, and optimal use of resources
to supply products to world markets.