ENGINEERING

Engineering is the application of science to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature to the uses of humankind. Engineering is the the branch of science and technology concerned with the design, building, and use of engines, machines and structures.

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purpose, especially in industry.

 What do engineers do?

They more often than not build tangible objects

by combining physical materials and parts into something more useful.

What do they build? They design and build physical objects - some of

which will last for centuries. They take theory and science and apply it to practical needs for humanity.

 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 forerunners of modern engineers,

practical artists and craftsmen, proceeded mainly by trial and error.

Yet tinkering combined with imagination

produced many marvelous devices.

Many ancient monuments cannot fail to

incite admiration.

 The admiration is embodied in the name engineer

itself.

The exact origin of the word 'engineering' comes

from the era when humans applied themselves to skilful inventions. such as the pulley, the wheel and levers.

Man evolving further in the world invented devices The word engineer has its root in the word engine,

which comes from the Latin word ingenium, which means "innate quality particularly of mental power". who creates nifty and practical inventions.

And thus the word engineer emerged as a person

 In olden days, an engineer was defined as "a constructor of military engines". Back then engineering was divided into two categories: Military Engineering and Civil Engineering.
The former involved the construction of

fortifications and military engines, the latter concerned non-military projects, for example bridge building.

 As the design of civilian structures such as

bridges and buildings matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering entered 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.

 The Acropolis and the Parthenon in Greece, the Roman aqueducts,

Via Appia and the Colosseum, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Pharos of Alexandria, the pyramids in Egypt, Teotihuacn and the cities of the Mayan, Inca and Aztec Empires, the Great Wall of China, among many others, stand as a testament to the ingenuity and skill of the ancient civil and military engineers.

THE ACROPOLIS IN ATHENS

THE PARTHENON IN ATHENS

THE ROMAN AQUEDUCTS

ROMAN COLOSSEUM

 Today an engineer is described as someone who has acquired and is applying their scientific and technical knowledge to designing, analysing and

building useful, helpful and functional works.

This would involve structures, machines and apparatus, manufacturing processes as well as forecasting their behaviour in particular environmental conditions.

This is all accomplished with functionality, operational economics and safety to life and property forefront in mind.

 Engineering is a broad discipline with many

sub disciplines dedicated to various fields of study with regards to particular types of technologies or products.
Engineers may begin their career being

trained in a specific discipline, but because of the engineering jobs they take-on, they often become multi-disciplined having worked in a variety of different fields.

 The field of engineering has traditionally been divided into the following engineering job categories: Aerospace Engineering
Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering

Electrical Engineering and,

Mechanical Engineering.

 However, since the human race has been swiftly advancing with regards to technology, new branches of engineering are being developed. Engineering jobs can now also be found in the following fields:
Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Nanotechnology, Molecular Engineering, Mechatronics and many more!

Although all these fields may be defined differently, there is generally a great overlap, particularly in the fields of physics, chemistry and mathematics.

 Engineering jobs usually entail applying physics

and mathematics to problems in order to discover viable solutions or to make improvements.

Where a number of different solutions are available, engineers evaluate these options and the required outcome in order to identify the

best route to follow.

 The earliest recorded civil engineer was an Egyptian known as Imhotep.

It is believed that Imhotep designed and built

the great pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid. Imhotep was one of Pharaoh Djoser's officials and it is possible that he was the first person to make use of columns in architecture. The Step Pyramid was built in Egypt in about the time period 2630 - 2611 BC and can be found at Saqqara.

THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER (ZOSER)

Imhotep would probably be absolutely fascinated with the leaps and bounds engineering has taken in the last 4000 years although he might have a few secrets to share himself!

EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING
Engineering before the Scientific Revolution
Engineering the Industrial Revolution

Engineering the second industrial revolution

Engineering the information age

Engineering before the Scientific Revolution

The forerunners of engineers, practical artists and

craftsmen, proceeded mainly by trial and error. Yet tinkering combined with imagination produced many marvelous devices. Many ancient monuments cannot fail to incite admiration. The admiration is embodied in the name engineer itself originating in the eleventh century from the Latin ingeniator, meaning one with ingenium, the ingenious one.

Engineering the Industrial Revolution

The first phase of modern engineering emerged in the

Scientific Revolution. This phase of engineering lasted through the First Industrial Revolution, when machines, increasingly powered by steam engines, started to replace muscles in most production. While pulling off the revolution, traditional artisans transformed themselves to modern professionals.

 The French, more rationalistic oriented,

spearheaded civil engineering with emphasis on mathematics and developed university engineering education under the sponsorship of their government.
The British, more empirically oriented,

pioneered mechanical engineering and autonomous professional societies under the laissez-faire attitude of their government.

 Gradually, practical thinking became scientific in addition to intuitive, as engineers developed mathematical analysis and controlled

experiments.
Technical training shifted from apprenticeship to

university education.
Information flowed more quickly in organized

meetings and journal publications as professional societies emerged.

Engineering the second industrial revolution

The second industrial revolution, symbolized by

the advent of electricity and mass production, was driven by many branches of engineering.
Chemical and electrical engineering developed in close collaboration with chemistry and physics and played vital roles in the rise of chemical,

electrical, and telecommunication industries.

 Marine engineers tamed the peril of ocean exploration. Aeronautic engineers turned the ancient dream of

flight into a travel convenience for ordinary people. Control engineers accelerated the pace of automation. Industrial engineers designed and managed mass production and distribution systems. Workshops turned into laboratories, tinkering became industrial research, and individual inventions were organized into systematic innovations.

Engineering the information age

Research and development boomed in all fields

of science and technology after World War II, partly because of the Cold War and the Sputnik effect.
Engineering was stimulated by new

technologies, notably aerospace, microelectronics, computers, and novel means of telecommunications from the Internet to cell phones.

 Turbojet and rocket engines propelled aeronautic

engineering into unprecedented height and spawned astronautic engineering.

Utilization of atomic and nuclear power brought

nuclear engineering.
Advanced materials with performance hitherto

undreamed of poured out from the laboratories of materials science and engineering.

 Advanced materials with performance

hitherto undreamed of poured out from the laboratories of materials science and engineering.
Microelectronics, telecommunications, and

computer engineering joined force to precipitate the information revolution in which intellectual chores are increasingly alleviated by machines

 To lead the progress of these sophisticated

technologies, engineers have remade themselves by reforming educational programs and expanding research efforts.
Intensive engineering research produced not

only new technologies but also bodies of powerful systematic knowledge: the engineering sciences and systems, theories in information, computer, control, and communications.

 Engineering developed extensive theories of its

own and firmly established itself as a science of creating, explaining, and utilizing manmade systems.
This period also saw the maturation of graduate engineering education and the rise of largescale research and development organized on

the national level.

Structures of engineering
As the art and science of production,

engineering transforms nature to serve large numbers of people.

To transform nature effectively requires knowledge in natural science; to serve people adequately requires knowledge about

socioeconomic factors.

 Internally, engineering has three aspects:

1. engineering science, 2. design and development, and 3. management and organization.

Externally, it is closely allied with natural science on the one hand and industry on the other.
Together they constitute the main engines

of technology.

Engineering Marvels

International Space Station (ISS)

CERNs Large Hadron Collider

Three Gorges Dam

Three Gorges Dam

Viaduc de Millau Bridge

Viaduc de Millau Bridge

Burj Al-Arab Hotel, Dubai, UAE

"Bird's Nest" Stadium, Beijing, China

EuroTunnel, England/France

The Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE

MareNostrum-supercomputer in Europe

Pan STARRS-1 telescope

at Hawaii with worlds largest digital camera