By Jackie Wythe
News Reporter

As American high-tech industries grow, the U.S. government expects the demand for engineers to skyrocket in the next six years -- which means UH engineering majors have something to smile about.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Texas ranks No. 2 in the nation in terms of new jobs for engineers, second only to established high-tech giant California.

Not surprisingly, computer engineering is the fastest-growing engineering profession in the nation, expected to increase 106 percent by 2006. UH began offering a computer engineering degree last year.

Engineers are less likely to be laid off than workers in other fields and usually earn a higher salary than people in other professions, but as a field, engineering isn't without its difficulties.

"Grades have a tremendous impact on starting salaries, and they can even inhibit employment with the larger, more stable companies immediately after graduation," said Scott Wilson, a mechanical engineer for Furmanite America Inc., an industrial consulting company.

"Employers usually ask for transcripts from recent grads, and some will still request them up to a few years out of school," Wilson said. "Many companies will not even consider or interview someone whose grade point average is less than 3.25."

Many engineers also find themselves confronted with rigid competition in climbing the corporate ladder because continued success in engineering is often linked to knowledge of the latest technologies. If engineers don't keep up with the latest innovations, they may be passed over in favor of someone with a more advanced degree.

Wilson said today's engineering students must have as broad a base of knowledge as possible.

"I would recommend to anyone entering the field to learn a foreign language and to take advantage of as many computer courses as are available," he said. "These are all tools that will be beneficial and have virtually become necessities. Someone with knowledge in these areas will not only have ammunition to put on a résumé, but will gain an edge in the global market."

But is the demand for engineers the result of technological advances, or vice-versa?

"Ah, the proverbial chicken or the egg question," said Ganesh Ghurye, an environmental engineering professor at UH. "Both," he answered. "They feed off of each other."

Wilson had a different theory: "There is a huge demand for engineers because of all the additional lawyers in the world today," he said. "We need someone to build something that will fail, injure someone and help attorneys pay for their lakefront homes."