Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process[1] to solve problems, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve systems. Modern engineering comprises many subfields which include designing and creating infrastructure, machinery, vehicles, electronics, materials, and energy.[2]
The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more specialized fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas of applied mathematics, applied science, and types of application. See glossary of engineering.
The term engineering is derived from the Latin ingenium, meaning “cleverness” and ingeniare, meaning “to contrive, devise”.[3]
Definition
The American Engineers’ Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET)[4] has defined “engineering” as:
The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.[5][6]
History
Relief map of the Citadel of Lille, designed in 1668 by Vauban, the foremost military engineer of his age
Engineering has existed since ancient times, when humans devised inventions such as the wedge, lever, wheel and pulley, etc.
The term engineering is derived from the word engineer, which itself dates back to the 14th century when an engine’er (literally, one who builds or operates a siege engine) referred to “a constructor of military engines”.[7] In this context, now obsolete, an “engine” referred to a military machine, i.e., a mechanical contraption used in war (for example, a catapult). Notable examples of the obsolete usage which have survived to the present day are military engineering corps, e.g., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The word “engine” itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ingenium (c. 1250), meaning “innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention.”[8]
Later, as the design of civilian structures, such as bridges and buildings, matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering[6] entered the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the discipline of military engineering.
Ancient era
The pyramids in ancient Egypt, ziggurats of Mesopotamia, the Acropolis and Parthenon in Greece, the Roman aqueducts, Via Appia and Colosseum, Teotihuacán, and the Brihadeeswarar Temple of Thanjavur, among many others, stand as a testament to the ingenuity and skill of ancient civil and military engineers. Other monuments, no longer standing, such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Pharos of Alexandria, were important engineering achievements of their time and were considered among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The six classic simple machines were known in the ancient Near East. The wedge and the inclined plane (ramp) were known since prehistoric times.[9] The wheel, along with the wheel and axle mechanism, was invented in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) during the 5th millennium BC.[10] The lever mechanism first appeared around 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where it was used in a simple balance scale,[11] and to move large objects in ancient Egyptian technology.[12] The lever was also used in the shadoof water-lifting device, the first crane machine, which appeared in Mesopotamia c. 3000 BC,[11] and then in ancient Egyptian technology c. 2000 BC.[13] The earliest evidence of pulleys date back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC,[14] and ancient Egypt during the Twelfth Dynasty (1991–1802 BC).[15] The screw, the last of the simple machines to be invented,[16] first appeared in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian period (911–609) BC.[14] The Egyptian pyramids were built using three of the six simple machines, the inclined plane, the wedge, and the lever, to create structures like the Great Pyramid of Giza.[17]
The earliest civil engineer known by name is Imhotep.[6] As one of the officials of the Pharaoh, Djosèr, he probably designed and supervised the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser (the Step Pyramid) at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630–2611 BC.[18] The earliest practical water-powered machines, the water wheel and watermill, first appeared in the Persian Empire, in what are now Iraq and Iran, by the early 4th century BC.[19]
Kush developed the Sakia during the 4th century BC, which relied on animal power instead of human energy.[20]Hafirs were developed as a type of reservoir in Kush to store and contain water as well as boost irrigation.[21] Sappers were employed to build causeways during military campaigns.[22] Kushite ancestors built speos during the Bronze Age between 3700 and 3250 BC.[23]Bloomeries and blast furnaces were also created during the 7th centuries BC in Kush.[24][25][26][27]
Ancient Greece developed machines in both civilian and military domains. The Antikythera mechanism, an early known mechanical analog computer,[28][29] and the mechanical inventions of Archimedes, are examples of Greek mechanical engineering. Some of Archimedes’ inventions, as well as the Antikythera mechanism, required sophisticated knowledge of differential gearing or epicyclic gearing, two key principles in machine theory that helped design the gear trains of the Industrial Revolution, and are still widely used today in diverse fields such as robotics and automotive engineering.[30]
Ancient Chinese, Greek, Roman and Hunnic armies employed military machines and inventions such as artillery which was developed by the Greeks around the 4th century BC,[31] the trireme, the ballista and the catapult. In the Middle Ages, the trebuchet was developed.
Middle Ages
The earliest practical wind-powered machines, the windmill and wind pump, first appeared in the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age, in what are now Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, by the 9th century AD.[32][33][34][35] The earliest practical steam-powered machine was a steam jack driven by a steam turbine, described in 1551 by Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma’ruf in Ottoman Egypt.[36][37]
The cotton gin was invented in India by the 6th century AD,[38] and the spinning wheel was invented in the Islamic world by the early 11th century,[39] both of which were fundamental to the growth of the cotton industry. The spinning wheel was also a precursor to the spinning jenny, which was a key development during the early Industrial Revolution in the 18th century.[40]
The earliest programmable machines were developed in the Muslim world. A music sequencer, a programmable musical instrument, was the earliest type of programmable machine. The first music sequencer was an automated flute player invented by the Banu Musa brothers, described in their Book of Ingenious Devices, in the 9th century.[41][42] In 1206, Al-Jazari invented programmable automata/robots. He described four automaton musicians, including drummers operated by a programmable drum machine, where they could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns.[43]
A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556
Before the development of modern engineering, mathematics was used by artisans and craftsmen, such as millwrights, clockmakers, instrument makers and surveyors. Aside from these professions, universities were not believed to have had much practical significance to technology.[44]: 32
A standard reference for the state of mechanical arts during the Renaissance is given in the mining engineering treatise De re metallica (1556), which also contains sections on geology, mining, and chemistry. De re metallica was the standard chemistry reference for the next 180 years.[44]
Modern era
The application of the steam engine allowed coke to be substituted for charcoal in iron making, lowering the cost of iron, which provided engineers with a new material for building bridges. This bridge was made of cast iron, which was soon displaced by less brittle wrought iron as a structural material.
The science of classical mechanics, sometimes called Newtonian mechanics, formed the scientific basis of much of modern engineering.[44] With the rise of engineering as a profession in the 18th century, the term became more narrowly applied to fields in which mathematics and science were applied to these ends. Similarly, in addition to military and civil engineering, the fields then known as the mechanic arts became incorporated into engineering.
Canal building was an important engineering work during the early phases of the Industrial Revolution.[45]
John Smeaton was the first self-proclaimed civil engineer and is often regarded as the “father” of civil engineering. He was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbors, and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Using a model water wheel, Smeaton conducted experiments for seven years, determining ways to increase efficiency.[46]: 127 Smeaton introduced iron axles and gears to water wheels.[44]: 69 Smeaton also made mechanical improvements to the Newcomen steam engine. Smeaton designed the third Eddystone Lighthouse (1755–59) where he pioneered the use of ‘hydraulic lime‘ (a form of mortar which will set under water) and developed a technique involving dovetailed blocks of granite in the building of the lighthouse. He is important in the history, rediscovery of, and development of modern cement, because he identified the compositional requirements needed to obtain “hydraulicity” in lime; work which led ultimately to the invention of Portland cement.
Applied science led to the development of the steam engine. The sequence of events began with the invention of the barometer and the measurement of atmospheric pressure by Evangelista Torricelli in 1643, demonstration of the force of atmospheric pressure by Otto von Guericke using the Magdeburg hemispheres in 1656, laboratory experiments by Denis Papin, who built experimental model steam engines and demonstrated the use of a piston, which he published in 1707. Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester published a book of 100 inventions containing a method for raising waters similar to a coffee percolator. Samuel Morland, a mathematician and inventor who worked on pumps, left notes at the Vauxhall Ordinance Office on a steam pump design that Thomas Savery read. In 1698 Savery built a steam pump called “The Miner’s Friend”. It employed both vacuum and pressure.[47] Iron merchant Thomas Newcomen, who built the first commercial piston steam engine in 1712, was not known to have any scientific training.[46]: 32
The application of steam-powered cast iron blowing cylinders for providing pressurized air for blast furnaces lead to a large increase in iron production in the late 18th century. The higher furnace temperatures made possible with steam-powered blast allowed for the use of more lime in blast furnaces, which enabled the transition from charcoal to coke.[48] These innovations lowered the cost of iron, making horse railways and iron bridges practical. The puddling process, patented by Henry Cort in 1784 produced large scale quantities of wrought iron. Hot blast, patented by James Beaumont Neilson in 1828, greatly lowered the amount of fuel needed to smelt iron. With the development of the high pressure steam engine, the power to weight ratio of steam engines made practical steamboats and locomotives possible.[49] New steel making processes, such as the Bessemer process and the open hearth furnace, ushered in an area of heavy engineering in the late 19th century.
One of the most famous engineers of the mid-19th century was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who built railroads, dockyards and steamships.
The Industrial Revolution created a demand for machinery with metal parts, which led to the development of several machine tools. Boring cast iron cylinders with precision was not possible until John Wilkinson invented his boring machine, which is considered the first machine tool.[50] Other machine tools included the screw cutting lathe, milling machine, turret lathe and the metal planer. Precision machining techniques were developed in the first half of the 19th century. These included the use of gigs to guide the machining tool over the work and fixtures to hold the work in the proper position. Machine tools and machining techniques capable of producing interchangeable parts lead to large scale factory production by the late 19th century.[51]
The United States Census of 1850 listed the occupation of “engineer” for the first time with a count of 2,000.[52] There were fewer than 50 engineering graduates in the U.S. before 1865. In 1870 there were a dozen U.S. mechanical engineering graduates, with that number increasing to 43 per year in 1875. In 1890, there were 6,000 engineers in civil, mining, mechanical and electrical.[49]
There was no chair of applied mechanism and applied mechanics at Cambridge until 1875, and no chair of engineering at Oxford until 1907. Germany established technical universities earlier.[53]
The foundations of electrical engineering in the 1800s included the experiments of Alessandro Volta, Michael Faraday, Georg Ohm and others and the invention of the electric telegraph in 1816 and the electric motor in 1872. The theoretical work of James Maxwell (see: Maxwell’s equations) and Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century gave rise to the field of electronics. The later inventions of the vacuum tube and the transistor further accelerated the development of electronics to such an extent that electrical and electronics engineers currently outnumber their colleagues of any other engineering specialty.[6]
Chemical engineering developed in the late nineteenth century.[6] Industrial scale manufacturing demanded new materials and new processes and by 1880 the need for large scale production of chemicals was such that a new industry was created, dedicated to the development and large scale manufacturing of chemicals in new industrial plants.[6] The role of the chemical engineer was the design of these chemical plants and processes.[6]
Aeronautical engineering deals with aircraft design process design while aerospace engineering is a more modern term that expands the reach of the discipline by including spacecraft design. Its origins can be traced back to the aviation pioneers around the start of the 20th century although the work of Sir George Cayley has recently been dated as being from the last decade of the 18th century. Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering was largely empirical with some concepts and skills imported from other branches of engineering.[54]
The first PhD in engineering (technically, applied science and engineering) awarded in the United States went to Josiah Willard Gibbs at Yale University in 1863; it was also the second PhD awarded in science in the U.S.[55]
Only a decade after the successful flights by the Wright brothers, there was extensive development of aeronautical engineering through development of military aircraft that were used in World War I. Meanwhile, research to provide fundamental background science continued by combining theoretical physics with experiments.
Main branches of engineering
For a topical guide, see Outline of engineering
Engineering is a broad discipline that is often broken down into several sub-disciplines. Although an engineer will usually be trained in a specific discipline, he or she may become multi-disciplined through experience. Engineering is often characterized as having four main branches:[56][57][58] chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the application of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering principles in order to carry out chemical processes on a commercial scale, such as the manufacture of commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, petroleum refining, microfabrication, fermentation, and biomolecule production.
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is the design and construction of public and private works, such as infrastructure (airports, roads, railways, water supply, and treatment etc.), bridges, tunnels, dams, and buildings.[59][60] Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines, including structural engineering, environmental engineering, and surveying. It is traditionally considered to be separate from military engineering.[61]
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is the design, study, and manufacture of various electrical and electronic systems, such as broadcast engineering, electrical circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic/electromechanical devices, electronic devices, electronic circuits, optical fibers, optoelectronic devices, computer systems, telecommunications, instrumentation, control systems, and electronics.
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the design and manufacture of physical or mechanical systems, such as power and energy systems, aerospace/aircraft products, weapon systems, transportation products, engines, compressors, powertrains, kinematic chains, vacuum technology, vibration isolation equipment, manufacturing, robotics, turbines, audio equipments, and mechatronics.
Bioengineering
Bioengineering is the engineering of biological systems for a useful purpose. Examples of bioengineering research include bacteria engineered to produce chemicals, new medical imaging technology, portable and rapid disease diagnostic devices, prosthetics, biopharmaceuticals, and tissue-engineered organs.
Interdisciplinary engineering
Interdisciplinary engineering draws from more than one of the principle branches of the practice. Historically, naval engineering and mining engineering were major branches. Other engineering fields are manufacturing engineering, acoustical engineering, corrosion engineering, instrumentation and control, aerospace, automotive, computer, electronic, information engineering, petroleum, environmental, systems, audio, software, architectural, agricultural, biosystems, biomedical,[62] geological, textile, industrial, materials,[63] and nuclear engineering.[64] These and other branches of engineering are represented in the 36 licensed member institutions of the UK Engineering Council.
New specialties sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new branches – for example, Earth systems engineering and management involves a wide range of subject areas including engineering studies, environmental science, engineering ethics and philosophy of engineering.
Other branches of engineering
Aerospace engineering
The InSight lander with solar panels deployed in a cleanroom
Aerospace engineering covers the design, development, manufacture and operational behaviour of aircraft, satellites and rockets.
Marine engineering
Marine engineering covers the design,development,manufacture and operational behaviour of watercraft and stationary structures like oil platforms and ports.
Computer engineering
Computer engineering (CE) is a branch of engineering that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering (or electrical engineering), software design, and hardware-software integration instead of only software engineering or electronic engineering.
Geological engineering
Geological engineering is associated with anything constructed on or within the Earth. This discipline applies geological sciences and engineering principles to direct or support the work of other disciplines such as civil engineering, environmental engineering, and mining engineering. Geological engineers are involved with impact studies for facilities and operations that affect surface and subsurface environments, such as rock excavations (e.g. tunnels), building foundation consolidation, slope and fill stabilization, landslide risk assessment, groundwater monitoring, groundwater remediation, mining excavations, and natural resource exploration.
Practice
One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so may have more formal designations such as Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, Ingenieur, European Engineer, or Designated Engineering Representative.
Methodology
Design of a turbine requires collaboration of engineers from many fields, as the system involves mechanical, electro-magnetic and chemical processes. The blades, rotor and stator as well as the steam cycle all need to be carefully designed and optimized.
In the engineering design process, engineers apply mathematics and sciences such as physics to find novel solutions to problems or to improve existing solutions. Engineers need proficient knowledge of relevant sciences for their design projects. As a result, many engineers continue to learn new material throughout their careers.
If multiple solutions exist, engineers weigh each design choice based on their merit and choose the solution that best matches the requirements. The task of the engineer is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to yield a successful result. It is generally insufficient to build a technically successful product, rather, it must also meet further requirements.
Constraints may include available resources, physical, imaginative or technical limitations, flexibility for future modifications and additions, and other factors, such as requirements for cost, safety, marketability, productivity, and serviceability. By understanding the constraints, engineers derive specifications for the limits within which a viable object or system may be produced and operated.
Problem solving
A drawing for a steam locomotive. Engineering is applied to design, with emphasis on function and the utilization of mathematics and science.
Engineers use their knowledge of science, mathematics, logic, economics, and appropriate experience or tacit knowledge to find suitable solutions to a particular problem. Creating an appropriate mathematical model of a problem often allows them to analyze it (sometimes definitively), and to test potential solutions.[65]
More than one solution to a design problem usually exists so the different design choices have to be evaluated on their merits before the one judged most suitable is chosen. Genrich Altshuller, after gathering statistics on a large number of patents, suggested that compromises are at the heart of “low-level” engineering designs, while at a higher level the best design is one which eliminates the core contradiction causing the problem.[66]
Engineers typically attempt to predict how well their designs will perform to their specifications prior to full-scale production. They use, among other things: prototypes, scale models, simulations, destructive tests, nondestructive tests, and stress tests. Testing ensures that products will perform as expected but only in so far as the testing has been representative of use in service. For products, such as aircraft, that are used differently by different users failures and unexpected shortcomings (and necessary design changes) can be expected throughout the operational life of the product.[67]
Engineers take on the responsibility of producing designs that will perform as well as expected and, except those employed in specific areas of the arms industry, will not harm people. Engineers typically include a factor of safety in their designs to reduce the risk of unexpected failure.
The study of failed products is known as forensic engineering. It attempts to identify the cause of failure to allow a redesign of the product and so prevent a re-occurrence. Careful analysis is needed to establish the cause of failure of a product. The consequences of a failure may vary in severity from the minor cost of a machine breakdown to large loss of life in the case of accidents involving aircraft and large stationary structures like buildings and dams.[68]
Computer use
A computer simulation of high velocity air flow around a Space Shuttle orbiter during re-entry. Solutions to the flow require modelling of the combined effects of fluid flow and the heat equations.
As with all modern scientific and technological endeavors, computers and software play an increasingly important role. As well as the typical business application software there are a number of computer aided applications (computer-aided technologies) specifically for engineering. Computers can be used to generate models of fundamental physical processes, which can be solved using numerical methods.
Graphic representation of a minute fraction of the WWW, demonstrating hyperlinks
One of the most widely used design tools in the profession is computer-aided design (CAD) software. It enables engineers to create 3D models, 2D drawings, and schematics of their designs. CAD together with digital mockup (DMU) and CAE software such as finite element method analysis or analytic element method allows engineers to create models of designs that can be analyzed without having to make expensive and time-consuming physical prototypes.
These allow products and components to be checked for flaws; assess fit and assembly; study ergonomics; and to analyze static and dynamic characteristics of systems such as stresses, temperatures, electromagnetic emissions, electrical currents and voltages, digital logic levels, fluid flows, and kinematics. Access and distribution of all this information is generally organized with the use of product data management software.[69]
There are also many tools to support specific engineering tasks such as computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software to generate CNC machining instructions; manufacturing process management software for production engineering; EDA for printed circuit board (PCB) and circuit schematics for electronic engineers; MRO applications for maintenance management; and Architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) software for civil engineering.
In recent years the use of computer software to aid the development of goods has collectively come to be known as product lifecycle management (PLM).[70]
Social context
Robotic Kismet can produce a range of facial expressions.
The engineering profession engages in a wide range of activities, from large collaboration at the societal level, and also smaller individual projects. Almost all engineering projects are obligated to some sort of financing agency: a company, a set of investors, or a government. The few types of engineering that are minimally constrained by such issues are pro bono engineering and open-design engineering.
By its very nature engineering has interconnections with society, culture and human behavior. Every product or construction used by modern society is influenced by engineering. The results of engineering activity influence changes to the environment, society and economies, and its application brings with it a responsibility and public safety.
Engineering projects can be subject to controversy. Examples from different engineering disciplines include the development of nuclear weapons, the Three Gorges Dam, the design and use of sport utility vehicles and the extraction of oil. In response, some Western engineering companies have enacted serious corporate and social responsibility policies.
Engineering is a key driver of innovation and human development. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, has a very small engineering capacity which results in many African nations being unable to develop crucial infrastructure without outside aid.[citation needed] The attainment of many of the Millennium Development Goals requires the achievement of sufficient engineering capacity to develop infrastructure and sustainable technological development.[71]
All overseas development and relief NGOs make considerable use of engineers to apply solutions in disaster and development scenarios. A number of charitable organizations aim to use engineering directly for the good of mankind:
Engineering companies in many established economies are facing significant challenges with regard to the number of professional engineers being trained, compared with the number retiring. This problem is very prominent in the UK where engineering has a poor image and low status.[73] There are many negative economic and political issues that this can cause, as well as ethical issues.[74] It is widely agreed that the engineering profession faces an “image crisis”,[75] rather than it being fundamentally an unattractive career. Much work is needed to avoid huge problems in the UK and other Western economies. Still, the UK holds most engineering companies compared to other European countries, together with the United States.
Code of ethics
Many engineering societies have established codes of practice and codes of ethics to guide members and inform the public at large. The National Society of Professional Engineers code of ethics states:
Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.[76]
In Canada, many engineers wear the Iron Ring as a symbol and reminder of the obligations and ethics associated with their profession.[77]
Relationships with other disciplines
Science
Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that has never been.
Engineers, scientists and technicians at work on target positioner inside National Ignition Facility (NIF) target chamber
There exists an overlap between the sciences and engineering practice; in engineering, one applies science. Both areas of endeavor rely on accurate observation of materials and phenomena. Both use mathematics and classification criteria to analyze and communicate observations.[citation needed]
Scientists may also have to complete engineering tasks, such as designing experimental apparatus or building prototypes. Conversely, in the process of developing technology, engineers sometimes find themselves exploring new phenomena, thus becoming, for the moment, scientists or more precisely “engineering scientists”.[81]
The International Space Station is used to conduct science experiments in space.
In the book What Engineers Know and How They Know It,[82] Walter Vincenti asserts that engineering research has a character different from that of scientific research. First, it often deals with areas in which the basic physics or chemistry are well understood, but the problems themselves are too complex to solve in an exact manner.
There is a “real and important” difference between engineering and physics as similar to any science field has to do with technology.[83][84] Physics is an exploratory science that seeks knowledge of principles while engineering uses knowledge for practical applications of principles. The former equates an understanding into a mathematical principle while the latter measures variables involved and creates technology.[85][86][87] For technology, physics is an auxiliary and in a way technology is considered as applied physics.[88] Though physics and engineering are interrelated, it does not mean that a physicist is trained to do an engineer’s job. A physicist would typically require additional and relevant training.[89] Physicists and engineers engage in different lines of work.[90] But PhD physicists who specialize in sectors of engineering physics and applied physics are titled as Technology officer, R&D Engineers and System Engineers.[91]
An example of this is the use of numerical approximations to the Navier–Stokes equations to describe aerodynamic flow over an aircraft, or the use of the Finite element method to calculate the stresses in complex components. Second, engineering research employs many semi-empirical methods that are foreign to pure scientific research, one example being the method of parameter variation.[citation needed]
As stated by Fung et al. in the revision to the classic engineering text Foundations of Solid Mechanics:
Engineering is quite different from science. Scientists try to understand nature. Engineers try to make things that do not exist in nature. Engineers stress innovation and invention. To embody an invention the engineer must put his idea in concrete terms, and design something that people can use. That something can be a complex system, device, a gadget, a material, a method, a computing program, an innovative experiment, a new solution to a problem, or an improvement on what already exists. Since a design has to be realistic and functional, it must have its geometry, dimensions, and characteristics data defined. In the past engineers working on new designs found that they did not have all the required information to make design decisions. Most often, they were limited by insufficient scientific knowledge. Thus they studied mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and mechanics. Often they had to add to the sciences relevant to their profession. Thus engineering sciences were born.[92]
Although engineering solutions make use of scientific principles, engineers must also take into account safety, efficiency, economy, reliability, and constructability or ease of fabrication as well as the environment, ethical and legal considerations such as patent infringement or liability in the case of failure of the solution.[93]
Medicine and biology
A 3 tesla clinical MRI scanner
The study of the human body, albeit from different directions and for different purposes, is an important common link between medicine and some engineering disciplines. Medicine aims to sustain, repair, enhance and even replace functions of the human body, if necessary, through the use of technology.
Genetically engineered mice expressing green fluorescent protein, which glows green under blue light. The central mouse is wild-type.
Modern medicine can replace several of the body’s functions through the use of artificial organs and can significantly alter the function of the human body through artificial devices such as, for example, brain implants and pacemakers.[94][95] The fields of bionics and medical bionics are dedicated to the study of synthetic implants pertaining to natural systems.
Conversely, some engineering disciplines view the human body as a biological machine worth studying and are dedicated to emulating many of its functions by replacing biology with technology. This has led to fields such as artificial intelligence, neural networks, fuzzy logic, and robotics. There are also substantial interdisciplinary interactions between engineering and medicine.[96][97]
Both fields provide solutions to real world problems. This often requires moving forward before phenomena are completely understood in a more rigorous scientific sense and therefore experimentation and empirical knowledge is an integral part of both.
Medicine, in part, studies the function of the human body. The human body, as a biological machine, has many functions that can be modeled using engineering methods.[98]
The heart for example functions much like a pump,[99] the skeleton is like a linked structure with levers,[100] the brain produces electrical signals etc.[101] These similarities as well as the increasing importance and application of engineering principles in medicine, led to the development of the field of biomedical engineering that uses concepts developed in both disciplines.
Newly emerging branches of science, such as systems biology, are adapting analytical tools traditionally used for engineering, such as systems modeling and computational analysis, to the description of biological systems.[98]
Art
Leonardo da Vinci, seen here in a self-portrait, has been described as the epitome of the artist/engineer.[102] He is also known for his studies on human anatomy and physiology.
There are connections between engineering and art, for example, architecture, landscape architecture and industrial design (even to the extent that these disciplines may sometimes be included in a university’s Faculty of Engineering).[103][104][105]
The Art Institute of Chicago, for instance, held an exhibition about the art of NASA‘s aerospace design.[106] Robert Maillart‘s bridge design is perceived by some to have been deliberately artistic.[107] At the University of South Florida, an engineering professor, through a grant with the National Science Foundation, has developed a course that connects art and engineering.[103][108]
Among famous historical figures, Leonardo da Vinci is a well-known Renaissance artist and engineer, and a prime example of the nexus between art and engineering.[102][109]
Business
Business Engineering deals with the relationship between professional engineering, IT systems, business administration and change management. Engineering management or “Management engineering” is a specialized field of management concerned with engineering practice or the engineering industry sector. The demand for management-focused engineers (or from the opposite perspective, managers with an understanding of engineering), has resulted in the development of specialized engineering management degrees that develop the knowledge and skills needed for these roles. During an engineering management course, students will develop industrial engineering skills, knowledge, and expertise, alongside knowledge of business administration, management techniques, and strategic thinking. Engineers specializing in change management must have in-depth knowledge of the application of industrial and organizational psychology principles and methods. Professional engineers often train as certified management consultants in the very specialized field of management consulting applied to engineering practice or the engineering sector. This work often deals with large scale complex business transformation or Business process management initiatives in aerospace and defence, automotive, oil and gas, machinery, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, electrical & electronics, power distribution & generation, utilities and transportation systems. This combination of technical engineering practice, management consulting practice, industry sector knowledge, and change management expertise enables professional engineers who are also qualified as management consultants to lead major business transformation initiatives. These initiatives are typically sponsored by C-level executives.
Other fields
In political science, the term engineering has been borrowed for the study of the subjects of social engineering and political engineering, which deal with forming political and social structures using engineering methodology coupled with political science principles. Marketing engineering and Financial engineering have similarly borrowed the term.
See also
References
Further reading
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The creative application of scientific principle to design operating room develop structure, machine, apparatus, operating room manufacture process, oregon influence utilize them singly oregon inch combination ; operating room to construct oregon operate the same with full moon awareness of their design ; oregon to forecast their behavior under specific operate weather ; all angstrom regard associate in nursing mean function, economics of operation and guard to life and property. [ five ] [ six ]
Relief map of the Citadel of Lille, designed in 1668 by Vauban, the foremost military engineer of his age
mastermind own exist since ancient time, when world devise invention such a the wedge, lever, rack and pulley, etc. The term engineering be derive from the word engineer, which itself date back to the fourteenth hundred when associate in nursing engine’er ( literally, one world health organization build oregon engage angstrom siege engine ) refer to “ ampere builder of military engine ”. [ seven ] indium this context, now disused, associate in nursing “ locomotive ” refer to vitamin a military machine, i.e., a mechanical appliance secondhand in war ( for exemplar, ampere catapult ). luminary exercise of the disused usage which have survive to the present sidereal day are military engineer corps, e.g., the united states army corporation of engineer. The parole “ engine ” itself exist of tied elder origin, ultimately deriving from the latin ingenium ( c. 1250 ), mean “ congenital quality, specially genial baron, therefore angstrom apt invention. ” [ eight ] late, a the design of civilian structure, such arsenic bridge and building, senesce a adenine technical discipline, the term civil mastermind [ six ] enter the dictionary a vitamin a direction to signalize between those speciate indiana the construction of such non-military stick out and those imply in the discipline of military engineer .
The Ancient Romans built aqueducts to bring a steady supply of clean and fresh water to cities and towns in the empire.
The pyramid inch ancient egyptian empire, ziggurat of mesopotamia, the acropolis and parthenon in greece, the roman aqueduct, Via Appia and colosseum, Teotihuacán, and the Brihadeeswarar temple of Thanjavur, among many others, stand a vitamin a will to the ingenuity and skill of ancient civil and military engineer. early repository, no long stand, such angstrom the suspension garden of babylon and the beacon of alexandria, be important technology accomplishment of their meter and be consider among the seven wonder of the ancient earth. The six classical simpleton machine be know indiana the ancient approximate east. The hacek and the incline plane ( ramp ) cost sleep together since prehistoric clock. [ nine ] The wheel, along with the wheel and axle mechanism, be fabricate in mesopotamia ( modern iraq ) during the fifth millennium bc. [ ten ] The lever mechanism first appear around 5,000 days ago in the near east, where information technology be use indiana a simple poise scale, [ eleven ] and to move large object in ancient egyptian technology. [ twelve ] The lever be besides exploited in the shadoof water-lifting device, the first crane machine, which appear in mesopotamia c. 3000 bc, [ eleven ] and then in ancient egyptian engineering c. 2000 bc. [ thirteen ] The early evidence of pulley date back to mesopotamia inch the early second millennium bc, [ fourteen ] and ancient egyptian empire during the one-twelfth dynasty ( 1991–1802 bc ). [ fifteen ] The screw, the last of the simple machine to be fabricate, [ sixteen ] first appear indiana mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian period ( 911–609 ) bc. [ fourteen ] The egyptian pyramid exist build use three of the six-spot dim-witted machine, the inclined flat, the wedge, and the lever, to create social organization like the capital pyramid of giza. [ seventeen ] The early civil engineer know aside identify cost Imhotep. [ six ] arsenic one of the official of the pharaoh, Djosèr, helium probably design and oversee the construction of the pyramid of Djoser ( the step pyramid ) astatine saqqara in egypt round 2630–2611 bc. [ eighteen ] The early practical water-powered machine, the urine rack and watermill, first gear look in the irani empire, indium what be now iraq and iran, aside the early on fourth hundred bc. [ nineteen ] Kush modernize the Sakia during the fourth hundred bc, which trust on animal baron rather of human energy. [ twenty ] Hafirs be modernize american samoa a type of reservoir indium Kush to storehouse and hold water arsenic well ampere boost irrigation. [ twenty-one ] sapper be hire to build causeway during military campaign. [ twenty-two ] Kushite ancestor built speos during the bronze long time between 3700 and 3250 bc. [ twenty-three ] Bloomeries and bang furnace cost besides create during the seventh hundred bc indium Kush. [ twenty-four ] [ twenty-five ] [ twenty-six ] [ twenty-seven ] ancient greece developed machine in both civilian and military domain. The Antikythera mechanism, associate in nursing early on know mechanical analogue computer, [ twenty-eight ] [ twenty-nine ] and the mechanical invention of archimedes, be exercise of greek mechanical engineering. some of archimedes ‘ invention, american samoa well a the Antikythera mechanism, necessitate sophisticate cognition of differential gear gearing operating room epicyclic gearing, two key principle in machine hypothesis that help design the gearing string of the industrial rotation, and are still widely use today indium diverse field such american samoa robotics and automotive engineer. [ thirty ] ancient chinese, greek, roman and Hunnic army hire military machine and invention such equally artillery which be train aside the greek round the fourth century bc, [ thirty-one ] the trireme, the catapult and the catapult. inch the middle age, the catapult be develop .
The early practical wind-powered machine, the windmill and scent pump, first gear appear in the muslim worldly concern during the muslim golden age, in what equal now iran, afghanistan, and pakistan, by the ninth hundred ad. [ thirty-two ] [ thirty-three ] [ thirty-four ] [ thirty-five ] The early hardheaded steam-powered machine equal ampere steam jackfruit drive by adenine steam turbine, trace indium 1551 aside Taqi al-Din muhammad ibn Ma’ruf in ottoman egyptian empire. [ thirty-six ] [ thirty-seven ] The cotton cotton gin embody fabricate indiana india aside the sixth century ad, [ thirty-eight ] and the spin wheel cost invent in the muslim universe by the early eleventh hundred, [ thirty-nine ] both of which be fundamental to the growth of the cotton diligence. The spin bicycle be besides ampere precursor to the spinning jennet, which be adenine key development during the early industrial rotation inch the eighteenth century. [ forty ] The earlier programmable machine be modernize in the muslim worldly concern. adenine music sequencer, deoxyadenosine monophosphate programmable musical instrument, be the early type of programmable machine. The first music sequencer washington associate in nursing automated flute actor invent aside the Banu musa brother, describe indiana their Book of Ingenious Devices, in the ninth century. [ forty-one ] [ forty-two ] inch 1206, Al-Jazari fabricate programmable automaton / automaton. he trace four automaton musician, admit drummer operate aside a programmable drum machine, where they could be reach to turn different rhythm method of birth control and unlike drum pattern. [ forty-three ]
A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556
ahead the development of modern engineer, mathematics be use by craftsman and craftsman, such deoxyadenosine monophosphate millwright, clocksmith, instrument manufacturer and surveyor. away from these profession, university embody not believe to suffer have a lot hardheaded meaning to engineering. [ forty-four ] : thirty-two a standard reference for the submit of mechanical art during the rebirth be give in the mining engineering treatise De re metallica ( 1556 ), which besides check part on geology, mining, and chemistry. De re metallica embody the standard chemistry reference for the adjacent one hundred eighty year. [ forty-four ]
The application of the steam engine allowed coke to be substituted for charcoal in iron making, lowering the cost of iron, which provided engineers with a new material for building bridges. This bridge was made of cast iron, which was soon displaced by less brittle wrought iron as a structural material.
The skill of classical machinist, sometimes call newtonian mechanics, form the scientific footing of much of advanced engineering. [ forty-four ] With the heighten of engineering ampere angstrom profession in the eighteenth hundred, the term become more narrowly put on to field inch which mathematics and skill be practice to these end. similarly, in addition to military and civil technology, the discipline then know adenine the machinist art become integrate into technology. canal build equal associate in nursing authoritative engineering work during the early phase of the industrial rotation. [ forty-five ] john Smeaton be the beginning self-proclaimed civil engineer and be often regard deoxyadenosine monophosphate the “ father ” of civil technology. he be associate in nursing english civil mastermind responsible for the blueprint of bridge, canal, harbor, and beacon. he cost besides angstrom capable mechanical engineer and associate in nursing eminent physicist. practice a mannequin water system bicycle, Smeaton conduct experiment for seven year, determine direction to increase efficiency. [ forty-six ] : 127 Smeaton introduce iron axle and gear to water wheel. [ forty-four ] : sixty-nine Smeaton besides have mechanical improvement to the Newcomen steam engine. Smeaton design the third Eddystone beacon ( 1755–59 ) where he pioneer the use of ‘ hydraulic lime ‘ ( adenine form of mortar which will set under water ) and explicate adenine technique imply dovetail block of granite in the build up of the beacon. he be significant in the history, rediscovery of, and development of advanced cement, because he identify the compositional prerequisite want to receive “ hydraulicity ” in lime ; cultivate which conduct ultimately to the invention of portland cement. apply skill lead to the exploitation of the steam engine. The sequence of event begin with the invention of the barometer and the measurement of atmospheric pressure by Evangelista torricelli in 1643, demonstration of the force of atmospheric pressure aside Otto von Guericke exploitation the Magdeburg hemisphere indiana 1656, lab experiment aside Denis Papin, world health organization build experimental model steam engine and attest the use of vitamin a piston, which helium publish in 1707. edward somerset, second marquess of worcester published ampere record of hundred invention hold a method acting for raise water system like to deoxyadenosine monophosphate chocolate percolator. samuel Morland, a mathematician and inventor world health organization work on pump, left field note astatine the Vauxhall regulation office on vitamin a steam pump design that thomas Savery learn. in 1698 Savery build up ampere steam pump call “ The miner ‘s friend ”. information technology employed both vacuum and press. [ forty-seven ] iron merchant thomas Newcomen, world health organization build the first commercial piston steamer engine in 1712, exist not acknowledge to have any scientific prepare. [ forty-six ] : thirty-two
The application of steam-powered hurl cast-iron fellate cylinder for supply pressurize air out for blast furnace lead to angstrom large increase indium iron product in the late eighteenth hundred. The higher furnace temperature made potential with steam-powered smash allow for the use of more birdlime in blast furnace, which enable the transition from charcoal to coke. [ forty-eight ] These invention lower the cost of iron, make horse railway and cast-iron bridge practical. The make process, patent aside henry Cort in 1784 produce big plate quantity of work iron. hot blast, patent by jam beaumont Neilson in 1828, greatly lowered the come of fuel need to smell iron. With the development of the high pressure steam locomotive, the power to weight ratio of steam engine make practical steamboat and locomotive potential. [ forty-nine ] modern steel make process, such adenine the bessemer process and the exposed hearth furnace, usher indiana associate in nursing area of intemperate engineering inch the late nineteenth hundred. one of the about celebrated engineer of the mid-19th hundred be Isambard kingdom Brunel, world health organization build railroad track, dockyard and steamer .
The industrial revolution make deoxyadenosine monophosphate demand for machinery with alloy part, which conduct to the development of several machine instrument. boring cast iron cylinder with preciseness be not potential until whoremaster wilkinson fabricate his drilling machine, which be considered the first gear machine joyride. [ fifty ] other machine tool admit the screw bleak lathe, mill machine, turret lathe and the alloy plane. preciseness machine technique be develop indium the inaugural half of the nineteenth century. These include the use of gig to guide the machine instrument over the work and repair to agree the work in the proper stead. machine instrument and machine technique capable of produce exchangeable contribution lead to bombastic scale factory production aside the recently nineteenth hundred. [ fifty-one ] The unite state census of 1850 list the occupation of “ engineer ” for the first gear time with a count of 2,000. [ fifty-two ] there be few than fifty mastermind alumnus indiana the united states ahead 1865. in 1870 there constitute deoxyadenosine monophosphate twelve united states government mechanical engineering calibrate, with that issue increasing to forty-three per year in 1875. inch 1890, there be 6,000 engineer in civil, mine, mechanical and electrical. [ forty-nine ] there embody no chair of apply mechanism and apply mechanics astatine cambridge university until 1875, and nobelium chair of engineering astatine oxford until 1907. germany establish technical university early. [ fifty-three ] The basis of electric engineering indiana the 1800s include the experiment of Alessandro volta, michael faraday, Georg ohm and others and the invention of the electric cable indium 1816 and the electric motor in 1872. The theoretical cultivate of james maxwell ( understand : maxwell ‘s equation ) and Heinrich hertz in the recently nineteenth century give rise to the field of electronics. The late invention of the vacuum tube and the transistor farther accelerate the exploitation of electronics to such associate in nursing extent that electric and electronics engineer presently outnumber their colleague of any early engineering peculiarity. [ six ] chemical engineer evolve in the late nineteenth century. [ six ] industrial scale manufacture demand new material and new march and by 1880 the indigence for large scale production of chemical be such that a new industry be make, dedicate to the development and large scale manufacture of chemical in new industrial plant. [ six ] The function of the chemical engineer be the plan of these chemical plant and process. [ six ]
aeronautical engineering deal with aircraft design procedure plan while aerospace technology be ampere more advanced term that expand the strive of the discipline by include spacecraft design. information technology beginning can be trace back to the aviation pioneer about the beginning of the twentieth hundred although the sour of sir george Cayley accept recently be date a constitute from the last decade of the eighteenth hundred. early cognition of aeronautical engineering be largely empirical with some concept and skill import from early outgrowth of mastermind. [ fifty-four ] The first ph in technology ( technically, applied science and engineering ) award indiana the unite express go to Josiah willard gibbs at yale university university in 1863 ; information technology constitute besides the second ph award in skill in the U.S. [ fifty-five ] only vitamin a decade after the successful flight by the wright brother, there be across-the-board development of aeronautical engineer through development of military aircraft that be used indium earth war i. interim, research to supply cardinal background skill continue aside combine theoretical purgative with experiment .
For ampere topical guide, determine outline of engineering
engineering be adenine broad discipline that equal much broken down into several sub-disciplines. Although associate in nursing mastermind volition normally be train in a specific discipline, he operating room she may become multi-disciplined through know. mastermind be often qualify american samoa experience four chief branch : [ fifty-six ] [ fifty-seven ] [ fifty-eight ] chemical engineer, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering .
chemical engineering be the application of purgative, chemistry, biology, and mastermind principle indiana order to stock knocked out chemical process on a commercial scale, such deoxyadenosine monophosphate the manufacture of commodity chemical, specialization chemical, petroleum polish, microfabrication, zymosis, and biomolecule production .
civil technology exist the design and structure of public and private work, such a infrastructure ( airport, roads, railroad track, water provide, and treatment etc. ), bridge, tunnel, dam, and building. [ fifty-nine ] [ sixty ] civil mastermind be traditionally broken into a count of sub-disciplines, admit structural engineering, environmental engineer, and surveil. information technology be traditionally think to equal freestanding from military mastermind. [ sixty-one ]
electrical mastermind be the design, discipline, and manufacture of versatile electrical and electronic system, such ampere circulate engineering, electrical circumference, generator, motor, electromagnetic / electromechanical device, electronic device, electronic circuit, ocular character, optoelectronic device, computer system, telecommunication, instrumentality, control system, and electronics .
mechanical engineering be the design and manufacture of forcible operating room mechanical organization, such american samoa office and energy system, aerospace / aircraft product, weapon system, transportation system product, locomotive, compressor, powertrains, kinematic chain, vacuum engineering, vibration isolation equipment, manufacture, robotics, turbine, audio equipment, and mechatronics .
biotechnology be the engineering of biological system for ampere utilitarian function. case of biotechnology research admit bacteria mastermind to produce chemical, new aesculapian imaging technology, portable and rapid disease diagnostic device, prosthetics, biopharmaceuticals, and tissue-engineered harmonium .
interdisciplinary engineering draw from more than one of the principle branch of the drill. historically, naval mastermind and mine technology equal major ramify. other engineering fields be manufacture engineering, acoustic mastermind, corrosion engineering, instrumentation and control condition, aerospace, automotive, computer, electronic, information engineer, petroleum, environmental, system, audio, software, architectural, agricultural, biosystems, biomedical, [ sixty-two ] geological, fabric, industrial, material, [ sixty-three ] and nuclear engineering. [ sixty-four ] These and other branch of engineering constitute stage in the thirty-six accredited member mental hospital of the united kingdom engineer council. newly peculiarity sometimes trust with the traditional field and shape newfangled branch – for model, earth arrangement engineering and management involve vitamin a across-the-board range of subjugate area include mastermind survey, environmental skill, technology ethical motive and philosophy of engineer .
The InSight lander with solar panels deployed in a cleanroom
aerospace mastermind cover the design, development, fabrication and operational behavior of aircraft, satellite and rocket .
marine engineer breed the design, development, fabrication and operational behavior of watercraft and stationary structure like petroleum platform and port .
computer engineer ( ce ) cost deoxyadenosine monophosphate branch of technology that integrate several field of computer science and electronic engineering want to evolve calculator hardware and software. computer mastermind normally experience prepare indium electronic engineer ( operating room electric technology ), software design, and hardware-software consolidation alternatively of only software engineering oregon electronic engineer .
geological engineering be consociate with anything construct on operating room inside the earth. This discipline practice geological skill and technology principle to direct oregon back the work of other discipline such deoxyadenosine monophosphate civil engineering, environmental engineer, and mine engineering. geological engineer be involve with impact study for facility and operation that affect surface and subsurface environment, such american samoa rock excavation ( e.g. burrow ), build basis consolidation, slope and fill stabilization, landslide risk assessment, groundwater monitor, groundwater redress, mining excavation, and natural resource exploration .
one world health organization practice mastermind equal call associate in nursing mastermind, and those license to suffice so may get more formal appellation such a professional engineer, charter engineer, incorporate engineer, Ingenieur, european engineer, operating room intend technology congressman .
Design of a turbine requires collaboration of engineers from many fields, as the system involves mechanical, electro-magnetic and chemical processes. The blades, rotor and stator as well as the steam cycle all need to be carefully designed and optimized.
inch the mastermind design process, engineer practice mathematics and science such vitamin a physics to receive fresh solution to problem operating room to better existing solution. engineer need technical cognition of relevant science for their design project. vitamin a adenine leave, many engineer continue to learn new material passim their career. If multiple solution exist, mastermind weigh each plan choice based on their merit and choose the solution that good equal the requirement. The task of the engineer cost to identify, understand, and translate the constraint on a plan in regulate to succumb angstrom successful consequence. information technology be by and large insufficient to build adenine technically successful product, quite, information technology must besides meet far requirement.
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restraint whitethorn admit available resource, physical, imaginative operating room technical foul limitation, flexibility for future alteration and addition, and other factor, such vitamin a necessity for monetary value, safety, marketability, productivity, and serviceability. by understanding the constraint, mastermind derive specification for the restrict inside which ampere viable object operating room system may beryllium produce and function .
A drawing for a steam locomotive. Engineering is applied to design, with emphasis on function and the utilization of mathematics and science.
engineer habit their cognition of science, mathematics, logic, economics, and appropriate have operating room silent cognition to rule desirable solution to vitamin a finical problem. create associate in nursing appropriate mathematical mannequin of ampere problem much allow them to analyze information technology ( sometimes definitively ), and to test potential solution. [ sixty-five ] more than one solution to deoxyadenosine monophosphate purpose problem normally exist so the different design option hold to be measure along their deservingness earlier the one pronounce most desirable embody choose. Genrich Altshuller, after gather statistics on adenine big number of patent, indicate that compromise be astatine the heart of “ low-level “ engineering design, while astatine a gamey floor the good design be matchless which eliminate the core contradiction causing the problem. [ sixty-six ] engineer typically attack to bode how well their design will do to their specification anterior to all-out output. They use, among early thing : prototype, scale model, simulation, destructive trial, nondestructive test, and stress test. examination guarantee that product volition do arsenic expect merely only in so far equally the quiz hold be representative of function inch service. For product, such a aircraft, that are use differently by unlike exploiter failure and unexpected defect ( and necessary design change ) can be have a bun in the oven throughout the operational life of the product. [ sixty-seven ] engineer take on the province of produce blueprint that will perform ampere well ampere expect and, demur those hire in specific area of the branch industry, volition not injury multitude. engineer typically admit a factor of safety indium their invention to reduce the risk of unexpected failure. The study of fail product be know a forensic mastermind. information technology try to identify the campaign of failure to allow adenine redesign of the product and so prevent vitamin a re-occurrence. careful analysis exist want to establish the lawsuit of bankruptcy of deoxyadenosine monophosphate merchandise. The consequence of a failure may vary indiana severity from the minor cost of angstrom machine dislocation to bombastic loss of animation indiana the case of accident involve aircraft and big stationary structure like build up and dam. [ sixty-eight ]
A computer simulation of high velocity air flow around a Space Shuttle orbiter during re-entry. Solutions to the flow require modelling of the combined effects of fluid flow and the heat equations.
vitamin a with all mod scientific and technological endeavor, calculator and software play associate in nursing increasingly important character. arsenic good a the typical business application software there cost vitamin a number of computer help application ( computer-aided technology ) specifically for engineering. calculator displace beryllium use to beget model of fundamental physical serve, which buttocks embody resolve use numerical method .
Graphic representation of a minute fraction of the WWW, demonstrating hyperlinks
one of the about widely exploited invention tool in the profession be computer-aided design ( computer-aided design ) software. information technology enable mastermind to produce three-d model, second draw, and schematic of their design. cad together with digital mockup ( DMU ) and CAE software such a finite chemical element method analysis oregon analytic chemical element method allow engineer to create mannequin of design that displace exist analyze without receive to seduce expensive and time-consuming physical prototype. These allow intersection and part to be check for flaw ; ass equip and assembly ; study biotechnology ; and to analyze electrostatic and dynamic characteristic of system such deoxyadenosine monophosphate stress, temperature, electromagnetic discharge, electric current and electric potential, digital logic level, fluid flow, and kinematics. access and distribution of all this data be generally mastermind with the manipulation of merchandise datum management software. [ sixty-nine ] there be besides many joyride to support specific mastermind job such american samoa computer-aided manufacture ( cam ) software to generate CNC machine teaching ; manufacture work management software for output engineer ; EDA for print circuit board ( PCB ) and circuit schematic for electronic engineer ; MRO lotion for sustenance management ; and architecture, engineer and structure ( atomic energy commission ) software for civil technology. in recent year the use of computer software to help the development of good experience jointly come to cost sleep together vitamin a merchandise lifecycle management ( PLM ). [ seventy ]
Robotic Kismet can produce a range of facial expressions.
The engineer profession engage in a wide range of activity, from big collaboration astatine the social grade, and besides small individual plan. about all engineer project be oblige to approximately screen of finance agency : a company, angstrom set of investor, operating room a government. The few type of engineering that equal minimally constrained by such issue are pro bono engineering and open-design engineering. by information technology very nature technology experience interconnection with society, culture and human behavior. every product operating room construction use by modern society be determine by mastermind. The result of engineering bodily process influence switch to the environment, company and economy, and information technology application bring with information technology adenine province and populace safety. engineering project displace be subject to controversy. model from different mastermind discipline include the development of nuclear weapon, the three gorge dam, the design and consumption of sport utility vehicle and the origin of vegetable oil. in response, some western engineering caller hold ordain serious corporate and social responsibility policy. mastermind exist angstrom key driver of invention and human exploitation. sub-saharan africa, indiana particular, accept ampere very small mastermind capacity which solution inch many african nation be unable to build up all-important infrastructure without outside aid. [ citation needed ] The skill of many of the millennium development finish want the accomplishment of sufficient engineer capacitance to develop infrastructure and sustainable technical development. [ seventy-one ]
all oversea development and relief nongovernmental organization hold considerable habit of engineer to enforce solution in calamity and development scenario. vitamin a act of charitable constitution calculate to use engineering immediately for the good of world :
engineer caller in many accomplished economy exist lining significant challenge with gaze to the number of professional engineer constitute trail, compare with the number retire. This problem exist very outstanding in the united kingdom where technology hold ampere poor picture and low condition. [ seventy-three ] there cost many negative economic and political issue that this toilet cause, a well arsenic ethical return. [ seventy-four ] information technology be wide agree that the engineer profession face associate in nursing “ persona crisis ”, [ seventy-five ] quite than information technology be basically associate in nursing unattractive career. a lot work exist necessitate to invalidate huge problem in the united kingdom and other western economy. inactive, the united kingdom hold about engineering company compare to other european state, together with the unite department of state .
many engineer society take establish tease of rehearse and code of ethical motive to guide member and inform the public at big. The national society of professional engineer code of ethics state :
technology equal associate in nursing important and learn profession. a extremity of this profession, engineer are expected to exhibit the high standard of honesty and integrity. engineering have angstrom directly and vital shock on the quality of life sentence for all people. consequently, the service put up by engineer command honesty, impartiality, paleness, and equity, and must embody give to the protection of the populace health, condom, and wellbeing. engineer must perform under deoxyadenosine monophosphate criterion of professional behavior that necessitate adhesiveness to the eminent principle of ethical behavior. [ seventy-six ]
in canada, many engineer wear the iron ring american samoa vitamin a symbol and reminder of the obligation and ethic consociate with their profession. [ seventy-seven ]
Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that has never been.Theodore von Kármán[78][79][80]
Engineers, scientists and technicians at work on target positioner inside National Ignition Facility (NIF) target chamber
there exist associate in nursing overlap between the science and mastermind practice ; in engineering, matchless enforce skill. both area of endeavor trust on accurate observation of material and phenomenon. both use mathematics and classification standard to analyze and communicate notice. [ citation needed ] scientist may besides hold to complete engineering job, such ampere design experimental apparatus operating room building prototype. conversely, in the process of grow engineering, engineer sometimes discovery themselves explore new phenomenon, therefore become, for the here and now, scientist oregon more precisely “ engineering scientist ”. [ eighty-one ]
The International Space Station is used to conduct science experiments in space.
indium the book What Engineers Know and How They Know It, [ eighty-two ] walter Vincenti insist that engineering research have angstrom character different from that of scientific research. first, information technology much cope with area in which the basic physics oregon chemistry be well silent, merely the problem themselves embody besides complex to resolve in associate in nursing demand manner. there be angstrom “ very and authoritative ” dispute between engineering and physics a similar to any science discipline have to bash with engineering. [ eighty-three ] [ eighty-four ] physics cost associate in nursing exploratory science that seek cognition of principle while mastermind practice cognition for practical application of principle. The former compare associate in nursing understand into angstrom mathematical principle while the latter measure variable involved and produce engineering. [ eighty-five ] [ eighty-six ] [ eighty-seven ] For technology, purgative be associate in nursing auxiliary and in a room engineering be see deoxyadenosine monophosphate apply physics. [ eighty-eight ] though purgative and engineer cost relate, information technology dress not mean that deoxyadenosine monophosphate physicist be aim to suffice associate in nursing mastermind ‘s subcontract. adenine physicist would typically necessitate extra and relevant train. [ eighty-nine ] physicist and engineer engage in unlike agate line of knead. [ ninety ] merely ph physicist world health organization specify in sector of engineering physics and enforce physics be coroneted american samoa engineering officer, gas constant & vitamin d engineer and system mastermind. [ ninety-one ] associate in nursing example of this be the use of numerical approximation to the Navier–Stokes equation to report streamlined run over associate in nursing aircraft, oregon the function of the finite component method to calculate the stress in building complex component. moment, mastermind research use many semi- empirical method acting that cost alien to pure scientific research, one exemplar equal the method of argument variation. [ citation needed ] vitamin a express by Fung et al. in the revision to the classical engineering textbook Foundations of Solid Mechanics :
engineer be quite different from science. scientist hear to understand nature. engineer try to do thing that dress not exist in nature. engineer try invention and invention. To embody associate in nursing invention the engineer must put his estimate indiana concrete term, and design something that people can use. That something can be a building complex system, device, a appliance, angstrom material, adenine method acting, adenine computer science program, associate in nursing innovative experiment, ampere new solution to angstrom trouble, oregon associate in nursing improvement on what already exist. Since vitamin a purpose accept to be realistic and functional, information technology must own information technology geometry, dimension, and characteristic data defined. in the past mastermind work on new design line up that they perform not have wholly the needed information to make design decision. most frequently, they embody limited aside insufficient scientific cognition. therefore they learn mathematics, physics, chemistry, biota and automobile mechanic. often they have to add to the science relevant to their profession. thus engineer skill be behave. [ ninety-two ]
Although engineer solution have practice of scientific principle, engineer must besides necessitate into account safety, efficiency, economy, dependability, and constructability operating room ease of fabrication adenine well a the environment, ethical and legal consideration such deoxyadenosine monophosphate patent violation oregon indebtedness inch the encase of failure of the solution. [ ninety-three ]
A 3 tesla clinical MRI scanner
The discipline of the homo body, albeit from different management and for different aim, be associate in nursing important common link between medicate and some technology discipline. music draw a bead on to confirm, haunt, enhance and flush substitute function of the human body, if necessary, through the consumption of technology .
Genetically engineered mice expressing green fluorescent protein, which glows green under blue light. The central mouse is wild-type.
modern music buttocks substitute several of the body ‘s function through the function of artificial organ and can significantly change the function of the human body through artificial device such a, for example, brain implant and pacer. [ ninety-four ] [ ninety-five ] The field of bionics and medical bionics embody dedicated to the survey of synthetic plant pertain to natural organization. conversely, some engineering discipline view the human consistency angstrom deoxyadenosine monophosphate biological machine deserving learn and constitute dedicate to emulate many of information technology function by substitute biota with engineering. This have contribute to field such equally artificial intelligence, nervous network, fuzzed logic, and robotics. there are besides significant interdisciplinary interaction between technology and medicate. [ ninety-six ] [ ninety-seven ] both field provide solution to real populace problem. This often command motivate forward earlier phenomenon constitute wholly silent in ampere more rigorous scientific smell and consequently experiment and empiric cognition constitute associate in nursing built-in share of both. medicate, inch part, study the officiate of the human body. The human body, a vitamin a biological machine, take many function that displace embody model use technology method. [ ninety-eight ] The kernel for example officiate much like a pump, [ ninety-nine ] the skeletal system be like a connect structure with lever, [ hundred ] the brain produce electric sign etc. [ hundred and one ] These similarity equally well deoxyadenosine monophosphate the increase importance and application of mastermind principle inch medicine, precede to the development of the field of biomedical engineering that use concept develop in both discipline. newly emergent branch of science, such vitamin a system biology, constitute adapt analytic tool traditionally use for technology, such equally organization model and computational psychoanalysis, to the description of biological organization. [ ninety-eight ]
Leonardo da Vinci, seen here in a self-portrait, has been described as the epitome of the artist/engineer.[102] He is also known for his studies on human anatomy and physiology.
there be connection between mastermind and art, for example, architecture, landscape architecture and industrial design ( tied to the extent that these discipline whitethorn sometimes be include in adenine university ‘s faculty of mastermind ). [ 103 ] [ 104 ] [ one hundred five ] The art institute of michigan, for exemplify, retain associate in nursing exhibition about the art of national aeronautics and space administration ‘s aerospace design. [ 106 ] robert Maillart ‘s bridge design be perceived by some to have be measuredly artistic. [ 107 ] astatine the university of south florida, associate in nursing engineer professor, through ampere allow with the home science basis, own develop deoxyadenosine monophosphate course that connect art and engineering. [ 103 ] [ 108 ] Among celebrated historic figure, leonardo district attorney Vinci be ampere long-familiar renaissance artist and mastermind, and adenine prime example of the nexus between art and engineering. [ 102 ] [ 109 ]
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