What type of engineering involves only maths?

Chris A: What type of engineering involves only maths?
I am NOT looking for engineering that involes science and maths. Just maths. Except if there is a type of engineering that involves ONLY chemistry or biology. Also do you have to be at maths and physucs to do civil engineering or can you just be good at maths?

Answers and Views:

Answer by The Master
Unfortunately there is not really any field (except mathematics) that ONLY involves math. The closest I can recommend is perhaps electrical or computer engineering, which essentially restricts the science to electricity, while most of the field is designing circuits. They use mathematics such as differential equations, complex arithmetic, etc.

If you really like pure mathematics, you could simply major in mathematics. There aren’t all that many job opportunities out there (except maybe financial stuff) unless you become a math professor and do research. But, you need to be really smart for people to want to pay you to research mathematics. It’s a cool job though.

Answer by iceman
You worry too much. Relax.

Answer by Ecko
I think that you can say that Engineering is about applying science, often physics, but plenty of other sciences come in. The distinctions are fine lines anyway. The maths are handy (important) to work things out, but after uni may not be all that important, in that you can use a computer to do it all, often with specialized engineering packages. I imagine someone really keen on maths for its own sake could find a niche somewhere, especially in bigger organisations, but these are more likely in the uni department of maths. Maths is after all science too. You could say physics is mostly maths too. Once you get into uni the maths level goes up so things change, maths may be different, but so is physics.

Above all you need to be analytical practical and pragmatic to be a happy Engineer. Does that sound like you? Answer yourself truthfully, it is just for you.

Why avoid science? Doesn’t make much sense unless it is an excuse of some kind? Uni is a few years, and it’s so you can get a career (for most of us). A career is the rest of your life, though you might jump around from job to job. Hope that helps.

Answer by codi
As a civil engineering undergraduate student, I can tell you that math and physics go hand in hand. In order to pursue any sort of engineering degree, you need to know upper level math but also how it applies to real-life situations. Although some people may disagree, I personally think there is a distinct difference between physics and actual engineering. Physics involves a lot of math but to more superficial problems. Engineering, to me, is much more interesting because you see how physics applies to real world problems.

The math that my undergraduate degree requires include Calc 1-3, Differential equations, and statistics. You also need to take physics 1-2. After you get past taking all the general classes, you get into the good stuff like hydraulics, structures, geotechnical engineering, just to name a few.

If you want to focus on chemistry, go into chemical engineering. My boyfriend is studying for his undergraduate degree for chemical engineering, and I can tell you that no matter what type of engineering you want to get into, you need to take physics. It’s the foundation of engineering. Chemical engineering requires I think one less math class but you still need to take physics 1-2.

There are other engineering majors out there that may suit you better. I suggest you do research on those degrees at the college you plan to attend. Talk to a counselor if you need to. Also, don’t go into engineering for the money. You’ll just be wasting your time.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer by Emmanuel Syndicate
Electrical or computer – perhaps civil.