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Career Crush: What Is It Like to Be a Software Engineer?

• Kelsey Alpaio

And how do you become one?

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

I am fascinated by coding. It’s everywhere! Every single one of the digital experiences we enjoy is the result of code.

• KA Kelsey Alpaio is an Associate Editor at Harvard Business Review. kelseyalpaio

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College Essay Tips for Software Engineering Programs

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Hale Jaeger in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

“why this . . .” essays for software engineering, writing your essay.

For many college applications, you’ll write essays in addition to the Common App personal statement . These prompts will often ask you about what you’re planning on pursuing at the college. This article will give you practical advice for explaining your interest in software engineering. 

Many supplemental essay prompts are quite common, such as “ Why this major? ” and “ Why this school? ” If you’re sure about pursuing software engineering and know which college you want to kick off your career at, you should already know the answers to these questions. 

Certain schools have strong software engineering and computer science programs. If this is the case for your chosen college, it should be easy for you to say that you can identify with their program. You can add that you’re excited to use the specific resources there and how they will help you reach your goal of becoming a software engineer.

When talking about your major, bring up what attracts you to the field. Your eventual salary and career prospects are incentives, but you want to explain what specifically about the study of computer science and engineering makes you excited. Why do you like to learn about it? Maybe you’re fascinated by the inner workings of technology. Perhaps you’re interested in how specific tools on certain websites work. It’s also possible that you want to improve user experience and innovate existing software.

These reasons are a bit less shallow than money. They also get to the heart of why you want to pursue software engineering: you like to build things and solve problems. 

From Abstract to Specific

In general, when writing your essays, you should work on funneling these types of ideas about your major from the abstract to the specific. You can open with a particular anecdote or story to catch the reader’s attention, of course, but try to start with high-level interests. Fundamental things like identifying the inner workings of a website can lead to more niche topics.

Personal Experiences

When writing your essays, make sure you touch on any personal experiences that can help show why this subject is your passion. It can all add to the personal narrative that you’ve been building in your entire application and help make the admissions officers understand you better.

If you had an experience with technology that fascinated you, drew you into the subject, and made you want to learn more, then include that. Be sure to add the important details so the reader can get a good sense of the scene. Another way to go is if you had the opposite experience: you encountered a frustrating piece of technology and were desperate to figure out how to get it working. You realized that you wanted to go into the field to improve software and make people’s lives easier. You can try writing about your interests that way. 

Another way to write your essay is to back up an explanation of your passions with a personal story that will make your essay compelling. Try to draw on an anecdote, and if possible, explain what you’ve accomplished after your initial interest was sparked. 

How did you get involved in coding? If you found technology that was glitching all the time or something that excited you, did this inspire you to figure out how it all worked? Write about how you’ve developed your skills in coding and science and how much you’ve learned about good systems and malfunctioning systems. Then, write about what you want to accomplish and innovate in the field.

Plans for the Future

When you’ve discussed the past and present, you can begin to probe the future. For the sake of narrative, try to include how you’ve grown and what your ultimate ambitions are. If you’re not sure exactly what branch of software engineering you want to go into, that’s fine. You can name a few options, such as game design or mobile design, or you can just talk about how you want to build things and make better technology to improve people’s lives. 

When you’re talking about personal things, you should aim to be specific. Draw on stories when you can, and be honest about what interests you about this subject and what you want to do in the field. This is your chance to explore why you’re looking to go into software engineering, so you should come away from these essays feeling much more confident about your planned course of study.

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Software Engineering: The Career or Shortage of the Future?

By Celeste Mannel

Published: October 04, 2023

The defining feature of this age in history is the rapid innovation and technological advancements made in the past century. With the invention of the computer, the human experience was revolutionized, and from the emergence of the computer came the necessity for computer programmers and then computer scientists. These engineers have always been in high demand, as computing was popularly thought as the career of the future, but unfortunately, engineers equipped with the industry’s demanded skills have been in short supply. As the 2018 Gartner Incorporated Emerging Risks Survey reports in 4Q18, senior executives ranked “talent shortage” as their primary concern (Lavelle); and this demand is twofold as well, as tech companies demand these skilled engineers to keep up with exponential technological development, and non-tech companies demand these engineers to ensure they digitize as the rest of the world seems to be doing. Chief Executive Officer of tech recruiting company Hired, Mehul Patel even states that “every company is a tech company now” (qtd. by Liu). While this demand would seem to be a great situation for engineers, the result is the opposite as these engineers do not have the skills necessary to meet the demand. In fact, as the demand increases exponentially, and the skill gap remains, there is a growing rift between the increasing quantity of engineers demanded and the slowly growing number of qualified engineers available. My inquiry investigates the reasons for the growing shortage of engineers and the existing proposed solutions. I dive into the benefits and issues with each solution. This investigation into the shortage of engineers can address issues within the technology industry hiring process and issues within the production of engineers, which will give light to solutions that will increase productivity and efficiency as well as promote intellectual and cultural diversity in the field.

The Increasing Demand for Skilled Engineers

Finding qualified engineers is proving itself increasingly difficult as the cutting edge is developing at groundbreaking rates. The 2020 Google Cloud Whitepaper reports that in 2019, 70% of leaders in technology found hiring as a “top challenge” (“Google Cloud Certification…”). Furthermore, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 411,400 new job openings for 2021-2031 employment growth, meaning employers will be facing a more competitive job market as more advanced positions open requiring skilled candidates (“Employment Projections”). However, not only is finding and hiring these qualified candidates difficult, but companies are also struggling to keep their current employees up to date with the skills the developing market demands. For example, the 2021 Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report, which partnered with major technology companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and IBM, highlights that 76% of tech leaders found large skills gaps among their existing employees (Skillsoft). In short, while it is great for the tech industry to be advancing at such a rate, this development is creating a greater issue if these companies cannot find the required skill to keep up.

As a result of this high demand, a new trend is emerging where employers have resorted to posting about job openings on social media such as Twitter, as Netflix Senior Software Engineer Felipe Barbosa tweeted this September, “My team is hiring! And this position is aimed at less experienced engineers with strong fundamentals and a great attitude!” (Ribeiro Barbosa). Similarly, also this past September, MIT Research Scientist and popular podcast host Lex Fridman posted an announcement on his personal Twitter account, advertising Machine Learning Engineer and Programmer positions for which he is hiring (Fridman). Given that Netflix is ranked 115 th on the Fortune 500, and that Fridman’s podcast currently holds the top spot on Apple Podcasts’ Technology Top Charts, surely such corporations should have no shortage of interested candidates lining up for the opportunity of working with them (Staff; “Lex Fridman Podcast.”). However, as evidenced by both Barbosa and Fridman’s advertising, finding the right engineers is still so difficult, that they will resort to a social media post to find these hires.

The Low Supply of Qualified Engineers

While the demand for engineers increases, the growing shortage can be attributed to a lack of engineers who are qualified and experienced enough to fill the rapidly developing positions. A proposed solution to this is to shift focus from applicants’ credentials and resume fillers to their demonstrated thinking, and this shift can look like increasing the number of technologists and certified applicants hired. The Conference Board non-profit think tank reports finding that employers are “lowering educational requirements and offering more initial job training” in response to the shortage, and in 2013, former UK Prime Minister, and then-London Mayor, Boris Johnson, proposed a “London Visa” that would enable international technologists to work in London and fill the skill gap (“How Employers Combat Labor Shortages”; Flinders). Historically, both technologists and certified applicants are rarely considered for engineering positions, however, many have found that this flaw in the engineering workforce is leaving companies with further unfilled jobs and a loss of perfectly capable and trainable employees.

Increasing Technologists and Certified Applicants Hired

The qualification of “technologist” is often compared negatively to the qualification of “engineer,” with an observable difference in the number of years of education. An engineer is, on an international average, required to take a greater number of years in a training program than a technologist is required to take (Carroll). Similarly, the courses the engineer can expect to take, such as advanced calculus, differential equations, engineering concept creation, and critical thinking, are more advanced than the classes a technologist will take, such as algebra, prealgebra, and engineering principles (“Engineering Technologist vs. Engineer”). However, the most important difference between the two qualifications is the specialization of the graduates. An engineer focuses heavily on the conception of fundamental principles and transforming them into a design, while the technologist understands that design and uses technical skills to implement it (“Engineering Technologist vs. Engineer”). A third category of “technician” exists as a possible qualification as well, however, this position is more technical and less conceptual than the technologist. In other words, the progression from engineer, to technologist, to technician is a spectrum of specialization ranging from the most theoretical to the most hands on. And while each of these positions hold valuable places in the tech workforce, it is the technologist who provides the perfect balance between the conceptual and technical side of the engineering process.

Due to these multidisciplinary skills, a technologist can be a great hire for companies. In the podcast Y Combinator episode “Hiring Engineers with Ammon Bartram,” Bartram, cofounder of the hiring program Triplebyte, explains that large technology companies are able to search for employees who are flexible enough to be trained in the specialization of the desired role (Cannon). This idea follows the logic that, while the engineer may have much conceptual knowledge, they might lack the technical knowledge the company needs, because technical demands are advancing at a rate so that an engineer’s technical experience becomes outdated. Therefore, technologists provide the perfect balance for companies to mold into whatever employee they desire. However, technologists’ qualifications are undervalued because of the systemic stigma that the engineer is superior (Carroll). In his paper, Carroll suggests a reorientation of how technology companies perceive technologists and their qualifications, since a flexible employee with problem solving and critical thinking skills is very valuable to a company.

Another proposed solution is that companies begin to recognize and accept applicants with specialized certifications or professional registrations. Several large companies have begun offering free and quick certifications in response to the increasing shortage of engineers, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and IBM among others, and possible fields include Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, and other fields of the same nature (Leighton; “Microsoft Certifications”). In the previously mentioned interview, Bartram also comments that recently trained engineers, like certified engineers, are likely to be a great match with start-up companies, as these companies’ priorities are to create and implement their project efficiently and rapidly (Cannon). Hiring these applicants is beneficial because since certifications “offer more specific training in a shorter time frame,” there is an elastic supply of certifications and registrations, meaning they can be produced quickly, and graduates are very technical and specialized (Amsler).

The major caveat of increasing hiring of technologists and certified applicants is the risk of overspecialization, which worsens the gap when these employees no longer meet the skill demands. To counter this effect, companies must ensure that training and specialization continue as ongoing process, because if the industry is going to continue developing at this rate, employers must guarantee that their employees are “staying current with trends and technology” (Global Knowledge).

Lack of Representation in Engineering

Another contributing factor to the lack of available engineers is the underrepresentation of minorities in the tech industry. While women of color compose about 40% of the female population in the United States, only 12% of women in the IT sector are of color (“Women and Girls of Color in Computing”). Additionally, a National Science Foundation report found that of all science and engineering workers in 2015, only 28.35% were women, 33% were of color, and 10.4% women of color (National Science Foundation). The issue with this is quite straight forward: there is a portion of the population whose engineering careers and talents are not being maximized; in other words, there is a large number of potential engineers that are not being trained nor hired. Simply looking to these currently marginalized groups when hiring will directly increase the number of engineers in the field because, as NIH Director Francis Collins states, STEM is currently “missing critical contributors to our talent pool” (Collins).

Getting past the historic bias against hiring women and people of color in industries like engineering, there are more concrete reasons as to why minority numbers are so low in this workforce, such as a lack of access to opportunities and a lack of interest and motivation in STEM. In the 2021 Conference on Research in Equitable and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology , a study on the role of cultural wealth in hiring explains how, prior to the application process, many minority groups do not have access to the same kind of preparations that others receive. For example, the study recalls that many “computer science professors at Historically Black Institutions [(HBIs)] may lack experience with technical interviews” (Lunn and Ross). This creates a rift in how students from HBIs can compete with other applicants, since minorities are unaware and unprepared for these types of interviews, although they are one of the most crucial elements of modern tech hiring (Bui).

Another display of the lack of adequate preparation for minorities can be seen in the disparity of students taking computer science courses in high school and university; only 23% of all students taking AP Computer Science in 2017 were female (20% were of color), and less than 10% of all computing bachelor’s degrees are held by women of color (“Women and Girls of Color in Computing”). These statistics are important because if applicants wish to meet the skill demanded by hiring companies, preparations must take place starting very young, and a lack of access to these resources, according to the Lunn and Ross’ study in hiring, “unequal divides between those with a greater availability to prepare” (Lunn and Ross).

In addition to a lack of access to preparatory opportunities, minorities are also less likely to fill these engineering roles because of a wrongfully influenced lack of interest and motivation to pursue engineering. The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) report on Engineering Messaging to Tween Girls shows that women are “inclined to hold humanistic values,” indicating that if they are not able to see the effects of engineering on society, they are less likely to pursue these roles (Society of Women Engineers). This idea is corroborated by a study seeking to investigate the idea that men prefer working with things and women with people; the study found that the idea in question does hold true, signifying that these preferences play a large influence in “gendered occupational choices and gender disparity in the STEM fields” (Su). Another reason women and minorities are less likely to show engineering interest is because the field is heavily saturated by men, specifically white men, causing minorities to perceive engineering as a “[non-inclusive] profession” (Society of Women Engineers). If the previous reports are accurate, and minorities are perceiving engineering to be a non-inclusive profession that also holds little societal impact, it makes sense that many of these potential engineers are straying away from the industry.

The loss of prospective engineers due to lack of representation is hurting the industry since the diversity and inclusion benefits the industry for a couple of reasons. Logically, increasing hiring from these applicant pools will directly increase the number of possible candidates, which in turn will increase the number of hires; however, more important is the effect this inclusion can have in the engineering workplace. Engineering Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame Michael Kitz, who has decades of industry experience in companies such as Motorola, Honeywell, and Proctor & Gamble explains that increasing engineering workplace diversity “begins to open up better solutions and better business results” (Kitz). By bringing in diverse hires, technology companies are expanding their horizons to include new perspectives and ideas. This idea is also found in a study published by the Harvard Business Review which reports that “going from having no women in corporate leadership… to a 30 percent female share is associated with a… 15 percent increase in profitability for a typical firm”, indicating that cultural and intellectual diversity is the most beneficial aspect of representation in the engineering field (Noland).

Increasing Representation

There are several approaches in which we can begin to tackle the lack of minority representation in engineering, from early education all the way to the companies who are hiring. In early education, the SWE report found that exposing young girls to engineering in a positive light increases their interest as these efforts “combat [the] negative stereotypes” that deter young girls in the first place; furthermore, this messaging should be diverse and inclusive in its representation of minority racial and ethnic groups to further combat the idea that this field is unwelcoming to these groups (Society of Women Engineers). Such exposure can begin with educators seeking grants so they can fund more classroom technology and integrate more STEM into the curriculum (“Stem Education Grants.”). In addition, incorporating inclusive STEM media and conversations that encourage minorities to pursue STEM are great ways to mitigate the commonly held negative and discouraging perceptions (Society of Women Engineers). Early educators can also join organizations and programs such as Girls who Code , an organization seeking to close the tech gender gap by providing coding clubs for girls across the nation, and contests like Digital Divas , which encourages diversity in young engineers by providing a statewide coding competition for Texas high school girls (“About Us”; Digital Divas 2023).

On the university level, there are numerous scholarship programs available to minorities interested in pursuing a degree in STEM as listed on the North Carolina State University “Funding Opportunities for International, Underrepresented Minority and Disabled Students in STEM” webpage (“Funding Opportunities…”). Lunn and Ross also suggest that educators in universities ensure their students are provided with “increased opportunities for hands on examples and problem solving” to close the preparation gap between minorities and those who are more privileged (Lunn and Ross).

Finally at the corporate level, Luna and Ross suggest companies increase offers of mentorships and internship opportunities to minorities to close their experience gap compared to other applicants. Likewise, Notre Dame Associate Professor Kitz also recalls how companies have made efforts to recruit from minority serving institutions and should increase these efforts to improve their minority representation (Kitz).

While there is a concerning increase in shortage of skilled engineers available to match the growing demand and available jobs, there are several ways to tackle the issue from the supply to the demand end. Issues in finding qualified applicants can be solved by hiring more technologists, who provide flexibility in their ability to be trained and applied as needed, and certified applicants who are very skilled technically and easy to produce. Furthermore, the short supply of skilled engineers caused by the lack of representation in the field can be solved by improving messaging to young girls and POC, increasing awareness of scholarship organizations and inclusive practices in universities, and encouraging companies to play active roles in hiring minority applicants.

Works Cited

“About Us.” Girls Who Code, 21 Apr. 2022, https://girlswhocode.com/about-us.

Amsler, Sarah. “IT Certification Vs. Degree: Which Is Better for Your Career?” WhatIs.com, TechTarget, 18 Feb. 2021, https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/IT-certification-vs- degree-Which-is-better-for-your-career.

Bui, Quoctrung, and Claire Cain Miller. “Why Tech Degrees Are Not Putting More Blacks and Hispanics into Tech Jobs.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/upshot/dont-blame-recruiting-pipeline-for-lack-of- diversity-in-tech.html.

Cannon, Craig, host. “#1 – Hiring Engineers with Ammon Bartram.” Y Combinator, Y Combinator, 3 October 2022, https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/hiring-engineers-with- ammon-bartram.

Carroll, Johnson. “Replacing the Hierarchy of Engineering Qualifications and Roles.” 2017 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2017, https://doi.org/10.1109/educon.2017.7942901.

Collins, Francis, and Lawrence Tabak. “Weaving a Richer Tapestry in Biomedical Science.” Science, Science, 19 Aug. 2011, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1211704.

Digital Divas 2023, https://digital-divas.weebly.com/.

“Employment Projections.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://data.bls.gov/projections/occupationProj.

“Engineering Technologist vs. Engineer: What’s the Difference?” Indeed, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/technologist-to-engineer.

Flinders, Karl. “Computer Science Graduates Struggle to Find Work Despite IT Skills Shortage: TechTarget.” ComputerWeekly.com, TechTarget, 17 Oct. 2013, https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240207378/Computer-science-graduates- struggle-to-find-work-despite-IT-skills-shortage.

“Funding Opportunities for International, Underrepresented Minority and Disabled Students in STEM.” Faculty and Staff Resources, NC State University, https://sciences.ncsu.edu/intranet/funding-opportunities-for-underrepresented-minorities- in-stem/.

Fridman, Lex [@lexfridman]. “I’m hiring translators, overdubbers, video editors, ML engineers, webdevs, assistants, etc.” Twitter, 29 Sep. 2022, https://twitter.com/lexfridman/status/1575580901219524608.

Global Knowledge. “10 Benefits of IT Certification for You (And Your Employer).” Global Knowledge, 29 Oct. 2021, https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource- library/articles/10-benefits-of-it-certification-for-you-and-your-employer/#gref.

“Google Cloud Certification Impact Report.” Google Services, Google Cloud, https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/2020_googlecloud_certification_impact_ report.pdf.

“How Employers Combat Labor Shortages.” The Conference Board, 2 Dec. 2021, https://www.conference-board.org/topics/labor-shortages.

Kitz, Michael. Interview. Conducted by Celeste Mannel, 11 Oct. 2022.

Lavelle, Justin. “Talent Shortage Now the Top Risk Facing Organizations.” Gartner, 17 Jan. 2019, https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-01-17-gartner-survey- shows-global-talent-shortage-is-now-the-top-emerging-risk-facing-organizations.

Leighton, Mara. “28 Free or Affordable Online Courses Led by the Top US Companies, Including Google, Amazon, IBM, and More.” Reviews, Business Insider, 12 May 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/online-classes-programs-google-ibm- facebook-amazon-goldman-sachs.

“Lex Fridman Podcast.” Chartable, 11 Dec. 2022, https://chartable.com/podcasts/artificial- intelligence-1434243584.

Liu, Jennifer. “The US Has Nearly 1 Million Open It Jobs-Here's How Much It Can Pay off to Switch Industries into Tech.” CNBC Brand Studio, CNBC, 6 Nov. 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/how-switching-careers-to-tech-could-solve-the-us- talent-shortage.html.

Lunn, Stephanie, and Monique Ross. “Ready to Work: Evaluating the Role of Community Cultural Wealth during the Hiring Process in Computing.” 2021 Conference on Research in Equitable and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT), 2021, https://doi.org/10.1109/respect51740.2021.9620686.

“Microsoft Certifications.” Microsoft Learn , https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/certifications/.

National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. 2017. Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2017. Special Report NSF 17-310. Arlington, VA. Available at www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/.

Noland, Marcus, and Tyler Moran. “Study: Firms with More Women in the C-Suite Are More Profitable.” Peterson Institute for International Economics, Harvard Business Review, 20 Apr. 2021, https://www.piie.com/commentary/op-eds/study-firms-more-women-c-suite- are-more-profitable.

Ribeiro Barbosa, Felipe [@felipernb]. “My team is hiring! And this position is aimed at less experienced engineers with strong fundamentals and a great attitude!” Twitter, 26 Sept. 2022, https://twitter.com/felipernb/status/1574517256846917632.

Skillsoft, Global Knowledge 2021 IT Skills and Salary Report . https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/content/salary-report/it-skills-and-salary- report/

Society of Women Engineers, Engineering Messaging to Tween Girls . Feb. 2018, https://swe.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SWE-Literature-Review-2018.pdf

Staff, Fortune. “Netflix: 2022 Fortune 500.” Fortune, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2022, https://fortune.com/company/netflix/fortune500/.

“Stem Education Grants.” Next Wave STEM, https://nextwavestem.com/stem-grants-for- teachers.

Su, Rong, et al. “Men and Things, Women and People: A Meta-Analysis of Sex Differences in Interests.” Psychological Bulletin, U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19883140/.

“Women and Girls of Color in Computing.” Arizona State University. https://www.wocin computing.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/WOCinComputingDataBrief.pdf

Celeste Mannel

Celeste Mannel is from Dallas, Texas studying Computer Science with a hopeful minor in Engineering Corporate Practice. Celeste plans to pursue a career in the tech industry where she can collaborate with teams and develop at the forefront of technology. Inspired by her Argentinian mother who works in the tech industry, and as a Latina woman in computer science herself, Celeste was led by her curiosity in women and minorities in STEM and how they can solve the engineering shortage facing the industry. This essay “Software Engineering: The Career or Shortage of the Future?” addresses the increasing shortage of engineers available to satisfy the growing industry demand, and it argues for solutions that will increase productivity and efficiency as well as promote intellectual and cultural diversity in the field. Celeste would like to thank Professor Whitney James for her feedback and encouragement, Professor Michael Kitz for participating in an interview and sharing his perspective from within the industry, and her mother Hilda Sanz Mannel for her inspiration and constant support.

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32 Best Topics For An Engineering Essay

If a regular college student was told to come up with a list of the most difficult academic disciplines to deal with, we bet that engineering would be deservedly mentioned. Yes, this discipline is quite challenging to get around, which is especially true of home assignments in engineering so some students are forced to ask someone to  write my essay . This delicate problem often prompts some students to apply for help to online services, asking, “ do my engineering homework .” But it’s not only homework assignments in engineering that give college kids a hard time – another big burden connected with this discipline is academic writing.

In engineering paper writing, the first and most exasperating obstacle is settling on the topic. At first sight, choosing a paper topic seems to be quite easy. In reality, given the complexity of the discipline, developing a topic for an engineering discipline is a rigorous process. For this reason, we decided to put pen to paper and provide you with the greatest engineering essay topics!

Software Engineering Essay Topics

• The rapid evolution of neural networks
• Computer-assisted education as an innovative solution to the traditional academic system
• The implementation of machine learning in today’s digital industry
• The risks of using virus-infected computer software
• Virtual reality and human perception
• AI in modern digital marketing
• The challenges of database management
• The interactions between humans and machines
• The problem of ethical hacking today
• The development of biometric systems for computers

Biomedical Engineering Essay Topics

• The critical importance of modeling diseases through engineering
• The ways of improving medical imaging methods
• The outlook for structural health monitoring
• Genetic engineering as one of the most popular fields of biomedical engineering
• The use of biomedical engineering in handling the COVID-19 situation
• Biorobotics in disease detection
• The authentication systems based on biorobotics
• The treatment of cardiac diseases with the help of biomedical engineering

Structural Engineering Essay Topics

• The use of software in modeling experiments
• How to study the vulnerability of a particular area
• Self-healing: core principles
• The utilization of probabilistic methods in structural engineering

Mechanical Engineering Essay Topics

• Marine shipping and air pollution
• The history of mechanical engineering
• Parallel kinematic machines
• Manufacturing systems: performance analysis
• Electricity production mechanisms used at nuclear power plants
• The technology of solid-liquid separation
• The mechanical engineering of the smart auto-reeling mechanism
• Perpetual motion machines: the outlook
• The implementation of oil depletion
• The use of mechanical engineering in metallurgy

Engineering Writing Is Easy!

Developed by our top engineering specialists, these longed-for paper topics are for all students who fail to develop a good idea for their engineering papers. As you can now see, creating a solid engineering paper topic is not as big a deal as some college students believe it to be. Equipped with these 32 brilliant paper topics, you no longer have to torment yourself with the tedious procedure of seeking inspiration for your academic paper. Make sure to select the best topic from our top list developed by the leading experts in engineering!

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ESSAY SAUCE

FOR STUDENTS : ALL THE INGREDIENTS OF A GOOD ESSAY

Essay: Software Engineering

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• Subject area(s): Information technology essays
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• Published: 16 June 2012*
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Software Engineering

My encounter with the subject of Software Engineering was largely a positive experience and this encompasses both the academic aspect as well as the non-academic areas touching on the students in the class and the overall connections I established with them on human level. However, the following comprise of the key areas that summarize what I consider to be the essential elements in engaging with the subject:1- What we mean by software engineering and why it Is so critical? Software Engineering is concerned with employing principals of Engineering in general, and also making use of the directives of agreed ethics documented in order to produce reliable software that assists the endeavors of society for the betterment of their lives. To achieve such goals, the production of software that delivers the required functionality is the essence of the argument for it collectively brings together a team of professionals supporting the professional software development.Above all, Software Engineering is a unique discipline of study that in many aspects adheres to the principles of Engineering, but on its own merits differs a lot. For instance once a civil engineer constructs a bridge, the faults and errors are irreversible, but with the beauty of Software Engineering is such that there is a room for correction and reversing mistakes before or after implementation phase. I think this is one powerful attribute that Software Engineering enjoys in comparison to other Engineering specializations.2- I have learned that software not only can cause damage to software and but also could kill human as well. There are a number of incidents that demonstrate how serious software can be dangerous when producing in wrong way without testing . For instance, Therac-25 , was radiation treatment device that used in the medical treatment intended for cancer patients, and it was designed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) collaborated with CGR France. That device is being used as prime example and classic a case study of failure in field of software engineering. Indeed, What happens is that this machine killed 6 patients, who had been received Over radiation doses because of software bugs. On other hand, this machine helps a lot of patient to be cured ;however because the software was not reliable at certain time , it was not being tested , and code review was not being conducted in the Software development.

If the software principles had been adopted in that classic case, patients would not have been killed by Therac-25 system. In the context of the question itself, there is a correlation between the theoretical material of the subject and the observations one has to make in dealing with the development of appropriate solutions to mitigate aspects of our lives.To a large extent one must find ways to overcome obstacles to the progression of producing real solutions applicable to our desired goals, and in the long protracted process of doing so, it becomes essential to see, observe, learn and live by the experience. This is the main pre-occupation I have with Software Engineering in its multi-facets, for it embodies the experience of many professional software developers seeking a common solution to a common problem.I can recall using some of the principles of Software Engineering in adopting a particular given solution solely to enrich it till such a stage of perfection is reached. Consider the use-case diagram exercises. Even though there are multiple interpretations open to choosing a particular path of producing a certain prototype, yet, it opens to a room for adding new or removing existing unwanted features, this itself is what life entails in the pursuit of the perfect solution. A theory is only applicable for adoption if it can be used in the real world, otherwise it dies.There are extensive theories open for exploration in Software Engineering, and given that the core of it all is about Software Development, we expect in most cases to have a practical understanding in the sense that abstract theories are brought to life through the construction and implementation of its own dictates such that it mimics the intended functionality.The implications of it, is such that, the ethical aspects of adopting the theory must be considered in ways that are in-line with the guidelines of safety, and the fulfillment of the needs of the user. There are catastrophic examples of software failures causing deaths and injuries not considered carefully during the early stages of development, and without testing it and exhausting it beyond doubt, the developers should not release it for consumer consumption.Just as ethics are significant in numerous fields of our life, they are ,also, so critical in area of software engineering as well. In fact, in software engineering is very straight forward and very clear as well , though definitions of ethics are extremely subjective. One credible explanation is that both the IEEE Computers and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) have initiated something , which is called code ethics. In addition to that, it is set of instructions that developers must both follow and obey and then It is meant to maintain qualified practices in software engineering fields. The constant change swinging from perfection to excellence is an ever present scenario of what many Software Engineers encounter in their day to day activities, therefore, improvements is an endeavor that cannot be ignored, and proper documentation is to be kept if a professional practice in formulating general approach to what might work best is to be looked at in continuing with this paradigm.

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