careernav.

Career Description

Career Advice - Mining Engineer Career

Aerospace Engineering is involved with modern flight technology. It addresses the design, construction and science of flight dynamics, aircraft structures and digital control systems. Various technologies are used including aerodynamics, avionics, materials science and propulsion. You can work on aeronautical engineering (aircraft that stay within the earth’s atmosphere) or astronautical engineering (craft that operate outside of the earth's atmosphere).

Agricultural Engineers usually cover the spectrum of engineering science in an agricultural environment. You may cross over with civil engineers on irrigation, drainage and water control systems, structural engineers on specialist building and storage facilities or mechanical engineers in the design of machinery and equipment that is used specifically on farms. However your real value is finding ways to improve the environment by conserving soil and water and improving the processes that take the produce from the farm gate through manufacture to the consumer including supervision of ground preparation, crop management and post harvest processing and transport.

Biomedical Engineers work in the medical field. You use your problem solving skills together with other medical personnel to improve the quality of life of patients. Artificial implants and hearing devices were designed by biomedical engineers.

Biomechanical Engineers focus on how engineering can be applied to the human body. Understanding the mechanics of how we walk and run sit and stand, and bend and flex is critical to designing products that feel comfortable, provide safety and enhance human performance. Backpacks, child safety car seats and running shoes are just some of the products that biomechanical engineers design and test.

Chemical Engineers work in manufacturing plants and focus on the conversion of raw materials into everyday products used in home, industry and commerce. This field of engineering has great scope for specialization. It ranges from petroleum production of oil, natural gas and LPG, to petrochemicals converting oil and gas into plastics and synthetic rubber and chemicals in agriculture for fertilsers, herbicides and pesticides. You can focus on the pharmaceuticals; food and beverage sector or have an environmental preference with water, waste treatment and recycling. Irrespective you could be designing equipment and processes that impact just about on every person and every part of our lives.

Civil Engineers fit broadly are into categories of structural, construction, water resources, transport, soil and foundation and town planning. You plan design and build structures such as bridges, roads and dams or specialise in water related projects such as water supply schemes, sewerage systems and canal development to towns and cities or harbor development including navigation channels, jetties or breakwaters. You could be involved with town planning and local government working on recreation areas, pathways, building design and localized waste disposal and sewerage or water treatment systems. In transport you not only design and build roads but highways, embankments, tunnels, overpass and road systems but even a cities traffic flow, traffic lights and railway systems and their airports. You design and construct buildings, large factories and may even specialize in examination of the soil and site foundation for the structures.

Computer Software Engineers develop and test new software and related systems. This area is rapidly changing. Computer Hardware Engineers design and develop the computer hardware that uses the software! Your MP3 player was probably designed by one of these engineers. You could also work on developing equipment such as gaming consoles, modems and DVD players.

Electronic and Electrical Engineers work with electrical and electronic equipment such as communications systems, electric motors and machinery controls. You could also be designing the lighting, wiring in cars or planes or the latest in radar and navigation systems.  Perhaps working in the power industry would be more to your liking.

Industrial Engineers focus on efficiency, energy, workplace safety and effectiveness of people, materials and process. Usually you specialise either on safety or efficiency. Safety focuses on assessing safe manufacturing processes, equipment modification and internal controls. Efficiency aims to improve productivity by initially assessing existing plant, equipment, process and people, then proposing improvements to people, process, materials, new equipment and also includes involving finance

Mechanical Engineers are used in manufacturing, transportation, aviation, air conditioning, power generation any place where the design, build and installation of machines and engines is required. Your objective is to improve operating efficiency and your work is often linked to an organizations research and development, safety and profitability.

Mineral Engineers work in mining and the petroleum industries. You would be getting the raw materials out of the ground and be converting them to a form that is used by industry. The resources boom in Australia has created huge opportunities for this sector.

Sustainable Engineers design physical things using ecologically sustainable principles.  Perhaps you will be a ‘green’ engineer designing a new suburb, a building or refitting a building to be more energy efficient.

As a Systems Engineer you could be creating a new material using new technologies. You may be working on complex projects such as computer chip design, robotics or building a bridge.

What you do every day

Due to the diverse sectors of ‘engineering’ there is no such thing as a typical day. Some engineers spend all day in the office, others are more outdoors. One minute you’re in the field, next minute you’re knee deep in a computer modeling program, attending a project management meeting, being briefed by a new client or managing existing clients. Other engineers are designing, improving, testing or selling products; managing products or people; or inventing new products and services.

A research engineer would be interpreting the results, including statistical analysis; writing a report; and meeting with other  teams in the company to make sure you are all working to improve the overall product development process…. the day never ends and that is what is so exciting about engineering. One fact is certain – you are likely to be working on anywhere from five to 25 projects at one time.

Now that’s a challenge!

Personality that best fit this career

The most important factor in being an engineer is a love of mathematics and science and an inquiring technical mind. Engineering teaches you to become an analytical thinker, problem solver and lifetime learner.  To succeed you need well developed technical abilities; to be able to identify, analyse and solve problems; demonstrate good oral and written communication skills.

You need good leadership skills, be able to work by yourself, accept responsibility and be both practical yet creative. The creative side of engineering is often overlooked. Even though there are many analytical thinkers in engineering, there is also much creativity both with innovative concepts and inventive problem solving. Some say engineers can jump buildings in a single bound.

Best thing about this career

Engineers love using maths in problem solving and analytical thinking. You never stop learning as every situation is different and you’re working for the benefit of the world. You make a difference and seeing your thoughts result in a solution is a wonderful thing. These days salary scales are performance based and/or linked to sophisticated employer models 

Worst thing about this career

The profession is not valued by society as much as it should be yet engineers are at the heart of most development. The speed of getting a solution finalised is also a concern, as many engineers are overly analytical, cautious and want everything triple checked.