Newswise — You wouldn't believe what some engineers get to do for a living: designing spy planes, updating R2-D2, and tracking wild animals. Engineering is sometimes seen as stodgy, yet many engineers find both fun and excitement in their jobs, in locales ranging from the Kalahari bush to the California wine country. Ten engineers who have found their "dream jobs" are the subject of this special report in IEEE Spectrum's February issue.

Some cases in point: Anthony Eckersall made the Bellagio fountains dance, Rick Townend travels with the Subaru World Rally Team, Manni Wong circles the globe designing theme park rides for Disney, and Martin Cooper restores priceless art. If you've ever watched the Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" or visited Yosemite National Park, you've been affected by the engineers' work. Their organizations include AeroVironment Inc., Walt Disney Imagineering, the University of Hawaii's Infrasound Laboratory, IBM Corp., The Conservation Centre of the National Museums in Liverpool, England, Benya Lighting, Wet Design, ProDrive, the Discovery Channel, and CyberTracker Software Ltd.