1.

0 INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING IN
SOCIETY
• 1.1 engineering development in a society
What are engineering society

• An engineering society is a professional organization for engineers of various

disciplines. Some are umbrella type organizations which accept many different disciplines,
while others are discipline-specific. ... There are also many student-run engineering
societies, commonly at universities or technical colleges.
Engineering?
• Engineering is the branch of science and technology concerned with the design, building
and use of engines, machines and structures (Oxford Compact English )
• Engineering encompasses science and art, mathematics and creativity, models and
approximations. (John Hopkins University)
•
• identifies engineering as, “the profession in which knowledge of the mathematical and
natural sciences gained by study, experience, and practice is applied with judgement to
develop ways to utilize, economically, the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of
mankind.”
 • What is Engineering - the simplified definition

• is a discipline concerning…
• “ the creative application of scientific knowledge to analyse, design, construct and operate
the products and services of societal needs; with full cognizance of the environment,
sustainable development and foremost the safety, health and welfare to human life.“
• … concerning ethics.
 Today’s Professional Engineers

• • Today’s professional engineers demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to

society, to their profession, and to the environment. • ENGINEERING COUNCIL UK
History in engineering
Human beings have been adapting their environment to better suit their needs and
wants since before recorded history. There have always been people who designed
and built tools or other devices to solve problems or improve lives.
As civilizations developed, people began reshaping their environment with farms, villages,
ships, roads, and eventually great cities. With each advance came new challenges that
required more complex and creative solutions. One early example of an activity that we
now call engineering was the construction and improvement of the aqueduct system that
transported water in and around Rome starting in the fourth century BC. A project of that
scope today would be largely the responsibility of engineers.
• The profession we know as engineering today emerged during the 1500’s when
specialists began using mathematics to design military fortifications. These special military
architects would generally let craftsmen do the actual construction, thus becoming the
first true engineers in the modern sense of the word.
Nineteenth Century
• Starting in the mid-nineteenth century, new processing methods - most notably for steel
and petroleum - reshaped transportation, construction, and manufacturing. Scientist,
inventors and entrepreneurs flourished and “game-changing” technologies appeared in
several different industries.
• Advances were made in all areas, including technologies that transformed everyday
activities. For example, in:
• 1851, Isaac Singer patents a continuous stitch sewing machine
• 1868, Christopher Sholes patents the first practical typewriter
• 1873, Andrew Hallidie invents cable cars for use in San Francisco
• 1874, Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire
• 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
• 1884, Lewis E Waterman patents a practical fountain pen
• It was during the late 1800’s when inventors began identifying with the engineering
process and the engineering profession began to divide into special disciplines, such as
civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.
• Up until the Civil War, United States engineers were trained at military academies or
through industry apprenticeship programs. Since the 1860’s more emphasis has been
place on formal training that includes significant courses in mathematics and science. For
example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened in 1865 with 15 students.
Twentieth Century
• The Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century website lists 20 ways in which
engineering has transformed our world.
• In the 20th century, engineering quite literally electrified the nation. It took us into the sky
and out into space. It gave us cars and highways on which to drive them. It made our waters
cleaner and safer and revolutionized the way we produce food.
• Engineering made our homes more comfortable and efficient with appliances that saved both
time and money. In connected us through telephone, radio, and television and gave us new
ways to see ourselves – and the world – with a variety of imaging technologies.
ALL OF THAT WAS BEFORE THE COMPUTER AND
THE INTERNET.
Looking Forward
• Engineers are helping feed and support an increasingly urban world population that could
reach 10 billion by the year 2050. They are working to ensure that all people have access to
clean, fresh water and adequate shelter.
• Engineers today are developing safe, efficient, and renewable forms of energy. They are helping
to improve our health with more effective drugs and medical treatments. They are working to
design new and more powerful ways of creating, storing, and using information.
• Engineers are now and will continue to be critical to advancing technologies that will allow
individuals to work, learn, and play in new and interesting ways.
Grand challenges for engineering
• The National Academy of Engineering has announced a list of 14 “grand challenges” for
engineering in this century:
• Making solar power economical;
• Providing energy from fusion;
• Developing carbon-sequestration methods;
• Managing the nitrogen cycle;
• Providing access to clean water;
• Restoring and improving urban infrastructure;
• Advancing health informatics;
• Engineering better medicines;
• Reverse-engineering the brain;
• Preventing nuclear terror;
• Securing cyberspace;
• Enhancing virtual reality;
• Advancing personalized learning; and
• Engineering the tools of scientific discovery.
1.2 role of engineering in society
• Mechanical engineering plays a critical role in manufactured technologies, from cars to
airplanes to refrigerators. It enables you to do many daily activities with ease, as it brings
helpful technologies to our modern society.
Contribution of ME to the society
• 1.3 responsibilities of an engineer in an organization
• During the engineering design process, the responsibilities of the engineer may
include defining problems, conducting and narrowing research, analyzing criteria, finding
and analyzing solutions, and making decisions. Much of an engineer's time is spent on
researching, locating, applying, and transferring information.
• Role of engineer
• Engineers develop new technological solutions. During the engineering design
process, the responsibilities of the engineer may include defining problems,
conducting and narrowing research, analyzing criteria, finding and analyzing solutions, and
making decisions.
• How does an engineer contribute to society
• Engineers link communities together through transport infrastructure.
... Engineers also provide the logistics and infrastructure to collate, sort and distribute
food, medicines and other consumables reliably. Such a contribution is invaluable to the
smooth functioning of society and the well-being of its members.
• ENGINEERS play an important role in society. They are the ones who take bench or lab discoveries
and materialise their potential to an industrial scale. Their work has made life easier, practical and
economical for people from all walks of life.
• Engineering is one of the key influences that shapes our society. Engineers don’t just work with
machines, designs and electronics, they use maths and science to provide innovation and inventions
that shape our society and improve the way we live and work. This means that engineers have a
responsibility and also a great opportunity to ensure that the have a positive influence in society.
This webinar will delve into the multifaceted role of engineering in society and provide you an
insight into how you can make a difference and contribute to society being an engineer.
engineer’s challenges in an organization
• These challenges include inadequate power supply, management problems, lack of
working capital, culture of business investment, government policies and interference and
globalization. It is therefore recommended that industrial development should be
vigorously pursued for the overall economic development of the State.Feb 1, 2017
• Emerging issues, challenges and opportunities for engineering relate to internal and external
factors. Internally, the decline of interest and enrolment of young people, especially women in
engineering is a major concern for future capacity. Externally, in the development context,
emerging issues, challenges and opportunities relate to the Millennium Development Goals,
especially poverty reduction and sustainability, and increasingly to climate change mitigation
and adaptation. This chapter has a focus on external issues, challenges and opportunities, with
enrolment issues covered later in the chapter on engineering education. The chapter begins
with a section on foresight and forecasts of the future, providing a background in foresight of
science and technology and innovation, and drawing on the many foresight exercises that
have been conducted around the world.
• A section on emerging and future areas of engineering emphasizes the increasing
importance of engineering and sustainability, urbanization and globalization, and
increasingly important domains of engineering relating to materials, energy, information
and systems, and bioengineering. The theme of sustainability is developed in the section
on the changing climate and increasing need for engineers and engineering of the future –
beginning in the present – to focus on areas relating to climate change mitigation and
adaptation. The following section examines the issues of information and advocacy, public
and policy awareness and influence , and how to get the engineering message across from
a professional communications viewpoint. The chapter concludes with a view of
engineering and technology in the third millennium.