The words engine and "ingenious" are derived from the same Latin root, "ingenerate", which means "to create". The early English verb engine meant "to contrive". Thus the early "engineers" were the people who contrived (i.e. invented) new things. Engineers solve problems: how to build the strongest possible bridge using the materials available; how to set up layout and work processes of the factory floor to maximize output and efficiency; how to create the most efficient, bug-free software possible to instruct a computer to process certain tasks; how to create an airplane that flies farth er using less fuel; and so on.
Engineers helped create the car you drive or the bus you board, as well as the processes and machinery that extracted the petroleum that fuels it from far beneath the earth's surface. They helped create the highways and bridges on and over which you drive that car on the way to work. They helped create the building in which you work or school, the HVAC system that keeps that building warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and the power grid that delivers energy to that building. They helped create the innards of the computer on your desk, and the network to which your computer is attached. And engineers may well have helped create the processes employers use to go about their businesses.
Engineering is the application of scientific and mathematical principles to develop economical solutions to technical problems, creating products, facilities, and structures that are useful to people. [1, 2] One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so have formal designations such as Professional Engineer. 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. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of specialized subdisciplines that focus on the issues associated with developing a specific kind of product, or using a specific type of technology.
Where would we be without engineers? Our world would most certainly be a different place, no doubt. Engineers design the products and processes that we use everyday. Their work focuses on making the world a better place for everyone and everything. Without engineers we would still be relying on horses for all of our transportation needs; we would not have electric lights, refrigeration or modern plumbing in our homes; we would not have advanced medical tools and equipment.
The following points of definition are edited excerpts from the report " Engineering Research in Canadian Universities" [1]:
" Engineering is a profession concerned with the creation of new and improved systems, processes and products, to serve human needs as they are expressed by individuals, communities, governments and corporations."
" The central focus of engineering is design, an art entailing the exercise of ingenuity, imagination, knowledge, skill, discipline and judgement based on experience."
" The practice of professional engineering requires sensitivity to the physical potential of materials, to the logic of mathematical analysis, to the operational principles of processes and systems, to the constraints of human resources, physical resources and economics, to the protection of the public, and to the social and environmental context for society, now and into the future. The professional engineer may be a specialist in a particular area of expertise, but must also be a generalist in order to practice that specialty in the real world."
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 or technical limitations, flexibility for future modifications and additions, and other factors, such as requirements for cost, marketability, producibility, and serviceability. By understanding the constraints, engineers derive specifications for the limits within which a viable object or system may be produced and operated.
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