Computer Engineer

Computers are amazing machines. A little box that’s full of technological miracles, the average PC instantaneously processes, stores, retrieves, and interprets millions of pieces of data every second of every day in order to connect users with digital data in the form of words, numbers, pictures, sounds, and videos.

If that sounds impressive, consider the processing power not only of the computer, but also of the person who created it.

If you’re a Computer Engineer, that person is you. A veritable Einstein of electronics, a Computer Engineer is paid to design computers and computer systems in the same way that Architectural Engineers design buildings, Civil Engineers bridges, and Mechanical Engineers motors. That is, if you’re a Computer Engineer, you use your knowledge of math and science to design physical things that solve practical problems — in this case, computing problems, such as speed, storage, and stability.

Typically, you specialize in either computer hardware or computer software. If you’re a Computer Hardware Engineer, you’re paid to design the computers themselves, including all of the components that go inside them, such as microprocessors, circuit boards, and computer chips. If you’re a Computer Software Engineer, on the other hand, you’re paid to design the software that makes computers work, including operating systems, computer games, and business applications.

Either way, your job — a cross between that of a Computer Scientist and an Electrical Engineer — is to understand what computers do, how computers are built, and what makes computers work, then to design new versions of hardware and software that result in computers that work better, stronger, smarter, and faster.