What Types of Engineering Work in Manufacturing Industries?
The manufacturing sector requires all sorts of different engineers to work in it. Qualified engineers are sought after in many other industrial sectors, of course, but many find that they can base their entire career working for manufacturing companies. If you are considering a career in manufacturing as an engineer, then read on to discover the sorts of businesses that you might be able to work for.
Aerospace Engineering
Manufacturers of all kinds of aircraft — from commercial airliners to single-seater aeroplanes — require highly skilled engineers to help them develop new vehicle designs. Aerospace engineers are highly paid and can work on multimillion-dollar research programmes that deal with matters as diverse as helicopter design to passenger safety. In fact, even the sky is not the limit for aerospace engineers who can shift into space exploration engineering if they have sufficient talent.
Production Line Engineering
Factories of all kinds require on-site engineers to keep their production lines operating as smoothly as possible. Everything from consumer electronics products to fabricated buildings are made using production-line techniques these days, and they all need specialist engineers to fix problems that inevitably arise with the processes that go on during production. This is a great line of work for engineers who like to solve problems, often under considerable time pressure, because downtime on production lines needs to be kept to an absolute minimum for any maintenance work.
Mechatronic Engineering
A developing part of hi-tech manufacturing businesses, mechatronics is the term for using so-called smart machines when making things. Robotics has long been used in production line engineering, for example in the automotive industry, but mechatronics goes one step further and allows artificial intelligence algorithms to make minor manufacturing decisions as the work is conducted. Businesses which have invested in cutting-edge mechatronic technologies often want to recruit the brightest engineers to get the best out of their machines and to continue to improve their manufacturing processes.
Textile Engineering
Modern fabrics often have an incredible amount of engineering that has gone into them before they are turned into products. Manufacturers are usually competing with one another to come up with the next textile which will break new ground in terms of breathability, durability or tear-resistance, to name three properties. Engineers who are interested in materials at their component level will find that textile engineering is a perfect fit for them. Knowledge of chemistry and mechanical engineering is usually also highly desirable in this sector.