Environmental engineers are concerned with assessing and managing the effects of human and other activity on the natural and built environment. For over a century, our way of life itself has upset the balance on our planet. Our ever growing need for energy, our need for modern products fuelled the industries that pollutes and strip natural resources at an alarming rate that puts our planet in disarray.

Environmental engineers in essence use their expertise to minimise or stop these damages to the environment, coming up with solutions for corporate and industries to make them more environmentally friendly.

Environmental engineers may perform the following tasks:

• research and develop new technologies and techniques to improve the environmental acceptability of engineering projects
• evaluate environmental and social impacts of engineering projects in association with the public, scientists and other engineers
• design and operate processes to treat wastes to a standard acceptable for discharge and/or recycling (e.g. waste water treatment or waste solidification)
• work with occupational health experts to ensure a hazard-free working environment
• prepare reports and studies on the best approach to environmental management in new and existing engineering projects, taking into account environmentally sustainable economic activity and legal, environmental and industrial factors
• effectively communicate relevant issues to other technical staff, managers, regulatory authorities, public interest groups and the public.

Adapted from http://www.myfuture.edu.au/

The field emphasizes several areas: process engineering, environmental chemistry, water and sewage treatment, waste reduction/management, and pollution prevention/cleanup.

The term environment engineer expands to include a wide array of more specialised disciplines such as biochemistry, industrial design, agriculture, civil engineering and ecology. All of which can be integrated with environmental engineering. Depending on the organisation you work for and your scope of work, the required disciplines changes. For example if you are working for a electroplating company, your focus may be to find solutions to deal with waste water, and if are working to design a sunglasses that is environmentally friendly, you will have to look at the material used whether they can be made from recycled materials or whether they are biodegradable.

What kind of qualification do I need?

You will probably require the following.

• Bachelor’s degree in either civil or chemical engineering or environmental engineering( which in fact is a branch both civil and chemical engineering)
• Masters or doctorate in the specialised area of your choice.

There are many universities in the world that offer such courses, most in the US and Australia, such as MIT, Cornell and Carnegie Melon. And a little closer to home we have Nanyang Technical University School of Civil and Environmental engineering.

As the world now puts an unprecedented attention on environmental issues, and as corporate takes on more social responsibility, there is definitely a growing need for environmental engineers. It is a viable path for those who want to help conserve our environment.

Look out for more examples of environment engineering and environment related jobs coming up!