Engineering, Architecture and Built Environment· Beginner level

The disciplines do different things. Civil engineers build roads, bridges, water and drainage systems and buildings. Mechanical engineers work on machines, engines, manufacturing and cooling systems. Electrical engineers work on power generation, distribution and electronics. Computer engineers work where hardware meets software. Chemical engineers work in refining, processing and manufacturing. Environmental engineers deal with water, waste and pollution. Agricultural engineers work on irrigation, storage and machinery. Mining and geomatics work on extraction, land and measurement.

Around them sit architects, quantity surveyors, land surveyors and construction managers, who are separate professions with their own qualifications.

In Ghana, this work shows up in roads and drainage, water supply, power and grid work, mining, telecoms infrastructure, and building construction. In Canada, it shows up in transport and municipal infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, resource industries and construction.

Pick three disciplines and find out what they actually build and who employs them.

There is no way around this one, so face it early.

In Ghana, most university engineering programmes require WASSCE credits in the core subjects together with Physics, Chemistry and Elective Mathematics. The Technical programme, with subjects such as Technical Drawing, Applied Electricity, Auto Mechanics, Building Construction, Metalwork and Electronics, supports technical university routes and some engineering programmes, but check the specific requirement because it varies. Technical universities offer HND engineering programmes with a route to top up to a degree later.

In Canada, engineering programmes typically require Grade 12 mathematics including advanced functions and calculus, plus physics and chemistry, and English. Missing one of those removes you regardless of your average. College engineering technology diplomas usually require less mathematics and lead to technologist and technician roles, which are real careers rather than failures.

If mathematics is your weakest subject, that is the single most important thing to fix this year.

Engineering is not really about building things that work. It is about knowing why things fail.

Pick something small and physical. A bridge from paper straws or bamboo that must hold a specific weight across a specific gap. A water filter from sand, gravel and charcoal. A simple circuit that lights something when it gets dark. A phone stand that must survive being knocked over. A shaded box that keeps water cooler than the air.

Write the brief first: the problem, the user, and the constraint you must respect, such as weight, cost or size. Sketch two solutions before you build either.

Then build it and test it until it fails. Record where it failed, why you think it failed, and what you would change. That record is worth more than a version that survived.

Stay safe. No mains electricity. No working alone with tools. Adult supervision for anything with heat, blades or power.

Ask what a graduate engineer is actually allowed to do in the first year, and what they are not. Ask how much time is spent on site compared with at a desk. Ask what happens when something they designed does not work. Ask what part of the job they did not expect.

Ask route questions too: which qualification they hold, whether they are registered or licensed, and what that required.

Bring your design brief and ask them to tell you why your thing failed. Engineers usually enjoy that question.

Keep it safe. Do not share your address or school. Do not accept invitations to visit a site privately; any site visit should go through a school or a guardian with the organisation's permission. If you are 12 to 18, agree the plan with a guardian first.

In engineering, one subject usually decides everything. Build the month around it.

A realistic month: get consistent help with mathematics or physics, redesign and retest your project with one change, read the entry requirements for one degree and one technology or HND route, and find out who licenses engineers where you plan to work.

Date all four and tell someone what you have committed to.