Whether it’s Christmas or an upcoming birthday, gifts are a fantastic way to show another person you care.

Based on all the available evidence, climate change is real and it is happening – the planet is experiencing rising temperatures, melting snow-caps, and increased numbers of floods, droughts, and wildfires. 2019 was the second warmest year ever and 2010-2019 was the warmest decade on the planet – ever. Limiting the global temperature rise to well below 2°C this century is one of the defining challenges from the Paris Agreement.

Mechanical engineering students study the forces and thermal environment encountered by a product and its parts so they can come up with the best designs and manufacturing processes of a product. Most importantly, an in-depth understanding of objects and systems in motion are required, which makes mechanical engineering a broad and diverse discipline of engineering. While it can be difficult in the current climate to move to a new city or country in order to pursue your studies, many universities, including some of those on our list, offer distance-learning online degrees. You don’t have to leave wherever you're holed up and, most importantly, you can stay safe!

The world is beset by intertwined crises: the climate, pandemic, and, increasingly, a crisis in the global food supply. It’s prosaic to say, but as the world’s population increases, more food is needed to sustain it. And regardless of the population size, humanity will only ever have the same amount of land on which to produce its food. This, as one may expect, is a growing tension. Luckily, engineers of all stripes are busy using their expertise, conjuring up innovative solutions to address the issue. Here we take a look at some of the most impressive.

1. The Great Pyramid of Giza While there are several pyramids on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt, the largest is the Great Pyramid of Giza. This pyramid, built circa 2600 BCE, is 146 metres tall with a base of 230 metres. It is made of two million blocks of stone with an average weight of 2.3 metric tonnes. One of the greatest engineering mysteries is how such heavy blocks were built into a pyramid shape thousands of years ago. Cranes as we know them today were certainly not around.

Global water scarcity is a huge problem and one that is not going away soon. In fact, as noted by the United Nations World Water Development Report in 2018, it is an issue that is only going to get bigger, the report stating that nearly 6 billion people will suffer from clean water scarcity by 2050. This shortage is caused by a combination of rising global population (leading to economic development) and a reduction of available water (due to global warming).

Long gone are the days when women were believed to have no place in the workforce. In the United States today, women make up 49% of the college-educated workforce. However, despite this encouraging number, careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) remain severely lacking when it comes to females in the field. Let’s break down why that is, and how it can change.

It is amazing how often engineering concepts (or engineered products) have been incorporated into popular culture. In this blog, we consider the impact of engineering on popular films and vice-versa.

1. Three Mile Island nuclear accident The Three Mile Island nuclear plant is located near Middletown, Pennsylvania. On March 28, 1979, the Unit 2 reactor partially melted down. Although the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island did not result in death, it remains one of the worst engineering failures in American history. Despite the substantial consequences of the accident, it could have been much worse.

For many years, around the world, it has been recognised that there is a skills shortage in engineering; that there simply aren’t enough engineers required to complete large-scale investments of local, national and international importance.

If you have a chemical engineering degree, count yourself lucky: you have many career options available to you. So many, in fact, it can be hard to know which to pick! Chemical engineering graduates are needed in a wide variety of industries, from oil and gas to food processing to pharmaceuticals. This list goes through some of your options, including what you can do and how much you can earn. Salaries are accurate as of February 2021. Browse our Chemical Engineering Job listings

Whether it be moving documents between departments, stocking shelves, or even making sandwiches, many businesses have processes that can be refined. These processes are often inefficient, can produce waste, and use up valuable time and resources – particularly in the case of bad sandwich making. So, what’s the solution? Consult a process engineer. Unfortunately, many businesses do not consult a process engineer because they don’t even know that they should. 

Whether it be moving documents between departments, stocking shelves, or even making sandwiches, many businesses have processes that can be refined. These processes are often inefficient, can produce waste, and use up valuable time and resources – particularly in the case of bad sandwich making. So, what’s the solution? Consult a process engineer. Unfortunately, many businesses do not consult a process engineer because they don’t even know that they should. Check out our Process engineering jobs

As we collectively learn the lessons from our handling of a global pandemic, there is an increasing awareness of the need to be prepared for the big issues our planet faces through the 2020s. In particular, what can engineers do to combat some of the known challenges that we will face? Here we look at 3 global and interconnected societal challenges and ask what engineers can do to help solve them. 

The first step in many engineers’ careers is an engineering internship. Some companies and universities call internships “co-ops”. Companies offer interns an opportunity to gain real-world engineering experience while they are still students and may offer full-time employment upon graduation. As a student, it can be difficult to get your first engineering internship because you don’t have much experience. You need to find other ways to stand out. Luckily, this article will give you some tips and tricks that will help you get a leg up on your competition.

When looking for an engineering job, you have two options. You can either work at an engineering startup, or an established engineering company. Each is different, and both have their benefits and drawbacks. No matter which of these you choose, you will gain valuable engineering experience by working there. 

Technically speaking, corrosion is the gradual destruction of materials by a chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Although it is commonly believed that corrosion is only associated with metals, they are not the only materials susceptible to it. Non-metallic materials, including plastics and glass, can also corrode.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, many engineering companies have pivoted away from in-person job interviews in favour of online job interviews. This switch has put many engineers into unfamiliar territory. Gone are the days of sweaty handshakes, nervous fidgeting, and worrying about food stains on clothing. These woes have been replaced by noisy children and pets in the background of video calls, shaky Internet connections, and making sure that your microphone is on. Always have it on...

2020 was an unprecedented year. The coronavirus pandemic has brought the world to its knees, changing life as we know it. It’s been particularly crippling for the world of engineering. A global economy in recession has forced many companies to rethink their operations. For new engineers, this organizational rethinking has led to fewer career opportunities.