Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge to
design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and
processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of people.
The
American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of
ABET)
has defined "engineering" as:
[T]he 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
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 or
European Engineer. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of more specialized
subdisciplines, each with a more specific emphasis on certain fields of application and particular areas of technology.
History
The
concept of engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects.
The term
engineering itself has a much more recent etymology, deriving from the word
engineer, which itself dates back to 1325, when an
engine’er (literally, one who operates an
engine) originally referred to “a constructor of military engines.”
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 exceptions 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.”
Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings matured as a technical discipline, the term
civil engineeringentered the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the older discipline of
military engineering.
Main branches of engineering
Engineering, much like other science, is a broad discipline which is often broken down into several sub-disciplines. These disciplines concern themselves with differing areas of engineering work. Although initially an engineer will usually be trained in a specific discipline, throughout an engineer's career the engineer may become multi-disciplined, having worked in several of the outlined areas. Engineering is often characterized as having four main branches:
[17][18]
- Chemical engineering – The exploitation of chemical principles in order to carry out large scale chemical process, as well as designing new specialty materials and fuels.
- Civil engineering – The design and construction of public and private works, such as infrastructure (roads, railways, water supply and treatment etc.), bridges and buildings.
- Electrical engineering – a very broad area that may encompass the design and study of various electrical & electronic systems, such as electrical circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic/electromechanical devices, electronic devices, electronic circuits, optical fibers, optoelectronic devices, computer systems, telecommunications and electronics.
- Mechanical engineering – The design 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, and vibration isolation equipment.
Beyond these four, sources vary on other main branches. Historically,
naval engineering and
mining engineering were major branches. Modern fields sometimes included as major branches include
aerospace,
architectural,
biomedical,
industrial and
nuclear engineering.
[citation needed]
New specialties sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new branches. A new or emerging area of application will commonly be defined temporarily as a permutation or subset of existing disciplines; there is often gray area as to when a given sub-field becomes large and/or prominent enough to warrant classification as a new "branch." One key indicator of such emergence is when major universities start establishing departments and programs in the new field.
For each of these fields there exists considerable overlap, especially in the areas of the application of sciences to their disciplines such as physics, chemistry and mathematics.
Methodology
Engineers apply the sciences of physics and mathematics to find suitable solutions to problems or to make improvements to the status quo. More than ever, engineers are now required to have knowledge of relevant sciences for their design projects, as a result, they keep on learning new material throughout their career.
If multiple options exist, engineers weigh different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best matches the requirements. The crucial and unique task of the engineer is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result. It is usually not enough to build a technically successful product; 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, productibility, 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
Engineers use their knowledge of
science,
mathematics,
logic,
economics, and
appropriate experience or
tacit knowledge to find suitable solutions to a problem. Creating an appropriate
mathematical model of a problem allows them to analyze it (sometimes definitively), and to test potential solutions.
Usually multiple reasonable solutions exist, so engineers must evaluate the different
design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best meets their requirements.
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.
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.
Engineers as professionals take seriously their responsibility to produce designs that will perform as expected and will not cause unintended harm to the public at large. Engineers typically include a
factor of safety in their designs to reduce the risk of unexpected failure. However, the greater the safety factor, the less efficient the design may be.
The study of failed products is known as
forensic engineering, and can help the
product designer in evaluating his or her design in the light of real conditions. The discipline is of greatest value after disasters, such as
bridge collapses, when careful analysis is needed to establish the cause or causes of the failure.
Computer use
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.
One of the most widely used tools in the profession is
computer-aided design (CAD) software which 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.
There are also many tools to support specific engineering tasks such as
Computer-aided manufacture (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
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)
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Some are more specialist – for example, non-destructive testing – but many are very multi-disciplinary – robotics or materials development. Because technology is always moving on, engineers often change or widen their specialism during their careers, as well as their job roles. This is one of the reasons engineers enjoy their jobs so much! Studying engineering is also great general education and unemployment among professional engineers and scientists is among the lowest of any sector in the country. The roles we have covered here are just a snapshot of the many areas that you could consider as an engineer. Visit the case studies section of this website for more information about jobs in engineering.
Nevertheless across the board, on average, professional engineers can expect to earn more than £10,000 per year over and above the national average salary. The prospects for employment and progression are also positive. A large proportion of engineering and technology (E&T) graduates end up working in E&T careers. Employment rates (those who enter full-time, paid employment after leaving university) for E&T graduates in 2007 were increasing annually and stood way above average at 62%. Unemployment rates for this same group were below 10%. Research carried out in 2006 showed that 14 % of FTSE-100 top executives were qualified engineers.
