Question: Hi Emily, i am thinking of studying engineering as i really enjoy maths, science and making thins but i know its a massively wide field and there are loads of specialisms so i would like to know why you chose nuclear engineering and what you would recommend, many thanks, Sam

Emily Lewis answered on 6 Mar 2019:

Hi Sam(?). Yes! Engineering is great! You are right, there are loads of different types- electrical, aeronautical, mechanical, chemical, civil… the list goes on

To be honest I ended up in nuclear engineering a little bit by chance as I missed a grade to go to my first choice university. But I ended up liking it because it has a good mix of theory from the nuclear physics side, and a lot of practical learning from the engineering side.
So it’s good if you like variety and a mix of real world engineering skills with more abstract physics. It also is a little bit niche so it leads quite nicely into a nuclear career if that’s what interests you.

To help you decide I suggest you do exactly what you did here 🙂 try talk to people who have studied the different specialisms and see what they think, universities usually have open days where you can go and speak to current students. it’s also a good idea to ask about what that course offers as the same one can even be different between universities! also online forums and research can give you a good idea. I didn’t really know what mechanical engineers did until I googled it…

otherwise it depends on what you like best and if you don’t know yet, that’s OK. I ended up really liking programming and computers and now work with them even though I didn’t study software engineering. Best of luck!