Best Engineering Courses for B.E/B.Tech Admissions 2016 Environmental Engineering

What is Environmental Engineering?

Environmental Engineering is a branch of engineering studies that deals with our everyday life. To start with we need to know what is environment. Environment is nothing but our surroundings, the things we live with which may involve both living and non living things. Hence protecting our environment is vital in sustainment of human life and this proves the importance of Environmental Engineering as a course of study. Environmental Engineering deals with safeguarding human life from the environmental hazards and protecting the environment from the impact caused by animals and humans. It also comprises waste water management, air pollution control, waste removal, recycling, radio activity protection, general sanitation, environmental law and its associated rules.  It also provides an overview about environmental chemistry, environmental science, microscopic, water distribution engineering, municipal solid waste management, industrial hazards and sewage treatment.

Scope of Environmental Engineering:

Graduates of this discipline have a plenty of scope in government, public and private sector as Water Resource Engineer, Vehicle Pollution Examiner, General Hygiene Establishment Engineer, Protection officer and Research & Development Engineer. Environmental engineering is gaining importance among Indian professionals as more and more environmental engineers are getting jobs in thermal, biological, radioactive or even mechanical engineering industry as environmental engineering is much diverse and requires experience from different backgrounds.

Job Opportunities in Environmental Engineering:

Moreover, experts from environmental chemistry, waste reduction management, process engineering, water and sewage treatment, pollution prevention, etc are required in huge numbers nowadays.  Job prospects for professionals with qualification in environmental engineering are bright especially in research centres, NGOs and various governmental departments working towards green i.e., nature inclusive development. Candidates with post graduation in environmental engineering have opportunities to work for various assessment committees that study and analyze the environmental risks involved in certain projects whose report is later submitted to the concerned authority for further observation. Scholars with Doctorate in environmental engineering can opt for teaching jobs in colleges and universities as there are severe shortage of lecturers and professors in this department. Students with Maths, Chemistry and Physics as their main subjects in 10+2 can opt for B.E in Environmental Engineering.  Similarly M.Tech in Energy & Environment Management is another attractive option which can be pursued after completing under graduation in environmental or civil engineering.

Current state of environmental engineering:

A drastic surge in environmental pollution across the globe has led to various researches and development works in an effort to contain this menace and an extremely new discipline called environmental engineering has emerged out of nowhere which is providing an excellent career opportunity these days. Environmental engineers combine scientific principles and engineering technologies to improve the environment so that people can get healthy water, air and land appropriate for human survival. On the brighter side the opportunities in environmental engineering have increased in last couple of decades and the professionals are recruited by companies working in chemical, geological, petroleum and mining sectors. 

Job responsibilities of Environmental Engineers:

Environmental engineers specializing in ecology, social sciences, basic sciences, economics and radiological science have attractive career options. A qualified personnel working at an environmental engineering company is expected to design, construct and maintain fault proof waste management systems to adhere to pollution control board’s standards so that urban and rural areas are kept healthy. Job responsibilities of environmental engineers in India are soon expected to broaden up because of tremendous economic development and the resultant environmental pollution.

Choosing Environmental Engineering Career:

Deciding the suitability of this career will require you to think with passion rather than your mind while at the same time considering your abilities beforehand. If you are desperate about the environment and you can save the hazards done to the surroundings with a scientific aptitude, then this is certainly your field. A career in environmental engineering can be highly challenging as the person is expected to devise revolutionary solutions addressing various environmental concerns. But the sector is quite glamorous in terms of compensation. Even though a relatively new career, environmental engineering does not possess heavy competition and hence the candidates can get admission and jobs in various top notch environment engineering firms with relatively lesser efforts.

Cost involved in Environmental Engineering:

An under graduation such as B.Tech in environmental engineering at present costs more than Rs 3 lakh to the students. This fee also includes hostel and library charges and is charged semester wise twice a year. However certain private colleges are currently charging even more than the above said amount. Similarly, a post graduation such as M.Tech in environmental engineering can cost you more than Rs 2 lakh in 4 semesters. Various Post Graduate diploma courses in environmental engineering can also be a cheap solution or at least act as a substitute. As of now Courses related to environmental engineering is available at a nominal fee only at government colleges, IITs and NITs but at the cost of an intense competition.

Salary Package for Environmental Engineers:

Environmental engineers have a plenty of employment opportunities with Central and State pollution control boards which work towards achieving a clean environment and sustainable growth. Environmental engineers working in State Pollution Control Board are paid salaries ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000. Candidates with post graduation or any other associated diploma/ specialisation in environment engineering receive a huge compensation ranging from Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000/month. While this sounds attractive doing a research work in environmental engineering can pay you heavily as the professional scientists/ researchers earn a monthly salary from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000.

Top Environmental Engineering Companies:

A few of the leading recruiters in our country of this discipline are as follows:

•    AECOM
•    Privi Organics Limited
•    MACTEC
•    UEM GROUP
•    Kalpan Hydro Company
•    Goodrich Corporation
•    SPML Infra Limited
•    Brunel India Pvt Ltd
•    The Indure Private LImited
•    Sima Labs Pvt Ltd.
•    IDS Group
•    Dresser-Rand India Pvt Ltd

Future of Environmental Engineering:

Environmental engineering is currently facing an acute shortage of trained experts. Since it is a new branch focusing on various aspects of environment pollution, lack of information among candidates prevents them from entering this field and hence more and more organisations find it really difficult to recruit personnel from this field while they embrace environment friendly processes. With a boom of IT industry for the past decade still students are flocking in big numbers to traditional streams of engineering such as Computer Science, Electronics and IT and are not willing to take the risk of exploring this department of engineering. However with monstrous growth of environmental pollution soon the industry will require environmental engineers in large numbers and hence this field is soon expected to hit the student fraternity by a storm.

This stream of engineering does have a lot of scope now and it is increasing day by day .As environmental clearance has become an integral factor in success of any industry companies have now started hiring environmental engineers to access the damage to ecosystem and ways to replenish it. Also environmental engineers are hired by the government for the same purpose. In short it is a new and hot field with tremendous potential but currently very less people are available to fill up the vacancy. This sector is in the initial stages and is bound to grow rapidly in the upcoming years. With many global companies coming to India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” campaign the demand is going to rise for sure.

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