List of engineering branches

Engineering is the discipline and profession that applies scientific theories, mathematical methods, and empirical evidence to design, create, and analyze technological solutions, balancing technical requirements with concerns or constraints on safety, human factors, physical limits, regulations, practicality, and cost, and often at an industrial scale. In the contemporary era, engineering is generally considered to consist of the major primary branches of chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, materials engineering and mechanical engineering.^[1] There are numerous other engineering sub-disciplines and interdisciplinary fields that may or may not be grouped with these major engineering branches.

This is a list of notable professional engineering disciplines and does not include practices which apply engineering methods to non-technical fields (e.g.: financial engineering). The list has been organized logically and roughly follows established academic, regulatory and professional definitions, though there may be some variation as disciplines evolve from their traditional origins and new disciplines emerge.

Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering is the application of chemical, physical, and biological sciences to developing technological solutions from raw materials or chemicals.

Subdiscipline	Engineering scope	Major specialties
Electrochemical engineering	Large-scale electrosynthesis of chemicals, electrowinning and chemical energy storage
Explosives engineering
Molecular engineering	Chemical behaviour and interactions at a molecular level	Biomolecular engineering – for biological systems
Paper engineering	Production of paper products
Process engineering	Focuses on the design, operation, control, and optimization of chemical processes at an industrial level

Civil engineering

Civil engineering comprises the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment.

Subdiscipline	Engineering scope	Major specialties
Civionics	Integration of sensors into structures to monitor structural health
Geotechnical engineering	The behaviour of earth materials, soil and rock mechanics, often in preparation of a project site	Mining engineering – extracting and processing mineral ore from a natural environment Offshore engineering – design of offshore structures
Municipal or urban engineering	The coordination and management of municipal infrastructure networks.	Sanitary engineering – separation and removal of community sewage; increasingly interdisciplinary as a branch of environmental engineering.
Structural engineering	Structures that support or resist structural loads.	Architectural engineering – building design and construction Construction engineering – construction procedures and management Earthquake engineering – structures subject to seismic loading Pavement engineering Wind engineering – structures subject to wind effects Tropical cyclone engineering – hurricane-force winds and emergency preparedness
Transportation engineering	Facilities and infrastructure for any form of transportation of people and cargo	Traffic engineering – roadways Bicycle transportation engineering – cycling infrastructure Highway engineering – major roadways Railway engineering – rail transport
Water resources engineering	Technical application of hydrology	Hydraulic engineering – supply and drainage of fluids Coastal engineering – construction within the coastal zone, often directed at combating erosion and storm surges Hard and soft engineering of shorelines Groundwater engineering – modifying groundwater by withdrawing or adding fluids River engineering – modification of a river's course, flow, or other characteristics

Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering comprises the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism.

Subdiscipline	Engineering scope	Major specialties
Broadcast engineering	Radio and television broadcasting	Radio-frequency engineering – radio-band signal devices
Computer engineering	Electronic computing devices	Cloud engineering – cloud computing Computational engineering – computational engineering models (CEM) Cybersecurity engineering Data engineering – systems which collect and use vast amounts of data Hardware engineering – physical computer equipment Information engineering – generation, distribution, analysis, and use of information in systems Network engineering Software engineering – application of computer science to software^[2] Teletraffic engineering – transportation traffic theory applied to telecommunications
Electronic engineering	Low-power electrical circuits using active components such as semiconductor devices	Control engineering – regulation of automated systems through sensors and corrective feedback Instrumentation engineering – automated measurements Signal processing – analysis, modifying and synthesizing electronic signals Telecommunications engineering – processing and transmitting information through wired or wireless communications
Microwave engineering	Devices operating at microwave frequencies
Optical engineering	Technologies that utilize light
Power engineering	Generation and distribution of electric power.	Power plant engineering

Materials engineering

Materials engineering is the application of material science and engineering principles to understand the properties of materials. Material science emerged in the mid-20th century, grouping together fields which had previously been considered unrelated. Materials engineering is thus much more interdisciplinary than the other major engineering branches.

Subdiscipline	Engineering scope	Major specialties
Biomaterials engineering	Materials implanted in a living body
Ceramic engineering	Inorganic, non-metallic materials
Composite material engineering	Composite materials	Advanced composite materials
Corrosion engineering	Management of corrosion
Crystal engineering	Materials with crystal structure
Electronic materials	Semiconductors and other electronic materials
Forensic materials engineering	Analysis of material evidence to identify the material, determine the cause of failure, or reconstruct a crime or accident
Material characterisation	Methods of investigating material structure and properties	Macroscopic testing Microscopy Spectroscopy
Metallurgical engineering	Metallic materials	Metal alloys – combinations of metallic elements Metal working – industrial fabrication of metallic materials
Nanotechnology	Nanoscale manipulation of materials	Nanoengineering – application of nanotechnology to traditional engineering fields Materials nanoengineering – nanomaterials Biomedical nanoengineering – nanomedicine Electronic nanoengineering – nanoelectronics
Polymer engineering	Polymer materials
Surface engineering	Surfaces of solid materials	Tribology – friction and wear of surfaces in relative motion

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering comprises the design and analysis of heat and mechanical power for the operation of machines and mechanical systems.^[3]

Subdiscipline	Engineering scope	Major specialties
Acoustical engineering	Analysis and control of vibration and sound	Architectural acoustics Bioacoustics – sound production and reception in animals Noise control Psychoacoustics Underwater acoustics Vibration control
Manufacturing engineering	Technologies, practices and systems for manufacturing	Food engineering – processing, production, handling, storage and distribution of food products Precision engineering – manufacture with extremely low tolerances
Optomechanical engineering	Mechanical aspects of optical systems: design, packaging, mounting, and alignment of optical systems^[4]
Sports engineering	Sports equipment
Thermal engineering	Heating or cooling of processes, equipment, or enclosed environments	Cryogenic engineering
Vehicle engineering	Systems and equipment that propel and control vehicles	Aerospace engineering Automotive engineering Naval engineering and marine engineering

Interdisciplinary

While some recently emerging fields of engineering are considered specializations within one of the five main branches, many others are interdisciplinary and combine traditional aspects of different branches or are technical applications of emerging scientific fields.

Discipline	Engineering scope	Major specialties
Agricultural engineering	A broad collection of disciplines encompassing the technical requirements of modern agriculture and agribusiness, combining civil, chemical, electrical, environmental and mechanical engineering and agricultural and food science.	Aquacultural engineering – production systems for cultured aquatic species Biological systems engineering – biological engineering fields focusing on agriculture, ecosystems and food science Bioresource engineering – in converting agricultural waste into useable byproducts Food engineering – in the traditional focus of storage, preservation and packaging of harvested crops Forestry or forest engineering – in agroforestry and afforestation operations Hydraulic engineering – applied to irrigation Mechanical engineering – applied to agricultural machinery
Biological engineering	Application of biology to create products. Some fields are traditionally considered subdisciplines of chemical engineering. Also referred to as biological systems engineering, biosystems engineering or biotechnology.	Biochemical engineering – chemical processes involving biological organisms or molecules, e.g.: yeasts, enzymes Bioresource engineering – processing of biological raw materials Food and biological process engineering – all aspects of the food chain Genetic engineering – manipulation of genes Metabolic engineering – reprogramming living cells to create desired products Protein engineering – protein synthesis Synthetic biology – artificially redesign of living systems
Biomedical engineering	A historical discipline of biological engineering specializing in medicine and healthcare	Bioinstrumentation – medical devices and tools Bioinformatics – analysis of digital biological data Biomechanical engineering – mechanical aspects of biological systems Biomaterial – materials implanted in the body Biomedical nanotechnology – nanomedicines Biotechnology applications – creating drugs and growing tissue Clinical engineering – clinical use of medical technology Medical imaging – biomedical optics, MRIs, EEGs, ultrasound, PET Neural engineering – technical applications of neuroscience to address sensory, memory or motor abilities Pharmaceutical engineering Rehabilitation engineering – technological solutions to problems confronted by people with disabilities Tissue engineering
Climate engineering	Feasibility planning of large-scale interventions to mitigate climate change, generally through removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide or reflection of solar radiation
Electromechanics	The interaction of electrical and mechanical systems, prominent in alternating-current electrical generators and motors.
Energy engineering	Energy systems, with an emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainability.
Environmental engineering	Applications of environmental science	Ecological engineering – design, monitoring, and construction of ecosystems Fire protection engineering – as applied to the outdoor environment and wildfires Natural resources engineering Sanitary engineering – sanitation of human communities
Facilities engineering	Conditions of indoor environments	Aerobiological engineering – control of airborne pathogens and allergens Building services engineering – focus on human comfort and energy efficiency Fire protection engineering – as applied to the indoor environment
Geological engineering	Technical application of geology, often in support of a civil, mining, or environmental engineering project	Geophysical engineering – subsurface environments Geoenvironmental and hydrogeological engineering – effects of man-made contamination of soil and water Mineral and hydrocarbon exploration engineering
Geomatics engineering	Systems for collecting and analyzing spatial information. Previously known as surveying engineering.
Humanitarian engineering	Affordable and sustainable programs to provide clean water, heat, shelter and sanitation to disadvantaged and marginalized communities
Industrial engineering	Integration, management and optimization of complex systems of people, information, resources and technology (a.k.a. applied engineering in the US^[5])	Methods engineering – roles of humans in the production process Operations engineering – logistics and production management Packaging engineering Production engineering – tools, equipment, and processes Project engineering – management of a complex project Quality engineering – quality assurance and control Reliability engineering – equipment service life Safety engineering Supply chain engineering or logistics engineering Systems engineering – management of a complex system from design to decommissioning Usability engineering – design for learnability and error-free use
Industrial & production engineering	Applies industrial and mechanical engineering and management science to the production process.
Mechatronics engineering	Robotics and automation	Automation engineering Robotics engineering
Military engineering	Fortifications, military transport routes and communication lines	Combat engineering – operating in combat zones
Nuclear engineering	Nuclear reactors and power plants
Petroleum engineering	Extraction of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoirs	Drilling engineering Petroleum production engineering Reservoir engineering
Quantum engineering	Emerging discipline based in quantum mechanics
Textile engineering	Manufacture of textiles	Wet process engineering – chemical processes on textile fibres

References

^ Julie Thompson Klein, Robert Frodeman, Carl Mitcham. The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinary. Oxford University Press, 2010. (pp. 149–150)
^ Wiebe, A. J.; Chan, C. W. (April 2012). "Ontology driven software engineering". 2012 25th IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE). pp. 1–4. doi:10.1109/CCECE.2012.6334938. ISBN 978-1-4673-1433-6. S2CID 9911741.
^ Clifford, Michael. An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering. Taylor & Francis Group LLC, 2006. ISBN 978-1-44411337-2
^ "OPTI 421/521: Introductory Optomechanical Engineering" (PDF). University of Arizona. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
^ "ATMAE Membership Venn Diagram". Untied States: Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE). Archived from the original on 2013-11-13.

[1] Julie Thompson Klein, Robert Frodeman, Carl Mitcham. The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinary. Oxford University Press, 2010. (pp. 149–150)

[2] Wiebe, A. J.; Chan, C. W. (April 2012). "Ontology driven software engineering". 2012 25th IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering (CCECE). pp. 1–4. doi:10.1109/CCECE.2012.6334938. ISBN 978-1-4673-1433-6. S2CID 9911741.

[3] Clifford, Michael. An Introduction to Mechanical Engineering. Taylor & Francis Group LLC, 2006. ISBN 978-1-44411337-2

[4] "OPTI 421/521: Introductory Optomechanical Engineering" (PDF). University of Arizona. Retrieved 9 December 2024.

[5] "ATMAE Membership Venn Diagram". Untied States: Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE). Archived from the original on 2013-11-13.

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