Forensics engineering is a failure analysis program for litigation support. The goal of forensic engineers is to positively identify the sequence of events leading to failure. After an accident, forensics engineers investigate broken parts and compile a list of probable failure mechanisms to be investigated. Forensics engineers handle traffic accidents, fire investigations and a variety of wrongful injury cases. Forensics engineers' investigations cover everything from accident reconstructions to carbon monoxide accidents to civil engineering issues or electrical failures, fire investigation, equipment failure, cracks in piping or plastic structures and explosion causes.
College Requirements
Forensic engineers need to have a specialized knowledge in electrics, fires, gases or vehicle structure. A career as a forensics engineer requires an engineering degree that you will get after four years of college. If you want to be a forensic engineer in a specific field, you'll want to major in the relevant sub-field of engineering.The AAFS recommends that forensic engineers possess advanced degrees beyond the four-year degree or get more specialization through continuing education courses.
Specialties
The common specialties include electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, materials engineering, traffic engineering and computers. There are some common courses that you will take in all these fields. These foundational courses include introduction to engineering, systems, distributed systems and fields, advanced mathematics and control theory. You will take these courses with students in other fields of engineering. There is more specialized coursework for each engineering specialty that you will take with the students in your program.
Other Requirements After College
In addition to the required four-year degree in order to become a forensic engineer, you first need to become a licensed engineer in the state in which you wish to live and work. In order to get licensed, you will usually need to have several years of experience and also successfully complete the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam. Once you're a licensed engineer, you can complete the process to certify your specialty in forensic engineering. According to the International Institute of Forensic Engineering Sciences, this is a year-long process where you'll show your experience in forensic engineering, expertise in technical knowledge and ethics, and pass an oral and written exam.
Top Schools
According to US News and World Report, thel top schools to become a forensic engineer include the University of Mississippi, University of Central Florida and Loyola University of New Orleans. University of Mississippi's forensic chemistry program was ranked in the top five in the nation by the American Academy of Forensic Scientists. The school has an undergraduate population of about 12,000. The University of Central Florida, the former Florida Technological University, is a very large school with a population of about 35,000. Loyola University of New Orleans is a small school with a population of less than 4,000.
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