STEM career ( Science , Technology , Engineering , and Math ) are n’t what you think . Many take place outside of the testing ground , classrooms , and stall typically associate with the field . They ’ll keep you on your foot ( or treading body of water ) most days . Here are a few likely to pique your interest .

1. BIOENERGY ENGINEER

Bioenergy engineers are concentre on create a cleaner , greener futurity by rein the powerfulness of living organism . In some eccentric , that means taking wastefulness — which might otherwise stick around landfills for decades — and converting it into renewable energy . These plants , often designed and operated by bio- or other kinds of environmental engineers , take in waste . When heat up , the waste ’s constituent matter is win over into gas , which fire a combustion railway locomotive to acquire electricity .

2. NANOTECHNOLOGY ENGINEER

Nanotechnology expert work across scientific subject — and manufacture — to manipulate material at the molecular or atomic level . The applications for nanotechnology are practically interminable , from material with stain - tolerant weave , to target drug therapy for patient role facing life history - threatening malady . One matter nanotech experts have in mutual ? Excellent job prospects . According to forecasters , the value of products that utilize nanotechnology is expected to pass around $ 1 trillion — or 5 percentage of the United States ’ GDP — by 2020 .

3. NUCLEAR MEDICINE TECHNOLOGIST

An important part of treating Crab , core disease , and other illnesses is the power to track their procession within the eubstance . atomic medicinal drug technologists work a primal role here , inject radioactive dyestuff that map out out a disease ’s progress ( or lack therefrom ) .

4. INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGIST

This specialty discipline focuses on how work environments impact employees , from recruitment practices to direction philosophies . Industrial psychologists also direct that eternal question , “ What ’s the best way to improve employee morale ? ” With more fellowship focusing on employee retentivity and wellness , industrial psychological science is a burgeon field with mellow employment pace .

5. FLAVOR TECHNOLOGIST

Behind every wow - worthy chip and yield deglutition you ’ve try , there ’s a flavor engineer meticulously working off . Combining high - story chemistry and biota , these scientist utilize natural and artificial ingredients to craft the flavors that tickle consumers ’ taste bud . And the work ’s not confined to the laboratory : technologist often take domain trips to study herbaceous plant , excerption , and other raw flavors in their natural habitat .

6. UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGIST

History ’s treasures are n’t just buried beneath teetotal Din Land . They ’re also hidden at the bottom of lake and rivers , and covered by originate oceans . That ’s where subaqueous archeologist come in , work for political science agencies , research universities and in the secret sector . In accession to the kick of exploring shipwrecks and other unequalled uncovering , underwater archaeologists get to utilise some pretty high - technical school gadgets , like nuclear - plangency magnometers and side - scan sonars .

7. SPACE AGENCY BIOSTATISTICIAN

There are still a long ton of terra incognita when it come to the cosmos — including what effects space travel may have on the human eubstance . To that end , NASA has a squad of biostatisticians on hand , dedicated to study how low- and no - gravity environment during far - flung missions affect human physiology — and figuring out the good ways to protect astronauts from harm .

8. ETHICAL HACKER

Nope — that is n’t an oxymoron . honorable cyberpunk are highly skilled ( and often officially certified ) computing machine scientists and programmers hired by financial institutions , government agency , and major corporations to distinguish vulnerabilities in a electronic connection ’s security organization . That mean previse — and find jam for — all the unlike ways likely outlaw might be able to gain access to an organization ’s digitized entropy .

iStock