Will 'Gandhian Engineering' Influence Your Career?

Have you heard the term "Gandhian Engineering"? This relatively new concept (coined by the New York Times last year when Tata Motors first unveiled its game-changing Nano automobile) describes engineering as a way to change the lives of the world's poor.

As the NYTimes first put it, Gandhian Engineering combines "irreverence for conventional ways of thinking with a frugality born of scarcity." In other words, throw out the old ideas and think of ways to do things inexpensively.

Two statements by Mahatma Gandhi himself help form the core of Gandhian Engineering, which has been embraced by engineers all over the world over the last several months:

• Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.
• I would prize every invention of science made for the benefit for all.

You can learn more about Gandhian Engineering through a free webinar being hosted by IEEE's GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) group on October 2. (You do need to be an IEEE member to attend.)

So how do you see this concept of "high performance - low cost" engineering affecting your career or your goals in the future? Let us know and post your thoughts in the comments section!

Engineering degrees lead to the highest salaries

Hey folks, welcome back to the engineering careers blog from Experience.com! Every weeks, we'll take a look at why it's great to be an engineer, and what you have to look forward to as you leave school and get out in the "real world."

First up, here's some encouraging information that should brighten your day, in light of the rotten economy: a new study finds that engineering degrees lead to the highest salaries for all U.S. workers. Aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, computer engineering and electrical engineering took the top four slots in a list of top median salaries compiled by PayScale.com. As for the rest of the top ten, most of them are also engineering-related categories: mechanical engineering, computer science, industrial engineering and environmental engineering.

You need to read a bit more closely into the tables to see what your likely starting salary is likely to be (chemical engineering seems to be the highest for beginners), and PayScale.com also found that your salary could depend on where you went to school -- MIT grads seem to attract the highest starting salaries, while Dartmouth grads garner the biggest medial salaries after they've had 10 or more years of work experience.

In any case, if you're looking for a satisfying salary, engineering is the place to be. (And this makes this the blog to read!)

I'll be back next week with another look at engineering career prospects. Meanwhile, if you have any questions, post them below or email me. I'll try to find some answers and publish them in the weeks to come!