Definition of the word engineering

Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings.^[1] 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».^[2]

Definition

The American Engineers’ Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET)^[3] has defined «engineering» as:

The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.^[4][5]

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.»^[6] 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.»^[7]

Later, as the design of civilian structures, such as bridges and buildings, matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering^[5] 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.^[8] The wheel, along with the wheel and axle mechanism, was invented in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) during the 5th millennium BC.^[9] The lever mechanism first appeared around 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where it was used in a simple balance scale,^[10] and to move large objects in ancient Egyptian technology.^[11] The lever was also used in the shadoof water-lifting device, the first crane machine, which appeared in Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC,^[10] and then in ancient Egyptian technology circa 2000 BC.^[12] The earliest evidence of pulleys date back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC,^[13] and ancient Egypt during the Twelfth Dynasty (1991-1802 BC).^[14] The screw, the last of the simple machines to be invented,^[15] first appeared in Mesopotamia during the Neo-Assyrian period (911-609) BC.^[13] 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.^[16]

The earliest civil engineer known by name is Imhotep.^[5] 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.^[17] 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.^[18]

Kush developed the Sakia during the 4th century BC, which relied on animal power instead of human energy.^[19]Hafirs were developed as a type of reservoir in Kush to store and contain water as well as boost irrigation.^[20] Sappers were employed to build causeways during military campaigns.^[21] Kushite ancestors built speos during the Bronze Age between 3700 and 3250 BC.^[22]Bloomeries and blast furnaces were also created during the 7th centuries BC in Kush.^{[23][24][25][26]}

Ancient Greece developed machines in both civilian and military domains. The Antikythera mechanism, an early known mechanical analog computer,^[27][28] 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 still widely used today in diverse fields such as robotics and automotive engineering.^[29]

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,^[30] 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.^{[31][32][33][34]} 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.^[35][36]

The cotton gin was invented in India by the 6th century AD,^[37] and the spinning wheel was invented in the Islamic world by the early 11th century,^[38] 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.^[39]

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.^[40][41] 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.^[42] The castle clock, a hydropowered mechanical astronomical clock invented by Al-Jazari, was the first programmable analog computer.^[43][44][45]

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.^[46]: 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.^[46]

Modern era

The science of classical mechanics, sometimes called Newtonian mechanics, formed the scientific basis of much of modern engineering.^[46] 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.^[47]

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.^[48]: 127 Smeaton introduced iron axles and gears to water wheels.^[46]: 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 lead 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.^[49] Iron merchant Thomas Newcomen, who built the first commercial piston steam engine in 1712, was not known to have any scientific training.^[48]: 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.^[50] 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.^[51] 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.^[52] 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.^[53]

The United States census of 1850 listed the occupation of «engineer» for the first time with a count of 2,000.^[54] 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.^[51]

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.^[55]

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.^[5]
Chemical engineering developed in the late nineteenth century.^[5] 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.^[5] The role of the chemical engineer was the design of these chemical plants and processes.^[5]

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.^[56]

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.^[57]

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:^[58][59][60] 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.^[61][62] 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.^[63]

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,^[64] geological, textile, industrial, materials,^[65] and nuclear engineering.^[66] 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

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

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.^[67]

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.^[68]

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.^[69]

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.^[70]

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.

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.^[71]

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).^[72]

The engineering profession engages in a wide range of activities, from large collaboration at the societal level, and also smaller individual projects. Almost all engineering projects are obligated to some sort of financing agency: a company, a set of investors, or a government. The few types of engineering that are minimally constrained by such issues are pro bono engineering and open-design engineering.

By its very nature engineering has interconnections with society, culture and human behavior. Every product or construction used by modern society is influenced by engineering. The results of engineering activity influence changes to the environment, society and economies, and its application brings with it a responsibility and public safety.

Engineering projects can be subject to controversy. 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 western 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 very 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.^[73]

All overseas development and relief NGOs make considerable use of engineers to apply solutions in disaster and development scenarios. A number of charitable organizations aim to use engineering directly for the good of mankind:

• Engineers Without Borders
• Engineers Against Poverty
• Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief
• Engineers for a Sustainable World
• Engineering for Change
• Engineering Ministries International^[74]

Engineering companies in many established economies are facing significant challenges with regard to the number of professional engineers being trained, compared with the number retiring. This problem is very prominent in the UK where engineering has a poor image and low status.^[75] There are many negative economic and political issues that this can cause, as well as ethical issues.^[76] It is widely agreed that the engineering profession faces an «image crisis»,^[77] rather than it being fundamentally an unattractive career. Much work is needed to avoid huge problems in the UK and other western economies. Still, the UK holds most engineering companies compared to other European countries, together with the United States.

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.^[78]

In Canada, many engineers wear the Iron Ring as a symbol and reminder of the obligations and ethics associated with their profession.^[79]

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».^[83]

In the book What Engineers Know and How They Know It,^[84] 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.^[85][86] 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.^[87][88][89] For technology, physics is an auxiliary and in a way technology is considered as applied physics.^[90] 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.^[91] Physicists and engineers engage in different lines of work.^[92] But PhD physicists who specialize in sectors of engineering physics and applied physics are titled as Technology officer, R&D Engineers and System Engineers.^[93]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[94]

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.^[95]

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.^[96][97] 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.^[98][99]

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.^[100]

The heart for example functions much like a pump,^[101] the skeleton is like a linked structure with levers,^[102] the brain produces electrical signals etc.^[103] 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.^[100]

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).^{[105][106][107]}

The Art Institute of Chicago, for instance, held an exhibition about the art of NASA’s aerospace design.^[108] Robert Maillart’s bridge design is perceived by some to have been deliberately artistic.^[109] 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.^[105][110]

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.^[104][111]

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 & electronics, power distribution & 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.

See also

Lists

Glossaries

Related subjects

References

Further reading

External links

Last Updated:
28 Mar 2023
— Updated example sentences

Engineering is the application of science and maths to solve problems. While scientists and inventors come up with innovations, it is engineers who apply these discoveries to the real world.

Engineering is part of STEM education, which aims to engage students with science, technology, engineering and mathematics yet, as a discipline, it has been practiced for thousands of years.

You can see examples of engineering in the Pyramids of Giza, at Stonehenge, the Parthenon and elsewhere. Yet, today’s engineers operate in many different areas as well as building structures.

Engineers work on everything from cell membranes to construction and prosthetics to improving engine and transport efficiencies and developing renewable energy resources.

While engineering dates right back to the invention of the wheel (and beyond), the term itself comes from the word engineer, which goes back to the 14^th century, when an ‘engine’er’ meant someone who constructed military engines like catapults and other ‘siege engines.’ This military meaning can still be seen in use today with the Corps of Royal Engineers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The word ‘engine’ itself comes from the Latin word ‘ingenium’ (c. 1250), which means ‘innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention.’

Engineering developed beyond military applications and began to be applied to civilian structures like bridges and buildings, leading to the creation of the term civil engineering, to differentiate it from the original military engineering field.

What Does an Engineer Do?

Engineers are involved in the design, evaluation, development, testing, modification, inspection and maintaining of a wide range of products, structures and systems. This involves everything from the recommending of materials and processes, overseeing manufacturing and construction processes, and conducting failure analysis and investigation, to providing consultancy services and teaching engineering to students and trainees.

Types of Engineering

There are many different types of engineering, often divided into areas in which the engineer operates. For example, engineers working within the oil and gas industry could be petroleum engineers, while those working in farming-related applications could be called agricultural engineers.

While there are some traditional areas of engineering, such as mechanical and civil engineering, other engineering fields require an overlapping of different specialities. So, for example, a civil engineer may also need an understanding of structural engineering or an aerospace engineer may need to understand aspects of electrical or computer engineering too.

These types of engineering are commonly known as interdisciplinary engineering and include manufacturing engineering, acoustic engineering, corrosion engineering, aerospace, automotive, computer, textiles, geological, materials and nuclear engineering, among others. These areas of engineering are all among the branches of engineering that are represented by the 36 licensed member institutions of the UK Engineering Council. 

Here are some of the traditional and more common interdisciplinary engineering fields:

1. Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineers are involved in the design, manufacture, inspection and maintenance of machinery, equipment and components such as vehicles, engines, aerospace products, weapon systems, robotics, turbines, construction and farm machinery, as well as a wide range of tools and devices. This type of engineering is also associated with the management of control systems and instruments for measuring the performance and status of machinery.

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2. Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineers work on the design, testing, manufacture, construction, control, monitoring and inspection of electrical and electronic devices, components, machines and systems. These range in size from the smallest microchips to large transmission and power generation systems. This includes everything from broadcast engineering to electromagnetic devices, computer systems, telecommunications and more.

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3. Civil Engineering

Civil engineers are involved in the design, construction, maintenance and inspection of large civil infrastructure projects, including roads, railways, bridges, tunnels and dams.

Working on both public and private projects, civil engineers traditionally work in sub-disciplines such as environmental engineering, structural engineering or surveying.

As mentioned above, civil engineering was originally created to differentiate it from military engineering.

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4. Aerospace Engineering

As a specialised branch of mechanical and electrical engineering, aerospace engineering focuses on the design, manufacture and testing of aircraft and spacecraft, including all parts and components. Covering everything from vehicle aerodynamics and efficiencies to electrical control and navigation systems, much of the expertise is also used for other vehicles, such as cars.

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5. Nuclear Engineering

Nuclear engineers work on the design, manufacture, construction, operation, and testing of the equipment, systems and processes for the production and control of nuclear power. From nuclear power plant reactors to particle accelerators, nuclear engineers also work on factors such as monitoring and the storage of nuclear waste in order to protect people from potentially harmful situations.

6. Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineers are concerned with the design of systems, equipment and devices for use in healthcare and medicine. By working with medical specialists such as doctors, therapists and researchers, biomedical engineers are able to meet the requirements of healthcare professionals.

7. Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineers use physics, chemistry, biology and engineering principles for the design of equipment, systems and processes for refining raw materials for mixing, compounding and processing chemicals for a variety of products. Carrying out processes on a commercial scale, chemical engineers are involved in processes ranging from petroleum refining to fermentation and the production of biomolecules.

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8. Computer Engineering

Computer engineers design computer hardware, systems, networks and software. Computer engineering combines other engineering disciplines, such as electrical engineering and computer science, as well as software engineering and design.

9. Industrial Engineering

Industrial engineers design and optimise facilities, equipment and systems for manufacturing, materials processing and other industrial applications.

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10. Environmental Engineering

Environmental engineers are concerned with the prevention, removal and elimination of sources of pollution that affect the environment. Measuring pollution levels, determining sources of pollution and cleaning up polluted areas, these engineers need to work in compliance with government regulations.

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11. Marine Engineering

Marine engineering is related to any engineering tasks on or near the oceans. This includes design and development for shipping, submarines, oil rigs, on-board, harbours, plants and more. This specialised area of engineering combines other types of engineering, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, and programming.

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12. Geotechnical Engineering

Geotechnical engineering is an area of civil engineering that focuses on the engineering behaviour of earth materials. Using the principles of soil and rock mechanics, this subdiscipline of geological engineering uses knowledge of geology, geophysics, hydrology and more.

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Why Engineering is Important

Engineering has been a part of human history, in one form or another, for thousands of years. Of course, as our knowledge and understanding of science and mathematics grew, so our engineering expertise and competence also improved.

Today’s engineers use the most advanced technologies, alongside established scientific principles, to apply cutting-edge solutions and innovation to real world challenges.

It is hard to over-emphasise the importance of engineering on human history, from designing transportation systems to powering our homes, engineering is all around us, right down to the device you are using to read this.

As our scientific knowledge continues to advance, so engineering will find ways to take this new information and apply it to the world around us.

Conclusion

Engineering is all around us and is an integral part of our everyday lives. It is something that many people take for granted, but it is engineering that allows you to make a coffee in the morning, heats or cools your home, allows you to travel, communicate on your mobile device, and so much more besides.

As James A. Michener wrote in his 1983 novel, Space, «Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them.»

TWI’s engineering expertise covers a range of industrial applications, from automotive to power generation and aerospace to marine, as we work to offer support and solutions to our Industrial Members.

Contact us, below, to find out more.

contactus@twi.co.uk

FAQs

How does engineering help the world?

Engineers shape the world around us, innovating solutions to our problems and creating new technologies to help advance society. This ranges from air or space travel to electronics engineering and through to water supply engineering to make sure those in remote communities have access to fresh, clean water.

Helping those in need through the development of new technologies to prevent disease or protecting the planet from environmental issues, engineers use science, maths and problem solving to find answers to both local and global challenges.

Can engineering solve any problem?

Engineering cannot literally solve any problem, but it can be used to solve a wide range of them. Engineers work within the bounds of reality, finding real-world solutions to real-world problems. Many engineering problems have more than one solution, allowing engineers to find the most suitable one given the resources at hand.

Where did engineering come from?

Engineering has existed since ancient times with the invention of the wheel, pulley, wedge and lever. However, the first named civil engineer is Imhotep, who is believed to have designed and supervised the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser (the Step Pyramid) at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630–2611 BC.

Despite its roots in antiquity, it wasn’t until 1390 when the word engineer came into use. Originally known as ‘engine’ers’ these specialists were responsible for the construction of military engines, such as catapults, ballista, the trebuchet and other siege engines and engines of war. This military connection can still be seen with the Corps of Royal Engineers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This later led to the creation of civil engineering and other engineering disciplines distinct from military engineering.

Since then, engineering graduates have gone on to work in a range of disciplines including aeronautical, chemical, mechanical, civil, computer, electrical, and other types of engineering (see above). Each of these types of engineering deals with different specialities – although there is a degree of cross-over between disciplines as solutions are shared across industry.

Where can engineering take you?

Engineering can literally take you around the world, travelling to work on projects in foreign countries, as well as being an in-demand and well-paid career choice.

Walking the line between academia and a vocational discipline, engineering combines soft skills and academic knowledge with a practical application. In addition, it opens up potential opportunities in consulting, technical writing, manufacturing, logistics, business and more.

Will engineering be automated?

Automation is spreading though many industries, including engineering, with the advent of the fourth industrial revolution.  As increased automation removes repeatable tasks from workplaces, there have been concerns that roles will be replaced. These concerns existed during the previous industrial revolutions, but were ultimately unfounded. This looks set to be the case with this fourth wave of concern as engineering still has an emphasis on human-focused activities such as design, quality control and problem resolution.

Automation has seeped into engineering over the decades but, rather than replacing people, the use of automation frees up engineers to solve challenges, innovate and move to more specialised roles and duties.

Will engineers be needed in the future?

Engineers will certainly be needed in the future and, in fact, many forecasts say that the demand for engineers will actually increase. Engineering has one of the lowest unemployment rates of any large job sectors and, as technology continues to evolve, engineers will remain integral to solving our problems and delivering innovations to society.

Will engineers be replaced by robots / AI?

With an Oxford University study estimating that nearly 50% of the jobs in the United States are at risk of being automated in the next twenty years, it is understandable that people are concerned about job security.

However, it is more likely that the increase in artificial intelligence and robotic systems will actually have a positive impact. Routine and simple tasks can be easily automated but there are many more complex and nuanced roles that will still require humans. Indeed technological advancements in the past have created new jobs, including researching and maintaining the very systems that people fear will replace them.

In fact, while robots take on the more mundane tasks, it means that people will be able to use their time completing more engaging work, such as design, R&D, and those roles where communicating with other people is important.

Rather than replacing humans, it seems that robots and A.I. will provide more engaging work opportunities for people – leaving the tedious tasks to the machines.

Where is engineering going in the future?

It is difficult to forecast where engineering will go in the future but many of the skills required of engineers today will still be relevant in the future, such as analytical skills, creativity, communication skills, ethics, agility, and the pursuit of continuous learning.

With technology continuing to advance and the increase in automation, professionals with an ability to work with technology and electronics will be sought after.  Being able to use smart devices and a joined up, Internet of Things (IoT) approach also looks set to be important.

Engineers working at hazardous locations could be remotely monitored with devices to check their location and ensure their safety, and an increased use of automation and electronics will mean that software and embedded systems will become increasingly important. Engineering will also become more streamlined as lean processes are rolled out across industries, removing unnecessary tasks and making processes as efficient as possible.

Should I study engineering?

Engineering is a great choice for people who like to learn new things, make a difference, earn a good wage, and enjoy excellent employment prospects.

Skilled and qualified engineers are in high demand across a range of industries and many enjoy good wages and benefits.

However, you will need to keep your skills up-to-date during your career and so will need to learn new things. However, with that being said, the more skilled you are, the more in demand you become, the higher wage you can command, and the more opportunities you will have to travel or work on different projects.

Are engineering jobs in demand?

Engineering jobs tend to be in high demand due to the many projects that are occurring across all areas of society. However, you must also take account of the fact that demand is driven by global or local necessity, so certain industries will be more buoyant than others at different times.

Is engineering hard to study?

Like any subject, engineering becomes more in-depth and complex the further you go with your studies. However, it does require a grasp of maths and science as well as being able to apply common sense and logic to solve problems.

Although it has been said that engineering ranks as one of the more difficult degrees, engineer educators have experience in helping their students through to graduation, so if an engineering degree interests you and you think you have what it takes, then you should certainly not be put off.

What do you study in engineering?

Engineering involves the application of the principles of science and mathematics to solve real world problems and to innovate new products and processes across a wide range of industries and applications. Designing, testing and building structures, machines, devices and processes using maths and science is all part of an engineer’s role, so there will be certain similarities in study. However, the details will change depending on which field of engineering you study, from aerospace and chemical to civil and electronics through to mechanical engineering and beyond.

Can engineering technicians become engineers?

Engineering technicians can become engineers with the addition of the right skills and qualifications. You can find out more about becoming an EngTech here.

Can engineering be self-taught?

It is certainly possible to learn aspects of engineering on your own, but you will still need to be assessed and get a qualification before you are able to work as a professional. There are also aspects of engineering, particularly the more hands-on aspects, that are difficult to learn on your own. It also depends on which area of engineering you are interested in!

As such, we would recommend you seek proper training if you want to become an engineer.

Why engineering is important

Engineering is all around us, from the device you are reading this on to the buildings we live in, cars we drive and more. From bridges to computers and medical devices to railways – engineers have been involved at some step of the way. Although they are not required in every business, they will still have been involved in setting up or creating initial technologies.

Engineering is critical to industrial innovation, combining scientific and mathematical principles with practical knowhow to deliver products, services and processes.

Engineers keep pushing humankind forward, developing new innovations, protecting lives, preventing diseases and helping to keep the planet itself safe and clean. Certainly, industry has been responsible for problems such as fossil fuel use and the associated climate change, but it is to engineering we must turn to solve the crisis and deliver sustainable alternatives.

As real world problem solvers, engineers continue to be important across all parts of society.

Why engineering is a good career

Aside from the good job prospects and security, as well as the higher average wages, engineering is a good career because it gives you the opportunity to work for the benefit of society.

Whether it is through improved transportation systems, delivering better medical devices and technologies, finding new cleaner energy sources, increasing living standards for underdeveloped nations or solving the problem of global hunger, engineering plays a part in changing people’s lives for the better.

The career can bring you a great many personal benefits, such as travel, high rates of pay and good job security, but it also gives you the opportunity to use your knowledge, skills and experience to make a real difference to the world.

• Defenition of the word engineering

  • The science by which the properties of matter and the sources of power in nature are made useful to humans in structures, machines, and products.
  • the discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems; «he had trouble deciding which branch of engineering to study»
  • a room (as on a ship) in which the engine is located
  • the practical application of science to commerce or industry
  • the discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems

Synonyms for the word engineering

• • applied science
  • business
  • commerce
  • engine room
  • engineering science
  • manufacturing
  • production
  • technology
  • trade

Similar words in the engineering

• • engineering
  • engineering’s

Hyponyms for the word engineering

• • aeronautical engineering
  • architectural engineering
  • automotive engineering
  • automotive technology
  • bioengineering
  • bionics
  • biotechnology
  • chemical engineering
  • civil engineering
  • communications technology
  • computer science
  • computer technology
  • computing
  • EE
  • electrical engineering
  • ergonomics
  • high tech
  • high technology
  • industrial engineering
  • industrial management
  • information technology
  • it
  • mechanical engineering
  • nanotechnology
  • naval engineering
  • nuclear engineering
  • rail technology
  • railroading
  • rocketry

Hypernyms for the word engineering

• • application
  • bailiwick
  • branch of knowledge
  • discipline
  • field
  • field of study
  • practical application
  • profession
  • room
  • study
  • subject
  • subject area
  • subject field

See other words

• • What is lurch
  • The definition of bearskin
  • The interpretation of the word encourage
  • What is meant by evolving
  • The lexical meaning greater than ever
  • The dictionary meaning of the word buddings
  • The grammatical meaning of the word ever-increasing
  • Meaning of the word up-and-coming
  • Literal and figurative meaning of the word nascent
  • The origin of the word industrialized
  • Synonym for the word urbanizing
  • Antonyms for the word manufacturing
  • Homonyms for the word industrialism
  • Hyponyms for the word industrialist
  • Holonyms for the word industrialists
  • Hypernyms for the word mechanized
  • Proverbs and sayings for the word industrialization
  • Translation of the word in other languages industrialize

I’m not paying for it, ‘blunt arrogance’, These two ladies will realise one day its engineering the nation, not ‘domestic engineering‘_ «There are lessons to learn ..» ❋ Unknown (2010)

After earning a bachelor of science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, Page decided to concentrate on computer engineering at Stanford University, where he met Sergey Brin. ❋ Unknown (2010)

He received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1968 and a master’s degree in structural engineering from California State University at North Ridge in 1973. ❋ Post (2010)

That doesn’t sound like engineering at all, so you should have truly excellent reasons for saying engineering is responsible for an approach that leaves out two critical steps in engineering as we know it. ❋ Unknown (2009)

BA and MA in engineering from the University of Illinois at CU, as well as a connection with T. Boone Pickets, and many notices in the India Times. ❋ Unknown (2008)

As it stands, going from a BS to a PhD in engineering is a money-losing proposition. ❋ Unknown (2007)

Such protein engineering is also of importance in modern biotechnology and drug design. ❋ Unknown (1997)

A native of Fredericton and a graduate in engineering from the University of New Brunswick (which recently conferred an honorary doctorate in science on him) he has spent all his working life with the Canadian General Electric Company. ❋ Unknown (1960)

Except for United States ‘Army Aero Service during World War I, Mr. Gordon has been identified with the transit industry since his degree in engineering from the University of Illinois in 1912. ❋ Unknown (1943)

I do not believe the term engineering should be merged with Engineer. ❋ Unknown (2009)

I don’t care about your opinion on whether engineering is a better metaphor for a cave fish’s eyes than selection – I just want you to admit that you were wrong to claim that Orr’s review supported this opinion. ❋ Unknown (2007)

Now, with Social Security what we need to do is follow that same what I call engineering process. ❋ Unknown (2000)

This actually sounds a lot like what biologists do normally, although they might not call it «engineering«. ❋ Unknown (2009)

I have studied science to some extent and worked in engineering which is very concrete and practical. ❋ Unknown (2009)

And it’s not like you can just accidentally take a class in engineering and decide to major in it — you have to know going in to college that engineering is what you want to do. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Unemployed after working over 30 years in engineering, UK and abroad. on April 17, 2009 at 9: 30 am | Reply David ❋ Inspector Gadget (2009)

I am still in engineering and that is what I now put up with on a near daily basis. ❋ Inspector Gadget (2009)

[Business major]: what’s your major?
[Engineering major]: engineering.
Business major: (gets a mental image of [engineering major] stabbing himself with pencils, not sleeping for 36 hours straight, and failing multiple classes. Yet the engineering major is still 4 times smarter than the [business major].) ❋ Drew S (2007)

[We need] to [encourage] more girls to take up engineering so that engineering guys can [get laid]. ❋ Atdevel12345 (2012)

[Engineering] is [amazing]. ❋ Commander Epic (2011)

[Damn] those [engineering students] are [nerds] ❋ Drew Strew (2005)

[Engineering] Boy: Hey, do you wanna come to our [engineering] party and [solder] electrical components while under the influence?
Normal Boy: Shut up you [fucking loser], I’m going to a party where there are girls so I can laid… ❋ Young & Freedman (2005)

Michael started off college as a [physics major] but later switched to [electrical engineering] after realizing he was just not smart enough to [ponder] the mysteries of the Universe in any real meaningful way. ❋ PortlandScience (2012)

[Engineering] guy says let me [explain] how your car works while a [skilled] person fixes it. ❋ Notanengineer (2017)

Humanities/[Business major]: [Hey loser]!
[Engineering student] (in his head): I’ll show you. What I’m studying is important and it’s going to get me that big pay check. Then all the ladies will come to me.
10 years later…..
Humanities/Business major (now a CEO): Hey loser!
Engineering student (in his head): Doh! Well at least I have my health….. wait no I don’t. ❋ The_Scholar (2011)

[meet the engineer] ❋ Why Not7 (2020)

[Engin] = [limitless] ❋ Anonymus3003 (2017)

Princeton’s WordNetRate this definition:2.9 / 7 votes

1. technology, engineeringnoun

   the practical application of science to commerce or industry

2. engineering, engineering science, applied science, technologynoun

   the discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems

   «he had trouble deciding which branch of engineering to study»

3. engineering, engine roomnoun

   a room (as on a ship) in which the engine is located

GCIDERate this definition:3.7 / 11 votes

1. Engineeringnoun

   Originally, the art of managing engines; in its modern and extended sense, the art and science by which the properties of matter are made useful to man, whether in structures, machines, chemical substances, or living organisms; the occupation and work of an engineer. In the modern sense, the application of mathematics or systematic knowledge beyond the routine skills of practise, for the design of any complex system which performs useful functions, may be considered as engineering, including such abstract tasks as designing software (software engineering).

WiktionaryRate this definition:4.8 / 5 votes

1. engineeringnoun

   the application of science to the needs of humanity

2. engineeringnoun

   the work of an engineer

3. engineeringnoun

   the profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences gained by study, experience, and practice is applied with judgment to develop ways to use economically the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of mankind

4. engineeringnoun

   the area aboard a ship where the engine is located

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Engineering

   Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. 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».

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 3 votes

1. Engineering

   of Engineer

2. Engineeringnoun

   originally, the art of managing engines; in its modern and extended sense, the art and science by which the mechanical properties of matter are made useful to man in structures and machines; the occupation and work of an engineer

FreebaseRate this definition:4.5 / 28 votes

1. Engineering

   Engineering is the application of scientific, economic, social, and practical knowledge in order to design, build, and maintain structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes. It may encompass using insights to conceive, model and scale an appropriate solution to a problem or objective. The discipline of engineering is extremely broad, and encompasses a range of more specialized fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas of technology and types of application.
   The American Engineers’ Council for Professional Development has defined «engineering» as:
   The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation or safety to life and property.
   One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so may have more formal designations such as Professional Engineer, FAA Designated Engineering Representative, Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, Ingenieur or European Engineer.

U.S. National Library of MedicineRate this definition:4.5 / 4 votes

1. Engineering

   The practical application of physical, mechanical, and mathematical principles. (Stedman, 25th ed)

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. engineering

   The business of the engineer; the art of designing and superintending the execution of railways, bridges, canals, harbors, docks, the defense of fortresses, etc.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. engineering

   The innovative application of science to a requirement within society, a social enterprise or form of unity government

   Engineering is created in innovative and types.

   Submitted by MaryC on March 7, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Discipline
   • Room
   • Ship

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word ‘engineering’ in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2050

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word ‘engineering’ in Written Corpus Frequency: #2574

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word ‘engineering’ in Nouns Frequency: #911

How to pronounce engineering?

How to say engineering in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of engineering in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of engineering in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of engineering in a Sentence

1. S. E. Lindsay:

   Engineering is the practice of safe and economic application of the scientific laws governing the forces and materials of nature by means of organization, design and construction, for the general benefit of mankind.

2. United States:

   This training is subject to (sanctions) because it is technical cooperation on aerospace and aeronautical engineering and technology and therefore requires the committee to review it on a case-by-case basis.

3. Chief Financial Officer Tim Weller:

   Given our strength in the middle eastern region, it will be a natural extension of our core onshore EPC( engineering, procurement and commissioning) business to start work in that particular country.

4. Actor Ben Cotton:

   What we’re really doing at the Mars Desert Research Station is what we call an operational simulation more than a technical engineering simulation, but we find out how you would run a mission on Mars, so for example what we’ve discovered by running it a number of ways is the mission has got to be led from the front, that is, the commander of the mission is the commander of the crew. We don’t even call our mission control mission control anymore we call it mission support — they are there to support the crew — this has got to be led from the front.

5. Henry G. Stott:

   Engineering is the art of organizing and directing men and controlling the forces and materials of nature for the benefit of the human race.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for engineering

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

• هندسةArabic
• enginyeriaCatalan, Valencian
• strojírenství, inženýrstvíCzech
• engineeringDanish
• Ingenieurwissenschaft, Engineering, Maschinenbau, IngenieurwesenGerman
• μηχανολογία, μηχανοστάσιο, μηχανικήGreek
• inĝenierartoEsperanto
• ingeniería, sala de máquinasSpanish
• ingeniaritzaBasque
• مهندسیPersian
• insinööritaito, tekniikan ala, konehuone, tekniikka, insinöörityöFinnish
• ingénierie, salle des machinesFrench
• einnseanaireachdScottish Gaelic
• הנדסהHebrew
• अभियांत्रिकीHindi
• mérnHungarian
• rekayasa, teknikIndonesian
• injeniorartoIdo
• sala macchine, ingegneriaItalian
• ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅInuktitut
• הַנדָסָהHebrew
• 工学, 工務, エンジニアリングJapanese
• 공학, 工學Korean
• ipsumLatin
• mātai pūhangaMāori
• kejuruteraanMalay
• ingenieurswetenschap, bouwkundeDutch
• prosjekteringNorwegian
• inżynieriaPolish
• engenhariaPortuguese
• inginerieRomanian
• ин, [[инженерный, те́хника, [[машинный, проекти́рование, инжини́ринг, инжене́рия, машинострое́ние, разрабо́ткаRussian
• strojarnicaSerbo-Croatian
• ingenjörskonst, ingenjörsvetenskap, teknikSwedish
• பொறியியல்Tamil
• ఇంజనీరింగ్Telugu
• วิศวกรรมThai
• mühendislikTurkish
• інUkrainian
• انجینرنگUrdu
• kỹ thuậtVietnamese
• ינזשעניעריעYiddish
• 工程Chinese

Get even more translations for engineering »

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1	0   0 See Loss control.

2	0   0 engineering 1720, «work done by an engineer,» from engineer (n.). As a field of study, attested from 1792. An earlier word was engineership (1640s); engineery was attempted in 1793, but it did not stick [..]

3	0   0 engineering the art and science of building, maintaining, moving, and demolishing structures.

4	0   0 engineering Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management [EPCM] means the client engages a contractor to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services.  The EPCM contractor manage [..]

5	0   0 engineering technology: the practical application of science to commerce or industry the discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems; "he had tro [..]

6	0   0 engineering Architecture by engineers (Crystal Palace, Eiffel Tower).

7	0   0 engineering  applying scientific knowledge and skills, math, and technology to solve problems and address human needs and wants. Erode (v.)

8	0   0 engineering The use of scientific knowledge and trial-and-error to design systems. (See Science

9	0   0 engineering application of science and mathematics to solve real-life problems. entropy —

10	0   0 engineering An engineering, procurement, and construction contract is a fixed-price, schedule-intensive construction contract. This is also termed as a turnkey contract. This is typically used in the construction [..]

11	0   0 engineering (n) the practical application of science to commerce or industry(n) the discipline dealing with the art or science of applying scientific knowledge to practical problems(n) a room (as on a ship) in [..]

12	0   0 engineering         The process of designing the mechanics of something.  The «term» applied to

13	0   0 engineering the application of practical & scientific knowledge to a methodical problem solving process.

14	0   0 engineering n. ingeniería

15	0   0 engineering The practical application of physical, mechanical, and mathematical principles. (Stedman, 25th ed)

16	0   0 engineering The application of Engineering principles and methods to living organisms or biological systems.

17	0   0 engineering Application of principles and practices of Engineering Science to Biomedical Research and Health care.

18	0   0 engineering Methods and techniques used to modify or select Cells and develop conditions for growing Cells for biosynthetic production of molecules (Metabolic Engineering), for generation of Tissue structures and [..]

19	0   0 engineering Directed modification of the Gene Complement of a living organism by such techniques as altering the DNA, substituting Genetic material by means of a Virus, transplanting whole nuclei, transplanting C [..]

20	0   0 engineering The Science of designing, building or equipping mechanical devices or artificial Environments to the anthropometric, physiological, or psychological requirements of the people who will use them.

21	0   0 engineering Methods and techniques used to genetically modify Cells’ biosynthetic product output and develop conditions for growing the Cells as Bioreactors.

22	0   0 engineering Procedures by which protein structure and function are changed or created In Vitro by altering existing or synthesizing new structural Genes that direct the synthesis of Proteins with sought-after pro [..]

23	0   0 engineering A branch of Engineering concerned with the design, construction, and Maintenance of environmental facilities conducive to Public Health, such as Water Supply and waste disposal.

24	0   0 engineering Generating Tissue In Vitro for clinical applications, such as replacing wounded Tissues or impaired organs. The use of Tissue Scaffolding enables the generation of complex multi-layered Tissues and Ti [..]

25	0   0 engineering The practical application of physical, mechanical, and mathematical principles. (Stedman, 25th ed)

26	0   0 engineering A contract where the contractor is responsible for the design, procurement and construction phases of a project.

27	0   0 engineering A contract where the contractor is responsible for the design, procurement, construction and management (sometimes maintenance) phases of a project.

28	0   0 engineering Undergraduate Office SITE 800 King Edward Avenue, Room 1020 Ottawa ON K1N 6N5 Tel.: 613-562-5918 bacinfo@genie.uOttawa.ca Graduate Office Colonel By Hall 161 Louis Pasteur Private, Room B111 Ottawa ON K1N 6N5 Tel.: 613-562-5347 gprecept@uOttawa.ca

29	0   0 engineering Engineering surveying is a critical part of any engineering project, because without an accurate understanding of the size, shape and nature of the project, there is a risk of failure. A surveyor will [..]

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Engineering is all about using scientific principles to create structures and machines. Examples include bridges, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, airplanes, factory machines, buildings, roads, robots, and tunnels.

It is the application of mathematics and science to solve problems. Engineering professionals, i.e., engineers, figure out how things function. They look at scientific discoveries and find ways to get them onto the market.

Inventors, especially scientists, tend to get the credit for new inventions that improve your quality of life. However, we must not forget that those who are instrumental in finding practical uses for them are engineers.

The University of Bath in England has the following definition of the term:

“Engineering is a discipline dedicated to problem solving. Our built environment and infrastructure, the devices we use to communicate, the processes that manufacture our medicines, have all been designed, assembled or managed by an engineer.”

Engineering is a wide field

There are many different types of engineers. The term may have a variety of meanings, depending on who uses it, where, and in which circumstances.

While some design and build roads, others are involved in food processing, creating robots, making industrial chemicals, or are trying to overcome manufacturing challenges.

Let’s look at five different types of engineers:

Mechanical engineers

Mechanical engineers design and create mechanical systems. They study systems and objects in motion. This field touches many aspects of our everyday life.

Mechanical engineers are key personnel in various industries, including aerospace, biotech, automotive, energy conversion, and manufacturing.

According to Columbia University in the City of New York:

“The role of a mechanical engineer is to take a product from an idea to the marketplace. To accomplish this, the mechanical engineer must be able to determine the forces and thermal environment that a product, its parts, or its subsystems will encounter; design them for functionality, aesthetics, and durability; and determine the best manufacturing approach that will ensure operation without failure.”

Electrical engineers

These professionals focus on technology that uses electricity as its power source. They work on electrical devices, systems, and components. One might be working on something tiny, such as a microchip, while another may be building a massive power station.

Regarding products we use today, austintec.com says the following:

“Electrical engineers can be credited with feats such as inventing the radio, television, induction motor, and more. None of these iconic items would be available without electrical engineers.”

“One of the most famous electrical engineers is Thomas Edison, who is credited with inventing the electric light bulb.”

Industrial engineers

These engineering professionals, as the name suggests, work in industry. More specifically, they focus on boosting efficiency, lowering costs, improving product quality (or service quality), and health and safety in the workplace.

They also implement strategies to make a company or its factory environmentally friendly. Compliance is also the focus of industrial engineers. Compliance refers to adhering to  or complying with (obeying) a set of rules and regulations.

According to IISE (Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers):

“Industrial and systems engineering is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy.”

“It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, and social sciences together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design, to specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems.”

Chemical engineers

Chemical engineers work in creating industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, as well as food processing. They design the systems, processes, and equipment for refining raw materials and processing chemicals to make products that consumers, businesses, and other entities use.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has the following job description of a chemical engineer:

“Chemical engineers apply the principles of chemistry, biology, physics, and math to solve problems that involve the use of fuel, drugs, food, and many other products.”

Civil engineers

Civil engineering has been around for thousands of years. Professionals design, build, and maintain the infrastructure items of a country, region, or town.

They build, for example, railways, hospitals, water supply systems, bridges, tunnels, buildings, dams, and sea defenses. Much of what we see around us outdoors has something to do with civil engineering.

Regarding items in the world around us, the Institution of Engineers in the United Kingdom says the following:

“Civil engineering is everything you see that’s been built around us. It’s about roads and railways, schools, offices, hospitals, water and power supply and much more. The kinds of things we take for granted but would find life very hard to live without.”

“Civil engineers design, create and connect up the world around us. They help make our villages, towns and cities work for the people that live there.”

Career prospects

There are over forty different types of engineering degree courses at universities. Did you know that there are forensic engineers? Experts expect the whole sector, which is huge, to see significant growth over at least the next couple of decades.

If you are wondering what to study, bear in mind that engineering today is a top career. It will continue to be so for a very long time.

The notion that this type of career is for men is a myth. There are hundreds of thousands of women globally either studying or working as engineers. In fact, women are representing an ever-growing percentage of all engineers in the advanced economies and many of the emerging ones.

If you like math and science, and enjoy solving problems, you should seriously consider becoming an engineer.

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Chapter 1 – Engineering

What is engineering?   Here is how it is defined in wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering

Engineering is the creative application of science, mathematical methods, and empirical evidence to the innovation, design, construction, and maintenance of structures, machines, materials, devices, systems, processes, and organizations. 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”.^[1]

Definition

The American Engineers’ Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET)^[2] has defined “engineering” as:

The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.^[3][4]

History

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

The term engineering is derived from the word engineer, which itself dates back to 1390 when an engine’er (literally, one who operates an engine) referred to “a constructor of military engines.”^[5] 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.”^[6]

Later, as the design of civilian structures, such as bridges and buildings, matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering^[4] 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 Ancient Romans built aqueducts to bring a steady supply of clean and fresh water to cities and towns in the empire.

The pyramids in Egypt, the Acropolis and the Parthenon in Greece, the Roman aqueducts, Via Appia and the Colosseum, Teotihuacán, the Great Wall of China, 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 earliest civil engineer known by name is Imhotep.^[4] 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.^[7] Ancient Greece developed machines in both civilian and military domains. The Antikythera mechanism, the first known mechanical computer,^[8][9] and the mechanical inventions of Archimedes are examples of early 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 still widely used today in diverse fields such as robotics and automotive engineering.^[10]

Ancient Chinese, Greek, Roman and Hungarian armies employed military machines and inventions such as artillery which was developed by the Greeks around the 4th century B.C.,^[11] the trireme, the ballista and the catapult. In the Middle Ages, the trebuchet was developed.

Renaissance era

The first steam engine was built in 1698 by Thomas Savery.^[12] The development of this device gave rise to the Industrial Revolution in the coming decades, allowing for the beginnings of mass production.

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.

Modern era

The inventions of Thomas Newcomen and James Watt gave rise to modern mechanical engineering. The development of specialized machines and machine tools during the industrial revolution led to the rapid growth of mechanical engineering both in its birthplace Britain and abroad.^[4]

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, harbours, and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. 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. His lighthouse remained in use until 1877 and was dismantled and partially rebuilt at Plymouth Hoe where it is known as Smeaton’s Tower. 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.

The United States census of 1850 listed the occupation of “engineer” for the first time with a count of 2,000.^[13] 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.^[14]

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.^[15]

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.^[4] Chemical engineering developed in the late nineteenth century.^[4] 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.^[4] The role of the chemical engineer was the design of these chemical plants and processes.^[4]

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.^[16]

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.^[17]

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.

In 1990, with the rise of computer technology, the first search engine was built by computer engineer Alan Emtage.