If we looked at anything that we use in a typical day, it all started with an idea but was created with the help of an equally creative engineer. A hairpin, a toothbrush, water purifier, paint, a light bulb, a water tap, a hair dryer, a water bottle, a steel vessel, a mobile phone, an elevator, a car, our houses – and these are only the things we see around in our homes. If we step out, there are a host of other products and materials that keep our day (and lives) going well and smooth.

Initially, there were a set of standard branches in engineering, but then the domain grew. Many new branches have emerged with greater precision and research work is continuously done. With requirements always around the corner, engineers are striving to improve and even create dedicated sub-domains to pay greater attention to those requirements. So, the amount of labor one had to put in to secure a degree in engineering has been the same through decades, with minor modifications in the attitude towards it. Despite the emergence and growth of other academic disciplines, engineering is still being sought after.

For instance, the stream of Computer Science has many students with the increase in the use of technology for personalized uses. That being said, most of us would agree on how convenient and comfortable smartphones have made a life for us. With the use of cloud computing and other storage systems, there is a greater need to club our cell phones with storage of data. Security systems are being improved and connected with our cell phones, bridging security networks and internet of things.

Electronics and Communication can be so interesting where you will learn to work on wireless networks, radio and television sector, mobile communications, hospital diagnostic equipment, etc. Whether it is a security alarm system, or just building a mobile phone with basic features, you can experiment on many things. This will require you to work closely with the Computer Science engineers, and blending your ideas and skills together for the result. The sub-disciplines of Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering will help you focus on aircraft engineering. You can work on developing and building aircraft equipment (avionics), rockets, and satellites.

Mechanical Engineering is a vast stream. A mechanical engineer will have to create the machinery for almost everything. This is by far the most popular branch as mechanical engineers will have to work with almost all other kinds of engineers to build equipment that is required for many uses. There are various other sub-domains under the four major categories of engineering (mechanical, civil, electrical, and chemical) that have been started to cater to humanity’s needs and improve lifestyles.

So, why has the attitude changed? Passion. Engineering is an evergreen subject that never goes out of fashion. It requires you to have great analytical and mathematical skills, which culminates to creating solutions to everyday problems people face. It gives you a sense of accomplishment to formulate answers for crippling needs from the individual’s level to the global level. When you do create solutions for needs and better living, your passion never grows cold, motivating you to do more.

An engineering student will tell you that there is something new to learn every day and that you can never expect the same theory to apply for all situations. If you like challenges that make you think out-of-the-box, you will love these new surprises every day. Such critical and analytical practicing of your mind will help you discover and rediscover new things about yourself. This leads to better experimentation with your existing level of comfort and capacity and goes beyond.

For example, a simple pen that you use to write notes with was once engineered and then re-engineered for better user-experience. Taking inspiration from the olden times of a sharpened feather dipped in an ink-pot for writing, modern engineers designed a fountain pen in which the ink is filled from time to time. That made portability easier. Later, to avoid filling ink every few days, many other versions came to be before the modern-day pen where ink refills can be replaced that lasted much longer than a fountain pen. Further on, gel pens and the use of different colored inks came into existence.

But technology and engineering didn’t stop there. Cameras, memory chips, battery operated pen-torches, pen-drives, pens disguised with knives for safety, speaker-enabled pens, light-pens, etc. were all developed. Users can use a pen for multiple purposes now. But, here’s the beauty of engineering a pen (or any other product or machine). Creating a modern technology-enabled pen requires the unified work of mechanical, chemical, electrical, electronic, software, and even environmental engineers! And how helpful and convenient life is made for a person who may need such a pen with the joint efforts of all these engineers.

With the increase in problems and a need for a secure, comfortable life, an engineer’s purpose is never-ending. Especially in the field of computer science and technology, experts are furiously working and experimenting to make new systems, more compact storage devices, and faster networking across the internet. It is no doubt that we find it all whizzing past us as new software and newer developments in artificial intelligence (AI) are being introduced.

Getting to study with students of many other engineering streams is one of the rewards and privileges of pursuing the course. You will learn the importance of keeping harmony among other disciplines as well as the importance of your own skills and ideas that are very much necessary for the benefit of everyone. It’s an exciting process of building your own strengths and creating new breakthroughs.

Life is all the more exciting for engineering students as they are consistently learning and being exposed to a variety of inter-disciplinary practices, experiments, and studies, making them more equipped to approach an issue more radically. Indeed, it takes a lot of effort and polished skill to infuse an idea into a practical, usable, available, and constructive product.

But, engineering is not the only course that gives answers to people’s problems, there are many other equally rewarding and enjoyable fields. It all depends on your passion as an individual – what your line of interests is. If you have an analytical approach to solving people’s problems, engineering would most definitely fuel your interests even more.

At Jain (Deemed-to-be University)’s School of Engineering and Technology provides engineering courses to all the passionate students with the best of faculty from the industry and a rigorous curriculum.