In Pakistan, a well-known career path that might result in a high salary is environmental engineering. Senior environmental engineers, managers of water projects, environmental engineering consultants, and green building engineers are among the top career options in environmental engineering.

Learn everything there is to know about a career in environmental engineering, including areas of practise, job assignments, responsibilities, skills, and related fields. Engineering that focuses on protecting people from harmful environmental effects like pollution and enhancing environmental quality is known as environmental engineering.

A wide range of occupations in environmental engineering are available that give environmentally acceptable solutions to problems including climate change and bushfires as well as renewable energy sources, energy management, and waste management. The process of building with an eye towards the protection of the environment and minimising harm to living beings is known as ecological design.

In order to find answers for issues with nature, it blends the basics of science, technology, and design. They deal with concerns including pollution (of the air and water), general health, and challenges with recycling and trash transport. The solutions for handling trash and handling mechanical waste are developed by ecologists.

Scope of Environmental Engineering in Pakistan

Not just in Australia but all throughout the world, engineering talents are in great demand. Because of the population’s fast increase, there will be a greater need than ever for engineers to make sure that cities have adequate transportation, electricity, communications, water, and health facilities. To guarantee a good beginning in their careers, students should start working on enhancing their employability skills. Over the next 10 years, there should be an 8% rise in environmental engineering.
Because of the government’s and other stakeholders’ diminished interest, Pakistan’s employment options are severely constrained. However, if environmental problems worsen, like current pollution problems in Punjab and other areas with less rain and glaciers melting, society and the government may soon be obliged to find new approaches to protect the environment.

Environmental Engineering Career Opportunities in Pakistan

Major Tasks of Environmental Engineers

Environmental engineers are interested in issues like the present energy crisis, urbanisation, population expansion, deforestation, drought, and climate change. Their work may be concentrated on one or several areas, such as:

• Recycling waste materials such as plastics and water, especially industrial waste with high volumes.
• Environmental compliance – ensuring the least environmental damage from spills or emissions.
• Drainage and flood risk
• Development and infrastructure
• The management of pollutants that affect the natural environment
• Cleaning and reclaiming the land that has been damaged in the past, such as mining landfills or agriculture (site remediation)
• Sanitation and water supply.

Required Qualification

Engineering degrees are quite useful in this field. But to be an environmental engineer, you don’t have to be a student of engineering. You may have studied a topic that is associated with environmental concerns, such as a discipline or environmental science. The topics could cover:

• Chemistry
• Science of the environment
• Geology
• Geoscience
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Mathematics
• Physics.

Another alternative is to transition into environmental engineering from another career, such as sustainability or environmental consultancy. Graduate programmes in disciplines like engineering and construction are provided by several significant businesses.

Although a master’s degree is not required, it might make you stand out to employers if you have one in a field like ecological monitoring, land pollution, or environmental engineering.

Environmental Engineering Career

Below are some job options for environmental engineering in the public and commercial sectors. They may be found in companies and organisations of different sizes and in a range of industries, including:

• Central government departments as well as executive agencies, such as the Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency
• Construction
• Defense
• Utilities and energy
• Engineering
• Environmental consultancy
• Industrial processing
• Land and property development
• Engineering, management, and scientific consulting firms
• Federal Government
• Municipality and Local Government
• Town Development Authorities and Housing Schemes
• Local authorities
• Manufacturing
• Mining
• Engineering companies offering engineering services
• Provincial Governments

Numerous significant engineering and construction firms provide graduate entrance programmes. Opportunities can be found in certain small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

You could be referred to as a geo-environmental engineer, a safety engineer, an engineer for environmental protection sustainability, a civil environmental engineer, or an engineer for public health, depending on your employer, the firm.

What do Environmental Engineers do?

Environmental engineers usually perform the following tasks:

• Examine, write, and update environmental investigation reports.\
• Create initiatives that safeguard the environment, including air pollution control systems or water reclaim facilities.
• Discover, keep up with, and update permits, plans, and standard operating procedures.
• Provide technical support for litigation and programmes aimed at enhancing environmental conditions.
• Examine scientific data, do quality assurance checks
• Monitor the effectiveness of programmes to enhance the environment.
• Verify that programmes and facilities run by municipalities and industries adhere to environmental standards.
• Give suggestions to businesses and government organisations on the best ways to clean up hazardous places.

Most environmental engineers have full-time jobs. Project managers often put in more than 40 hours a week to monitor the project’s development, ensure that deadlines have been reached, and provide remedial measures as needed. One out of every five workers puts in more than 40 hours every week.

Required Skills

You’ll need to:

• knowledgeable about how to gather, analyse, and manipulate data from scientific study
• Able to write reports effectively and analyse reports provided by others
• A good communicator for conversations with other professions]
• The capacity to operate well under time pressure and meet deadlines
• Excellent organisational skills to manage the many stages of a project
• Capable of collaborating with people from various backgrounds and working towards a common objective.
• Technical interest, creative thinking, and problem-solving capabilities
• Question and challenge the current quo with confidence.

Top Careers in Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineers are specialists in mathematics and science who discover and put into practise solutions to everyday issues that boost or preserve efficiency while preserving the environment. For people who desire to protect the environment, environmental engineers focus on issues including construction design and water management and provide a number of satisfying job options. Environmental engineering positions with the most job descriptions include:

Water Project Manager

Water is a need, but it takes a lot of work to guarantee that water is properly cleansed and provided to people all over the world. While engineers with bachelor’s degrees are frequently employed on water-related projects, possessing a master’s degree may provide you a significant edge when applying for senior positions. Your expertise in the field will grow as a result of your higher education level, which will also set you apart when applying for jobs.

Depending on your tastes, there are a variety of specialised topics within the subject of water management to investigate. Stormwater manager, wastewater project manager, and flood risk coordinator are examples of potential job titles. Since many of these roles entail designing, developing, and maintaining the structures and systems that enable cities to operate efficiently, having a background in civil engineering is also advantageous.

Senior Environmental Engineer

The fact that environmental engineers are a popular career choice for people with training in this area is perhaps not unexpected. A bachelor’s degree might not be sufficient to distinguish you from your colleagues if you want to advance in your work. For this reason, earning a master’s degree in environmental engineering is a smart move if you want to advance in your profession and assume a leadership position.

Environmental Health and Safety Director

The National Association for Environmental Management refers to them as the “environmental stewards of the corporate world”. Directors of environmental health and safety could also profit from an engineering master’s degree. As a director, it is your responsibility to monitor how firms are adhering to the laws designed to safeguard the environment. You additionally provide fresh tactics for promoting eco-friendly procedures and architectural styles.

Some of the tasks that could be mentioned within your description of work could include:

• The business risks failing to meet the standards of health, safety, and environment.
• Sustainability initiatives are reported to the general public.
• The creation and management of the company’s sustainability program.
• Forming partnerships to encourage sustainable business practices across the entire business.

Environmental Engineering Consultant

Creating submissions for compliance, monitoring continuous reporting, developing systems, and supervising projects are all things an environmental engineering consulting business can assist you with. You may also ask for help from them while creating grant applications for FEMA or other types of government financing.

Consulting companies provide a wide range of services that may help you with anything from planning and designing to constructing and running facilities for industrial and municipal water and wastewater, air, or storing and handling hazardous waste or hazardous chemicals. They can collaborate on new projects or when the size or scope of current facilities needs to be increased.

Green Building Engineer

Although engineers play a key role in the development of many different construction projects, there is a rising need for environmentally friendly structures that have less of an impact on the environment. More prevalent green buildings are a solution that enables businesses to create structures while minimising the harm as the negative effects of traditional building practises grow more pronounced.

For instance, according to the BLS, one common technique used by architects and engineers in this industry is to reduce energy usage by creating facilities that maximise the amount of sunshine absorbed during the course of the working day.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the goal of green buildings is to develop sustainable models that protect occupants from severe weather and the effects of these projects on environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, green construction includes the following components:

• Water efficiency
• Reduced toxics
• Renewable energy
• Efficiency in energy use
• quality of indoor air
• Materials and specifications for the building.
• Sustainable development
• Smart growth

Related Fields of Environmental Engineering

Environmental Engineering isn’t the only option available in environmental protection. Numerous other fields are connected with environmental engineering

• Civil Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Urban Environment and Transport Engineering
• Environmental Sciences
• Ecology
• Atmospheric Science & Climate
• Environmental Management