<p>Will Engineers be needed less and less as we go forward if we start to get computers that can do some of the jobs they use to do?</p>
<p>Or will Engineers always be as needed as they are now?</p>
<p>I’ve been hearing about the eminent demise of engineering since the invention of the portable calculator.</p>
<p>Engineering will evolve as more powerful computers are introduced, but until there are sentient computers, engineers will always be needed. And when there are sentient computers, they’ll probably just wipe us all out.</p>
<p>At least in our office, I’d say we’re using computers for structural design only about 10% of the time. Yes, they’re a powerful tool, but there’s so much more to engineering than cranking out numbers! Just figuring out what the client needs (vs. wants) is a big part of the job. Computers are helpful in creating drawings, but we still have to do a lot to get the info INTO the computer. I’m not worried about job security in my lifetime, at least!</p>
<p>And remember: someone has to program that software.</p>
<p>^ and design that computer (and all its parts)</p>
<p>And design the assembly line to assemble the computer parts</p>
<p>And design the chemical plants that produce the plastic that goes into the parts that are assembled… The world will always need engineers.</p>
<p>That was my whole approach to going into software. I cannot say software, but a certain area in general. I had the thought process of entering something that would not be easily replaced. I did not care about the overall money from but I wanted consistency…something that would always be around.</p>
<p>CS/software development is great because not only is it needed, there was going to be less competition to get into also. At the end of the day, 8 or 9 hours of something other than enjoying a tropical island is WORK…and it’s good when work and good (not super great) income is just about an “automatic”.</p>
<p>Ah, okay. Good to know.</p>
<p>Truth is: we build the computer, we build the robot, we build the program, we process and manufacture products. We design and discover new technology.</p>
<p>The older generation will retire and someone else has to go into their shoes. That’s you, and me.</p>
<p>I don’t think you truly understand Engineering. As long as there is a way to better our quality of life, and create or innovate ANYTHING that can bring us further into the future and into a better world, there will be engineering.</p>
<p>Everyones making a point of how literally every aspect of whats common in our lives come from one or another form of engineering, from the design to the process to the simple material that goes into a product. And thats only the smallest aspect of the smallest category of the very wide field of engineering. The fields of Engineering will likely change wildly over the course of the next century, but you cannot have a future without someone creating it. Its always engineers.</p>