Computational Engineering (1 Viewer)

[blyatman]

There are many out there who want to get into engineering, but aren't sure which stream is right for them. I've recently had many students ask me about my opinion on the best stream of engineering to get into, so I'll just share my thoughts here.

This post is about Computational Engineering (or Computational Science & Engineering, CSE), which is a relatively young and emerging field. The importance and relevance of this field has grown due to the exponential increases in available computing power, which have finally allowed scientists/engineers to solve problems that are difficult or prohibitively expensive to do experimentally. To date, very few universities are offering it, but more and more are beginning to offer it due to its ever-growing significance in the STEM industry. While I was at the University of Texas a few years back, they began offering a major in computational engineering in 2017, and were the first university in the US to offer it. Closer to home in Australia, USYD began offering a Computational Engineering major not too long ago as well.

Computational Engineering is the fusion of mathematics, physics, and computer science. It is perfect for those who enjoy learning about how all those areas fit together. An aerospace graduate is typically suitable for aerospace jobs, biomedical graduates for biomed jobs, and so on. These days, essentially every engineering/scientific problem is validated using computational methods. As a result, computational engineers can cross into a wide multitude of fields - whether it be simulating the distribution of a drug in a body, determining the magnitude of air resistance during space shuttle reenetry, simulating supersonic combustion in a ramjet, or simulating the collision of two black holes (for reference, the pretty blackhole seen in the movie "Interstellar" would've required computational engineering).

The USYD computational engineering stream is a major, meaning you choose a base degree (e.g. aerospace, mechanical, etc), and you can then major in computational engineering in your 3rd and 4th years. The reason why universities only offer it as major (as opposed to the entire degree) as part of a degree is because computational engineering is typically a graduate-level field, since it requires a very comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the underlying physics and mathematics. This also means that the work involved is very rewarding - you essentially because a specialist in your field of interest. Most engineering jobs out there are very mundane: doing relatively simple calculations in excel based on some industry code, writing reports, etc (essentially doing things that you don't necessarily need an engineering degree for). In contrast, computational engineers apply almost everything you learn at uni on a daily basis, since they need to solve complex problems by developing (or understanding) the underlying mathematical and physical models.

I definitely would've chosen this stream had they offered it back when I was at uni. As someone who works as a computational engineer, it would've benefited me greatly. If you're someone who is really interested in the application of mathematics and physics, and the use of high-performance computing to solve real world problems, I would strongly recommend you check out this major.

Happy to answer any questions!

Links if interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_engineering
https://sydney.edu.au/courses/subject-areas/major/computational-engineering.html
https://sydney.edu.au/handbooks/engineering/engineering/majors/computer.shtml

Some pretty pictures of in my line of work:

computational fluid dynamics - Google Search

www.google.com

 

[blyatman]

Do you consider Computational Engineering to be the most versatile? I am interested in taking an Engineering course (or a double) that can get me into any Engineering field (or another STEM field) that grants me a high likelihood of employment. I hear knowledge from computational thermofluids can help me land a job in the Bureau of Meteorology too.

Keep in mind that computational engineering is not a degree, but rather an optional major that you decide from 3rd yr onwards - you don't have to major in anything, and most students will choose not to. As a result, it doesn't make sense to say if it's the most versatile since you're not comparing degrees (e.g. IT is more versatile than aerospace) - there's not enough majors within the engineering degrees to be able to make a similar comparison (the only other major I'm aware of is space engineering). However, it's versatile in the sense that it adds something onto your degree (much like honours does), and it's also versatile in terms of employment given that numerical modelling is being used more and more in almost every field. So if you want to become a mechanical engineer, you still enrol in the Bachelors in Mech Eng and simply just major in computational engineering if you want to focus in that area.

If you want to land a job at the BoM, then having a background in thermofluids and numerical modelling definitely gives you the most points. I don't work at the BoM, but I frequently analyse BoM data where I work, and we also have a team of climate scientists.

Also, how much of a pain will it be to transfer from Mechanical Engineering (Computational Engineering) into electrical engineering after graduation (Just in case)?

By graduation, I'm assuming you mean HSC graduation (since you're not enrolled anymore after you graduate from uni). As computational Engineering is a 3rd yr major, so you're just transferring from Mech to Elec. If their ATAR's are similar then it should be reasonably straightforward to transfer between the 2.

 

[blyatman]

Oh, nice. Thanks! Also, where should I look at for employment if I want to be a Mechanical Engineer (other than car manufacturers)?

Bit hard for me to answer that since I'm not a Mech Eng. However, if you go on seek, you'll find that there's heaps of job listings for mechanical engineers. I'm subscribed to the Mech Eng daily email job adverts, and I always see available roles in areas like HVAC systems, manufacturing, drafting etc. You've still got a fair way to go before graduating uni, so you don't really need to worry about that right now.