I'm a fairly new engineer. After an initial busy period, things have completely stalled, and I have almost no work to do. I've tried offering help to my team, but everyone's happy with their workload. How do I escalate this bored and underutilized issue to my manager without making it awkward or looking bad?

Sadly you may have encountered “someone who isn’t good at their job”. Just because someone has a title or has been given a role (your supervisor) doesn’t mean they are good at it.
I’d say work on your network of other new engineers, see if you can figure out which of them have the stronger supervisors. And then reach out to one or more of those supervisors to ask if you can have a chat. Odds are you can find someone that is good at their job this way that can offer advice on how to find a good assignment in your company. Either with the same supervisor or perhaps helping another group out for a while. Exposing yourself to how other depts in your company work through taking on assignments can be a win-win as you‘ll come out more knowledgable about the bigger picture as well.
If none of that works do you have a person in HR you can talk to? Is there additional training you can do To help fill the gaps in your day?

My advice is to enjoy the quiet periods while they last. There is nothing awkward about letting your manager know that you currently have a very light workload and are available for additional tasks. Sometimes being bored is as much a part of the job as being stressed.

There is a lull in the industry. Depending on the types of projects your company hunts for. Firms going for mega jobs might have periodic slow downs, but ramps up quickly. As a new engineer you should focus on learning your craft, complete your FE, become extremely familiar with your design software. Show initiative by asking for tasks that can improve the efficiency of your team be it organizing design guide or cleanup templates you use. I would agree partly that your manager should help direct you, but in the same sense they don’t know what you are capable of if you are so new and you don’t tell them.

There is always peaceful time during a project that you have done your part and you are waiting for other teammates, vendors, etc. Use those free/stalled time to improve your skills and knowledge, whether is software, or engineering skill and knowledge , or understanding the product of your company. For example, I am a mechanical engineer, when I have free time between projects. I always check out the drawings and CAD, product specifications, design document for the company’s other projects or product. Learn and understand what other engineers were doing when they are designing, improve your skills. I have been working for 8 years, and I still have a long list of skills that I am trying to master, and a lot of them can’t be found on textbooks or boot camp courses or YouTube, those are all theoretical. The actual and practical portion of those skills, they are from the experienced engineers that are working with you.

As an Engineering Manager myself, I would look for the following from my team in quiet periods:

Updates to existing processes
Modernizing tools / templates
New process initiatives
New workflows
Library cleanup
New platform learning
Automation

Example: one of my Engineers setup and implemented a complete new CAM system complete with tool library, templates and SOPs.

I dont want to have to task them for every job that needs doing, they don't want that either.

I look for initiative, proactiveness, ownership and team progression.

FYI, noise pricks the ears of those around you and you don't want that sticking to you.. be proactive, look for needs and wants and plan a proposal, present it to your manager and team them deliver it

It would be a good idea to come up with something you'd like to do and propose that to your manager. At least that way you won't wind up doing some kind of unspeakable busy work. If you haven't got any inspirations along those lines, just let it be known that you need something to do. Better than than someone notices you're not doing much and lets you go.

I would recommend looking around to find problems that you can fix, help minimize inefficiencies in work and processes. These are the moments that you may have time to take more initiative. Become the expert on something that is confusing people or has a large learning curve. HR is the entity that protects the company not the other way around.

Find a mentor. They will help you navigate the culture to find good interesting work. Find someone you want to be like who has similar interests to you

No need to worry, just go talk to them about it.

Appreciate what you have. Some of us are jobless despite all our efforts.

Tell your boss your work load is getting low and ask if there's anyone in the team that is overloaded that you can help out. They aren't always the most observant/skilled at managing workload. They might also tell you what's in the forecast and you might find out that you'll be drowning in a months time.

At the same time, look for opportunities within your organization, such as outreach opportunities or if they're running support on University Capstone/4th year projects. This can open the door to other, more interesting work in the future.

I don't know your field of expertise. I had the same situation when I was young. I am 68 and somehow old. What I did was simple. In my generation, there were no PC and smartphones, so I waited and studied in all my free periods and learn. Then, in the first complicated problem, I brought a solution that surprised the company. After that, I was the king of that company for some years.

What was your field of study in school and what’s the field in your current position? Find a connection and do a deep dive. But before doing anything, write up a proposal to your manager and focus on the benefit to the team/company and email to manager. So the reply from manager is written. That way you have a document trail. That’s always super important.

For me when im finished with my workload I learn sth new to advance my skill set I’m sure there are some gaps in your knowledge and skills u can fill with the free time. there is always more to learn that u can add to your workflow

Managers job is to schedule work -you might try and "create your position" by asking management for his or previous managers "parking lot" which are stalled out activities or projects and work like hell at scompleting them - because unless you are represented by a union, upoi will be held accountable for not being busy in either no raise or a lay off . Also raise it to your lead engineer - do both in writing - if you are not a sophisticated writer - ask chatgpt to write yousuch an email. Keep it up beat - save the gloves for when stuff clearly goes south. you might also start looking for another job

Work on your skills at work! I used to be in a satelite office and in the meantime I practiced my Microstation skills which came in handy later! You can also check with management as well.

You definitely should have a frank conversation with your manager.

If you "have almost no work to do," that is not a good sign. You could find yourself laid off in the next downsizing event.

Otherwise, you should use the downtime to look for another job.