Personal Career Choice: Agricultural Engineer

Recently, I have started thinking about college. I do not know for sure what I want to major in, but engineering has sparked some interest in me. I love to do hands-on work, and I am good at math and science, so I thought engineering would be a good career for me. I also like to go outside a lot, and I like to help the environment; I thought agricultural engineering would be a good choice. I do not have a lot of personal experience with this career, other than planting and taking care of gardens at my house and my grandfather’s house. I wanted to do some more research on this career and find out if it would be a good fit for me. A great deal of preparation and knowledge are needed for a career in agricultural engineering.

Education and training are required for a career in agricultural engineering. The minimum education needed for agricultural engineering is a bachelor’s degree, and the maximum education one could obtain is a doctorate. One could obtain many different degrees in this career, including a Bachelor of Science, Master of Engineering, Master of Agriculture, or Doctor of Engineering. One may major in many different subjects including bioacoustics, biomaterials science, bioprocess engineering, or machine and energy systems. Later in one’s career, one may also acquire a Professional Engineering license, allowing one to have a higher authority in projects. There are four years of education involved on the undergraduate level and one to two years on the post-graduate level. On average, this education would cost around $25,000-$30,000 per year at Iowa State. Purdue University and Iowa State are two of the best schools in the country for agricultural engineering. In Ohio, Ohio State University has a good program for engineers of all types. One is required to have taken at least four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of science, and two years of social studies to get into the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Iowa State.

There are skills, talents, and experience required for a career in agricultural engineering. It is important to have communication, analytical, math, and problem-solving skills. It is necessary that one has an adequate understanding of math and science, and it is beneficial if one is good at building things and thinking creatively. It is also beneficial for this career if one is friendly, comfortable talking to others, independent, honest, and dependable. One must also be able to manage her time well. I am suited for this career because I am good at math and science, I like talking to other people, I like being outdoors, and I love to create and build things. The real life experience I have had with this career is planting gardens.

Earnings and job availability vary for careers in agricultural engineering. The standard beginning wage in Ohio for an agricultural engineer is $60,430. The standard beginning wage for an agricultural engineer in Washington is $75,419 and in Florida is $55,520. The maximum salary one can expect in Ohio is $75, 630 for an agricultural engineer. The maximum salary one can expect in Washington is $90,387 and in Florida $80,710 for an agricultural engineer. The industry one is working in or if one is a manager or supervisor could affect the salary range. Because agricultural engineering is less known compared to other engineering jobs, one should look outside the immediate subject area for beginning jobs. When setting up in this career, one would need special tools. Since the costs would not be too great when setting up for this career, one could finance them by getting a job on the side. In the United States, employment for agricultural engineering is estimated to up 8% in the next 10 years. The employment outlook for agricultural engineering in Florida is expected to go up 5.3% and in Washington will go up 8.7%. As farm equipment is being used more globally, there are more job opportunities for agricultural engineers. In the future, this career will continue to grow and expand as demand for farming amenities increases.

Benefits, liabilities, and work environments vary for a career in agricultural engineering. Depending on what company one works for, there could be a number of health benefits, including health insurance, dental insurance, a health savings account, vision insurance, and life insurance. An agricultural engineer may be provided with a good amount of vacation time, flexible schedules. A liability for a career in agricultural engineering is that one may be expected to work extra hours to take advantage of good weather. Agricultural engineers may also have to trave. For this career, one will be around other employees and will work most of the time indoors but may spend time outdoors to travel to different sites. One may work on farms, in university research departments, machine factories, government departments, or aid organizations in this career. Agricultural engineers are expected to wear professional attire for this career. Agricultural engineers are also expected to behave in a professional manner.

A typical day in agricultural engineering is challenging. Agricultural engineers are focused on the design, construction, and improvement of farming equipment and machinery. Agricultural engineers can work in architecture, food manufacturing, construction, mining and machinery, or be an educator. In this career, one tries to create methods of farming that will not damage the environment. This includes creating machines for processing and storing products, monitoring and designing machines to farm automatically, or creating products concerned with animal welfare, water use, and developing sustainable farming practices. On a typical day an agricultural engineer would go into the office, and depending on how far along the project is, she might have to work on design plans, go to a farm, or talk with contractors. For this job, one usually works full time, 40 hours per week. The best parts of the day are when the problem is solved, the new machinery is built, and one knows that she was able to help make the environment a better place. The most challenging part of the day for an agricultural engineer is figuring out a way to solve the problem; once that is done, one can move on to the design and structure of it. One must take into account plant and animal health, climate change, and ethical issues when designing a product. There is an eight step process to figuring out a problem in agricultural engineering: identify the problem, identify and set criteria and constraints, brainstorm ideas, select a solution, create a prototype, test the prototype, improve the design, and share the product.

After researching agricultural engineering, I think it could be a good career choice for me. I think that it is a very realistic, practical job with good pay. I like the amount of schooling required, and I think it could be a fun job. Since I am good at math and science, I think I would do well in this field. Overall, I am glad that I researched this job and will look into it for a future career choice.