Just going to work everyday and sticking to the basic job description of your current position isn’t the best way to advance. In today’s competitive engineering marketplace, it is important to stand out from the pack. The best opportunities remain available to those who put in little extra effort and take a creative approach towards their career.

Ultimately, it is vital to focus on your career as well as your day-to-day job. Here are some easy ways you can create opportunities in your engineering career.

Look Outside for New Business for your Company

One key way to put your career on the fast track is to look outside for new business opportunities for your company. Increase the size of your business network by engaging in local user groups or professional associations. Keep your ear to the ground for any potential leads that could mean new business at your firm.

This activity lets the executive team at your company know that you are adept at business development, in addition to having solid engineering skills. Combining business and technical skills is a key aspect of any successful engineering career.

Display Managerial Skills on the Job

If you are interested in becoming an engineering manager, display those skills in your current position. These include delegating tasks when necessary, mentoring junior engineers, and the previously mentioned business development. Leading a team at work is another excellent way to show your bosses you are ready for an official managerial position.

Create an Action Plan for Broadening your Skill Set

Maybe you aren’t interested in being a manager or a business development executive? If you simply want to broaden your engineering skill set, mention this to your superiors. But be sure to create a detailed action plan that covers any training or project work. Don’t just present a problem — present a solution as well.

If you want some good advice on engineering career development, talk to the experts at The Talley Group. As one of the top engineering staffing companies in the Northwest, they can help take your career to the next level.

While Thomas Edison gets most of the attention as the “inventor of electricity,” George Westinghouse — someone with a famous name in the world of home appliances — contributed at least as much as Edison when it comes to the importance electricity plays in our lives today. Competing electrical distribution systems from Westinghouse and Edison fought it out for domination in 19th Century America, with Westinghouse’s AC system winning out.

Let’s take a closer look at this giant among inventors.

Westinghouse’s Early Life and Schooling

Westinghouse entered this life in 1846, in Central Bridge, NY. Being too young didn’t stop him from serving in both the Army and the Navy during the Civil War. He enrolled at UnionCollege after the war, but dropped out within the first year, finding that school didn’t inspire him as much as the process of invention.

George’s first invention was the rotary steam engine, earning him a patent at the age of 19. While not something he commercialized, it inspired a career interest in rotary power generation. Over his life, Westinghouse earned on average almost a patent and a half each month, with his railway patents seeing wide use, especially the air brake.

AC vs. DC

Thomas Edison’s plans for electricity distribution relied on a DC model which would require power stations every mile. Westinghouse developed a transformer that would allow AC power to be efficiently distributed, leveraging the help of Nikolai Tesla on the project in 1884. Westinghouse and Edison’s different approaches battled it out over the rest of the century, with the former’s solution still the basis of power transmission today.

Even though he lost most of fortune during the 1907 Depression, Westinghouse continued to invent until his death in 1914, serving as the President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as well.

If the constant invention of George Westinghouse’s life inspires you to take your engineering career to its ultimate level, talk to the recruiting experts at The Talley Group. Since they are one of the top engineering staffing companies in the Seattle area, they can help you and your career.

There is little doubt that one technology with a unique potential to revolutionize society — from manufacturing to food production to healthcare — is the 3D printer. One new 3D bioprinting system in the test stages actually “prints” living cells and tissue. All engineering disciplines are poised to reap benefits from 3D printing technology in the foreseeable future.

The 3D Printing of Living Tissue

A San Diego-based 3d printing service, Organovo, developed the NovoGen MMX 3-D Bioprinter, using its embedded software and cell disposition capability to convert clinical tumor specimens into an accurate model of human tissue. The 3D bioprinting system currently produces the living cells and tissue for use in drug research. The goal is to lessen the dependence on lab animals for testing as well as improving the general efficacy of the research process.

Researchers use a cancer patient’s tumors in a laboratory setting to test a variety of drug combinations to see which one works best against the disease. These scientists are also able to analyze the interaction between healthy and cancerous cells in the lab. Currently, sets of bioprinted tissue models are in development for that purpose.

Human Cells as the Printer “Ink”

With the NovoGen MMX, human cells serve as the printer “ink” with a Petri dish providing the “paper” for the bioprinting process. The tissue models act as the printer fonts to continue the analogy. AutoCAD developer, Autodesk assisted Organovo with the tissue modeling technology, by creating specialized CAD programs that help scientists create and modify sophisticated cell models.

Joseph Carroll, Ph.D., an associate director at the Knight Cancer Institute feels they are on the cusp of a breakthrough in the treatment of cancer. “This could be very significant,” Carroll says. “We have never been able to examine this highly complex cellular signaling system in living human tissues before.”

If working on state of the art technology made possible with 3D printing inspires you, talk to the recruiting experts at The Talley Group. One of the leading engineering staffing agencies in the Seattle area, they can help take your career to the next level.