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Forecasts for the next years
- Thread starter 0707
- Start date
It Depends
The hot economy at the present driven by Asian growth, is looking rosy for industry, especially commodities.
This however can, and probably will, be screwed up by the politicians; especially with the bunch of nutbags presently in power. Not a specific reference to one country in particular, but as a global observation.
If you are a military engineer the coming years are looking busy.
FOETS
"social drinker with a golfing problem"
The hot economy at the present driven by Asian growth, is looking rosy for industry, especially commodities.
This however can, and probably will, be screwed up by the politicians; especially with the bunch of nutbags presently in power. Not a specific reference to one country in particular, but as a global observation.
If you are a military engineer the coming years are looking busy.
FOETS
"social drinker with a golfing problem"
GregLocock
Automotive
Very much depends on where you are willing to work. If I were unemployed I'd seriously look at a few years in China or India, working as a manufacturing engineer. One of my friends said that ANY decent engineer could walk into a typical factory over there and double productivity in two weeks.
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
SomptingGuy
Automotive
I heard that hairdressing is the place to be. It's one of those few activities that can't be outsourced. Maybe one day hairdressers will become folicular engineers?
The only problem with working in China is that you have to *live* in China. There are some select places that might be good but most of what I saw wasn't anyplace that I wanted to be for any length of time.
For what it's worth, the English-language China Daily published several articles about the need to bring western engineers and business people to China. The big problem is that they typically can't afford to pay the world-class wages that most American and European engineers are looking for.
Of course, you can live very well in some parts of China for 35,000 per year; other parts, though, have world-class costs of living associated with them.
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For what it's worth, the English-language China Daily published several articles about the need to bring western engineers and business people to China. The big problem is that they typically can't afford to pay the world-class wages that most American and European engineers are looking for.
Of course, you can live very well in some parts of China for 35,000 per year; other parts, though, have world-class costs of living associated with them.
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- Thread starter
- #6
I suppose that the next main industry investments, will be in the following areas:
Technologic developments in oil industry refining to maximize the barrel value with less pollution emissions
Transportation
Nanotechnology will be used for everything from monitoring the health to transforming waste into edible material.
Wind and tidal power will grow considerably in the next five years.
Digital electronic assistant programs with new software and hardware developments
Boom in solar industries
Robotics
Food industry
Technologic agriculture developments
eCommerce
Services
Communications
Benchmarking
Wastes treatment.
Much of the people will be employed in the above areas
Technologic developments in oil industry refining to maximize the barrel value with less pollution emissions
Transportation
Nanotechnology will be used for everything from monitoring the health to transforming waste into edible material.
Wind and tidal power will grow considerably in the next five years.
Digital electronic assistant programs with new software and hardware developments
Boom in solar industries
Robotics
Food industry
Technologic agriculture developments
eCommerce
Services
Communications
Benchmarking
Wastes treatment.
Much of the people will be employed in the above areas
Here is one forecast as I see it.... In Aerospace, the major work on three HUGE programs will all be ending within a few years of each other... with A380 going into service, 787 in 2008, and JSF in 2008-2009? That will put a huge glut of aero engineers on the job market unless some huge new program rears its ugly head (but i'm not seeing it right now)...
So i'd "sell" aerospace pretty darn quick...
Wes C.
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No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
So i'd "sell" aerospace pretty darn quick...
Wes C.
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No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Returning to the Moon and manned missions to Mars is not a "huge new program" getting ready to come about in 5-10yrs for aerospace engineers?
[green]"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."[/green]
Steven K. Roberts, Technomad
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[green]"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."[/green]
Steven K. Roberts, Technomad
Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?
Wes, those aren't the only programs ending, Eurofighter & Rafael too if you're in Europe.
There's always new programs starting but not necessarily on the same scale straight away so as much as I'd like to get back into Aerospace Defense it is a concern.
Of course if things with North Korea/China/Iran etc kick off then it could be a good time for defense! (Post Kosovo and then with 9/11 & Iraq were sure good times at my last place, sad though it may be)
MadMango, are you one of those eternal optimists or something. While I wouldn't rule it out completely I'll believe it not just when it's nominally funded but when the first space vehicle is well on its way!
Certainly alternatives to or ways to stretch out fossil fuels, especially oil, will probably be busy. While nanotechnology is a buzz word and they’ve got big ideas for what they think they can do with it eventually, practical applications seem surprisingly few and far between either right now or in the immediate future. Could be the next .com bubble.
There's always new programs starting but not necessarily on the same scale straight away so as much as I'd like to get back into Aerospace Defense it is a concern.
Of course if things with North Korea/China/Iran etc kick off then it could be a good time for defense! (Post Kosovo and then with 9/11 & Iraq were sure good times at my last place, sad though it may be)
MadMango, are you one of those eternal optimists or something. While I wouldn't rule it out completely I'll believe it not just when it's nominally funded but when the first space vehicle is well on its way!
Certainly alternatives to or ways to stretch out fossil fuels, especially oil, will probably be busy. While nanotechnology is a buzz word and they’ve got big ideas for what they think they can do with it eventually, practical applications seem surprisingly few and far between either right now or in the immediate future. Could be the next .com bubble.
Ken,
We'll have to see how it goes. I'm kinda 'religiously' opposed to working in the defense industry, So i am looking to see if there is another commerical program about to start....
There are a number of smaller a/c programs nearing completion as well.... Let me think. Eclipse Jet is about to TC. I think Cessna is closing in on their VLJ.
The only one that I can think of at the beginnings of a program is some euro tanker that eads has.
i'm going to quit talking about this, cause it's sounding pretty grim...
Wes C.
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No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
We'll have to see how it goes. I'm kinda 'religiously' opposed to working in the defense industry, So i am looking to see if there is another commerical program about to start....
There are a number of smaller a/c programs nearing completion as well.... Let me think. Eclipse Jet is about to TC. I think Cessna is closing in on their VLJ.
The only one that I can think of at the beginnings of a program is some euro tanker that eads has.
i'm going to quit talking about this, cause it's sounding pretty grim...
Wes C.
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No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Wes,
Funny you should mention Eclipse's CT. I am going to Albuquerque this weekend for the TC celebration dinner.
There's always the new Honda jet. Sino-Swearingen is still finishing development of it's jet, and if sucessful, will probably start with derivatives of it. The Cessna Mustang is finishing up development, so not a good prospect right now. Piper seems to be hiring off and on these days.
All in all, the industry still looks much better than it did right after 9/11.
Funny you should mention Eclipse's CT. I am going to Albuquerque this weekend for the TC celebration dinner.
There's always the new Honda jet. Sino-Swearingen is still finishing development of it's jet, and if sucessful, will probably start with derivatives of it. The Cessna Mustang is finishing up development, so not a good prospect right now. Piper seems to be hiring off and on these days.
All in all, the industry still looks much better than it did right after 9/11.
yes... I'm not sure how bad a big layoff would be for me anyway, since I do interiors... We do our work on planes already flying... But i am just thinking of that glut of out of work engineer back in the early 90's... (im from So Cal, and remember what it did to the economy then).
Wes C.
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No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Wes C.
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No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
BelspringKen
Civil/Environmental
I am glad to hear Transportation is growing. I just transferred into Transpo at work. It seems that when land dev. slows down, Transpo picks up, and vice versa.
0707, what indicators have you seen showing growth in Transpo? I don't dispute what you are saying, but would like to hear what you have heard.
Back in 1990 I got an Associates degree and had a hard time finding technical work. After a while, I returned to college and got my Bachelors in 1994. Even with the 4 year degree I had some trouble finding a good job. Have been in engineering now for over 10 years. I am a little scared of a slowdown like we had in the early 1990's. All I heard back then was "you need experience". I guess the guys who were laid off from some other firms were getting the jobs that I was not getting.
0707, what indicators have you seen showing growth in Transpo? I don't dispute what you are saying, but would like to hear what you have heard.
Back in 1990 I got an Associates degree and had a hard time finding technical work. After a while, I returned to college and got my Bachelors in 1994. Even with the 4 year degree I had some trouble finding a good job. Have been in engineering now for over 10 years. I am a little scared of a slowdown like we had in the early 1990's. All I heard back then was "you need experience". I guess the guys who were laid off from some other firms were getting the jobs that I was not getting.
Oil and gas production, mining of most commodities and power generation all look rosy for the next 5 years.
Paraphrasing another eng-tips member (Zdas or ScottyUK) - it's hard to import an oil reservoir, copper seam and bulk electricity from China. (OK I know about transboarder electricity transmission, but few countries want to be totally dependant on another country for their electricity.)
LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.
Paraphrasing another eng-tips member (Zdas or ScottyUK) - it's hard to import an oil reservoir, copper seam and bulk electricity from China. (OK I know about transboarder electricity transmission, but few countries want to be totally dependant on another country for their electricity.)
LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.
Aerospace in Wichita is hot. Cessna and Spirit Aerosystems are busy and the surrounding suppliers are also busy. Cessna has a plane competing with the Eclipse which has already been approved by the FAA. Spirit is working on the 787 and Airbus. If you are willing to move to Wichita there are jobs. There will be jobs until the business cycle swings in airplanes.
Hi lewtam,
Powergen is certainly looking rosier than it has for many long years. In the UK, and I believe in much of the US, the power industry is losing engineers to retirement faster than the universities are producing graduates with appropriate knowledge. The UK's last major investment program in the power industry was forty to fifty years ago, when the majority of the HV grid and much of the baseload generation plant was constructed and when R&D was at a height in this country. Both the plant and the engineers who designed and built it are reaching the end of their working lives, and there are too few new engineers entering the industry to learn from and build upon the knowledge and experience being passed down to the next generation. Much of the work of the CEGB research labs - a great example of what a nationalised industry can achieve - is going to be lost forever in the next ten years. Those of us who are mid-career at present will become the 'experts' and among the dwindling number of power engineers we will become a valuable commodity, although I also believe that we will not reach the level of technical expertise our predecessors had. Much as I hate the idea of losing so much knowledge, I'm happy that at least I won't struggle to pay my bills in the coming years.
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Sometimes I only open my mouth to swap feet...
Powergen is certainly looking rosier than it has for many long years. In the UK, and I believe in much of the US, the power industry is losing engineers to retirement faster than the universities are producing graduates with appropriate knowledge. The UK's last major investment program in the power industry was forty to fifty years ago, when the majority of the HV grid and much of the baseload generation plant was constructed and when R&D was at a height in this country. Both the plant and the engineers who designed and built it are reaching the end of their working lives, and there are too few new engineers entering the industry to learn from and build upon the knowledge and experience being passed down to the next generation. Much of the work of the CEGB research labs - a great example of what a nationalised industry can achieve - is going to be lost forever in the next ten years. Those of us who are mid-career at present will become the 'experts' and among the dwindling number of power engineers we will become a valuable commodity, although I also believe that we will not reach the level of technical expertise our predecessors had. Much as I hate the idea of losing so much knowledge, I'm happy that at least I won't struggle to pay my bills in the coming years.
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A similar situation to Australia - we've had a steady increase in population and have only recently recognised the need to upgrade infrastructure, including power generation and transmission.
LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.
LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.
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