Civil Engineering

Introduction

Civil Engineering is considered to be the oldest engineering discipline. Civil Engineering includes the planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operation of the infrastructure that surrounds us and is the underpinning of our society. Our infrastructure includes roads, airports, railroads, buildings, bridges, and water and waste water

treatment plants, sewers, drainage, flood control, water supply, landfills, Transmission Towers/Lines and many other facilities. Before the middle of the 18th century, large-scale construction work was usually placed in the hands of military engineers.

Military engineering involved such work as the preparation of topographical maps, the location, design, and construction of roads and bridges; and the building of forts and docks. In the 18th century, however, the term civil engineering came into use to describe engineering work that was performed by civilians for nonmilitary purposes.

CILVIL ENGINEERING CAREERS CILVIL ENGINEERING JOBS

The Civil Engineer must have a high aptitude for mathematics and physics and must be well aware of material strength, water flow, foundation capacities, breaking waves, transport and land interactions, contamination and treatment. They should be able to apply their theoretical knowledge to create economical and aesthetically pleasing facilities satisfying the demands of society. A civil engineer plans, design, construct and maintain a project to the required scale. Their work involves site investigation, feasibility studies, creating solutions to complications that may occur and the actual designing of structures. The construction work deals with cost estimates and set construction schedules and get plans approved by the relevant authority where they will have to work with the guidelines of the local government authority. A person of high standard of engineering knowledge with supervisory and administrative skills can be a successful civil engineer.

Civil engineering is scattered to a wide variety of sub-disciplines which includes the following

• Coastal engineering

• Construction engineering

• Earthquake engineering

• Environmental engineering

• Geotechnical engineering

• Water resources engineering

• Materials engineering

• Structural engineering

• Surveying engineering

• Transportation engineering

JOB PROSPECTUS

Civil Engineering offers a multitude of challenging career opportunities. Initially in their careers, most civil engineers work on design, but generally as they gain more responsibility, they manage projects and do engineering design. They can work in Government departments, private and public sector industries, research and teaching institutions etc. They have jobs in road projects, building work, consultancy firms, quality testing laboratories or housing societies. There is a high demand for experienced civil engineers in developed countries. Civil engineers are employed in all the major construction projects carried out by the state or central government, the railways, private construction companies, military, engineering services, consultancy services etc.

PIONEERS IN THE FIELD OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

SANTIAGO CALATRAVA

SANTIAGO CALATRAVA
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a world renowned and award-winning Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zurich, Paris, New York and elsewhere. Already well-known in Europe for his unique design aesthetic, Calatrava is beginning to make a name for himself in the United States. Starting with the Milwaukee Art Museum, he has designed a number of public buildings and bridges in the U.S. in recent years. As both Engineer and Architect, his works take materials like concrete, glass and steel beyond the normal bounds.

Calatrava's early career was dedicated largely to bridges and train stations, the designs for which elevated the status of civil engineering projects to new heights. His elegant and daring Montjuic Communications Tower in Barcelona, Spain in the heart of the Olympic site was a turning point in his career, leading to a wide range of commissions. The Quadracci Pavilion of the Milwaukee Art Museum was his first US building. Calatrava's entry into high-rise design began with an innovative 54 storey high twisting tower, called Turning Torso, located in Malm�, Sweden. Calatrava is currently designing the future train station - World Trade Center Transportation Hub - at Ground Zero in New York City. Calatrava's style has been heralded as bridging the division between structural engineering and architecture. In this, he continues a tradition of Spanish modernist engineering that includes Felix Candela and Antonio Gaud�. Nonetheless, his style is very personal and derives from numerous studies he makes of the human body and the natural world.

MIKE WIKE

MIKE WIKE
Civil Engineer Mike Wilke is Chief Operating Officer of Parsons Brinckerhoff Americas, a 5000 person, $1 billion US consulting infrastructure business. For the past decade, he has played a key role in developing the company's Australian operations and global strategy. Mike has led many major infrastructure projects including the Port of Brisbane Motorway; the Port of Brisbane Seawall; the Pacific Motorway; and the Tugun Bypass. Mike has served as President of Engineers Australia in Queensland, Chair of the QUT Faculty Advisory Committee for Civil Engineering, and Trustee of the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia. For the past three years, Engineers Australia has rated Mike as one of Australia's 100 Most Influential Engineers. Mike holds a Bachelor of Technology (Civil) from QIT and postgraduate qualifications in Management and Engineering Science.

Horoscope - Career for Zodiac Signs

So if you are ready to take up this program and if your sun sign is in favour of civil engineering then a bright career is right in front of you. Check the list below

Aries

Cancer

Virgo

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Eligibility : Click here for more information

Institutes : Some of the prominent institutions offering courses in Civil Engineering can be had from the following links.. Click here for more information