Engineering

Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process<ref name=EngineeringMethod>Hammack, William; Anderson, John (February 16, 2022). "Working in the Penumbra of Understanding". Issues in Science and Technology. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and Arizona State University. Archived from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023. The method used by engineers to create artifacts and systems—from cellular telephony, computers and smartphones, and GPS to remote controls, airplanes, and biomimetic materials and devices—isn't the same method scientists use in their work. The scientific method has a prescribed process: state a question, observe, state a hypothesis, test, analyze, and interpret. It doesn't know what will be discovered, what truth will be revealed. In contrast, the engineering method aims for a specific goal and cannot be reduced to a set of fixed steps that must be followed.</ref> to solve technical problems, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve systems. Modern engineering comprises many subfields which include designing and improving infrastructure, machinery, vehicles, electronics, materials, and energy systems.<ref>definition of "engineering" from the https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ Archived February 16, 2021, at the Wayback Machine

Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University</ref>

The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more specialized fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas of applied mathematics, applied science, and types of application. See glossary of engineering.

The term engineering is derived from the Latin ingenium, meaning "cleverness" and ingeniare, meaning "to contrive, devise".<ref>"About IAENG". iaeng.org. International Association of Engineers. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2016.</ref>

Definition

The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET)<ref name="ABET History">"There's no place like Chrome". Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2018.</ref> has defined "engineering" as:

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History

Engineering has existed since ancient times, when humans devised inventions such as the wedge, lever, wheel and pulley, etc.

The term engineering is derived from the word engineer, which itself dates back to the 14th century when an engine'er (literally, one who builds or operates a siege engine) referred to "a constructor of military engines".<ref>"engineer". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)</ref> 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 examples 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."<ref>Origin: 1250–1300; ME engin < AF, OF < L ingenium nature, innate quality, esp. mental power, hence a clever invention, equiv. to in- + -genium, equiv. to gen- begetting; Source: Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2006.</ref>

Later, as the design of civilian structures, such as bridges and buildings, matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering<ref name="ECPD Definition on Britannica"/> entered the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the discipline of military engineering.

Ancient era

The pyramids in ancient Egypt, ziggurats of Mesopotamia, the Acropolis and Parthenon in Greece, the Roman aqueducts, Via Appia and Colosseum, Teotihuacán, and the Brihadeeswarar Temple of Thanjavur, among many others, stand as a testament to the ingenuity and skill of ancient civil and military engineers. Other monuments, no longer standing, such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Pharos of Alexandria, were important engineering achievements of their time and were considered among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The six classic simple machines were known in the ancient Near East. The wedge and the inclined plane (ramp) were known since prehistoric times.<ref>Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart (1999). Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-042-2.</ref> The wheel, along with the wheel and axle mechanism, was invented in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) during the 5th millennium BC.<ref>D.T. Potts (2012). A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. p. 285.</ref> The lever mechanism first appeared around 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where it was used in a simple balance scale,<ref name="Paipetis">Paipetis, S. A.; Ceccarelli, Marco (2010). The Genius of Archimedes – 23 Centuries of Influence on Mathematics, Science and Engineering: Proceedings of an International Conference held at Syracuse, Italy, June 8–10, 2010. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 416. ISBN 978-90-481-9091-1.</ref> and to move large objects in ancient Egyptian technology.<ref>Clarke, Somers; Engelbach, Reginald (1990). Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture. Courier Corporation. pp. 86–90. ISBN 978-0-486-26485-1.</ref> The lever was also used in the shadoof water-lifting device, the first crane machine, which appeared in Mesopotamia c. 3000 BC,<ref name="Paipetis"/> and then in ancient Egyptian technology c. 2000 BC.<ref>Faiella, Graham (2006). The Technology of Mesopotamia. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4042-0560-4. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2019.</ref> The earliest evidence of pulleys date back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC,<ref name="Eisenbrauns">Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart (1999). Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence. Eisenbrauns. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-57506-042-2.</ref> and ancient Egypt during the Twelfth Dynasty (1991–1802 BC).<ref>Arnold, Dieter (1991). Building in Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry. Oxford University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-19-511374-7.</ref> The screw, the last of the simple machines to be invented,<ref name="Woods">Woods, Michael; Mary B. Woods (2000). Ancient Machines: From Wedges to Waterwheels. USA: Twenty-First Century Books. p. 58. ISBN 0-8225-2994-7. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2019.</ref> first appeared in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian period (911–609) BC.<ref name="Eisenbrauns"/> The Egyptian pyramids were built using three of the six simple machines, the inclined plane, the wedge, and the lever, to create structures like the Great Pyramid of Giza.<ref>Wood, Michael (2000). Ancient Machines: From Grunts to Graffiti. Minneapolis, MN: Runestone Press. pp. 35, 36. ISBN 0-8225-2996-3.</ref>

The earliest civil engineer known by name is Imhotep.<ref name="ECPD Definition on Britannica"/> As one of the officials of the Pharaoh, Djosèr, he probably designed and supervised the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser (the Step Pyramid) at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630–2611 BC.<ref name="Barry">Kemp, Barry J. (2007). Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation. Routledge. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-134-56388-3. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2019.</ref> The earliest practical water-powered machines, the water wheel and watermill, first appeared in the Persian Empire, in what are now Iraq and Iran, by the early 4th century BC.<ref>Selin, Helaine (2013). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Westen Cultures. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 282. ISBN 978-94-017-1416-7.</ref>

Kush developed the Sakia during the 4th century BC, which relied on animal power instead of human energy.<ref>G. Mokhtar (1981). Ancient civilizations of Africa. Unesco. International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-435-94805-4. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2012 – via Books.google.com.</ref>Hafirs were developed as a type of reservoir in Kush to store and contain water as well as boost irrigation.<ref name="Hinkel">Fritz Hintze, Kush XI; pp. 222–224.</ref> Sappers were employed to build causeways during military campaigns.<ref>"Siege warfare in ancient Egypt". Tour Egypt. Retrieved May 23, 2020.</ref> Kushite ancestors built speos during the Bronze Age between 3700 and 3250 BC.<ref>Bianchi, Robert Steven (2004). Daily Life of the Nubians. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-313-32501-4.</ref>Bloomeries and blast furnaces were also created during the 7th centuries BC in Kush.<ref>Humphris, Jane; Charlton, Michael F.; Keen, Jake; Sauder, Lee; Alshishani, Fareed (2018). "Iron Smelting in Sudan: Experimental Archaeology at The Royal City of Meroe". Journal of Field Archaeology. 43 (5): 399. doi:10.1080/00934690.2018.1479085. ISSN 0093-4690.</ref><ref>Collins, Robert O.; Burns, James M. (2007). A History of Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86746-7. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2020 – via Google Books.</ref><ref>Edwards, David N. (2004). The Nubian Past: An Archaeology of the Sudan. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-203-48276-6. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2020 – via Google Books.</ref><ref name="Humphris">Humphris J, Charlton MF, Keen J, Sauder L, Alshishani F (June 2018). "Iron Smelting in Sudan: Experimental Archaeology at The Royal City of Meroe". Journal of Field Archaeology. 43 (5): 399–416. doi:10.1080/00934690.2018.1479085.</ref>

Ancient Greece developed machines in both civilian and military domains. The Antikythera mechanism, an early known mechanical analog computer,<ref>"The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project Archived 2008-04-28 at the Wayback Machine", The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. Retrieved July 1, 2007 Quote: "The Antikythera Mechanism is now understood to be dedicated to astronomical phenomena and operates as a complex mechanical "computer" which tracks the cycles of the Solar System."</ref><ref>Wilford, John (July 31, 2008). "Discovering How Greeks Computed in 100 B.C." The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2017.</ref> and the mechanical inventions of Archimedes, are examples of Greek mechanical engineering. Some of Archimedes' inventions, as well as the Antikythera mechanism, required sophisticated knowledge of differential gearing or epicyclic gearing, two key principles in machine theory that helped design the gear trains of the Industrial Revolution, and are widely used in fields such as robotics and automotive engineering.<ref>Wright, M T. (2005). "Epicyclic Gearing and the Antikythera Mechanism, part 2". Antiquarian Horology. 29 (1 (September 2005)): 54–60.</ref>

Ancient Chinese, Greek, Roman and Hunnic armies employed military machines and inventions such as artillery which was developed by the Greeks around the 4th century BC,<ref>Britannica on Greek civilization in the 5th century – Military technology Archived June 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Quote: "The 7th century, by contrast, had witnessed rapid innovations, such as the introduction of the hoplite and the trireme, which still were the basic instruments of war in the 5th." and "But it was the development of artillery that opened an epoch, and this invention did not predate the 4th century. It was first heard of in the context of Sicilian warfare against Carthage in the time of Dionysius I of Syracuse."</ref> the trireme, the ballista and the catapult. In the Middle Ages, the trebuchet was developed.

Middle Ages

The earliest practical wind-powered machines, the windmill and wind pump, first appeared in the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age, in what are now Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, by the 9th century AD.<ref>Ahmad Y Hassan, Donald Routledge Hill (1986). Islamic Technology: An illustrated history, p. 54. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42239-6.</ref><ref>Lucas, Adam (2006). Wind, Water, Work: Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology. Brill Publishers. p. 65. ISBN 90-04-14649-0.</ref><ref>Eldridge, Frank (1980). Wind Machines (2nd ed.). New York: Litton Educational Publishing, Inc. p. 15. ISBN 0-442-26134-9.</ref><ref>Shepherd, William (2011). Electricity Generation Using Wind Power (1 ed.). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. p. 4. ISBN 978-981-4304-13-9.</ref> The earliest practical steam-powered machine was a steam jack driven by a steam turbine, described in 1551 by Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf in Ottoman Egypt.<ref>Taqi al-Din and the First Steam Turbine, 1551 A.D. Archived February 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, web page, accessed on line October 23, 2009; this web page refers to Ahmad Y Hassan (1976), Taqi al-Din and Arabic Mechanical Engineering, pp. 34–5, Institute for the History of Arabic Science, University of Aleppo.</ref><ref>Ahmad Y. Hassan (1976), Taqi al-Din and Arabic Mechanical Engineering, pp. 34–35, Institute for the History of Arabic Science, University of Aleppo</ref>

The cotton gin was invented in India by the 6th century AD,<ref>Lakwete, Angela (2003). Inventing the Cotton Gin: Machine and Myth in Antebellum America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1–6. ISBN 978-0-8018-7394-2. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2019.</ref> and the spinning wheel was invented in the Islamic world by the early 11th century,<ref name="Pacey">Pacey, Arnold (1991) [1990]. Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History (First MIT Press paperback ed.). Cambridge MA: The MIT Press. pp. 23–24.</ref> both of which were fundamental to the growth of the cotton industry. The spinning wheel was also a precursor to the spinning jenny, which was a key development during the early Industrial Revolution in the 18th century.<ref>Žmolek, Michael Andrew (2013). Rethinking the Industrial Revolution: Five Centuries of Transition from Agrarian to Industrial Capitalism in England. Brill. p. 328. ISBN 978-90-04-25179-3. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019. The spinning jenny was basically an adaptation of its precursor the spinning wheel</ref>

The earliest programmable machines were developed in the Muslim world. A music sequencer, a programmable musical instrument, was the earliest type of programmable machine. The first music sequencer was an automated flute player invented by the Banu Musa brothers, described in their Book of Ingenious Devices, in the 9th century.<ref name=Koetsier>Koetsier, Teun (2001). "On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators". Mechanism and Machine Theory. Elsevier. 36 (5): 589–603. doi:10.1016/S0094-114X(01)00005-2.</ref><ref>Kapur, Ajay; Carnegie, Dale; Murphy, Jim; Long, Jason (2017). "Loudspeakers Optional: A history of non-loudspeaker-based electroacoustic music". Organised Sound. Cambridge University Press. 22 (2): 195–205. doi:10.1017/S1355771817000103. ISSN 1355-7718. S2CID 143427257.</ref> In 1206, Al-Jazari invented programmable automata/robots. He described four automaton musicians, including drummers operated by a programmable drum machine, where they could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns.<ref name=Sharkey>Professor Noel Sharkey, A 13th Century Programmable Robot (Archive), University of Sheffield.</ref>

A water-powered mine hoist used for raising ore, c. 1556

Before the development of modern engineering, mathematics was used by artisans and craftsmen, such as millwrights, clockmakers, instrument makers and surveyors. Aside from these professions, universities were not believed to have had much practical significance to technology.<ref name="Robinson-Musnon"/>^: 32

A standard reference for the state of mechanical arts during the Renaissance is given in the mining engineering treatise De re metallica (1556), which also contains sections on geology, mining, and chemistry. De re metallica was the standard chemistry reference for the next 180 years.<ref name="Robinson-Musnon"/>

Modern era

The science of classical mechanics, sometimes called Newtonian mechanics, formed the scientific basis of much of modern engineering.<ref name="Robinson-Musnon">Musson, A.E.; Robinson, Eric H. (1969). Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0802016379.</ref> With the rise of engineering as a profession in the 18th century, the term became more narrowly applied to fields in which mathematics and science were applied to these ends. Similarly, in addition to military and civil engineering, the fields then known as the mechanic arts became incorporated into engineering.

Canal building was an important engineering work during the early phases of the Industrial Revolution.<ref>Taylor, George Rogers (1969). The Transportation Revolution, 1815–1860. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-87332-101-3. </ref>

John Smeaton was the first self-proclaimed civil engineer and is often regarded as the "father" of civil engineering. He was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbors, and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Using a model water wheel, Smeaton conducted experiments for seven years, determining ways to increase efficiency.<ref name="University Of Chicago Press">Rosen, William (2012). The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-72634-2.</ref>^: 127 Smeaton introduced iron axles and gears to water wheels.<ref name="Robinson-Musnon"/>^: 69 Smeaton also made mechanical improvements to the Newcomen steam engine. Smeaton designed the third Eddystone Lighthouse (1755–59) where he pioneered the use of 'hydraulic lime' (a form of mortar which will set under water) and developed a technique involving dovetailed blocks of granite in the building of the lighthouse. He is important in the history, rediscovery of, and development of modern cement, because he identified the compositional requirements needed to obtain "hydraulicity" in lime; work which led ultimately to the invention of Portland cement.

Applied science led to the development of the steam engine. The sequence of events began with the invention of the barometer and the measurement of atmospheric pressure by Evangelista Torricelli in 1643, demonstration of the force of atmospheric pressure by Otto von Guericke using the Magdeburg hemispheres in 1656, laboratory experiments by Denis Papin, who built experimental model steam engines and demonstrated the use of a piston, which he published in 1707. Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester published a book of 100 inventions containing a method for raising waters similar to a coffee percolator. Samuel Morland, a mathematician and inventor who worked on pumps, left notes at the Vauxhall Ordinance Office on a steam pump design that Thomas Savery read. In 1698 Savery built a steam pump called "The Miner's Friend". It employed both vacuum and pressure.<ref>Jenkins, Rhys (1936). Links in the History of Engineering and Technology from Tudor Times. Ayer Publishing. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-8369-2167-0.</ref> Iron merchant Thomas Newcomen, who built the first commercial piston steam engine in 1712, was not known to have any scientific training.<ref name="University Of Chicago Press"/>^: 32

The application of steam-powered cast iron blowing cylinders for providing pressurized air for blast furnaces lead to a large increase in iron production in the late 18th century. The higher furnace temperatures made possible with steam-powered blast allowed for the use of more lime in blast furnaces, which enabled the transition from charcoal to coke.<ref>Tylecote, R.F. (1992). A History of Metallurgy, Second Edition. London: Maney Publishing, for the Institute of Materials. ISBN 978-0-901462-88-6.</ref> These innovations lowered the cost of iron, making horse railways and iron bridges practical. The puddling process, patented by Henry Cort in 1784 produced large scale quantities of wrought iron. Hot blast, patented by James Beaumont Neilson in 1828, greatly lowered the amount of fuel needed to smelt iron. With the development of the high pressure steam engine, the power to weight ratio of steam engines made practical steamboats and locomotives possible.<ref name="HunterIndustrialPower">Hunter, Louis C. (1985). A History of Industrial Power in the United States, 1730–1930, Vol. 2: Steam Power. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.</ref> New steel making processes, such as the Bessemer process and the open hearth furnace, ushered in an area of heavy engineering in the late 19th century.

One of the most famous engineers of the mid-19th century was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who built railroads, dockyards and steamships.

The Industrial Revolution created a demand for machinery with metal parts, which led to the development of several machine tools. Boring cast iron cylinders with precision was not possible until John Wilkinson invented his boring machine, which is considered the first machine tool.<ref>Roe, Joseph Wickham (1916). English and American Tool Builders. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. LCCN 16011753. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2018.</ref> Other machine tools included the screw cutting lathe, milling machine, turret lathe and the metal planer. Precision machining techniques were developed in the first half of the 19th century. These included the use of gigs to guide the machining tool over the work and fixtures to hold the work in the proper position. Machine tools and machining techniques capable of producing interchangeable parts lead to large scale factory production by the late 19th century.<ref>Hounshell, David A. (1984), From the American System to Mass Production, 1800–1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States, Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-0-8018-2975-8, LCCN 83016269, OCLC 1104810110</ref>

The United States Census of 1850 listed the occupation of "engineer" for the first time with a count of 2,000.<ref>Cowan, Ruth Schwartz (1997). A Social History of American Technology. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-19-504605-2.</ref> There were fewer than 50 engineering graduates in the U.S. before 1865. In 1870 there were a dozen U.S. mechanical engineering graduates, with that number increasing to 43 per year in 1875. In 1890, there were 6,000 engineers in civil, mining, mechanical and electrical.<ref name="HunterIndustrialPower" />

There was no chair of applied mechanism and applied mechanics at Cambridge until 1875, and no chair of engineering at Oxford until 1907. Germany established technical universities earlier.<ref> Williams, Trevor I. (1982). A Short History of Twentieth Century Technology. US: Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-19-858159-8. </ref>

The foundations of electrical engineering in the 1800s included the experiments of Alessandro Volta, Michael Faraday, Georg Ohm and others and the invention of the electric telegraph in 1816 and the electric motor in 1872. The theoretical work of James Maxwell (see: Maxwell's equations) and Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century gave rise to the field of electronics. The later inventions of the vacuum tube and the transistor further accelerated the development of electronics to such an extent that electrical and electronics engineers currently outnumber their colleagues of any other engineering specialty.<ref name="ECPD Definition on Britannica"/> Chemical engineering developed in the late nineteenth century.<ref name="ECPD Definition on Britannica"/> Industrial scale manufacturing demanded new materials and new processes and by 1880 the need for large scale production of chemicals was such that a new industry was created, dedicated to the development and large scale manufacturing of chemicals in new industrial plants.<ref name="ECPD Definition on Britannica"/> The role of the chemical engineer was the design of these chemical plants and processes.<ref name="ECPD Definition on Britannica"/>

Aeronautical engineering deals with aircraft design process design while aerospace engineering is a more modern term that expands the reach of the discipline by including spacecraft design. Its origins can be traced back to the aviation pioneers around the start of the 20th century although the work of Sir George Cayley has recently been dated as being from the last decade of the 18th century. Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering was largely empirical with some concepts and skills imported from other branches of engineering.<ref name="americana">Van Every, Kermit E. (1986). "Aeronautical engineering". Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. 1. Grolier Incorporated. p. 226.</ref>

The first PhD in engineering (technically, applied science and engineering) awarded in the United States went to Josiah Willard Gibbs at Yale University in 1863; it was also the second PhD awarded in science in the U.S.<ref>

Wheeler, Lynde Phelps (1951). Josiah Willard Gibbs – the History of a Great Mind. Ox Bow Press. ISBN 978-1-881987-11-6.</ref>

Only a decade after the successful flights by the Wright brothers, there was extensive development of aeronautical engineering through development of military aircraft that were used in World War I. Meanwhile, research to provide fundamental background science continued by combining theoretical physics with experiments.

Main branches of engineering

Engineering is a broad discipline that is often broken down into several sub-disciplines. Although an engineer will usually be trained in a specific discipline, he or she may become multi-disciplined through experience. Engineering is often characterized as having four main branches:<ref>Journal of the British Nuclear Energy Society: Volume 1 British Nuclear Energy Society – 1962 – Snippet view Archived September 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Quote: In most universities it should be possible to cover the main branches of engineering, i.e. civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering in this way. More specialized fields of engineering application, of which nuclear power is ...</ref><ref name="UK Council">The Engineering Profession by Sir James Hamilton, UK Engineering Council Quote: "The Civilingenior degree encompasses the main branches of engineering civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical." (From the Internet Archive)</ref><ref name="Ramchandani2000">Indu Ramchandani (2000). Student's Britannica India,7vol.Set. Popular Prakashan. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-85229-761-2. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013. Branches: There are traditionally four primary engineering disciplines: civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical.</ref> chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.

Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering is the application of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering principles in order to carry out chemical processes on a commercial scale, such as the manufacture of commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, petroleum refining, microfabrication, fermentation, and biomolecule production.

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is the design and construction of public and private works, such as infrastructure (airports, roads, railways, water supply, and treatment etc.), bridges, tunnels, dams, and buildings.<ref>"History and Heritage of Civil Engineering". ASCE. Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2007.</ref><ref>"What is Civil Engineering". Institution of Civil Engineers. Archived from the original on January 30, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.</ref> Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines, including structural engineering, environmental engineering, and surveying. It is traditionally considered to be separate from military engineering.<ref name=eb>Watson, J. Garth. "Civil Engineering". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.</ref>

Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering is the design, study, and manufacture of various electrical and electronic systems, such as broadcast engineering, electrical circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic/electromechanical devices, electronic devices, electronic circuits, optical fibers, optoelectronic devices, computer systems, telecommunications, instrumentation, control systems, and electronics.

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering is the design and manufacture 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, vibration isolation equipment, manufacturing, robotics, turbines, audio equipments, and mechatronics.

Bioengineering

Bioengineering is the engineering of biological systems for a useful purpose. Examples of bioengineering research include bacteria engineered to produce chemicals, new medical imaging technology, portable and rapid disease diagnostic devices, prosthetics, biopharmaceuticals, and tissue-engineered organs.

Interdisciplinary engineering

Interdisciplinary engineering draws from more than one of the principle branches of the practice. Historically, naval engineering and mining engineering were major branches. Other engineering fields are manufacturing engineering, acoustical engineering, corrosion engineering, instrumentation and control, aerospace, automotive, computer, electronic, information engineering, petroleum, environmental, systems, audio, software, architectural, agricultural, biosystems, biomedical,<ref>Bronzino JD, ed., The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, CRC Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8493-2121-2</ref> geological, textile, industrial, materials,<ref>Bensaude-Vincent, Bernadette (March 2001). "The construction of a discipline: Materials science in the United States". Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences. 31 (2): 223–48. doi:10.1525/hsps.2001.31.2.223.</ref> and nuclear engineering.<ref>"Nuclear Engineering Overview" (PDF). Career Cornerstone Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.</ref> These and other branches of engineering are represented in the 36 licensed member institutions of the UK Engineering Council.

New specialties sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new branches – for example, Earth systems engineering and management involves a wide range of subject areas including engineering studies, environmental science, engineering ethics and philosophy of engineering.

Other branches of engineering

Aerospace engineering

The *InSight* lander with solar panels deployed in a cleanroom

Aerospace engineering covers the design, development, manufacture and operational behaviour of aircraft, satellites and rockets.

Marine engineering

Marine engineering covers the design, development, manufacture and operational behaviour of watercraft and stationary structures like oil platforms and ports.

Computer engineering

Computer engineering (CE) is a branch of engineering that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering (or electrical engineering), software design, and hardware-software integration instead of only software engineering or electronic engineering.

Geological engineering

Geological engineering is associated with anything constructed on or within the Earth. This discipline applies geological sciences and engineering principles to direct or support the work of other disciplines such as civil engineering, environmental engineering, and mining engineering. Geological engineers are involved with impact studies for facilities and operations that affect surface and subsurface environments, such as rock excavations (e.g. tunnels), building foundation consolidation, slope and fill stabilization, landslide risk assessment, groundwater monitoring, groundwater remediation, mining excavations, and natural resource exploration.

Practice

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, European Engineer, or Designated Engineering Representative.

Methodology

In the engineering design process, engineers apply mathematics and sciences such as physics to find novel solutions to problems or to improve existing solutions. Engineers need proficient knowledge of relevant sciences for their design projects. As a result, many engineers continue to learn new material throughout their careers.

If multiple solutions exist, engineers weigh each design choice based on their merit and choose the solution that best matches the requirements. The task of the engineer is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to yield a successful result. It is generally insufficient to build a technically successful product, rather, 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, productivity, 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

A drawing for a steam locomotive. Engineering is applied to design, with emphasis on function and the utilization of mathematics and science.

Engineers use their knowledge of science, mathematics, logic, economics, and appropriate experience or tacit knowledge to find suitable solutions to a particular problem. Creating an appropriate mathematical model of a problem often allows them to analyze it (sometimes definitively), and to test potential solutions.<ref>Lucas, Jim (August 22, 2014). "What is engineering?". Live Science. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.</ref>

More than one solution to a design problem usually exists so the different design choices have to be evaluated on their merits before the one judged most suitable is chosen. 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.<ref>"Genrich Altshuller's Theory of Inventive Problem Solving". Theories About Engineering. Archived from the original on September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.</ref>

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 but only in so far as the testing has been representative of use in service. For products, such as aircraft, that are used differently by different users failures and unexpected shortcomings (and necessary design changes) can be expected throughout the operational life of the product.<ref>"Comparing the Engineering Design Process and the Scientific Method". Science Buddies. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.</ref>

Engineers take on the responsibility of producing designs that will perform as well as expected and, except those employed in specific areas of the arms industry, will not harm people. Engineers typically include a factor of safety in their designs to reduce the risk of unexpected failure.

The study of failed products is known as forensic engineering. It attempts to identify the cause of failure to allow a redesign of the product and so prevent a re-occurrence. Careful analysis is needed to establish the cause of failure of a product. The consequences of a failure may vary in severity from the minor cost of a machine breakdown to large loss of life in the case of accidents involving aircraft and large stationary structures like buildings and dams.<ref>"Forensic Engineering | ASCE". www.asce.org. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2019.</ref>

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.

Graphic representation of a minute fraction of the WWW, demonstrating hyperlinks

One of the most widely used design tools in the profession is computer-aided design (CAD) software. It 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.<ref>Arbe, Katrina (May 7, 2001). "PDM: Not Just for the Big Boys Anymore". ThomasNet. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2006.</ref>

There are also many tools to support specific engineering tasks such as computer-aided manufacturing (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 Architecture, engineering and construction (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).<ref>Arbe, Katrina (May 22, 2003). "The Latest Chapter in CAD Software Evaluation". ThomasNet. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2006.</ref>

Social context

The engineering profession engages in a range of activities, from collaboration at the societal level, and smaller individual projects. Almost all engineering projects are obligated to a funding source: a company, a set of investors, or a government. The types of engineering that are less constrained by such a funding source, are pro bono, and open-design engineering.

Engineering has interconnections with society, culture and human behavior. Most products and constructions used by modern society, are influenced by engineering. Engineering activities have an impact on the environment, society, economies, and public safety.

Engineering projects can be controversial. Examples from different engineering disciplines include: the development of nuclear weapons, the Three Gorges Dam, the design and use of sport utility vehicles and the extraction of oil. In response, some engineering companies have enacted serious corporate and social responsibility policies.

Engineering is a key driver of innovation and human development. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, has a small engineering capacity which results in many African nations being unable to develop crucial infrastructure without outside aid.^{[citation needed]} The attainment of many of the Millennium Development Goals requires the achievement of sufficient engineering capacity to develop infrastructure and sustainable technological development.<ref name="MDG">Jowitt, Paul W. (2006). "Engineering Civilisation from the Shadows" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2006.</ref>

Radar, GPS, lidar, etc. are all combined to provide proper navigation and obstacle avoidance (vehicle developed for 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge).

Overseas development and relief NGOs make considerable use of engineers, to apply solutions in disaster and development scenarios. Some charitable organizations use engineering directly for development:

Engineers Without Borders
Engineers Against Poverty
Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief
Engineers for a Sustainable World
Engineering for Change
Engineering Ministries International<ref name="EMI">Home page for EMI Archived April 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine</ref>

Engineering companies in more developed economies face challenges with regard to the number of engineers being trained, compared with those retiring. This problem is prominent in the UK where engineering has a poor image and low status.<ref>"engineeringuk.com/About_us". Archived from the original on May 30, 2014.</ref> There are negative economic and political issues that this can cause, as well as ethical issues.<ref>George Edwards. "Why Does It Matter? – why are engineering skills important?". Archived from the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.</ref> It is agreed the engineering profession faces an "image crisis".<ref>George Edwards. "The ERA Foundation Report". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.</ref> The UK holds the most engineering companies compared to other European countries, together with the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Code of ethics

Many engineering societies have established codes of practice and codes of ethics to guide members and inform the public at large. The National Society of Professional Engineers code of ethics states:

Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.<ref>"Code of Ethics". National Society of Professional Engineers. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2017.</ref>

In Canada, engineers wear the Iron Ring as a symbol and reminder of the obligations and ethics associated with their profession.<ref>"Origin of the Iron Ring concept". Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2021.</ref>

Relationships with other disciplines

Science

Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that has never been.

There exists an overlap between the sciences and engineering practice; in engineering, one applies science. Both areas of endeavor rely on accurate observation of materials and phenomena. Both use mathematics and classification criteria to analyze and communicate observations.^{[citation needed]}

Scientists may also have to complete engineering tasks, such as designing experimental apparatus or building prototypes. Conversely, in the process of developing technology, engineers sometimes find themselves exploring new phenomena, thus becoming, for the moment, scientists or more precisely "engineering scientists".<ref>"What is Engineering Science?". esm.psu.edu. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.</ref>

In the book What Engineers Know and How They Know It,<ref name="vincenti">Vincenti, Walter G. (1993). What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-3974-0.</ref> Walter Vincenti asserts that engineering research has a character different from that of scientific research. First, it often deals with areas in which the basic physics or chemistry are well understood, but the problems themselves are too complex to solve in an exact manner.

There is a "real and important" difference between engineering and physics as similar to any science field has to do with technology.<ref>Walter G Whitman; August Paul Peck. Whitman-Peck Physics. American Book Company, 1946, p. 06 Archived August 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. OCLC 3247002</ref><ref>Ateneo de Manila University Press. Philippine Studies, vol. 11, no. 4, 1963. p. 600</ref> Physics is an exploratory science that seeks knowledge of principles while engineering uses knowledge for practical applications of principles. The former equates an understanding into a mathematical principle while the latter measures variables involved and creates technology.<ref>"Relationship between physics and electrical engineering". Journal of the A.I.E.E. 46 (2): 107–108. 1927. doi:10.1109/JAIEE.1927.6534988. S2CID 51673339.</ref><ref>Puttaswamaiah. Future Of Economic Science Archived October 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Oxford and IBH Publishing, 2008, p. 208.</ref><ref>Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Cynthia L. Breazeal. Biologically Inspired Intelligent Robots. SPIE Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8194-4872-9. p. 190</ref> For technology, physics is an auxiliary and in a way technology is considered as applied physics.<ref>C. Morón, E. Tremps, A. García, J.A. Somolinos (2011) The Physics and its Relation with the Engineering, INTED2011 Proceedings pp. 5929–34 Archived December 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. ISBN 978-84-614-7423-3</ref> Though physics and engineering are interrelated, it does not mean that a physicist is trained to do an engineer's job. A physicist would typically require additional and relevant training.<ref>R Gazzinelli, R L Moreira, W N Rodrigues. Physics and Industrial Development: Bridging the Gap Archived August 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. World Scientific, 1997, p. 110.</ref> Physicists and engineers engage in different lines of work.<ref>Steve Fuller. Knowledge Management Foundations. Routledge, 2012. ISBN 978-1-136-38982-5. p. 92 Archived August 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine</ref> But PhD physicists who specialize in sectors of engineering physics and applied physics are titled as Technology officer, R&D Engineers and System Engineers.<ref>"Industrial Physicists: Primarily specialising in Engineering" (PDF). American Institute for Physics. October 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2016.</ref>

An example of this is the use of numerical approximations to the Navier–Stokes equations to describe aerodynamic flow over an aircraft, or the use of the finite element method to calculate the stresses in complex components. Second, engineering research employs many semi-empirical methods that are foreign to pure scientific research, one example being the method of parameter variation.<ref>Baofu, Peter (March 26, 2009). The Future of Post-Human Engineering: A Preface to a New Theory of Technology. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-4438-0813-2.</ref>

As stated by Fung et al. in the revision to the classic engineering text Foundations of Solid Mechanics:

Engineering is quite different from science. Scientists try to understand nature. Engineers try to make things that do not exist in nature. Engineers stress innovation and invention. To embody an invention the engineer must put his idea in concrete terms, and design something that people can use. That something can be a complex system, device, a gadget, a material, a method, a computing program, an innovative experiment, a new solution to a problem, or an improvement on what already exists. Since a design has to be realistic and functional, it must have its geometry, dimensions, and characteristics data defined. In the past engineers working on new designs found that they did not have all the required information to make design decisions. Most often, they were limited by insufficient scientific knowledge. Thus they studied mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and mechanics. Often they had to add to the sciences relevant to their profession. Thus engineering sciences were born.<ref name="Fung">Classical and Computational Solid Mechanics, YC Fung and P. Tong. World Scientific. 2001.</ref>

Although engineering solutions make use of scientific principles, engineers must also take into account safety, efficiency, economy, reliability, and constructability or ease of fabrication as well as the environment, ethical and legal considerations such as patent infringement or liability in the case of failure of the solution.<ref>"Code of Ethics | National Society of Professional Engineers". www.nspe.org. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2019.</ref>

Medicine and biology

The study of the human body, albeit from different directions and for different purposes, is an important common link between medicine and some engineering disciplines. Medicine aims to sustain, repair, enhance and even replace functions of the human body, if necessary, through the use of technology.

Modern medicine can replace several of the body's functions through the use of artificial organs and can significantly alter the function of the human body through artificial devices such as, for example, brain implants and pacemakers.<ref name="Boston U">"Ethical Assessment of Implantable Brain Chips. Ellen M. McGee and G.Q. Maguire, Jr. from Boston University". Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2007.</ref><ref name="IEEE foreign parts">Evans-Pughe, C. (May 2003). "IEEE technical paper: Foreign parts (electronic body implants).by Evans-Pughe, C. quote from summary: Feeling threatened by cyborgs?". IEE Review. 49 (5): 30–33. doi:10.1049/ir:20030503. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.</ref> The fields of bionics and medical bionics are dedicated to the study of synthetic implants pertaining to natural systems.

Conversely, some engineering disciplines view the human body as a biological machine worth studying and are dedicated to emulating many of its functions by replacing biology with technology. This has led to fields such as artificial intelligence, neural networks, fuzzy logic, and robotics. There are also substantial interdisciplinary interactions between engineering and medicine.<ref name="IME">Institute of Medicine and Engineering: Mission statement The mission of the Institute for Medicine and Engineering (IME) is to stimulate fundamental research at the interface between biomedicine and engineering/physical/computational sciences leading to innovative applications in biomedical research and clinical practice. Archived March 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine</ref><ref name="IEEE">"IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology: Both general and technical articles on current technologies and methods used in biomedical and clinical engineering ..." Archived from the original on February 13, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.</ref>

Both fields provide solutions to real world problems. This often requires moving forward before phenomena are completely understood in a more rigorous scientific sense and therefore experimentation and empirical knowledge is an integral part of both.

Medicine, in part, studies the function of the human body. The human body, as a biological machine, has many functions that can be modeled using engineering methods.<ref name="Royal Academy">Royal Academy of Engineering and Academy of Medical Sciences: Systems Biology: a vision for engineering and medicine in pdf: quote1: Systems Biology is an emerging methodology that has yet to be defined quote2: It applies the concepts of systems engineering to the study of complex biological systems through iteration between computational or mathematical modelling and experimentation. Archived April 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine</ref>

The heart for example functions much like a pump,<ref name="Science Museum of Minnesota">"Science Museum of Minnesota: Online Lesson 5a; The heart as a pump". Archived from the original on September 27, 2006. Retrieved September 27, 2006.</ref> the skeleton is like a linked structure with levers,<ref name="Minnesota State University emuseum">Minnesota State University emuseum: Bones act as levers Archived December 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine</ref> the brain produces electrical signals etc.<ref name="UC Berkeley News">"UC Berkeley News: UC researchers create model of brain's electrical storm during a seizure". Archived from the original on February 2, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.</ref> These similarities as well as the increasing importance and application of engineering principles in medicine, led to the development of the field of biomedical engineering that uses concepts developed in both disciplines.

Newly emerging branches of science, such as systems biology, are adapting analytical tools traditionally used for engineering, such as systems modeling and computational analysis, to the description of biological systems.<ref name="Royal Academy"/>

Art

There are connections between engineering and art, for example, architecture, landscape architecture and industrial design (even to the extent that these disciplines may sometimes be included in a university's Faculty of Engineering).<ref name="National Science Foundation:The Art of Engineering">"National Science Foundation:The Art of Engineering: Professor uses the fine arts to broaden students' engineering perspectives". Archived from the original on September 19, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.</ref><ref name="MIT World:The Art of Engineering">MIT World:The Art of Engineering: Inventor James Dyson on the Art of Engineering: quote: A member of the British Design Council, James Dyson has been designing products since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1970. Archived July 5, 2006, at the Wayback Machine</ref><ref name="University of Texas at Dallas">"University of Texas at Dallas: The Institute for Interactive Arts and Engineering". Archived from the original on April 3, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.</ref>

The Art Institute of Chicago, for instance, held an exhibition about the art of NASA's aerospace design.<ref name="NASA">"Aerospace Design: The Art of Engineering from NASA's Aeronautical Research". Archived from the original on August 15, 2003. Retrieved March 31, 2007.</ref> Robert Maillart's bridge design is perceived by some to have been deliberately artistic.<ref name="Princeton U">Billington, David P. (1989). Princeton U: Robert Maillart's Bridges: The Art of Engineering: quote: no doubt that Maillart was fully conscious of the aesthetic implications ... Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691024219. Archived from the original on April 20, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2007.</ref> At the University of South Florida, an engineering professor, through a grant with the National Science Foundation, has developed a course that connects art and engineering.<ref name="National Science Foundation:The Art of Engineering"/><ref name="Chief engineer">quote:..the tools of artists and the perspective of engineers.. Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine</ref>

Among famous historical figures, Leonardo da Vinci is a well-known Renaissance artist and engineer, and a prime example of the nexus between art and engineering.<ref name="Bjerklie, David">Bjerklie, David. "The Art of Renaissance Engineering." MIT's Technology Review Jan./Feb.1998: 54–59. Article explores the concept of the "artist-engineer", an individual who used his artistic talent in engineering. Quote from article: Da Vinci reached the pinnacle of "artist-engineer"-dom, Quote2: "It was Leonardo da Vinci who initiated the most ambitious expansion in the role of artist-engineer, progressing from astute observer to inventor to theoretician." (Bjerklie 58)</ref><ref name="Drew U">Drew U: user website: cites Bjerklie paper Archived April 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine</ref>

Business

Business engineering deals with the relationship between professional engineering, IT systems, business administration and change management. Engineering management or "Management engineering" is a specialized field of management concerned with engineering practice or the engineering industry sector. The demand for management-focused engineers (or from the opposite perspective, managers with an understanding of engineering), has resulted in the development of specialized engineering management degrees that develop the knowledge and skills needed for these roles. During an engineering management course, students will develop industrial engineering skills, knowledge, and expertise, alongside knowledge of business administration, management techniques, and strategic thinking. Engineers specializing in change management must have in-depth knowledge of the application of industrial and organizational psychology principles and methods. Professional engineers often train as certified management consultants in the very specialized field of management consulting applied to engineering practice or the engineering sector. This work often deals with large scale complex business transformation or business process management initiatives in aerospace and defence, automotive, oil and gas, machinery, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, electrical and electronics, power distribution and generation, utilities and transportation systems. This combination of technical engineering practice, management consulting practice, industry sector knowledge, and change management expertise enables professional engineers who are also qualified as management consultants to lead major business transformation initiatives. These initiatives are typically sponsored by C-level executives.

Other fields

In political science, the term engineering has been borrowed for the study of the subjects of social engineering and political engineering, which deal with forming political and social structures using engineering methodology coupled with political science principles. Marketing engineering and financial engineering have similarly borrowed the term.

References

External links

The dictionary definition of engineering at Wiktionary
Learning materials related to Engineering at Wikiversity
Quotations related to Engineering at Wikiquote
Works related to Engineering at Wikisource

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