Answer Posted / rahul.mayur navneet dhiren
What is engineering? What is an engineer?? Although it is a
very old activity or trade, engineering is a relatively
young academic discipline or profession. Only in recent
years has it reached a stage of maturity where some of its
defining details and differentiating characteristics can be
articulated. Engineering is the endeavor that creates,
maintains, develops, and applies technology for societies'
needs and desires. Its origins go back to the very
beginning of human civilization where tools were first
created and developed. Indeed, a good case can be made for
the defining of humans as those animals that create,
develop, and understand the significance of technology.
Over time, the part of technology that acts as an extension
of human capabilities became the purview of engineering.
One can view bicycles, cars, and trains as extensions of
walking and running. Airplanes are an extension and
application of a bird's ability to fly transferred to
humans. The telegraph, telephone, radio, television, and
the internet are extensions of talking, hearing, and
seeing. The microscope, telescope, and medical x-ray are
also extensions of human sight and vision. Writing, books,
libraries and computer data-bases are extensions of human
memory and the computer itself is an extension of the
human's brain in doing arithmetic and carrying out logical
arguments and procedures. Indeed, looking around your
environment in almost any setting, will illustrate just how
pervasive technology is. In almost any home or office,
there is very little that is truly "natural"; i.e., little
that is not created or manipulated by technology. The food
that you eat, the utensils that you eat with, the table
that you eat off of, the house that you are in, the clothes
that you wear, the book that you read, the television that
you watch, the telephone that you communicate with, the car
that you travel in -- these are all technologies created by
human cleverness to satisfy human needs. This process of
creation is engineering and those who do the creating are
practicing engineering, whether they call themselves
engineers or not.
Not only is much of the inanimate world created by
engineering, part of the living world is also. Almost all
crops and agriculturally produced food stuff
are "engineered" through selective breeding. The same is
true of domestic animals such as pets and animals raised
for food or sport. Certainly the dogs, cats, and cattle
have not "naturally" evolved to their current state. They
have been “created” or “designed” to satisfy human desires
or needs. The slow and less exact methods of controlled
breeding are being replaced by genetic engineering, tissue
engineering, and applications of nanotechnology. We humans
have the cleverness to do that. It is the development of
the tools, theories, and methods and the understanding of
the appropriate sciences and mathematics for that process
that is engineering. It is a central part of the history of
humanity.
Not only has engineering made our lives easier and longer,
it has sometimes made them more terrible and shorter
through improving our ability to kill and harm when we wage
war. Indeed, military and defense needs have been a
historic driver of technological advancement. One of the
earliest categorizations of engineering was into military
and civilian (or civil) engineering.
Because technology enables and causes change, it and its
creators, the engineers, are viewed with mixed feelings.
This is especially true in modern (perhaps post-modern)
times when the negative side effects (“unintended
consequences”) of technology must be addressed.
This note is an attempt to address the question of what
engineering is and then that of what an engineer is. It is
intended for the general public to better understand just
what this thing that has such a profound effect on our
individual and collective lives is. The note is intended
for the student who is considering becoming an engineer
and, therefore, it is for parents and high school and
college counselors as well. It is for the university
engineering student and professor and for the university
administrator. It is for the state and federal governments
who fund engineering education and research and the
investor who invests in technology. It is for the husband,
wife, parent, or child who wants to better understand their
spouse, child, or parent. It is for everyone who accepts
the argument that a human is a technological animal and
that technology has a pervasive effect on our lives.
An important part of this note is the list of references.
This collection of short essays is intended to open many
topics and ideas, not develop them. A rather long list of
references is given to allow the reader to pursue any of
the many ideas further
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