Industrial and Environmental Technology

Careers in this sector—clinical research analysts, chemical, industrial and environmental engineers—often overlap with other industries; many are hybrid positions that can tie into agriculture, textile production, industrial manufacturing, plastics, livestock husbandry, paper manufacturing and the energy industry.  For example, a suffering auto industry giant might hire a team of environmental engineers to examine their manufacturing process and improve upon the system’s efficiency, thereby making it “cleaner.”  Private consulting firms, testing labs and government agencies are a few employment provider options other than private industry.

The output of national chemicals is expected to grow at a rate of almost 5 percent between 2008 and 2013, but the 25 percent growth forecast of the environmental engineer job market is much more optimistic. At 20 percent, the growth outlook for industrial engineers is not too shabby.