If you're thinking about breaking ground on a new project, chances are you're in the market for an engineering consultant. While the name might sound fancy, expensive, and quite mysterious, engineering consultants are, quite simply, very good engineers. They come from fields as diverse as the discipline of engineering itself - mechanical, electrical, communications, mining, technology, chemical, materials, aerospace, biomedical, biomechanics, robotics, automotive, structural, mechatronics, agriculture, industrial design, sustainability, and more. Despite the wide breadth of specialities, engineering consultants have a common underlying duty that spans their talents - they supervise and offer expert advice . Consulting engineers participate in project teams to help consulting engineering firms deliver exceptional services to their clients. They work on everything from new buildings, energy projects, and geothermal imaging and processing, to product and design, usability, mining sites, programming solutions, operations, cars, electronics, and factories.
Opportunities within projects can range from purely scientific or technical roles to coordinating or managerial roles, depending on the type and size of the project. In most companies, consulting engineers work as part of a multi-disciplinary team made up of fellow consultants and client-side representatives to ensure effective project delivery. While some choose to specialise within their sphere of expertise, others prefer to vary their work portfolio, taking on multiple projects across varying disciplines. They're heavily employed in science and related areas like governments, industries, developers and construction firms. Many are part of large multi-national consultancy firms with a robust engineering arm.
Unlike a regular engineering job, a consultant's role changes depending on the nature of the job. Consultants are usually involved in collecting, interpreting and reporting information that's then used to provide conclusions and recommendations. These can take the form of preliminary feasibility reports that include a comprehensive investigation, analysis of conditions, and comparison between different solution options for the project, taking into consideration its environmental impact, risk management, sustainable development, life cycle costs, operating and capital costs, and financial status. In planning studies, engineering consultants help draft land development plans, urban plans, regional plans, generate facility master plans, carry out corridor studies, explore environmental condition, and conduct environmental studies. Consultants may also be called upon to run appraisal, valuations, and rate studies, which include studying and analyzing current situations, evaluation of capital and operating costs, overhead expenses, and anticipating incomes for property development of toll facilities. Or they might be involved in setting budgets, bond practicality analysis, estimating the cost of construction, and evaluating annual income requirements to sustain the project. Engineering consultants are also frequently called to test materials and equipment according to applicable codes, specialized examination equipment and materials employed in the project's construction, and hold them to a high legal and professional standard. In infrastructure-related projects, they're also tasked with testing materials for projects like bridges, roadways, wastewater treatment structures, and other facilities.
On the design side, engineering consultants work to create efficient, sustainable solutions in construction, machine design, or any other design related discipline. Prior to planning out a design draft, consultants usually study and report on the project's scope, cost, and viable alternatives. This involves outlining the purpose of the project, its financial requirements, reviewing available data, making sure that possible designs are in line with government regulations and international codes, and comparing and examining different project sites and proposed solutions on the basis of their feasibility, efficiency, cost, and quality. After this, consultants move into the design phase with there sketch out a few iterations of their proposed solution for approval by the client. This covers contract plan drawings and specifications, tallying fabrication or construction costs, pre-empting possible problems in the project's scope and plan, applying for regulatory permits from the necessary authorities, and filling up all the complementary paperwork, contracts, and tenders. In the final stages, consultants help their clients pick the right bidders for the job, award contracts, oversee material testing, liaise with equipment providers, and oversee the project's construction/fabrication, inspection, and quality control. Engineering consultants are also often required to draft accompanying paperwork that outlines how the structure or machine should be operated and maintained, determine any future deficiencies, and train staff to handle the project on completion.