Discipline Investigation - Civil Engineering - Essay Example

Discipline Investigation: Civil Engineering Introduction I major in civil engineering, with a special interest in architectural design for transport and building infrastructure. I selected civil engineering because of the interest and fascination I have had with different architectural structures such as suspension bridges, tall multi-storey buildings and complexly designed road infrastructure. The civil engineering profession consist a community of professional designers of different types of structures and infrastructure that are physically developed for human use. The nature of the structures and infrastructure designed by the civil engineering fraternity includes roads, buildings, bridges, dams and ware ways, city infrastructure such as sewerage systems, railroads and railways, canals as well as irrigation systems for agriculture. Simply put therefore, civil engineering is a profession that helps man to shape the environment, in order to suit his needs (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.p.). Thus, the purpose of the interview with a senior professional in the field of civil engineering was to gain deeper insights into the requirements of entry into the field, the nature of work and tasks performed by civil engineers under different areas of specialization of the profession and how to cope in their work environment. Following the interview, I was able to get valuable information regarding the career qualification for civil engineers, the applicable career paths and the communication skill necessary for successful civil engineers. Thus, this report gives a summary of the civil engineering discipline as generated from the interview. The report will present the background of the interviewee, the current job position, the roles and responsibilities involved in the job position, and the communication skills necessary for the civil engineering work environment. The summary of the learning points obtained from the interview will be presented in the conclusions. Interview summary Background and career path My expectation from the research was that I would be able to find a professional civil engineer who has had more than 10 years of experience in the field, and who has served in different areas of specialization of the profession, thus be able to gather varied nature of experiences regarding this field. It was also my expectations that I would be able to find an easy going interview subject, who will not limit the nature of information given as related to this discipline, but is comfortable divulging a wide range of information related to both education and professional background. Thus, in the process of searching for the appropriate interview subject for this discipline investigation, I landed in the office of Mr. Henry Mitchell, a senior civil inspectorate engineer at the New York City department of housing and buildings maintenance. Henry joined the New York University to pursue an undergraduate degree in civil engineering in 1999, after completing his high school and performing well in drawing, art and design. His interest in civil engineering thus developed out of his prowess in drawing and developing varied art designs, most of which were focused on house aesthetics and beautification. Thus, he felt it would be even more rewarding to convert his drawing and aesthetic deign skills into actual architectural designs for housing and buildings structures. Thus, when the time came for joining higher education, Henry joined New York University and registered for the civil engineering course in the university’s faculty of engineering. He completed his undergraduate degree in civil engineering in 2003, and joined the New York City department of housing and buildings maintenance in 2004 for his internship. After completing his internship in 2005, the department decided to retain him and provide him with a permanent and fulltime job position as a junior civil engineer in the department. Thus, an undergraduate degree is a relevant qualification into the civil engineering profession (Beeby, 47). Henry has subsequently worked up his way from the junior civil engineer back in 2005 to the current position of the senior civil engineer in the department, having previously served in the positions of housing construction supervisor and architectural design assistant for the periods 2007-2009 and 2010-2013 respectively. Henry was promoted to the current position in June 2014. Roles and Responsibilities Henry holds the current position of senior civil inspectorate engineer in the department of housing and buildings maintenance of the New York City. The roles and responsibilities of this job include devising the manuals for use in the inspection of both building under construction and completed buildings for subsequent approval and licensing for use. Under this job responsibility, it is the work of Henry to come up with the specific areas of the buildings that needs to be inspected and monitored during the whole construction process, and the requirements that such areas require to meet before the building is certified as appropriate for occupation and use. The first stage in the inspectorate role is to inspect the house or building plan submitted by homeowners or commercial building investors for inspection and certification, before the building can be approved for construction. The specific areas of building inspection during its construction stages include the foundation, the lentil and the roofing. The specific issues that are monitored under this specific area of the buildings include the material use, the ratios of material mixing, for example, cement-to-ballast ration during foundation building, the strength of the requisite structures, for example the steel beams used in the lentil and the trusses used in the roofing sections of the buildings. Further areas of inspection responsibility includes the site preparation and the safety guidelines requiring to be followed during the houses and buildings constructions, which include the appropriate construction gears that must be worn during the building process. The provision of the essential amenities such as lavatories at the construction sites, and the strict following of the building plan, including all materials and measurement specifications during the construction process are further monitoring construction issues. Nevertheless, certain responsibilities requires collaboration with other civil engineering sub-section specifications such as environmental engineering sub-section of the civil engineering discipline, which assess the structure-to-environmental impact suitability, and decide the positioning of buildings in certain locations. Structural engineering sub-section of civil engineering discipline helps in assessing the strength and stability of materials used for construction, and determines the appropriateness of such material use for certain building specifications. On the other hand, the control engineering sub-section of the civil engineering offers the right control measures including safety measures for the construction site. The coordination and combination of the requirements of the different specifications provided under the civil engineering sub-sections remains the greatest challenge that Henry faces in his current position, owing to the fact that all these requirements must be reduced into the inspection manual specifications. Communication Skill Verbal communication skills are essential in this professional discipline. The civil engineering discipline entails a lot of oral presentations to the building supervisors, building owners as well as to other inspectorate departments, regarding the construction specifications and details. Consultations with the other sub-sections of the civil engineering is also essential in order to come up with the right construction specifications, requiring that verbal communication skills must be applied appropriately. Reading skills are also very crucial in the civil engineering profession, since they are applicable towards reading the material requirements, the measurements specifications and the safety regulations necessary for accomplishing the construction projects effectively (Liew, 21). Lastly, writing skills are very essential communication skills for civil engineers, because they help the engineers in being able to reduce wide literature of material, measurement and safety requirements, into very specific guidelines and manual specifications for field and on-site applications. Conclusion After interviewing Henry, a professional civil engineer with more than 10 years of experience, I have learnt very valuable lessons. I have learnt that civil engineering is a discipline that entails the construction of structures and infrastructure for human use, requiring a minim of an undergraduate degree for entry in the profession. However, the discipline entails very specific tasks that results in the accomplishment of the structures and infrastructural construction projects, for example the inspection of the suitability of the site and building plans, material and measurement suitability as well as safety measures in the construction sites. I have also learnt that verbal, reading and writing skills are essential communication skills that facilitate the communication roles of the civil engineers. Finally, I have learnt that there is a need to treat an internship very seriously, because it can offer a pathway for entry into the future career path for civil engineers. Works Cited Beeby, Narayanans. Introduction to Design for Civil Engineers. London: Spon, 2003. Print. Liew, Richard. The Civil Engineering Handbook. CRC Press, 2002. Print. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Occupational Outlook Handbook: Civil Engineers”. Web. April 2, 2015. Accesed: < http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/civil-engineers.htm> Read More