Editing Engineer (section)

===Specialization and management===
[[Image:Firing Room -2 During Apollo 12 CDDT - GPN-2000-000632.jpg|right|thumb|NASA Launch Control Center Firing Room 2 as it appeared in the Apollo era]]
Most engineers specialize in one or more [[List of engineering branches|engineering disciplines]].<ref name="bls" /> Numerous specialties are recognized by professional societies, and each of the major branches of engineering has numerous subdivisions. Civil engineering, for example, includes structural engineering, along with transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, and materials engineering, including ceramic, metallurgical, and [[polymer engineering]]. Mechanical engineering cuts across most disciplines since its core essence is [[applied physics]]. Engineers also may specialize in one industry, such as motor vehicles, or in one type of technology, such as turbines or semiconductor materials.<ref name="bls" />

Several recent studies have investigated how engineers spend their time; that is, the work tasks they perform and how their time is distributed among these. Research<ref name="Robinson (2010) JASIST">{{cite journal | last1 = Robinson | first1 = M. A. | year = 2010 | title = An empirical analysis of engineers' information behaviors | journal = Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology | volume = 61 | issue = 4| pages = 640–658 | doi = 10.1002/asi.21290 | s2cid = 15130260 }}</ref><ref name="Robinson (2012) DS">{{cite journal | last1 = Robinson | first1 = M. A. | year = 2012 | title = How design engineers spend their time: Job content and task satisfaction | journal = Design Studies | volume = 33 | issue = 4| pages = 391–425 | doi = 10.1016/j.destud.2012.03.002 }}</ref> suggests that there are several key themes present in engineers' work: technical work (i.e., the application of science to product development), social work (i.e., interactive communication between people), computer-based work and information behaviors. Among other more detailed findings, a 2012 [[work sampling]] study<ref name="Robinson (2012) DS"/> found that engineers spend 62.92% of their time engaged in technical work, 40.37% in social work, and 49.66% in computer-based work. Furthermore, there was considerable overlap between these different types of work, with engineers spending 24.96% of their time engaged in technical and social work, 37.97% in technical and non-social, 15.42% in non-technical and social, and 21.66% in non-technical and non-social.

Engineering is also an information-intensive field, with research finding that engineers spend 55.8% of their time engaged in various different information behaviors, including 14.2% actively seeking information from other people (7.8%) and information repositories such as documents and databases (6.4%).<ref name="Robinson (2010) JASIST"/>

The time engineers spend engaged in such activities is also reflected in the competencies required in engineering roles. In addition to engineers' core technical competence, research has also demonstrated the critical nature of their personal attributes, project management skills, and cognitive abilities to success in the role.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Robinson | first1 = M. A. | last2 = Sparrow | first2 = P. R. | last3 = Clegg | first3 = C. | last4 = Birdi | first4 = K. | year = 2005 | title = Design engineering competencies: Future requirements and predicted changes in the forthcoming decade | journal = Design Studies | volume = 26 | issue = 2| pages = 123–153 | doi = 10.1016/j.destud.2004.09.004 }}</ref>