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Gifts For Engineers
Engineers are good people to know! They’re always ready to help build, design, or put their brains to use on whatever the task is at hand.
It can be tough finding just the right gift for engineers though. There are so many options to choose from and things to consider, that it can be a bit overwhelming.
While we can’t tell you exactly what the right present is for the engineer on your list… we can break down some of the best items out there, and give you a time tested approach to coming up with a special and unique item they’ll absolutely love.
Lucky for you, that’s just what we’ve done below! So, whether it’s Christmas, Graduation, Birthdays, or ‘just because’, we’ve got you covered! Read on!
Construction and Model Gifts
Engineers love to build, there’s no denying it! As luck would have it, we’re living in the golden age of fabrication, where it’s possible to go from an idea in your head to a physical object in your hands in a matter of minutes! Even if the 3D printing thing is out of your price-range, there are tons of awesome toys and model sets that can put their love of building to good use! Here are some of our favorite construction and model gifts:
- A 3D Printer
- Wooden Model Sets
- Periodic Table Building Blocks
- Adult Lego Sets
- Model Rocket Kits
Building things from the ground up with a 3D printer is something every engineer is sure to enjoy. They can make everything from useful household gadgets, to toys, to model figures, to props from their favorite movie. They just make or download a 3D model of what they want to create, and away they go!
Models are one of the classic gifts for engineering and science types. These laser cut wooden model sets are an amazing choice they'll love for sure! There are tons of great sets to choose from, ranging from the highly practical, to the whimsical and outlandish.
Perfect for the scientist or engineer of any age, these cubes are literal building blocks for an career in chemistry. The set includes 20 six-sided colored blocks that contain the 118 elements found on the periodic table. The six sides contain a unique element's name, atomic number and symbol in bright blue, purple, green, red, orange or pink.
Engineers love to build, and everybody loves lego! The coolest thing about them, is they aren't just for kids any more. There are tons of amazing advanced and adult focused sets that are sure to strike their fancy. From cars, to skylines, to ships in a bottle, there is something for every taste!
Model rockets are the construction set that are as fun to play with when they're done as they are to build. These kits are built with real aerodynamic properties that help them soar through the air when combined with a special rocket engine. The engineer close to your heart is sure to love it!
Gadgets
If there’s one thing most engineers share, it’s a love of gadgets! There’s just something about a little item that does one task very well that can really ignite the imagination! There are great gadgets out there that will compliment their enjoyment of any other hobby they enjoy, so try to combine this with another passion for maximum impact! Our favorite gadget gifts are:
- A Remote Controlled Drone
- Equation Geek Watch
- A Fitness Activity Tracker
- A Video Doorbell
- Smart Light Starter Kit
These remote controlled quad-copter drones are perfect for the robotics enthusiast! They soar hundreds of feet in the air, and give you a beautiful view of the landscape with their downward facing video camera. Agile and fun to fly, these are always a hit!
Regular numbers? Those are for amateurs. Bring your inner genius out for all to envy with a smart and stylish watch that features the equivalent notation of each number. For nascent mathematicians and victims of the occasional memory lapse, a cheat sheet is included with each watch.
Get a deeper understanding of your body, your health and your progress with Fitbit Charge 3. This swim proof advanced fitness tracker does more than count steps-it tracks 24/7 heart rate, calorie burn, 15+ exercises, goal progress, sleep and more. Perfect for engineers who love to geek-out over stats!
Vide doorbells are all the rage with the home automation crowd these days. It can help you protect your package deliveries from theft, and lets you see who has come to call whether you're home or away. A fantastic and practical gift!
Home automation and smart lighting is one of the cooler technologies to see maturity in the last few years. Help them transform the home into a fully automated and intelligent place they can be proud of! It's extra great for parents who are always complaining about lights being left on!
Electronics
They don’t have to be an electrical engineer to enjoy these cool gifts! There are so many amazing robots, remote controlled devices, and other great electronics gifts that you’re almost certain to find something they’ll love (that’s within your price range). Here are some of our top pics for Electronics Gifts that will help you get your creative gifting juices flowing!
- A Robotic Car Kit
- The Nintendo Switch
- A Smart Assistant Hub
- An Instant Coffee Maker
- R2-D2 App-Enabled Droid
This awesome DIY Robotic car kit has everything they need to build a fully functional remote controlled car! It combines the power of the Arduino (a tiny powerful computing platform) with sensory inputs like a video camera to bring the automated car to life! They'll enjoy building it as much as they will playing with the fully assembled car!
Introducing Nintendo Switch, the new home video game system from Nintendo. In addition to providing single and multiplayer thrills at home, the Nintendo Switch system can be taken on the go so players can enjoy a full home console experience anytime, anywhere. The mobility of a handheld is now added to the power of a home gaming system, with unprecedented new play styles brought to life by the two new Joy-Con controllers.
Smart assistants are all the rage with tech enthusiasts these days, and this is one of the best! Let them control their music, find out about the latest news, and so much more with just their voice! The smart hub is the center of the automated home, and a great gift option for any geeky guy or gal on your list!
Coffee is the lifeblood of the engineer, no matter what discipline they're in. Whether it's software, civil, mechanical, chemical, or other, the vast majority of engineers just don't function quite as well until they've had their first cup in the morning. Help them enjoy a delicious and fast made cup with one of these great Keurig instant coffee makers!
How awesome are these cool Star Wars toys? Let me tell you! They are fully app enabled, allowing you to control their movement, make realistic sound effects you'll recognize from the movies, and so much more! They're great for hours of fun, for the young and the young at heart alike!
Puzzles and Games
Brainteasers, puzzles, and games are another perfect category of items for most of the engineers out there. Whether it’s putting their brain power to use figuring out an optimal strategy for jenga, or puzzling out how to complete a challenging brain teaser, there’s something about flexing those muscles the typical engineer just can’t get enough of!
- Bottled Frustration Brainteaser
- Jenga Classic Game
- Super Magnetic Putty
- Infinity Cube Fidget Toy
- Leonardo da Vinci Catapult Kit
A careful examination and study of this puzzle's parts and configurations may reveal what has to be done to free the marble from its bottled captivity. Once you know what has to be done, the trick is doing it! Great for hours of challenging fun and frustration. The solution is included.
It's the classic block-stacking, stack-crashing game of Jenga. How will you stack up against the law of gravity? Stack the wooden blocks in a sturdy tower, then take turns pulling out blocks one by one until the whole stack crashes down. Is your hand steady enough to pull out the last block before the tower collapses?.
Made with micron-sized iron-based particles distributed throughout, the astonishing moldable magnetic putty takes on the properties of a magnet itself when placed in close contact with the included Neodymium Iron Boron magnet. Put it near the magnet and within five seconds, the putty will stretch itself out to reach the magnet almost as if it were alive. Press the magnet into it and the whole piece of putty becomes magnetic, able to lift tacks and paperclips on its own after charging in a magnetic field.
The Infinity Cube Fidget Toy is great for the home or office, and provides endless hours of mindless fidgety fun. Perfect for relieving stress, or passing the time during yet another boring meeting. There are tons of ways to enjoy the infinity cube, so pick one up today! Check your favorite coupon sites, because this item often goes on sale for 5% off.
Catapults were first invented in Ancient Greek and Roman times, however our common idea of them is based on drawings we have from the Medieval Ages. Leonardo redesigned the catapult around 1485, and used the springlike energy stored in bent wood to give power to the swing arm. Help them lay seige to their coworkers with this great desk toy!
Home and Desk Gifts
The office and desk are where most engineers spend a good portion of their workday, so it’s important to make sure it’s a comfortable and well organized space they will enjoy being in. Whether they need to spruce it up with a new desk chair, an organizer to help them tidy up, or just some toys to fiddle with, these are some of our favorite home and desk gifts:
- Math Mug
- Electric Light Blocks
- Engineer Wall Art
- A Comfy Office Chair
Give your favorite brew an exponential boost with a heavy duty mug made for the math elite. Featuring equations and formulas ("handwritten" on a chalkboard-colored background) that would make your high school calculus teacher proud, this smart design is perfect for number-crunchers and coffee and tea drinkers alike
Build some bright ideas with this ingenious, illuminated set of interlocking construction blocks. Just add blocks to the base (battery or usb powered), and each one lights up when connected! Compatible with other construction block systems of the same size, this set of 36 or 102 blocks will inspire endless creativity in kids and grown-up geeks alike.
These awesome wall hangings make a great engineering graduation gift, and might be just perfect for someone close to your heart. They feature the name and school (or other custom wording) of the recipient, combined with beautiful images spelling out their chosen field of study!
Engineers tend to sit for long periods of time, so it's important that they be comfortable and ergonomically supported. A new desk or gaming chair might be just what the chiropractor ordered, and there are a wide range of colors, options, and price points to choose from.
Homemade and DIY Gifts
You don’t have to break the bank to find something they’ll love. The great thing about most engineers is, they’ll actually enjoy items that aren’t even put together! Here are some great options you can build for them yourself, or gift them as is and allow them to do the building!
- DIY Speaker Kit
- Smart Car Project Kit
The desk of an engineer is a great source for inspiration when it comes to both store bought and DIY gift ideas. If your favorite engineer accumulates clutter on their desk, then this homemade organizer is a fantastic choice that’s practical to boot!
If you like to DIY, this music speaker electronic DIY kit was the one which you cannot miss! It is easy to assemble and end product is glittering and translucent, really a beautiful speaker box! This was a fun little project, that's perfect for an electrical engineer or anyone who loves to solder!
A good calendar is the key to organization and this inventive one is perfect for engineers with lots of deadlines and meetings! They’ll love how great it looks on their wall or desk, and you’ll love how easy it is on your wallet. Great gifts from the heart don’t have to be expensive to be well appreciated!
This is another easy and elegant way to help your favorite engineer organize their office. They can hang pictures or notes easily on the wire metal frame, and it will be great for visualizing different projects and presentations they’re working on.
This awesome DIY tracking car kit is an incredible buy! They get to assemble all of the electronics, with soldering and other skills. Once assembled, the car can follow a line! It's tons of fun and good education to boot!
Christmas Presents For Engineers
Ho Ho Ho! Engineers are great people to have around on Christmas morning. There’s always stuff to assemble or figure out, and who better to do that then the people who do it for a living! Show your engineer some love before you put them to work!
In addition to the choices above, here are some of our favorite Christmas Gifts For Engineers:
- Remote control drone
- A 3D printer
- Adult and advanced lego kits
- Model catapults or trebuchets
- A video game system
- DIY robotics kits
- Home automation components
- A new office or gaming chair
Engineer Graduation Gifts
Engineers work incredibly hard in college, and it’s so important to celebrate their achievement when they finally make it through. The list we’ve compiled above include some great options for every occasion.
Our picks for the best Graduation Gifts For Engineers are:
- Desk accessories and organizers
- An wall hanging / artwork
- An ergonomic desk chair
- A brainteaser puzzle
- A home assistant hub
- A fitness tracking watch
- An App controlled driod
- A remote controlled drone
Birthday Gifts For Engineers
Another year older, and your favorite engineer deserves a special treat. Show them you care with one of the awesome themed items we’ve identified in the guide above.
Along with those items, here are some of our favorite Birthday Gifts For Engineers:
- A video game console
- A classic game like jenga
- Adult lego sets
- Wood or plastic models
- A 3D printer (or accessories)
- A remote control car
- An instant coffee maker
- Smart LED lighting
Funny Engineer Gifts
There’s no shortage of funny engineering themed gifts out there. Some of our favorites include things like T-Shirts and mugs.
Our picks for the most hilarious Funny Engineer Gifts are:
- A humorous T-Shirt
- A Mug with a funny phrase
- An impossible brain teaser
- Funny shot glasses
- A themed hip-flask
- Fun games and puzzles
- Tickets to a comedy show
- A logo hat or ball cap
How To Find The Right Gift For Every Engineer
There are way more types of engineers than I can count on both of my hands. From civil, to mechanical, to software, they’re as unique and varied as people in any profession are. With a broad range of personalities and interests, it can be hard to know what to get an engineer.
Between Christmas, Valentines Day, Anniversaries, Birthdays, and other gift-giving occasions, there are a ton of opportunities to show the people in our lives how much we care. If you’re thinking about a great engineer on this special occasion, we’ve got you covered. While we can’t tell you what the perfect gift is, we’ve got some great things you should keep in mind when brainstorming ideas.
1) Don’t confuse their profession with the personal interests…
It might be the case that your software engineer loves programming and tech related stuff in his time off, but it’s also possible he’d rather leave those things at the office when the day is done. Be sure not to pigeonhole the recipient unnecessarily. If they’d rather spend their days camping or playing guitar than building a robot, this might not be the right guide for you.
2) Do they have family and friends they would like to share their gift with?…
One thing lots of engineers have in common is a love of passing on their knowledge. If you’re gifting something to someone with young kids, consider giving them something they can use as an excuse to pass on a little knowledge. A good example of this would be a model rocket kit or DIY robotic car kit. They get to teach the young one how to solder or build, in addition to all the fun once it’s assembled.
3) Do they love tech?…
It may be a stereotype, but lots of engineers love tech gifts and electronics. If this sort of thing seems up their alley, consider gifts related to home automation, fitness monitoring, or video game systems. The possibilities are endless, so spend some time browsing the electronics section.
4) Consider giving an experience…
Some of the best gifts in life are the experiences we share with the people we love. You don’t have to get your favorite engineer some geeky present they’ll use for a time and eventually lose interest in. You can also give them a fantastic memory that will last a lifetime. Consider things like travel, a nice dinner, a hike at a local park, concerts or a show, or an endless number of options.
Our Key Gifting Principles
Beyond the brainstorming basics, there are a few guiding principles you should keep in mind:
- Price isn’t everything - sometimes the best gifts are handmade, inexpensive, or free.
- Practical isn’t always best - treating them to something they may not buy for themselves is always a good idea.
- Give from the heart - something that holds deeper meaning for the recipient is sure to make a lasting impression.
- Be spontaneous - you don’t have to wait for a Birthday or Christmas to treat them.
- Be inventive - truly unique and creative gifts mean thinking outside the box.