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Engineering
• The creative application of scientific principles to
design or develop structures, machines,

What is Engineering? 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.
by: Felrem G. Lor American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD,

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History • an "engine" referred to a military machine, i.e., a

mechanical contraption used in war (for example, a
• Engineering has existed since ancient times as catapult)
humans devised fundamental inventions such as the
pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is
consistent with the modern definition of
engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to
develop useful tools and objects.
• The term engineering itself has a much more recent
etymology, deriving from the word engineer, which
itself dates back to 1300, when an engine'er (literally,
one who operates an engine) originally referred to "a
Catapult
constructor of military engines

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• The Pharos of Alexandria, the pyramids in Egypt, the • The earliest civil engineer known by name is
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Acropolis and the Imhotep. As one of the officials of the Pharaoh,
Parthenon in Greece, the Roman aqueducts, Via Djosèr, he probably designed and supervised the
Appia and the Colosseum, Teotihuacán and the cities construction of the Pyramid of Djoser (the Step
and pyramids of the Mayan, Inca and Aztec Empires, Pyramid) at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630-2611 BC.
the Great Wall of China, the Brihadeeswarar Temple Ancient Greece developed machines in both civilian
of Thanjavur and tombs of India, among many and military domains.
others, stand as a testament to the ingenuity and • The Antikythera mechanism, the first known
skill of the ancient civil and military engineers. mechanical computer, and the mechanical inventions
of Archimedes are examples of early mechanical
engineering.

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• Some of Archimedes' • Chinese, Greek and

inventions as well as the Roman armies
Antikythera mechanism employed complex
required sophisticated military machines and
knowledge of differential inventions such as
gearing or epicyclic gearing, artillery which was
two key principles in machine developed by the
theory that helped design the Greeks around the 4th
gear trains of the Industrial century B.C., the
Antikythera
Revolution, and are still
trireme, the ballista
widely used today in diverse
and the catapult. In Trebuchet
fields such as robotics and
the Middle Ages, the
automotive engineering.
trebuchet was
developed.

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• The first electrical engineer is considered to be William • The early stages of electrical engineering included
Gilbert, with his 1600 publication of De Magnete, who the experiments of Alessandro Volta in the 1800s,
coined the term "electricity". the experiments of Michael Faraday, Georg Ohm and
• The first steam engine was built in 1698 by mechanical others and the invention of the electric motor in
engineer Thomas Savery. The development of this device 1872.
gave rise to the Industrial Revolution in the coming • The work of James Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz in the
decades, allowing for the beginnings of mass production. late 19th century gave rise to the field of electronics.
• With the rise of engineering as a profession in the 18th • The later inventions of the vacuum tube and the
century, the term became more narrowly applied to fields transistor further accelerated the development of
in which mathematics and science were applied to these electronics to such an extent that electrical and
ends. Similarly, in addition to military and civil electronics engineers currently outnumber their
engineering the fields then known as the mechanic arts colleagues of any other engineering specialty.
became incorporated into engineering.

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• The inventions of Thomas • John Smeaton was the first self-proclaimed civil
Savery and the Scottish engineer engineer, and often regarded as the "father" of civil
James Watt gave rise to modern engineering. He was an English civil engineer
mechanical engineering. The responsible for the design of bridges, canals,
development of specialized harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable
machines and their mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist.
maintenance tools during the • Smeaton designed the third Eddystone Lighthouse
industrial revolution led to the (1755–59) where he pioneered the use of 'hydraulic
rapid growth of mechanical lime' (a form of mortar which will set under water)
engineering both in its and developed a technique involving dovetailed
birthplace Britain and abroad. Steam Engine
blocks of granite in the building of the lighthouse.

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• His lighthouse remained in use

• Chemical engineering, like its counterpart
until 1877 and was dismantled
and partially rebuilt at Plymouth mechanical engineering, developed in the nineteenth
Hoe where it is known as century during the Industrial Revolution. Industrial
Smeaton's Tower. scale manufacturing demanded new materials and
• He is important in the history, new processes and by 1880 the need for large scale
rediscovery of, and development production of chemicals was such that a new
of modern cement, because he industry was created, dedicated to the development
identified the compositional
and large scale manufacturing of chemicals in new
requirements needed to obtain
"hydraulicity" in lime; work industrial plants. The role of the chemical engineer
which led ultimately to the was the design of these chemical plants and
invention of Portland cement. John Smeaton processes.

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Main branches of engineering

• Aeronautical engineering deals with aircraft design
while aerospace engineering is a more modern term
that expands the reach of the discipline by including • Engineering, is a broad discipline which is often
spacecraft design. broken down into several sub-disciplines. These
disciplines concern themselves with differing
• Its origins can be traced back to the aviation
areas of engineering work. Although initially an
pioneers around the start of the 20th century
engineer will usually be trained in a specific
although the work of Sir George Cayley has recently
discipline, throughout an engineer's career the
been dated as being from the last decade of the 18th
engineer may become multi-disciplined, having
century. Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering
worked in several of the outlined areas.
was largely empirical with some concepts and skills Engineering is often characterized as having four
imported from other branches of engineering. main branches:

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• Chemical engineering – The application of • Electrical engineering – The design and study of various
physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering electrical and electronic systems, such as electrical
circuits, generators, motors,
principles in order to carry out chemical electromagnetic/electromechanical devices, electronic
processes on a commercial scale, such as devices, electronic circuits, optical fibers, optoelectronic
petroleum refining, microfabrication, devices, computer systems, telecommunications,
fermentation, and biomolecule production. instrumentation, controls, and electronics.
• Civil engineering – The design and • Mechanical engineering – The design of physical or
construction of public and private works, such mechanical systems, such as power and energy systems,
as infrastructure (airports, roads, railways, aerospace/aircraft products, weapon systems,
water supply and treatment etc.), bridges, transportation products, engines, compressors,
powertrains, kinematic chains, vacuum technology, and
dams, and buildings.
vibration isolation equipment.

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• Engineers apply mathematics and sciences such as

• Beyond these four, sources vary on other main physics to find suitable solutions to problems or to
branches. Historically, naval engineering and make improvements to the status quo. More than
mining engineering were major branches. ever, engineers are now required to have knowledge
of relevant sciences for their design projects. As a
• Modern fields sometimes included as major result, they may keep on learning new material
branches include manufacturing engineering, throughout their career.
acoustical engineering, corrosion engineering, • If multiple options exist, engineers weigh different
Instrumentation and control, aerospace, design choices on their merits and choose the
automotive, computer, electronic, petroleum, solution that best matches the requirements. The
systems, audio, software, architectural, crucial and unique task of the engineer is to identify,
understand, and interpret the constraints on a design
agricultural, biosystems, biomedical, geological, in order to produce a successful result. It is usually
textile, industrial, materials, and nuclear not enough to build a technically successful product;
engineering. it must also meet further requirements.

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• Constraints may include available resources, physical,

imaginative or technical limitations, flexibility for future
Engineers typically attempt to predict how well their
modifications and additions, and other factors, such as
designs will perform to their specifications prior to full-
requirements for cost, safety, marketability, scale production. They use, among other things:
productibility, and serviceability. By understanding the
prototypes, scale models, simulations, destructive
constraints, engineers derive specifications for the limits tests, nondestructive tests, and stress tests. Testing
within which a viable object or system may be produced
ensures that products will perform as expected.
and operated.
• Engineers use their knowledge of science, mathematics,
logic, economics, and appropriate experience or tacit
knowledge to find suitable solutions to a problem.
Creating an appropriate mathematical model of a
problem allows them to analyze it (sometimes
definitively), and to test potential solutions.

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