Tunnel(Geotechnical) or Water Resources

josephwong said:

Hello.

I am a civil engineer from Hong Kong. I got the qualification of chartered engineer in UK(like P.E. in the states).

I will get a green card and immigrate to the states in 2017/2018.

I got design experience of tunnel/geotechnical and site experience of sewerage/drainage project.

I wanna work in design office in the states in future, I am just frustrated which discipline I should choose as I am not familiar with the job market in the states. 

I would like to ask which discipline of engineer (Tunnel(Geotechnical) or Water Resources) should be on demand or valuable?

Thank you for the advice.

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ptatohed said:

Thread moved.

jw, a few things.  1.)  A Civil Engineer is a Civil Engineer.  All Civil PEs are PEs regardless of which of the 5 PE exam depth modules they opted to take (Water, Construction, Geotech, Transpo, Structural).  So, select the depth that you feel most comfortable with, not the one you think will make you more 'marketable or valuable'.  2.)  You have plenty of time to decide on your depth module.  After you come to the U.S., most states will require you to work for 24-48 months under the supervision of a U.S. PE before you can apply for the exam.

Good luck.     

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josephwong said:

I just got 1 more question.

If I wanna focus on tunnel design but I am afraid that there is no tunnel project in the states.

Would anyone give me a hint which website I can check it out to see construction projects launched or planning for  infrastructure construction in coming years in the states?

Thanks for the help.

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ptatohed said:

I think you are correct in thinking that tunnel engineering in the U.S. might be a limited field.  But I do think it exists.  The University of Colorado Boulder has a certificate program for those with a Masters.  You can try contacting the professor and ask him what he knows about employment opportunities in the field. 

http://www.colorado.edu/connect/certificate-programs/tunnel-engineering

Also, Kleinfelder is a huge Civil Engineering firm with lots of branches in the U.S. so you can contact them too.  Here is their Tunnel Engineering page:

http://www.kleinfelder.com/index.cfm/services/geotechnical-geologic-engineering/tunnel-engineering/

Another big firm that is based primarily based in Europe but has a presence in the U.S., Ramboll.

Their Tunnel Engineering page:  http://www.ramboll.com/services-and-sectors/transport/tunnel-engineering

Their U.S. employment page:  http://www.ramboll-environ.com/careers/Current-openings   

I hope that helps to get you started.  Good luck. 

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