What Math Do You Need to Become an Engineer

Christina Sng for Maths@Singapore

Engineering is one of the most time-honored careers that many parents hope their child would embark on, but for me, it’s a wonderful profession with an immensely useful skillset that one can apply to anything in life.

Indeed, one of the smartest women I know

is an engineer. She was my flatmate in university and she applied her skills to everything else in life and fixed pretty much every broken appliance in our shared apartment.

That’s the dream. Now, what math do you need to become an engineer?

Algebra

Most universities require you to have a thorough understanding of algebra at college or high school level, depending on the school. Others may also consider your placement test scores or SAT or ACT scores.

To enter the engineering program at Princeton University, as an example, you need to complete three algebra classes during the four required semesters of mathematics.

Calculus

You will need to complete at least three semesters of calculus to take higher-level math courses in most universities. You may also need to take advanced calculus and analytic geometry.

What is analytic geometry? Analytic geometry utilizes the principles of calculus and trigonometry to determine limits, vectors, integrals, mean values and derivatives.

Trigonometry

Trig is one of the essential mathematics that engineers need to calculate such data as the height of an existing structure, the measurement of an angle, or the distance between two points, all of which use formulas and logarithms.

Probability and Statistics

Probability and statistics are offered both as a combined course and as two separate courses.

Probability trains you to calculate the odds of an event occurring, while statistics teaches you sampling techniques, estimation, margin of error, and data analysis.

Intrigued and excited about an engineering career? For more, read https://work.chron.com/maths-need-engineer-15155.html

Thanks to Dan-Cristian Pădureț @dancristianpaduret for making this photo available freely on Unsplash

Author

Christina Sng is a three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author that finds peace in mathematics and the macabre. Her poetry, fiction, essays, and art appear in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Interstellar Flight Magazine, and The Washington Post. Aside from having over 20 years of experience in the field of writing, she also has an extensive background in UX design and IT. Her educational background combined with her interests and neverending curiosity about the world is the perfect recipe to have her tackle fascinating topics about math. She is able to approach the highly logical field of mathematics through an extremely creative lens that sheds new light and exposes new avenues on how it impacts our lives.