Renewable Energy Engineers

Participation in science and engineering fairs can be an invaluable experience for a high school student interested in engineering. Through these fairs, students learn to do their own research and applications in an engineering field. By developing a project for a fair, students begin to learn how to think like an engineer by creatively using their academic knowledge to solve real-life problems.

Join the Technology Student Association, which provides students a chance to explore career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, enter academic competitions (e.g., Computer-Aided Design-Engineering; Engineering Design; Structural Design and Engineering; and Technology Problem Solving, and participate in summer exploration programs. Visit https://tsaweb.org for more information. SkillsUSA (https://www.skillsusa.org) and Skills Compétences Canada (https://www.skillscompetencescanada.com) are other useful youth organizations.

Check out the American Society for Engineering Education’s precollege engineering Web site, http://precollege.asee.org/resources, for general information about careers in engineering, as well as answers to frequently asked questions about engineering. In addition, the society offers Engineering, Go For It!, a magazine about careers for a small fee. Here are two additional Web sites that provide good information on careers: Energy4Me (https://www.energy4me.org) and Get Into Energy (https://getintoenergy.org).

Talk to renewable energy engineers about their careers. Perhaps you could even job-shadow an engineer to learn even more. Ask your science teacher or school counselor for help setting up interviews and job-shadowing experiences.