An Engineering Discipline - Essay Example

Civil engineering happens to be all about improving people’s lives. An engineering discipline design and develop services and facilities that are for the everyday use of the public. The infrastructures that make life easier such as roads, energy supply, water supply, and even industrial machines for processing and recycling of products are all the work of civil engineers. Additionally, engineers are deeply involved in the efforts to find solutions for the increasing energy demand and reduction of pollution among other activities aimed at improving the life of the public. All the facilities and infrastructures that we use in our everyday activities are works of civil engineers and therefore the discipline can be regarded as one of the oldest professions (Agrawal and Dill, 76-82).

The field of civil engineering has been improving over the years. The improvement has been possible first due to the development of technology and through building innovatively on the previous works. As the field develops, it has been focusing attention on solving the present challenges in the lives of men. I have chosen civil engineering because it gives me a chance to join the group of innovators and developers who design and build the best and most significant features in the world. Being an engineer has always been my dream throughout school. I always enjoyed as buildings grew from bare ground, and roads and highways traversed a previously wild area. This always made me feel the urge to be part of the development. In high school, I was keen to notice excellence in physics and mathematics was the way to achieving my dream.

The main aspect of the discipline that interests me most is the innovativeness that is encouraged in civil engineering. Different from architecture, in civil engineering there is more than drawing of designs. There is the actual touch of the work and appreciation of results. Civil engineers are capable of assessing the needs of the population better and implementing solutions by designing and building what the population needs. Besides this, civil engineering will allow me to travel to many places and meet many different kinds of people and cultures which has always been my hobby.

One of the grand challenges in engineering today is the restoration and improvement of urban infrastructure. Urban transport and other fundamental life-supporting systems are facing a challenge related to the increasing urban population. Moreover, the infrastructure in many cities is slowly aging and failing as a result. It is necessary, therefore, that the urban infrastructure, which supports the life of more than half of the population on a daily basis is modernized (Agrawal and Dill, 83). Civil engineering, being involved in the designing and construction of structures is a major player in this process. As the growing population continues to stress the transport, water supply, electricity supply, natural gas supply, and sewerage systems in major cities, innovative engineers are required to come up with urgent solutions. These solutions are supposed to be in the form of structures that will support the population while still maintaining the civilization of the community.

The training that civil engineers obtain in class and practice will be of great use in this endeavor (Agrawal and Dill. 78). They can help build modern highways that reduce congestion in the cities and make it easy for people to access their jobs from distant residential places. They can also improve the rail system and use parts of these tunnels for water supply. This saves space and time and allows easier supervision of multiple systems.