Introduction to Engineering/ Drawing

Course Code: GEE111

Course Lecturer: Mr. Ikalumhe w o

Engineering and Society

IKALUMHE w o
08/1/2021
Introduction
 A characteristic of human beings is that we develop tools and technology to
adapt our environment to meet our needs.
 Engineers contribute to the development of many innovations that improve
life.
 Engineering is a human endeavour.
 Humans have engaged in engineering to meet their needs as long as they
have had needs.
 We invent and innovate when we are confronted with problems, needs, and
desires.
 Inventions exist and continue to be created to meet our needs for daily life,
such as access to water, energy, transportation, and entertainment.
 In our earlier classes we have discussed the relationship between
Engineering and Society, this was also illustrated with the use of a venn
diagram
 To talk about Engineering and Society, will be to relate them both, understanding
the relationship and how they connect.
 To do this, will be to take the following under consideration:

 What is Engineering and what is it about

 What do we mean by Society
 What is/are the role(s) of Engineering in Society
 What is/are the impact of Engineering in the society
 How are Engineers supposed to comport themselves in society (Ethics)

Society
 Society can be defined or described as a group of people living together in an
organised way,
 They could be a group of people of the same geographical or social environment,
or ethnicity, sharing social interactions, or a collection of such small groups
forming a larger society.
 Role of Engineers in Society
 Engineers, as practitioners of Engineering, are people who invent, design, analyse, build and test
machines, systems, structures and materials to fulfil objectives and requirements while considering
the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety, and cost.
 Engineers contribute to the development of many innovations that improve life.
 A professional engineer is competent by virtue of his/her fundamental education and training to
apply the scientific method and outlook to the analysis and solution of engineering problems.
 He/she is able to assume personal responsibility for the development and application of engineering
science and knowledge, notably in research, design, construction, manufacturing, superintending,
managing and in the education of the engineer.
 It requires the exercise of original thought and judgement and the ability to supervise the technical
and administrative work of others.
 His/her education will have been such as to make him/her capable of closely and continuously
following progress in his/her branch of engineering science by consulting newly published works on
a worldwide basis, assimilating such information and applying it independently.
 He/she is thus placed in a position to make contributions to the development of engineering science
or its applications.
 His/her education and training will have been such that he/she will have acquired a broad and
general appreciation of the engineering sciences as well as thorough insight into the special
features of his/her own branch.
 In due time he/she will be able to give authoritative technical advice and to assume responsibility
for the direction of important tasks in his/her branch.
Role and Expertise
The role and expertise of Engineering include the following:
 Design
 Analysis
 Specialization and Management
Design
 Engineering design is the process of devising a system, component, or process to
meet desired needs. It is a decision-making process (often iterative), in which the
basic sciences, mathematics and engineering sciences are applied to convert
resources optimally to meet a stated objective.
 A design process, is the process by which a design for an object or a structure is
created.
 Engineers develop new technological solutions, as anything new has to be
designed from scratch, or from an existing idea
 During the engineering design process, the responsibilities of the engineer may
include:
 Defining problems, conducting and narrowing research, analyzing criteria,
finding and analyzing solutions, and then making decisions.
 Much of an engineer's time is spent on researching, locating, applying, and
transferring information.
 Their crucial and unique task is to identify, understand, and interpret the
constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result.
Analysis
 Engineers apply techniques of engineering analysis in testing, production, or
maintenance of aa system, component or mechanism
 Engineering analysis involves the application of scientific analytic principles and
processes to reveal the properties and state of the system, device or mechanism
under study.
 Engineering analysis proceeds by;
 Separating the engineering design into the mechanisms of operation or failure
 Analyzing or estimating each component of the operation or failure mechanism
in isolation, and
 Recombining the components.
 Many engineers use computers to produce and analyze designs, to simulate and
test how a machine, structure, or system operates, to generate specifications for
parts, to monitor the quality of products, and to control the efficiency of processes.
 Analytical engineers may supervise production in factories and elsewhere,
determine the causes of a process failure, and test output to maintain quality.
 They also estimate the time and cost required to complete projects.
 Supervisory engineers are responsible for major components or entire projects.
Specialization and Management
 Some engineers specialize in one or more engineering disciplines
 Numerous specialties are recognized by professional societies, and each of the
major branches of engineering has numerous subdivisions.
 Civil engineering, for example, includes Structural Engineering, Highway and
transportation Engineering, and Environmental Engineering.
 Materials Engineering (as another example), include; Ceramic, Metallurgical, and
Polymer Engineering.
 Engineers also may specialize in one industry, such as motor vehicles, or in one
type of technology, such as turbines or semiconductor materials.
 Several recent studies have investigated how engineers spend their time; that is,
the work tasks they perform and how their time is distributed among these.
 Research suggests that there are several key themes present in an engineers work:
1 Technical work (i.e., the application of science to product development);
2 Social work (i.e., interactive communication between people);
3 Computer-based work;
4 Information behaviours.
Global and Societal Impact of Engineering
 Engineering solutions have always had a major impact upon society.
 In some cases, this impact has been clearly positive, such as in the case of home appliances
and water purification.
 In others, the impact has been negative, as in the case of bombs with ever increasing
destructive power.
 Also in many cases, the impact of engineering products has been both positive and negative,
as in the case of the automobiles, automobile crashes and so on.
 Engineers under this heading, are required to give proper attention to the SAFETY and COST
of their products. As these two aspects affect all users of engineering products and, therefore
the society in general.
 More recently, engineers have also become more sensitive regarding the environmental
impact of their products.
 On the other hand, there have been many cases where the engineers involved in the creation
of a particular solution, constrained with a limited view of the situation they were trying to
address, were not aware or could not possibly imagine the impact that their product would
later have on society as a whole (for example, CFCs that have wrecked the ozone layer).
 CFCS – Chlorofluorocarbon, used to be commonly used as refrigerants in refrigerators and Air-
conditioning applications but was later banned upon discovery that CFC’s results in the
destruction of the Ozone layer that protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun
 In the era of market and workforce globalisation, engineers need to have a
solid understanding of the impact that their products will have locally, as well
as globally, so that they can make a sound evaluation of the pros and cons
during design and or production.
 The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) expresses the need for
this global and societal perspective as follows: …engineering colleges must
not only provide their graduates with intellectual development and superb
technical capabilities, but, following industry’s lead, [they] must educate their
students to work as part of teams, communicate well, and understand the
economic, social, environmental, and international context of their
professional activities.
Evaluating the Impact of Engineering
Solutions in a Global/ Societal Context
 To evaluate the impact of engineering solutions in a global/societal context, three
major factors must be taken into consideration
1. The environmental effect of a design and or production
2. Its economic effect,
3. Its social outcome, that is; does it meet societal needs, and what are
the effects it has or will have on society

 Methods of taking these factors into consideration include;

1. Take into consideration the environmental impact when designing
products.
2. Take into consideration the health / safety impact when designing
products.
3. Speculate on large-scale societal changes that such an engineering
innovations may cause.
Ethics
 Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a person's or group of
persons, their behaviour and the way they conduct activities.
 Engineers have obligations to the public, their clients, employers, and the
profession.
 Many Engineering Societies have established codes of practice and codes of
practice or ethics to guide members and inform the public at large.
 Each engineering discipline and professional society maintains a code of ethics,
which the members pledge to uphold.
 Depending on their specializations, engineers may also be governed by specific
statute, whistleblowing, product liability laws, and often the principles
of business ethics
 In Nigeria, Engineering Ethics is governed by COREN (The Council for the
Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria), and NSE (the Nigerian Society of
Engineers).
 Other professional bodies or associations include, NICE, NIStructE, NSCE, etc
also have their Code of Ethics/ Conduct
Professional Responsibility and Engineering Ethics

 An engineer's interaction with society and societal needs, leads naturally to an

engineer's responsibility to society.
 The rationale for teaching ethics to engineers then seems fairly obvious; as their
work (developing, designing and implementing technologies) has an enormous
impact on the world. Johnson.
 Engineering education has made significant progress in strengthening the basic
sciences in engineering, including mathematics, chemistry, and physics.
 Professional responsibility also includes such topics as:
 Safety and Welfare of the Public and of Clients
 Professional Ethics
 Legal Liabilities of Engineers
 Environmental Responsibilities
 Quality Control
 Communications
 Each of these topics relates to the interaction of an engineer to others: clients,
society, employers, employees, and to the engineering profession.
 Conclusion
 Engineering is a very important discipline in the world of today.
 The importance of this area of specialization by many people is felt all over the
world. In the current world we exist in, no country will succeed without the
adoption of engineering practices.
 We can relate the importance of engineering to key areas of any society/
economy
 These key areas include:
 Agricultural
 Banking
 Automobile
 Educational Sector
 Marketing
 Health sector,