Networks, Tips and Technologies to Boost Engineering Careers
The rapid development of engineering software and mobile applications makes it possible for engineers to have tools and solutions at their fingertips. Students and those embarking on a career in engineering can use the following to find free classes and webinars, discover effective networking strategies to search for jobs in their field, and read the latest scholarly publications on theory and application.
Education & Skill Development
Each of the 17 major engineering disciplines has professional societies and career development organizations. Associations, institutes and private engineering schools offer certification, advanced courses and seminar programs. Engineers continue learning in the classroom, at conferences and seminars, and on the job. Fundamentals are available from free massive open online courses (MOOCs).
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
ASCE provides continuing education to civil engineers seeking advanced training and certifications. Options include face-to-face instruction, live webinars, P.E. and S.E. exam reviews and on-site corporate training.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Professionals can sign up for career development programs at ASME that provide certification training in HVAC, nuclear quality assurance, and bioprocessing. Assessment tests are offered for certification candidates.
Canvas Network
Canvas provides open, online engineering courses taught by educators from major universities at no cost. Current courses are available in unmanned aerospace systems, physics for animators, communications boot-camp, project management, technical documentation, and data privacy.
Coursera
This MOOC pioneer has partnerships with the nation’s elite engineering colleges and universities, allowing Coursera to offer free classes in topics such as big data, machine learning, strategic management and innovation, applications in engineering mechanics, dynamics of motion, and mechanics of materials.
CourseTalk
Another MOOC aggregator, CourseTalk has 325 course listings in the engineering disciplines, including studies in circuit analysis, aerospace engineering, artificial intelligence and robotics, VLSI CAD, compilers, nanotechnology, nuclear science, and fuel cells.
edX
A MOOC offering free courses, edX currently lists 115 engineering classes in subjects such as astrophysics, robotics, big data, Six-Sigma, structural engineering for bridges, wastewater engineering, circuits and electronics, nanotechnology, thermodynamics, signal processing, and climate change.
Engineering.com
The engineering megasite maintains an extensive resources section that publishes white papers, ebooks, research findings and webinars. Members receive unlimited access to resources and newsletters.
Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE)
Professional engineers can receive LEAN and Six Sigma “green belt” training from the IIE. Other training programs from the institute provide courses in engineering management and industrial engineering.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy offers free online classes through practice exercises and instructional videos from top engineering college partners including NASA, MIT, and The California Academy of Science. Courses are coordinated through a personalized dashboard that tracks student progress through the curriculum.
MIT OpenCourseware
Massachusetts Institute of Technology was a pioneer of MOOCs and today hosts nearly 900 classes from its engineering faculty, offered free of charge. Engineering fields represented include mechanical, electrical, materials, civil and environmental, biological, chemical, nuclear science, and aeronautics.
MOOC List
Engineering students seeking free courses from top universities can find a wide range of classes, from introductory to post-graduate level engineering topics, at the MOOC aggregator. Recent classes included practical machine learning, signals and systems, hydraulics, numerical methods for engineers, dynamic controls, structural engineering for bridges, vehicle dynamics and robotics.
National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL)
The seven Indian Institutes of Technology have created this tech MOOC offering e-courses in topics such as non-linear dynamics, manufacturing systems, wireless communications, modern construction materials, the physics of materials, and propulsion systems.
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
Every year, NSPE offers 15 free courses to member engineers. Current offerings include studies in engineering ethics, sustainable development, team building, trends in seismic shifts, designing for high wind, and engineering leadership.
Open Learning Initiative, Carnegie Mellon University (OLI)
Carnegie Mellon’s OLI program has served up free courses to more than 45,000 students. Current offerings include classes in biochemistry, evidence-based practice in managing, logic and proofs, probability and statistics, and public policy analysis for engineers.
PDHdirect
Engineers seeking professional development hours, courses, or certificates to meet continuing education requirements will find more than 200 online, interactive courses and webinars in civil engineering, electrical engineering, environmental, industrial, materials, sustainability, HVAC, petroleum, and others at PDHdirect.
PDHengineer
PDH provides online engineering continuing education for professionals renewing their PE licenses. Subject areas include civil, electrical, geotechnical, HVAC, industrial, materials, oil and gas, renewable energy, and state-specific engineering.
RedVector
Professional training firm RedVector provides 1,300 continuing education courses for professional engineers. Programs include OSHA 30 training and CE training in engineering disciplines of chemical, architectural, construction, energy, minerals and mining, pulp and paper, and facilities management.
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
The largest society of petroleum engineers and scientists offers a SPE-certification course curriculum, webinars, and recorded classes. It also provides advanced PE courses, offered at locations across the globe.
Stanford Online
Engineering students have free access to Stanford University lectures and classes via iTunes and through Stanford Online. Recent courses include the Stanford LEAD certificate, economics of energy technologies, statistical learning, and the science of decision making.
Young Engineers in ASHRAE (YEA)
Designed to promote education and career development of young engineers, the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) created YEA to offer technical training weekends, HVAC Design Essentials scholarships, awards programs and the YEA Connection newsletter.
Academics & Research
Whether or not an engineering graduate student is required to complete a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation depends on the individual degree program. Some programs, particularly on the master’s level, offer both thesis and non-thesis degree options. Nevertheless, engineering grad students will be required to carry out some level of research as part of their degree programs. The sites linked below are provided to help engineering grad students get a feel for what is available online to aid them in conducting their research.
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
The DOAJ is a not-for-profit organization whose site provides access to over 10,000 open access journals concerning all areas of science, technology and other subjects.
Microsoft Academic Search
Microsoft search engine that provides a connection to nearly 50 million publications including those from scientific journals in subjects such as engineering, computer science, and more.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
An agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the NIST website offers a broad selection of information and data sources for engineers, including scientific databases and an engineering statistics handbook.
National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
Another source provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The NTIS website provides access to approximately 3 million publications covering over 350 subject areas, including government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business related information.
NSSN Search Engine for Standards
Sponsored by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), this search engine provides users with standards-related information from a variety of developers, including government agencies, international organizations, private sector standards bodies and ANSI-accredited organizations.
SciCentral
SciCentral primarily functions as a news aggregate and ranking site for breaking scientific research news, including engineering-related news. The site also provides access to a number of non-news resources such as literature search toolsutilities and directories.
Science Direct
The search engine at Science Direct allows individuals to search for information regarding peer-reviewed journals, articles, book chapters and other content, much of which is offered via open-access platform.
Science.gov
Science.gov searches over 60 databases and more than 2200 websites from 15 federal agencies, resulting in access to 200 million pages of U.S. government science information including research and development information and data.
SciTech Connect
SciTech Connect is the U.S. Department of Energy’s clearinghouse site for its science, technology and engineering research information. Individuals can use the site’s search engine to access full text to studies, citations, software and much more.
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Library
The NRC Library site provides access to the agency’s publically-released documents and data. A substantial amount of documentation is available for review online, while other information and data can be obtained through the library’s record retrieval systems.
Internships
Dedication, persistence and commitment are indispensable for landing an engineering job. The following job sites and internship resources also provide essential tools for researching engineering openings, credentials, or professional networks. Thousands of engineering openings are updated daily including jobs in particular disciplines posted on smaller job sites and professional association career centers.
Boeing Aircraft
Leading aerospace manufacturer Boeing offers a 12-week undergraduate and graduate Engineering Intern Program, held at one of its 11 research and development centers located around the globe.
Engineering Jobs.com
More than 5,000 internships are listed at this job site in a range of disciplines including civil, construction, mechanical, design, research and development, field testing and machine learning. Employers include Granite Construction, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Intel, Sachs Electric, Sandia National Laboratories, SpaceX, Go Pro, Seagate, Corning, and Priceline.
Five Great Engineering and Technology Internships for 2016
From Forbes Magazine, a roundup of five engineering internships, including the compensation, perks, how to apply and how well they’re viewed by the industry. The top internships (ranked in order by Forbes) are at Boeing, 3M, Computer Sciences Corporation, CH2M Hill, and SpaceX.
Glassdoor
This megasite that evaluates companies and corporate culture recently listed 12,000 engineering internships in mechanical, civil, software, electrical, structural, applications, and process engineering students. Companies recently seeking interns include Lockheed Martin, Bechtel, Sony Playstation, Novetta, TE Connectivity, Carfax, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Facebook.
Google
The innovative search company offers students year-round technical and product development internships at its facilities and labs. Recent internships were advertised for students of mechanical engineering, quantitative analysis, reliability testing, and software engineering.
GovCentral
Part of Monster.com, this federal jobs/internships site features “The Ultimate Government Internship Index”, a roundup of special federal internships by department, a list of branches and agencies, and articles on landing government placements.
IEEE Job Site
Managed by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Job Site hosts a searchable engineering job bank, job-seeker tools, career fair listings, and current news in engineering hiring. There’s a special student section for entry level jobs.
Internships.com
Intern candidates are matched with internship opportunities at this site which allows students to search by location or discipline. Recent internships were listed for Mitsubishi Electric, Honda, Lakeview Industries, THX Ltd., Intel, Women’s iLab, Conoco Phillips, Verizon and Ericsson.
LinkedIn
As part of their vast professional networking company, Linked-In maintains an engineering internship board. Among the 6,000 recent opportunities were internships with Global Nomadic, Groupon, Google, Amazon, Tumblr, Verizon, NuScale Power, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Rolls-Royce and Facebook.
Looksharp
The engine behind Looksharp allows students to search engineering internships among 17 disciplines in the field. Recent internships were listed for BlueStamp Engineering, Allegro MicroSystems, Inc., Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, American Engineering Testing Inc., Campbell Soup Company, Fedex Ground, Streck, Hewlett Packard, and Consolidated Container Company.
Washington Internship for Students of Engineering (WISE)
Engineering students from more than 50 colleges and universities have received these nine-week internships in the nation’s capital to learn the legislative process and conduct original research leading to a paper on engineering public policy.
Groups & Networking
An engineering employment expert writes that whether entering the workforce or looking to rise to management, engineers have little success without networking. Joining campus or regional chapters of professional engineering associations and posting at networking sites or on engineering forums – such as at Engineering.com – build credibility and link with colleagues.
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ASSOCIATIONS & SOCIETIES
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
Student members that join ASEE receive publications, access to an engineering job board, fellowship listings, workshops and discounted participation at national and local conferences.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
The AIAA is the largest technical society representing the aerospace professions. A center of information exchange, the institute has published 200,000 technical articles and 300 books. Student membership ($25 per year) provides access to ongoing learning, networking and career assistance.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
The largest professional organization in the field, IEEE publishes a third of all technical literature in electronics, computer science, and electrical engineering. Member benefits include a job board, continuing education, career development resources and networking opportunities.
Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE)
The IIE offers student memberships to this international society of efficiency and productivity professionals. Membership grants website access to the institute’s career center, job board, webinars, newsletters, the Industrial Engineer magazine, and Six Sigma training courses.
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
For more than 80 years, the NSPE has represented licensed engineers across all disciplines. Its online resources provide members access to industry news, free online seminars, a job board, licensure programs and networking opportunities at its annual conference.
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
SPE advocates for education and career development of professional engineers in the oil and gas industries. Membership includes access to OnePetro, an online library of more than 105,000 documents culled from national and international petroleum engineering organizations.
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CONNECTIONS & NETWORKING
American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES)
AAEES offers special student memberships for free that come with subscriptions to its publications, Environmental Engineer and Scientist, and Environmental Engineering and Science Resource Guidebook. The academy offers Board-Certified Environmental Engineer designations for qualified applicants.
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
Representing 45,000 chemical engineering students and professionals from more than 100 nations, AIChE offers its members professional and technical training programs, webinars, technical publications, career and employment services and a resume database.
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
The ASCE is made up of more than 146,000 professional and student members pursuing civil engineering careers. Student members have access to seminars, webinars and continuing education, newsletters, publications, and participation in student member groups in nine regions of the country.
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
Student members find networking opportunities within and beyond ASEE. They also receive publications, access to an engineering job board, fellowship listings, workshops and discounted participation at national and local conferences.
American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
More than 53,000 member professionals and students in the HVAC fields find educational, networking, news, and career resources online at the ASHRAE website. Student members can enter design competitions and find internships in HVAC.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ASME serves engineers from students and early-career professionals to academic experts, senior leadership and executives in the mechanical field. Its website site offers useful tips, tools and information on conferences and competitions.
An Awkward Engineer’s Guide to Professional Networking
This LinkedIn article not only provides insightful guidance on building a network, the author invites readers to sign up for his newsletter. Talk about networking!
Associations – Science and Technology
This master list of nearly 400 science and technology associations contains thumbnail summaries and links to organizations of interest to engineering students looking to build networks.
Engineering Exchange
More than 11,000 engineers from around the globe participate in 53 discussion groups that cover the engineering disciplines. The site is also home to engineering blogs, more than 1,700 videos, job listings, and white papers.
ENG-TIPS Forum
Join the engineering forums, swap ideas, get answers, and build community at Engineering.com. Find forums by industry, engineering discipline, codes and standards, project management, and corporate survival.
Google+
Engineers and students can create Circles in their Google+ account that creates an instant network or community. Circles can overlap, or be restricted to identifiers such as friends, family, mentors, recruiters, peers, or educators.
LinkedIn
One of the world’s largest career networking sites, LinkedIn today has nearly 16,000 independent groups and forums for engineers. By joining, members can make daily posts on their specialty as they build extensive networks of employers, mentors, peers, and recruiters.
Professional Associations for Engineers
The staff at Monster.com has compiled a list of 80 engineering societies, institutes and associations that offer networking opportunities for their members.
Twitter
Even techies that hate to write will have little trouble composing the 140 character “tweets” they send to their networks. The Twitter site has a Technology & science page that’s a great place to start networking.
Ways of Networking for Employment Opportunities and Career Growth
Read advice from Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers in this article that focuses on the use of a mentor for building a strong engineering career network.
Industry News & Scholarship
Engineering professions and supporting knowledge communities stay informed about advancements in theory and practice. Commercial, professional and scholarly publications provide macro and micro views of the disciplines. Some dedicated engineering magazines and trade journals are available with memberships or subscriptions while other journals are freely available for viewing and downloading.
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NEWS & TRENDS
Civil Engineering Magazine
Produced for members by The American Society of Civil Engineers, current and archived copies of the digital magazine is available for members. There’s also free access for all to exclusive articles on architectural engineering, engineering mechanics, computing and IT, geomatics, and climate change.
EE Times
This global electronics magazine carries articles on the EE industry, breaking news, engineer’s bookshelf, and information on mobile tech, open source, industrial control, embedded systems and semiconductors.
Engineering.com
Dedicated to “Inform. Inspire. Entertain”, this mega-site for engineers rounds up industry news with information devoted to CAD, CAE, CAM, BIM, 3D printing, electronics and engineering education.
Engineering News-Record (ENR)
Founded as an engineering journal in 1874, ENR today is an essential publication for engineering professionals with its articles on design and construction trends, legislation and the environment.
ME Today
Designed by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers to serve early career engineers, ME Today keeps readers up to speed on issues and industry trends, emerging technology and campus related engineering news.
Petroleum News Online
Students in petroleum or energy engineering disciplines can keep up with oil and gas news, international and North American trends, litigation and market issues.
Popular Science
Students preferring digital content should love this iPad app that delivers the latest and archived PS issues of “the latest news and features on the people, technologies, and gadgets shaping the future.”
ScienceDaily
The large engineering sections of ScienceDaily serves up pithy articles, videos and tutorials for a wide range of disciplines including 3D printing, energy resources, machine learning, metallurgy, communications, robotics, aviation, thermodynamics, and nanotechnology.
Wi – Wireless & RF Magazine
Wi, published monthly by EEWeb, is free for viewing and for PDF download. Each issue features wireless product reviews, tech reports, tech trends and industry news.
Woman Engineer
Women studying engineering fields in college can scour current and achieved editions of the magazine, each packed with career advice, certification trends, and a list of companies currently recruiting engineers.
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SCHOLARSHIP & JOURNALS
AIAA Journal
The monthly journal published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics features scholarly articles with information on theoretical developments and experimental findings.
AIChE Journal
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers publishes the journal each month for members. Scholarly articles are organized by specialization, with sections dedicated to fields like bioengineering, particle technology, soft materials, inorganic materials, thermodynamics, process systems engineering and fluid mechanics.
Curious Cat
Considered one of the top engineering sites in the blogosphere, Curious Cat is a rich cornucopia of articles, reviews, and blog categories in scientific inquiry, innovation, research, technology, education and gadgets.
Engineering Ethics Blog
Managed by an engineering consultant and educator, the EEB blog examines the powerful choices facing engineers in an age typified by environmental, political and spiritual challenges. It is among the top visited engineering blogs, according to Google.
International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences
Rock engineering students and professionals will find publications of original research, case studies, and new developments at this peer-reviewed, open-access journal.
Journal of Applied Mechanical Engineering
This open-access journal has featured topics including mechanical systems, robotics methods, fluid bodies, applied theories on machines, and thermodynamic methods.
Journal of Civil & Environmental Engineering
This peer-reviewed journal features articles and studies on building material, environmental engineering, computation fluid dynamics, geotechnical engineering, pollution control, water quality and wastewater treatment.
Journal of Engineering
Published by Britain’s Institution of Engineering and Technology, the journal focuses on engineering in biomedical, civil, computing, electrical, energy, materials, mechanical and nanotechnology disciplines.
Journal of Fluid Mechanics
This peer-reviewed journal, published online by Cambridge University Press, is published twice monthly with original writings on computational, theoretical and experimental findings in FM. Site includes movies and open-access articles.
NANO Letters
The American Chemical Society publishes research findings and scholarly articles on the theory and practice of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Focus includes chemistry, physics, materials science and chemical engineering.
Apps, Tools & Tech in Engineering
Engineers invent for engineers. While educational and professional challenges are part of the engineering life, there are apps, cloud-based software suites, and hardware that can streamline learning and practice. Apps on all platforms can help speed computations, test new formulas, crunch field data and document everything, across all possible devices. Many are available for free at app stores for iOS, Android and Microsoft phones and tablets. Other manufacturers may only offer free trials.
