• Question: I am only eight but I know I want to be an engineer. What's the best thing about being an engineer.

    Asked by Anon on 21 Dec 2014. This question was also asked by alfhan.
    • Photo: Peter Green

      Peter Green answered on 21 Dec 2014:

      For me the best thing is being able to create things which solve problems for other people.

      At your age I was taking lots of things apart to find out how they worked. I was very good at taking things apart, but not very good at putting them back together 🙂

      I was 12 when I built my first electronic circuit – a very simple circuit which sounded a buzzer when water fell on a pair of wires. My mom used this to tell her when it was raining on her washing. My interest in engineering was then more popular with the family.

      I am impressed that you have already decided to be an engineer. What type of engineering interests you?

    • Photo: Andy Hearn

      Andy Hearn answered on 22 Dec 2014:

      It is seeing things that you made work and do stuff!

      Engineers making mistakes are mostly a good thing because we learn a lot from them, and that makes our engineering better for the next time.

      …. I’ve been trying to think of another type of job which making mistakes is a good thing, and I can’t think of one yet 🙂

    • Photo: Mina Panahi

      Mina Panahi answered on 28 Dec 2014:

      It’s wonderful that you have already decided what you want to be when you grow up.
      Engineering is about designing and building things that can solve different problems. Once you have created your designs, you will be able to see and evaluate them to improve how they work.

    • Photo: Paul Murcutt

      Paul Murcutt answered on 30 Dec 2014:

      Making things!

      Science & mathematics are interesting, but Engineering takes all of the beautiful output of these fields and makes them relevant to everyday people.

    • Photo: Steve Cox

      Steve Cox answered on 31 Dec 2014:

      For me it was being able to see a Jaguar car in the street and point to certain parts of it and say “I did that”. Making things is what engineering is all about, it’s what you enjoy doing at your age – why stop when you get older…

    • Photo: Wallace Viguier

      Wallace Viguier answered on 4 Jan 2015:

      Being an engineer is great indeed. If something does not work, then you can fix it. And if something does not exist then you can invent it 🙂

    • Photo: Fiona Dickinson

      Fiona Dickinson answered on 6 Jan 2015:

      It is awesome you want to be an engineer, do you take things apart, or build things now?

      I always loved taking things apart to see how they work, for me things become more magical when they are not a ‘black box’, and if I make something even if it looks a bit naff it is incredible to think ‘I made that and it does exactly what I want it to do’, to understand is a wonderful thing and only makes technology such as computers, iPads or TVs seem all the more wonderful.

    • Photo: Sarah Wiseman

      Sarah Wiseman answered on 12 Jan 2015:

      Like many of the other engineers here, I think the best thing is being able to create the things you want! Just being able to bring something into existence that solves a special problem for yourself, or helps others, it’s amazing to know you can do that.

    • Photo: Mousumi Roy

      Mousumi Roy answered on 28 Jan 2015:

      It is the ability to solve a real-life problem, create things from scratch and overall, trying to make the world a better place to live in.

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