Interdisciplinary engineering, or IDE, is a type of engineering that combines knowledge and skills from various disciplines. Traditional engineering has a narrower scope than this type of engineering. This necessitates a fundamentally different educational approach, with students taking courses in disciplines that aren’t traditionally associated with engineering programs. Employers and engineers benefit from engineering that employs an interdisciplinary approach.
Interdisciplinary engineering’s basic premise is that certain engineering projects necessitate information that is outside the scope of an engineering degree. To engineer medical equipment, for example, an engineer must have a solid understanding of anatomy, physiology, biology, and other related subjects. Individuals do not have to abandon these types of projects if they take an interdisciplinary approach.
People interested in interdisciplinary engineering begin studying subjects such as math, chemistry, and mechanics, which are considered fundamental to traditional engineering. This is supplemented with liberal arts courses. Beyond that, the interdisciplinary engineering student is responsible for filling his course load. This means that depending on their engineering interests, two students in the field can take very different educational paths. Students are still given broad guidelines for the number of credits they must have from predetermined categories of courses, despite the fact that IDE programs are highly flexible in this way.
Despite the fact that interdisciplinary engineering programs are flexible, interdisciplinary engineers focus their work. They could pursue a career in systems engineering or mechatronics, for example. As a result, while engineers can tout their multidisciplinary background, they can also highlight a specific type of engineering to potential employers or clients.
One of the advantages of taking an interdisciplinary approach to engineering is that an engineer can look at a project through many different lenses using information from areas other than basic engineering. He can think more critically about how to design and what those designs may imply for specific people or the environment. This could indicate that the engineer’s work lasts longer and is more positive.
Another advantage of interdisciplinary engineering is that employers are sometimes more willing to hire these professionals because they are better prepared to handle a wide range of projects. Engineers may be able to meet more than one need for the company, according to the employers. From the perspective of the employer, this means increased productivity and stability. From the engineer’s standpoint, this means more consistent work and a higher salary.