Civil engineering is the profession and discipline that designs, builds, and maintains infrastructure works like roads and highways, bridges, tunnels, dams, canals, and buildings. Civil engineering is the umbrella term that covers a wide array of sub-disciplines in engineering. These sub-disciplines include engineering centered on projects benefiting the environment, municipalities, transportation authorities, federal agencies, and others.
The presence of civil engineers stretches across many fields and industries. The scope of civil engineering projects includes both the public sector to the private sector. In the public sector, engineering projects range from city and state operations to federal initiatives. In the private sector, civil engineering can be done for homeowners up to international corporations. After military engineering, civil engineering is the oldest engineering discipline.
Learning civil engineering is valuable as it is an exciting profession in which you're able to see the full results of your work upon completion of a project. Whether the project is a hydroelectric water project, a highway construction, a completed bridge, or a high-rise building, the fruits of your labor in civil engineering are on display for society to use.
Civil engineering projects usually require professionals with a deep understanding of environmental planning and structural design, statistics and modeling, and construction methods. All of these play a part in helping to keep our country's infrastructure in solid shape.
When you learn civil engineering, you may be able to work in careers in municipal planning, government engineering, national highway safety, aeronautics design and construction, and more. Learning about civil engineering means you can get a foundational grasp of materials and testing methods, land surveying, project development, analysis and design work, or more specialized engineering consulting, including forensic engineering.
If you have a knack for problem-solving transportation issues or seeking solutions in logistics and planning on projects, you can certainly add to your comprehension of such things when learning about civil engineering.
Taking online courses on Coursera opens you up to gaining new insights into how construction planning moves from the drawing board to a bridge, building, or other structure. In the online courses, you can gain valuable insights for a better understanding of construction management, robotics, land management, and mechanical engineering. Civil engineering is adaptable in many different fields, so you may be able to take your new knowledge into areas like architectural engineering, mechanical drafting, geophysical surveying, and mapping services.