The Changing Role of the Civil Engineer

I wrote an essay for my girlfriend's university English homework (she's Colombian). It's kind of in-line with the other stuff I write about so thought I'd just wack it here in the hope you guys find it interesting and her university's plagarism algorithm doesn't pick it up...

The current job of civil engineers is quite diverse, involved in the planning and construction of all sorts of projects that improve the structure and efficiency of our society. From roads to hydroelectric dams, civil engineers are a necessity to ensure all aspects of a project and their implications have been considered. When you consider the fundamental purpose of civil engineering as a profession, it is to maintain the systems that ensure the progress of society towards it’s perceived goal, which is prosperity. As the direction of our progress changes, so too will the role of the civil engineer.

The two things which will affect society the most in this century are climate change and unemployment. Civil engineers will become increasingly involved in mitigating the consequences of these problems. Civil engineers dealing with climate change will need to be designing more efficient ways of transporting and storing energy, as well as preventing waste. Civil engineers dealing with unemployment will probably be needed to design secure spaces to protect governmental institutions from civil unrest.

Some people believe that the natural conclusion of these problems is a separation of society, where the more wealthy people move to safety, and the unemployed, who have become all but useless, live in derelict societies. The better of the civil engineers will be needed by the rich to design their high-tech societies. Many will probably move into military engineering, which has many overlaps with civil engineering, and will become highly useful in protecting the rich from the poor.

A more optimistic view would depict the civil engineers triumphing over nature and inventing solutions for both of these problems, and creating a society where we can all prosper. It is very difficult to know how things will end up but one thing is for certain, and that is that times ahead will become increasingly difficult. The role of the civil engineer will become both more important and more challenging. Only time will tell what happens to us all.

Anyway, follow me for more futurology pieces. I feel another article about robots brewing...