My Secret Diary: Which is the best engineering branch?

Hello friends,

This is my secret diary explaining about the best engineering branch to pursue in undergraduate education.
What do you think? How can one identify the best engineering branch?
should the decision be based on the talk of the town?
Or Should it be based on market demand?
Or is there any magical sorting hat to do that?
Don’t we all wish making the right decision could be that simple?

Let us try and analyze how exactly it can be done.

Before going in to the details, let us understand who an engineer is? What does he or she do?
An engineer is a person who uses his scientific knowledge for the benefit of human being. There are two important things to note here, a good scientific knowledge and an attitude to help the other human beings. So yes; if we understand these two things, that the best scientific knowledge is needed for the future, and which is the best place to receive that knowledge, then we are done with choosing the best engineering program.

Now let us take a look at the best engineering technologies that we can expect to be part of our lives in future. Smart homes, Electrical vehicles, artificial intelligence and so many more exciting new changes are making their way to our lives.

Let us look at some of them in detail. For example, a smart home technology is the general term given to basic home amenities that have been enhanced with communication technology; enabling some degree of either automation or remote control. So, what it does is connecting your all devices in a virtual world, and running some algorithm as per the preference of people living in the building. So, which branch teaches this engineering? Is it civil engineering? is it computer or IT engineering? is it electronics and communication engineering? Or is it electrical engineering? Have you ever thought of? If you give this question a little thought, then you will realize it is not one branch alone! It is an integration of many branches.

A civil engineer building a structure should need the basic knowledge of sensors that an electronic and communication engineer is going to use in the building. And also, they should have a general knowledge of the automation or programing a computer or IT engineer is going to apply in the building, and should also have a knowledge of electrical appliances and equipment’s that will be used in the building.

And this is the same case for all other branches too. A computer engineer who doesn’t have knowledge of civil engineering, business, pharmacy, medical field or anything related to humanity, is not prepared for the future.

Not convinced? Let us take another example of BMW car. Is it only automobile engineering? An automobile engineer also needs to have knowledge of ergonomics, chemistry, physics and what not to be able to deliver a car that is luxurious, comfortable, fast and safe at the same time.

This is one of the big learnings of our age. For the next generation engineering education or application, the branch from which you get degree is not important. Today, there are no longer water tight compartments that demarcate the branches of Engineering.

Getting scientific knowledge from an institute or university, which will really make you ready for the next generation by providing diverse learning opportunities as per your preference, is the most important thing.

So, don’t choose your branch, choose your institute, which will make you innovative. Choose an institute, which offers diverse courses for its students in its campus. Be it engineering, basic sciences, pharmacy, physiotherapy or paramedical fields, the course should be accessible to a student through choice based credit system. The diversity and exposure is key to the innovative spirit. And that is what the next generation engineering needs.

Also, don’t forget, getting admission in the best institute alone won’t serve the purpose. After all, it all depends on the way you utilize the facilities and work hard to achieve excellence.


So, the key take-home points are:

Select the best institute, before you select your branch.
Don’t forget to check the approvals and rankings of the institute. If you are not sure about this, watch the video ‘Things you should know before choosing the higher education institute?’. (   • Parameters to be considered before ch...  .
Avoid selecting a stand-alone engineering institute, as the diversity and exposure will be limited.
Choose an engineering branch as per your capability.

Let us work together for the benefit of humans and be an engineer in its true meaning.
Wish you a great career ahead.