Engaging Engineering
03 Sep 2020
The Start of Something New
Engineering has always sparked an interest in me. As a kid I was really intrigued about the design process of everyday objects and the how they worked. I wondered about the architecture of buildings, automotive design, and anything else I saw when I was younger. Since science was interesting to me and math was one of my stronger subjects, I realized that engineering could be a prospective career. I took the available design and engineering classes I had in high school and initially attended college as a Civil Engineering major. After taking an introductory programming class in my second semester, I realized that I had to switch since I enjoyed coding more than CADing (computer aided design). As a Computer Engineering major, I have interests in both the hardware and software side of electronics. Although it was simply basic programming that made me decide to change majors, I think the problem solving and the instant satisfaction after a program ran properly influenced me the most. I think backend development is more appealing to me since it focuses more on how a system works rather than displaying data and communicating with the user.
Endless Possibilites
There is a countless amount of areas in the field of software engineering. A lot of this is due to the fact that almost everything relies on technology now. Software engineers and their programs are what allow people to control and interact with machinery. Take sustainability as an area of interest, software design is crucial to help develop more innovate systems that are environmentally friendly. I want to develop skills such as analyzing power consumption and figuring out ways to use less power - whether it’s by shutting off or sleeping devices when they are not in use or coding more concise programs to improve energy efficiency. This area interests me since I want to contribute to a sustainable future; I think renewable energy is an important area since the earth only has limited resources, and with improving technology, we will have to find a way to preserve the state of our planet.
The Future
Another interesting area that pertains to software engineering would be research and development. For example, if you look at the electric car company Tesla. At a glance, it might seem like a production line with automotive design and electronics for the battery and motors, but now there is so much new technology going into the vehicles like self-driving and auto-parking. All of these features have software designed for it and new features will need programs developed for it too. I want to reevaluate today’s ideas and discover breakthroughs that support the evolution and efficiency of technology. I want to inspire the next generation of engineers to create their own innovative products, similar to how I had many role models growing up that contributed to me discovering my passion for engineering and electrical systems.