Outline
What is Engineering?
What is not Engineering?
How do Engineers do their job?
Roles of Engineers
What is Engineering?
• Engineers solve problems using knowledge of
math, science, and technology.
• The profession in which knowledge of the
mathematical and natural sciences, gained by
study, experience, and practice, is applied with
judgment to develop ways to use
(economically) the materials and forces of
nature for the benefit of humankind. ABET
Other definitions of Engineering
• “Design under constraint," where the
constraints include the laws of nature, cost,
safety, reliability, environmental impact,
manufacturability, and many other factors.
While science attempts to discover what is,
engineering is concerned with what might be.
Engr in K-12 Education
• Engineering is the practical application of
science and math to solve problems. GA Tech
Engineering is not…
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Building a house
Just making something
Designing a menu
Sewing or knitting
Simply using technological tools
Programming your DVD player
Applying science, but rather figuring out
how to solve problems using knowledge of
science.
What Engineers do
• Solve problems by designing things
• Create, design, test, or improve objects or
systems
• Develop new industries, businesses, and
technologies
• Use existing technology in new and novel
ways for the betterment of humankind
• Build upon our existing technology base
How do Engineers Benefit Society?
• Creators of wealth
– What other professions are “wealth generating”?
• Creators of jobs and business
• Engineers can give their nation advantages over
other nations
• Engineers bring greater value to a nation’s
resources.
• Engineers build systems that allow people to be
more efficient and effective.
• Engineers find ways to efficiently use energy and
resources.
Some engineers use the
Engineering Design Process
1. Identify need – define your problem
2. Brainstorm ideas
3. Define the criterion used to pick a particular
solution over others
(cost, reliability, safety, ease of use, etc.)
4. Build a prototype
5. Test and Evaluate
6. Go back to step 2 or 3 and refine design
Engineers also engineer by
Using the ideas of others and expanding on
these to advance technology.
Newton perfected
the Telescope
Isaac Newton once said,
"If I have been able to see farther than others,
it is because I stood on the shoulders of
giants."
Engineers also engineer because
There is a new need
Wheel is invented 5500 years ago but
the bicycle emerges in 1817
German Baron Karl Von
Drais invented a “walking
machine” to help him get
around the gardens.
The Hobby Horse as it
was called was pushed
forward by the rider’s
feet.
http://www.karl-drais.de/rubrik.htm
Why the “Hobby Horse”?
• In 1815, Indonesian Volcano,
Tambora, explodes releasing the
greatest known mass of dust into
the atmosphere.
• An explosion seven times more
massive than Krakatoa in 1883.
• 1816 is known as the “year
without a summer”
• Many horses were killed or died
due to lack of fodder, causing a
shortage of horses, leading to the
development of a human powered
“running machine”.
Krakatoa
Tambora
Engineers also engineer because
oops –
look what just happened!
In 1839 Charles Goodyear makes a “trial
and error” discovery
Some Rubber and Sulfur are mixed on a hot stove. This
causes the rubber to become vulcanized.
The Sulfur helps link the long polymer chains together so that
rubber is more durable and able to hold shapes over a wide
range of temperatures. This is called curing.
Engineers also engineer because
The materials and
manufacturing has caught
up with a good idea.
Ball bearings reduce the friction of
spinning wheels.
DaVinci is credited with sketching
ball bearings around 1500.
Engineers also engineer because
Geography provides all the
necessary components.
Domestication of large animals
exploits the usefulness of wheels
leading to the beginning of agrarian societies
• Jared Diamond identifies only 14
domesticated large mammal species
worldwide. The five most useful (cow, horse,
sheep, goat, and pig) are all descendants of
species from Eurasia. Of the remaining nine,
only two (the llama and alpaca both of South
America) are indigenous to a land outside the
temperate region of Eurasia.
• What does this mean for Native Americans,
Africans, Australians, and most South
Americans?
• Culture and technological progress depends
on an advantageous geography.
UC Berkeley
Eurasia
Large continuous Temperate
zone in which domesticated
animals could evolve and
spread out.
Shown in pink are
the Temperate Zones
having Four Seasons
and Grasslands.
Wikipedia
Engineers also engineer because of
Previous Experience and well
honed experimental skills
Wilbur and Orville Wright
Engineers also engineer because of
very deliberate attempts to
make something specific
The Transistor
Bell Telephone wanted a
solid state replacement to
the vacuum tube that
would amplify telephone
signals better and faster.
Roles of Engineers
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Sales (direct contact with customer)
Research
Design
Development (build prototype)
Analysis (using computer-based tools)
Systems (integration of all parts)
Manufacturing
Testing and QA
Consulting (e.g. legal consulting on patent
cases)
• Management
• Customer and/or Technical Support
Have you heard of these
Challenges facing Engineers?
• Environmental issues (also an opportunity)
• Energy Crisis
• Skills Obsolescence
– Off-shoring jobs, training, and education.
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Technology Obsolescence
Lack of Entrepreneurial Acumen
Loosely Organized (many engineers are not licensed)
Influencing Public Policy
– Creating a united voice for or against issues that effect
engineers and society.
Technology evolves
• Don’t reinvent the wheel
• Devices and systems start simple and become
increasingly more complex.
• Ideas are borrowed and poached constantly.
• Some new science is discovered and people
find useful ways to use this discovery.
• You can not own or patent an idea, so rewards
exist for innovation.
Do you see a similarity?
Wood Lathe
Apple Peeler Corer
All Technology has trade-offs
Nothing is black and white
Is there any 100% perfect invention?
Consider of the trade-offs of:
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Jacquard’s Loom
Spinning Jenny
Motors
Interstate Highways
Air conditioning
Bicycle
Printing Press
Accurate clocks