Analysis and Programming Degrees

Related occupations
Industrial Designer

Industrial designers work to improve the appearance, safety, and usefulness of industrial products. They develop new styles and designs for a wide variety of products. The first steps in developing a new design, or altering an existing one, are to find and meet the requirements of the client. When... see more creating a new design, designers often begin by researching the product user and how the product will be used. Desired product characteristics, such as size, shape, weight, color, materials used, cost, ease of use, fit, and safety are considered. Designers gather this information by meeting with clients, conducting market research, reading design and consumer publications, attending trade shows, and visiting potential users, suppliers, and manufacturers. After a suitable design has been selected, industrial designers prepare detailed drawings that specify color, materials, and exact dimensions. They are often assisted by drafters. For many projects, the designer or a model maker prepares a scale model. Designers may also participate in usability and safety tests with prototypes to make further adjustments to the design before it goes to manufacturing.

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Database Administrator

Computer database administrators design, write, and take care of computer database systems so that the right person can get the right information at the right time. A database is simply a collection of computer files full of information that a company may wish to track. This information may include... see more customer addresses, inventory, and payroll figures. A database administrator might set up and organize a database or reorganize an existing database. To organize a database, an administrator writes precise instructions for the computer. These instructions, called a computer program, tell the computer how to collect and sort data and how to give data to the people who need them. Database administrators also write programs to perform queries to extract useful information and to produce reports as necessary. The database administrator also watches over the system to ensure that users do not tamper with the information or the structure of the database. In cases where the database system contains private information about a business or its customers, the database administrator makes sure that only people with authorization are allowed access to confidential information. They may also design programs to protect the database from computer hackers or to weed out problems in the database.