The pandemic has struck and changed the world. Job security has become a joke, especially for engineering courses. But is that really true?
7 out of the top 10 jobs in India today are those of engineers. And out of these seven, at least six are from new forms of engineering and technology. But how much do you know about these new branches of engineering?
What is the current scenario?
With the world heavily hinging on technology for all matters- big or small- it is only right that engineering courses underwent a shift. While the traditional courses still enjoy their popularity, innovative courses are catching up!
As we continue to expand our understanding and hence, development of new technologies, we are able to automate most of the several processes that used to be earlier laid out for ‘human engineers’ to carry out. And we can see this change is every industry- manufacturing, construction, healthcare, and more.
What’s wrong with most engineering courses in India?
The impact is for all to see. In the last 5 years alone, millions of engineers have lost their jobs. And in most cases, these were the reasons.
- Redundancy- too many people doing the same task
- Obsoleteness- they are simply unaware of the new technologies or haven’t learned them
- Automation- this is by far the biggest villain in the lives of most engineers
These problems point to one culprit- the relevance of the current engineering courses in India. They are simply not helping several millions of students who dream of an engineering career and a lucrative job.
In the recent TNEA counselling, nearly 60% of seats remained vacant. A glaring problem, it has emerged from the lack of trust in the success of engineering by many students now.
So, which engineering course IS best for 21st-century students?
From engineering courses online to partnerships with various business schools, this field has come a long way! Here’s a list of 4 upcoming areas of engineering. Add these to your ‘engineering courses list’.
As the name suggests, Artificial Intelligence or AI is the ability, of a machine, to carry out those tasks that a human would need to apply his/her intelligence for. There are two types of AI- narrow and general. Narrow AI is more commonly used to carry out specific tasks- like responding to customer queries like a Chatbot would do. General AI, on the other hand, is more adaptable to being taught a wide range of tasks- from gardening to making presentations. 
That being said, AI also includes the fields of machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing (NLP), which form the crux of all AI. And in order to carry out these tasks and manage these machines, the world needs engineers.
Hot jobs in Artificial Intelligence:
- Machine Learning Engineer
- Machine Learning Scientist
- Principal Data Scientist
- Data Engineer
- Data Scientist
- Research Engineer
- Algorithm Engineer
Most, if not all of these jobs require subjects like Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, and IT in Bachelor’s engineering degrees. Some of them might also require a PG degree.
Here is a list of top institutes to pursue Artificial Intelligence in India
- IIT Hyderabad
- Chandigarh University
- Indraprastha Institute Of Information and Technology
- Great Lakes International University
- SRM Institute of Science and Technology
Universities for AI courses outside India
- Stanford University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Oxford
Blockchain
A wildly popular topic of discussion, blockchain is another new branch of engineering that is set to offer a number of opportunities. Blockchain is literally a chain of blocks of data. This data is usually related to the various transactions that happen online. More importantly, this ‘blockchain’ is distributed across networks and that is why it is ‘decentralized’. Think of it as a ‘distributed ledger’. And that is why this technology is used in Bitcoin (cryptocurrency).
| No, Blockchain is not the same as Bitcoin and no you don’t need to be a financial expert to make a career in blockchain. |
The demand for blockchain has gone up in the last few years and businesses are using it to track every little thing of value- from payments to music shares. This means a great deal of work for engineers to build applications that use blockchain or further build existing technology. 
Hot jobs in Blockchain:
- Blockchain Engineer
- Blockchain Developer
- Tech Architect
- Software Engineer
- Front End Engineer
- Blockchain Quality Engineer
Top universities for Blockchain in India
Please note that some of them might not have an engineering degree but might offer a specialized degree in the subject.
- IIIT Hyderabad
- IIT Madras
- Indian Blockchain Insitute
Universities for Blockchain outside India
- Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
- University of Nicosia
- IT University of Copenhagen
- University Of Cape Town
User Experience
In the digital world, where an average person uses at least 10 apps every day and surfs through hundreds of websites every week, providing a positive experience is of utmost importance. User experience is specifically related to the feel of a product (website or app). That’s where a User Experience Engineer or UX Engineer comes in.
Typically, UX engineers are front-end engineers who work with the UX designers to ensure that every user on their website/app has a fantastic experience. So, out of all the disciplines in engineering, this one requires the most robust set of skills because it has a wide scope- from market research to prototyping, wireframing, to communication and design. Out of these, design skills are probably of paramount importance.
Hot jobs for User Experience:
Top universities for UX in India:
- Jagran Lakecity University
- Amity University, Noida
Top universities for UX outside India
- Carnegie Mellon University
- University Of Washington
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Bentley University
- DePaul University
- Pratt Institute
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Simply put, Virtual Reality or VR is a simulation wherein a user can experience different things within a virtual or a 3-D environment using electronic devices like goggles. Augmented reality, as the name suggests, is your real-world experience being augmented by the rendering or addition of some digital elements to it. 
Since both these fields are so quickly expanding, there is ample scope for engineers. From VR Game Engineers to Sound Engineers- the list is growing.
Hot jobs for VR and AR:
- Software Developer
- AR/VR Maintenance and Support
- Graphics Engineer
- Software Engineer
- XR Gameplay and Tools Engineer
Top universities for VR and AR in India:
- Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology
- Presidency University, Bangalore
- The Northcap University
Top universities for VR and AR outside India:
- University Of London (online)
- Unity (online)
- Google AR and VR (online)
How can you pursue these unique engineering courses?
A lot of these programs are quite new and have only been in existence for about 5 years. While they hold a lot of promise, not much is known about them to laymen. This is where you might want to interact with a career guidance specialist who will know how to help you. Another interesting activity that you can undertake is setting up a profile that will be suited to one of these programs and thereby increase your chances of admission.
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