Civil/Structural Engineer
As a child, he designed plastic Lego bridges. Now he designs concrete and steel bridges. His career path was not as direct as it might seem.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
BH’s father was an engineer specializing in electricity for commercial structures. His mother was a homemaker and later worked with insurance, also serving as a volunteer counselor. Both parents were college graduates who instilled that goal within their children.
EARLY INTERESTS LATER REFLECTED IN AN ADULT CAREER
Building with plastic Legos and taking things apart to see how they worked (most of which he was able to reassemble, even as a child, to his parents’ bemusement) was an early childhood interest for BH.
EXPERIENCE GAINED FROM SUMMER JOBS
BH’s school vacations were time for him to mow lawns, lifeguard and pull wire as an electrician’s helper. He was a high school football player, so the physical difficulty of any work was never a problem but none of his part-time activities sparked an interest in an eventual career.
HIGH SCHOOL COURSES CONFIRM A BASIC TALENT AND INTEREST
BH’s public high school received national awards for academic excellence so when he did well in math and science courses, he was sufficiently confident to aim for colleges offering an engineering program.
COLLEGE CHOICE ISSUES
BH applied to and was accepted by multiple colleges / universities. He Never considered West Point but ultimately decided to enroll in a university well known for its engineering curriculum – perhaps not coincidentally his father’s alma mater.
ONE COLLEGE COURSE CAN NARROW A CAREER PATH
The university’s engineering program commenced with an introduction to all of the major sub-sets of engineering, including electrical, mechanical and structural. BH thought he might follow his father’s career path into electrical engineering until the professor of electrical engineer began discussing the intricacies of the knowledge involved, including visualizing atoms flying around, which was of no interest to BH. However, the experienced professor of civil engineering, who discussed designing bridges, highways, tunnels, railroads and wetland improvements, motivated an immediate interest in this former Lego builder. BH had found his career focus.
EARLY CAREER GOAL IS NEVER BINDING
BH worked hard within his engineering courses to master the subject matter since he knew he would be using it though initially he was most interested in teaching at the college level. During the latter half of his college years, BH had the opportunity to participate in an engineering program sponsored by the National Science Foundation, involving preparation of a thesis and lab work to create a hypothesis, build a specimen and prove its viability. BH enjoyed the related math problems (later as a parent, he continues to enjoy solving his children’s math problems solely for his own benefit while letting them struggle to solve the problems and ask for his assistance if needed).
As BH proceeded from achieving his college engineering degree to the same university’s Master’s Degree in engineering, he began to realize that some of the professors he most respected for their teaching abilities were apparently receiving less recognition (e.g. tenure) from the university than lesser talented teachers who were able to raise more revenue for the university through research grants. BH concluded that he would never want to “play the money game” to succeed in the academic world so he decided to shift his goal from teaching engineering to performing engineering.
SUB-SETS WITHIN SUB-SETS
BH broadly defines Civil Engineering as dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and inspection of infrastructure for the benefit of civilization.
A sub-set of civil engineering is Structural Engineering, which deals with major projects such as bridges, highways, tunnels, airports, sewer systems and wetlands restoration.
A sub-set within structural engineering differentiates between the engineers’ clientele: public (government entities) or private (essentially real estate developers). Public projects are funded by broad based tax dollars. Private projects are funded by the private businesses erecting homes or commercial buildings and shopping centers.
A structural engineer can aim to be employed by either the government (for example: PENNDOT, being the PA Department of Transportation) or as a private consultant to the government. Each of those options has its own advantages and disadvantages:
government employee – steady employment; pays less than consultants but benefits are better, including a retirement pension; sometimes need to move from one government office to another in order to find a higher pay grade position
consultant to government agency – employment prospects are more certain than working with private developers who are more dependent on a robust private economy to support building housing and commercial projects, than a consultant to a government agency, whose projects are funded by more readily available tax dollars; compensation is generally better than being a full-time employee of a government agency but benefits are less, particularly a pension, which must be self-funded; however, consultants need not move themselves (and their families) to seek promotions / better compensation
Needing to make a choice between seeking employment as an engineer employed by a government agency or by consultants to government agencies, BH opted to seek employment with engineering consultants. Looking back, he might have opted to start his career as a government employee and remain so employed until working the minimum number of years to qualify for a pension, then find employment as a consultant to the same government agency. Now noting that alternative path not taken, he is glad to have chosen to proceed directly and continuously as a private consultant to government agencies.
EVERY CAREER CHOICE MUST COPE WITH CHALLENGES
While BH is pleased with his career path, there have been some professionally stressful moments due to downturns in the economy which directly support financing for even public infrastructure projects. Some examples:
Nationally widespread, risky bank loans have led to mortage defaults, unemployment and government’s inability to collect income taxes.
A virus pandemic forced a decline car commuting and truck driving which together reduced highway and bridge toll revenues collected by government agencies.
Both of these circumstances have affected BH’s consulting business, leading to less government contracts, resulting in BH’s employer having to reduce the number of new engineers to be hired and lay-off many of its (non-college educated) infrastructure inspectors. Fortunately, both situations eventually improved as economic issues but crashes or blips in the economy cannot be totally avoided.
Electric powered cars are good for the air environment but what will be the overall effect on the economy? Like every other career, engineers must adapt or risk virtual extinction, much like “horseshoe engineers” during the formative years of our country.
FORMAL REQUIREMENTS FOR STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
College degree in engineering, followed by experience and completion of additional education to qualify to take and pass the exam to be a Professional Engineer.
CAREER SATISFACTION
Though not as relatively highly compensated as many other careers, BH’s early interest in building things, leading to an adult interest in designing things, has provided sufficient income to support himself and his family plus a daily interesting occupation which BH notes is both useful for the general public and personally satisfying when he drives around and is able to point out a bridge he has successfully designed.
