Green Energy

Getting A Degree In Engineering Can Lead To A Career In Green Technology

In Utica, NY, they devised a “rain barrel” program where recycled steel drums equipped with hoses capture rain for irrigation rather than risking sewage overflows into area waterways. In Tennessee, they’re working to create solar-assisted charging stations for electric vehicles. In Delaware, they can tour an Air Force Base to help come up with ideas for cleaning spilled chemicals that can contaminate ground water supplies.

　”They” referred to above are engineers. As organizations work to save money on electric bills and earn tax credits and the government acts on a plan to create environmentally-friendly jobs, occupations in green engineering are expected to be among the most secure of the coming decade, according to a June Newsweek magazine report. The report was compiled based on input from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and career counselors, according to the web site for a compliance information company known as BLR. With traditional power company employees retiring and different forms of alternative energy increasing, employment in renewable energy is also on the rise, according to an article on the Power Engineering magazine web site. There is so much more data about electrical engineering degree on the web.

Engineers work in a variety of fields. Civil engineers might assist with urban planning and help devise solutions for problems such as air, ground and water pollution and water conservation. Environmental engineers might develop solar and wind energy products. Engineers also specialize in everything from chemicals to computers, aeronautics to acoustics, petroleum, mechanics, electronics and biomedical science. Ocean engineers, with expertise in different areas, might create robots and remote control vehicles for exploring the world’s seas, the Junior Engineering Technical Society web site notes. Engineers in any of these disciplines can be green, according to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University web site.　

Already, engineering design companies are reporting growth in green engineering, according to an online publication known as Electronics Design, Strategy News. John Myung, vice president of sales and marketing for Focus Product Design, for the July article told the publication that companies are looking for new and better automobile designs. They’re also ordering solar panels as a means of analyzing this form of alternative energy, according to information provided by Myung. Understanding all you can about distance education degree may mean quicker success.

Virginia Tech, as the school with campus and online degree programs, is one of several institutions with green engineering offerings. In this particular instance, the school offers a minor that introduces students to water, air and soil issues, such as depleting drinking water from aquifers. The minor also explains how the engineering profession affects the environment and tells how engineers can create products, processes and systems to help solve or minimize environmental problems.

Ivy League schools have added green engineering programs to their offerings as well. A Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale University, for example, is designed in part to support and advance green engineering research. A Green Engineering Program from the Environmental Protection Agency, with an emphasis on pollution prevention, helps colleges, universities and technical schools to incorporate a green philosophy into the classroom. The EPA offers senior through graduate level chemical engineering students a green engineering textbook, the agency’s web site shows.　

At a conference held in Florida in 2003, a group of engineers and scientists developed principles of green engineering, according to the EPA web site. They include conserving and improving natural ecosystems while protecting human health and well being; striving to prevent waste; minimizing depletion of natural resources; and improving and inventing technologies that can create sustainable solutions. Entry to engineering careers generally requires a bachelor’s degree, the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes. Starting salaries for engineering degree holders, depending upon area of specialty, are among four of the top five for graduates and extend to nearly $75,000 a year, a 2010 Salary Survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows. Researching degree in engineering will work in your favor.

High school students who want to offset the costs of an engineering education might look toward the Junior Engineering Technical Society that, with Power Engineering magazine, awards academic scholarships in this subject area. Students at various levels might obtain scholarships from the Society of Automobile Engineers.

Biodiesel and Green Bikes: A student video about alternative energy at Keene State College

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