Civil Engineer in 2010: The Burj Khalifa opens at 828 metres

What does a civil engineer actually do? Civil engineers design, permit and supervise the built environment that is not a private building's interior: bridges, roads, railways, tunnels, dams, ports, water and sewage systems, flood defenses and the structure and foundations of buildings. The work splits between office — calculations, models, drawings, reports — and site, where the engineer checks that what is being built matches what was designed and signed for.

To take legal responsibility for a design, yes, almost everywhere. In the United States only a licensed Professional Engineer may stamp and sign drawings; the UK and Commonwealth use Chartered status, Canada the P.Eng, Japan its own national examination. Graduates work for years under a licensed engineer's supervision first, so unlicensed engineers are common — unaccountable ones are not.

How long does it take to become a civil engineer? A three- to five-year accredited degree gets someone working immediately, which makes this one of the faster professional entries. Full professional standing takes longer: in the US, typically four more years of supervised experience plus two examinations before the PE license; in the UK, an accredited master's and a professional review for Chartered status. Roughly eight years from leaving school to signing your own drawings.