News

Just about everyone trolling for engineers

On a recent Monday, Lockheed Martin advertised 300
engineering positions in specialties ranging from
aeronautics to manufacturing. Texas Instruments had 400
U.S. openings, 380 of them for engineers.

By Nancy Schaadt
Dallas Morning News

Engineers are in enormous demand nationwide. Their profession embodies a number of
disciplines — from computer and systems to electrical, civil and biomedical — and opportunities
are abundant.

Pure tech companies are only the tip of the iceberg, experts say.

"Hot areas for engineers are within the government and defense," said Phillip Brown, director of
Systems Engineering Associates and an expert on international systems engineering.

"The telecommunications industry and the chip industry in California are down right now but only
temporarily."

Curt Eley, assistant dean of the Southern Methodist University School of Engineering, points to
growth in industries such as retail, real estate and banking.

"So many positions are not in technology companies, but companies that need help with
technology," he explained. "It’s hard to name an industry that isn’t using a computer."

Steve Lyle, director of worldwide staffing at Texas Instruments, said he needs systems engineers
with specific skills and extensive experience who can "go down to the IC level," referring to
integrated circuits.

Three areas within the information-technology industry are expanding, according to a semiannual
report of hot jobs from RHI Consulting: networking, Internet/intranet development and
data/database management. Many of the jobs are quasi-engineering positions.

Brown said almost anyone can take a course of study that includes networking and declare
themselves a network engineer. Certification programs in systems such as Oracle or Microsoft are
available and often populated by engineers, but the two are not interchangeable.

Not all engineers are equal, and the difference is in the tools they use.

"Although engineering is done with the tools of information technology, the tools are not
necessarily taught in the traditional engineering programs," Brown said. "Information technology is
so hot right now, but it’s not traditional engineering."

Large schools such as Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are creating standards and tests for
systems engineers.

"ABET is wrestling with these issues also," said Brown, referring to the Accreditation Board of
Electronic Technologies, the organization that bestows accreditation on university programs.

Some schools offer degree and certification programs because training and retraining seem to be
a given in the field.

Gerhardt Schulle, who heads the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, said engineers change
careers or specialties all the time.

"It’s not unusual for engineers to get a degree in one area and employment experience in another
area," he said.

Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company

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