The Engines of
Engineering
The Ingenious Profession
What is Engineering?
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From the moment your alarm clock wakes
you up until you turn the lights out to sleep,
You are Surrounded by Engineering
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Alarm Clock (Electrical, Mechanical)
Bathroom (Environmental, Chemical)
Kitchen (Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical)
Automobile (Mechanical, Petroleum, Electrical)
Road (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical)
And on and on….
What is Engineering?
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There is hardly any Aspect of your Day
which isn’t affected by Engineering
Involved with
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Safety
Standards of Practice
Protecting Society and Environment
Making Life Easier and More Enjoyable
What is Engineering?
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But…
What is Engineering?
Where Did it Start?
Who Are Engineers?
What Do They Do?
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The Story is as old as Civilization….
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The Ingeniator as
Master Builder
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The earliest people
recognized as engineers
were the craftsmen,
architects and practical
artists of the ancient world.
Pyramid at Giza
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Abu Simbal
These were the people who:
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smeltered metals for tools and
weapons
Created the roads, the water
conveyances and designed cities
designed and built the great
monuments of the classical world
The Ingeniator as
Master Builder
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They were the people who made life easier and
better for people
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Controlling water meant dependable crops and
domestic supply for a stable society
Building monuments meant permanence and order
Step Pyramid at Sakkara and Irrigated Fields
The Ingeniator as
Master Builder
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Pont du Gard, France, 19 BCE
The Romans were well
known for their
construction projects
which are large even by
today’s standards.
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In fact, the word
“Engineer” comes from
the Latin Ingeniator,
“One who is Ingenious.”
The Ingeniator as
Master Builder
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But, the Master Builders of the ancient and medieval
world built only on experience and practice. They did
not understand the physical mechanics of the
buildings or of the building materials.
Bourges
Cologne
The Ingeniator as
Engineer
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Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
defines Engineering as
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“the application of scientific and technical
knowledge to solve human problems. Engineers
use imagination, judgment and reasoning to
apply science, technology, mathematics, and
practical experience. The result is the design,
production, and operation of useful objects or
processes.”
A scientist studies what is, whereas an
engineer creates what never was
- Theodore Von Karman
The Ingeniator as
Master Builder
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Leonardo Da Vinci had the title
Ingegnere Generale.
One of his great contributions to
knowledge was that he began to
ask not just what works, but HOW.
His notebooks and other writings
led to a new understanding of the
world and how it works.
The Great Revolutions:
Scientific, Industrial and
Engineering
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Galileo Galilei is considered one of the
founders of engineering and scientific
studies for his work in “Two New Sciences”
(1638). They were:
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Mechanics of Materials
Motion of Bodies
Drawing of a
Cantilever Beam
The Great Revolutions: Industrial,
Scientific and Engineering
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The Birth of modern Engineering started with
the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution began in England in
the 1770’s and spread throughout the world.
The development of technology was fueled
by the changes in the military, society,
agriculture, manufacturing and the economy.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial,
Scientific and Engineering
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Mining and Metallurgy started the Revolution.
English land owners in the 16th and 17th
centuries started fencing off the ancient feudal
estates, forcing the peasant farmers off the land
and starting the grazing of sheep.
This provided people who became miners and
employers for the mills and factories.
As the mines grew larger, metallurgical
processes developed new furnaces to refine
ores, such as lead, copper and iron.
By 1750, England was producing quality bar iron
which was used in the manufacture of tools.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial,
Scientific and Engineering
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The Industrial Revolution was fueled by Coal.
Shallow coal had been mined for centuries.
Coal mines were able to dig deeper
when they were dewatered using
pumps driven by steam engines.
James Watt (1736 - 1819) greatly
improved the efficiency of the
steam engine and made it useful
in mining, manufacturing
and transportation.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial,
Scientific and Engineering
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Steam engines were also mated with weaving
looms to greatly speed the manufacture of cloth
from British wool and American cotton.
Newly devised chemical procedures (Led by
Charles Tennant) enabled bleaching of the wool
in days instead of the months required previously.
Joseph-Marie Jacquard of Flanders developed a
Loom which was controlled by punched cards.
This allowed the looms to be automated and to
make cloth of greater quality and quantity.
The mills, mines and other factories hired great
numbers of out-of-work farmers and concentrated
them into cities to work in the factories.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial,
Scientific and Engineering
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Steel started to replace the traditional iron
in the 1830’s, allowing larger and more
elaborate equipment to be constructed.
Transportation (roads, canals, railroads
and steamships) encouraged movement of
goods and people.
Food could be transported farther and kept
safe longer through refrigeration so that
people could gather in cities.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial,
Scientific and Engineering
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Harrison’s Chronograph, largely completed
in 1762, but made cheaper and in large
numbers by the 1800’s, allowed mariners
to determine where they were while at
sea.
During this time, up to about the 1850’s,
the Industrial Revolution was being carried
by the underlying Scientific and
Engineering Revolutions.
Rise of Military Engineering
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Parallel to the Industrial Revolution
was the rise of Military Engineering.
Areas included:
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Military Strategy
Transportation of Troops and Equipment
on Land and Sea
Housing and Sanitation for Troops
General Protection of the Civilian
Population
Rise of Military Engineering
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Military Engineers were initially in charge of
weapons (siege engines) and ordinance
Many Countries had a Corps of Engineers:
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France: 1716 - The Corps of Ponts et Chaussees
England: 1717 – Corps of Engineers
USA: 1775/1802 – Continental and US Corps of
Engineers
Military Schools
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These Corps of Engineers were
supported by schools or academies:
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England: 1741 – Royal Military Academy
(produce “good officers of artillery and perfect engineers”)
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France: 1775 - L’Ecole des Ponts et
Chaussees (“School of Bridges and Roads”)
1794 - École Polytechnique
(Military/Civilian)
USA: 1795/1802 West Point Military
Academy (Recommended By Washington, Organized by
Jefferson)
Growth of Engineering
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It was this period of time when people started
calling themselves Engineers (for example, John
Smeaton (1724-1792), the first “Civil Engineer”).
The people who worked with engines, machinery
and their production became the Mechanical
Engineers
People involved with city growth, transportation and
buildings became the Civil Engineers.
Technical training in England was based on the
Apprenticeship system, in which a person worked
with a master for a minimum of seven years.
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Dropping from the program could end a career. James Watt
quit after one year and could not get work for several years
after.
Training in France was Academic, through the
L’Ecoles.
US Engineering Education
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Sylvanus Thayer.
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Graduate of Dartmouth (1807) and
West Point (1808).
In 1815, President Madison granted
him $5,000 to attend the Ecole
Polytechnique for two years.
He also visited the Royal Military
Academy and other schools of
technology and military science.
He shipped close to 1000 books to
start the Academy Library
On his return, he was named the
Superintendent of the US Military
Academy from 1817 and served until
1833.
US Engineering Education
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From his experiences overseas, Thayer
outlined a curriculum for the Military
Academy
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He developed a basic Civil Engineering for all
officers that is still a core curriculum today.
He required French, Ethics, Philosophy, Drawing
…. And Ballroom Dancing (“Officer and a
Gentleman”).
Students had a daily recitation and grades were
turned in to Superintendent Thayer every week.
Classes were rearranged on a monthly basis, so
all the top students were in the first class, the
next group of students in the second class, etc.
Their future appointments were based on class
standing.
US Engineering Education
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The first non-military engineering school in
the United States was the Rensselaer School
in 1824.
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The initial degrees were granted after one year.
The first Civil Engineering Degrees were awarded
in 1835.
In 1850, the degree was lengthened to 3 years
and the School began a Polytechnical education
like that of the Ecole Polytechnique.
In 1861, the degree was lengthened again to 4
years.
The Second Industrial
Revolution
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Starting in the 1840’s, another great change occurred
in technological world.
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Electrical motors started to replace steam engines
Electrical devices such as the telegraph and the telephone
were being developed and constructed.
As more chemical compounds were developed, there was
greater need to manufacture them on a larger, continuous
basis.
Diseases such as Cholera were being associated with water
supply and sanitation
Expansion into the arid American west brought the
opportunity to own land, but also required development of
large irrigation and water supply systems.
The Second Industrial
Revolution
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As the problems and solutions grew more
complex, the requirement to measure and
reason grew as well
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The ability to model the world, and to modify it
required more training in the arts, sciences and
mathematics.
There needed to be more uniformity in
educational background.
There was more need to communicate between
engineers to solve the larger (and smaller)
problems.
Ethical and Legal questions needed to be solved
The Growth of Professional
Societies
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Professional Societies developed from the
need to share ideas and to insure quality in
outcomes
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Papers were written and disseminated to a broad
audience.
Recommendations for basic and advanced
curriculum for schools to follow
Development of Codes of Ethics for Societies
Became Advocates for Reform and Change
The Growth of Professional
Societies
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The 1850 US Census listed 512 Civil
Engineers.
The American Society of Engineers and
Architects was founded in 1852 in New York
City by 12 prominent Engineers
In 1867, it was renamed the American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
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It is the oldest professional engineering society in
the United States
It had 408 members in 1875, 133,000 today.
Active in Education, Development of Standards
The Growth of Professional
Societies
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The American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) was founded in 1880
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First Meeting had 80 engineers,
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“Industrialists, educators, technical journalists,
designers, shipbuilders, military engineers and
inventors.”
85 Engineering Colleges in US in 1880, Most had
M.E. degree
Members developed Codes and Technical
Standards,
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First - Screw Threads,
Best Known - Boiler Code
The Growth of Professional
Societies
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The Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) grew out of
the American Institute of Electrical Engineers
(AIEE, founded in 1884) and the Institute of
Radio Engineers (IRE)
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Thomas Edison and Elihu Thompson (founded
General Electric) were two of the founding
members.
Organization formed to standardize Power,
Transmission and Electronics practice
Today-365,000 Members, 27,000 Student
Members.
The Growth of Professional
Societies
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The American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (AIChE) was formed in 1908.
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19 Founders
40,000 Current Members
Established Education Curriculums and
Standards
Provided Technical Publications
Many Branches around the world
The Growth of Professional
Societies
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The American Institute of Mining Engineers
(AIME) was founded in 1871 in Pennsylvania,
USA, to advance the production of metals,
minerals, and energy resources through the
application of engineering.
In 1913, a standing committee on oil and gas was
created within AIME and proved to be the genesis
of SPE. The Oil and Gas Committee of AIME soon
evolved into the Petroleum Division of AIME as
membership grew.
The Growth of Professional
Societies
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The Society of Petroleum Engineers
(SPE) was formed in 1957
Previously had been the Petroleum Division
within AIME.
12,500 Members in 1957
 97,000 Current Members
Establishes Education Curriculums and Standards
Provides Technical Publications
Many Branches around the world
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The Growth of Professional
Societies
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Andrew Carnegie Gave $1,500,000 to organize the
United Engineering Society and Create the
Engineering Societies Building
The Founder Societies were:
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ASCE
ASME
IEEE
AIChE
AIME (American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and
Petroleum Engineers)
Developed Uniform Codes of Ethics between the
Societies
These Societies Work Together to Mold our World,
both in the US and Internationally
Growth of Computing
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In the 1880’s, Herman Hollerith of the US Census
Bureau
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Combined the ideas of a Train Conductor punching passenger
tickets and Jaquard’s punched Loom cards
Developed a card punch system to record data from the 1890
census.
Hollerith’s patents were purchased by the ComputingTabulating-Recording Co., which was renamed IBM in 1924.
In 1936-38, Alan Touring and John Von Neumann
proposed the idea that a computer could be developed
in which both the instructions and the data could be
held in a binary form in storage.
Growth of Computing
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This led to the development of many early digital computers,
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Colossus – 1944 – Used to break the German Enigma code – Hardwired –
Vacuum Tube
ENIAC – 1945 - Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer – US Army
Ballistics Research Laboratory – Vacuum Tube
EDVAC – Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer – Stored
Program in Memory
UNIVAC I – 1951 - Universal Automatic Computer 1 – First Commercial
Computer, Built by Remington Rand Corp. – First computer system built
for Business and Administrative Use.
The later ones were controlled by assembly language, the basic binary
code that fed directly into memory.
International Business Machines (IBM) did not start out in the
computer business. IBM CEO Thomas Watson predicted in 1943 that
he thought “there is a world market for maybe five computers…”
In 1949, Popular Mechanics predicted that “Computers in the future
may weigh less than 1.5 tons.”
Growth of Computing
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As computer usage spread in the 1950’s, it became apparent that
more knowledge was needed for its support
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System Architecture
Development of Computer Languages and Language Theory
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Cobol, Fortran, Algol, Basic, C, C++
Software Development and Engineering
Handling of Large Data Sets
Coding of Mathematical Algorithms
Logic and Decision Sciences
Robotics and Automation, Control, Data Acquisition, etc.
Artificial Intelligence
Scientific Computing
The term “Computer Science” was coined in the late 1950’s to bring
these fields together
These events led to the start of the “Computer” and “Information”
Revolutions which are still ongoing.
The Growth of Professional
Societies
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The Association for Computing Machinery –
ACM
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Founded in 1947 and Headquartered in New York
World’s First Scientific and Educational
Computing Society.
Has almost 90,000 members
Has more than 170 local chapters and over 500
student chapters
Formed to disseminate computer related
information
Direct university Computer Science curriculum.
2008 President is Wendy Hall, Manchester, UK
By the way…
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Sylvanus Thayer’s Curriculum at the US Military
Academy Required the Cadets in 1817 to:
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Study the material on their own before class,
Work problems on the boards for most of the one to three
hour class periods
The professor would walk around and see what the students
were writing, maybe using it as an example of good or bad
There was little or no Lecture, as the student was
responsible for his own education
Daily Recite Solutions to the Rest of the Class
Be Evaluated Weekly and Ranked Monthly
Provide Support Through the Grade Years By Creating MultiYearTeams
190 Years Later…They Still Do!
(See, Class isn’t so bad.)