Environmental Engineering

What is Environmental Engineering?

It is a professional engineering discipline that takes from broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions and study that will protect human health and improve the quality of the environment.

Environmental engineers design pollution control systems and protect public health. For example, they design waste & pollution control systems, processes and devices. Some of these devices are chimney washers and sewage management systems.

What does an Environmental Engineer do?

Environmental engineers coordinate disposal and recycling activities in production plants and mines.

Some may study and try to cut the effects of acid rain, global warming, car emissions, and ozone depletion.

Environmental technology focuses on protecting the environment by reducing waste and pollution. They develop processes that control the release of pollutants and cut existing pollutants.

Many environmental engineers work as consultants. They ensure their clients follow regulations, avoid environmental damage and clean hazardous areas.

Environmental engineers conduct research to

• assess potential hazards

• find solutions to mitigate them

• develop strategies to prevent hazards that cause harm to the environment.

Environmental engineers also plan municipal wastewater treatment and water supply equipment.

They determine the impact of potential construction projects and carry out quality controls.

Environmental engineers review, create and update environmental research reports.

They provide technical support for projects related to environmental reclamation and legal activities.

They carry out quality checks, analyze scientific data and track environmental improvement programs.

Directly install or operate environmental monitoring devices or related data acquisition programs.

Assess the current or potential impact of land use projects on air, water or land.

Offer support for network analysis, regulatory analysis, planning or reviewing database development.

Provide support for projects by

• collecting data

• providing project documentation

• training staff

• performing other general administrative tasks.

Check facilities to assess operational effectiveness and ensure that environmental regulations are observed.

Support in planning, quality assurance, security protocols or sampling. Especially for teams that carry out multimedia inspections in complex facilities.

Preparation or presentation of public briefings on the status of environmental projects.

Work with scientists, planners, hazardous-waste technicians, and experts or other specialists.

Serve as a contact point with officials on matters related to the waste program.

Technical support for environmental reclamation projects or litigation. This includes designing a reclamation system or determining the applicability of regulations.

What is the Admission and Eligibility Criteria?

Undergraduate (UG) engineering degree, you should have passed 10+2 in science stream (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics) from a recognized board.

To get into top engineering colleges offering Environmental Engineering programs such as IITs and NITs, you need to appear for JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) and full the required eligibility criteria (performance in the class 12/equivalent qualifying Examination and the Joint Entrance Examination).

Independent entrance tests for Environmental Engineering are also held by the various state, central, and private universities which mostly require 50% as the prerequisite to appear for the test. (minimum percentage may vary in case of reserved and girl candidate and college requirement.)

What are the skills required?

You get to learn most of the skills for the job during your education, however, there are few skills one must have:-

Sound knowledge of mathematics and reasoning

Analytical thinking skills

Paying attention to details

Passion for machines and environment

Environmental engineers need to have a good understanding of mathematics, physics and chemistry. You learn to solve technical problems and work in teams to achieve goals. You develop the ability to apply scientific principles to make technical decisions.

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What are the Top Jobs after Environmental Engineering?

• Environmental Health Safety Engineer

• Application Reliability Engineer

• Design Engineer

• Safety Lead

• Process Engineer

What is the Scope of Environmental Engineering?

• After completing B.E./ B.Tech students can opt for M.Tech and PhD in this field.

• Students may appear for the GATE examination, to get through high pay jobs in PSUs. Prestigious institutes like IITs, IIIT’s, and NITs also consider GATE score.

• Professionals in this field can find higher positions in different industries such as Metro companies, Architecture firms, etc.

• Professionals can also find positions in research wings of government and private organizations related to this field.

• Or they may opt for research, design & development related to this field.

How much an Environmental Engineer earns in India?

• Avg. Salary in India - Rs 446,835

• Avg. Entry-level Salary (less than 1 year) - Rs 297,107

• Avg. Early Career Salary (1-4 years) - Rs 408,738

• Mid Career Salary (5-9 years) - Rs 687,845

• Experienced Salary (10-19 years) - Rs 992,746

(Source: Payscale) Per annum

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Where to study?

Top colleges offering Btech in Environmental Engineering in India

• IIT Bombay - Indian Institute of Technology

• IIT Madras - Indian Institute of Technology

• DTU - Delhi Technological University (DCE)

• IIT (ISM) Dhanbad - Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad

• JNTU Hyderabad - Jawaharlal Nehru Technology

Popular colleges offering Btech in Environmental Engineering In India

• Annamalai University

• Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

• Rai University, Ahmedabad

• Shivaji University Kolhapur

• Medi-Caps University, Indore

How to prepare and what are the study material and books available?

• Mock tests available online

• NCERT syllabus of class 11th and 12th

• Study material available by prestigious institutes

• Consult your seniors (who have already given such exams) for guidance

• Previous year question papers

Some popular books are O.P. Tandon for Physical Chemistry, P.Bahadur (G.R.Bathla & Sons) for Numerical chemistry. Concept of Physics by HC Verma (Vol 1, Vol 2); Problems In General Physics by IE Irodov. IIT Mathematics, M.L. Khanna; Trigonometry, S L Loney; Calculus & Analytic Geometry, Thomas & Finney.

Interesting Facts

The ancient Indus Valley Civilization that existed over the span of (3300 B.C.E. to 1300 B.C.E.) had advanced control over their water resources and a modern drainage system.