The future of engineering profession

Among various recent trends in the engineering profession computerization is the most widespread. The trend in modern engineering offices is also towards computerization. Computers are increasingly used for solving complex problems as well as for handling, storing, and generating the enormous volume of data modern engineers must work with.

Scientific methods of engineering are applied in several fields not connected directly to manufacture and construction. Modern engineering is characterized by the broad application of what is known as systems engineering principles.

Industrial engineers work not only with the machines but also with people, to determine, for example, how machines can be operated more efficiently by workers. A small change in the location of machine controls or its position in relation to other machines or equipment, or a change in the muscular movements of the operator, often results in production increase greatly. This type of engineering work is called time-study engineering.

A related field of engineering, human-factors engineering, also known as ergonomics, attracted wide attention in the late 1970s and 1980s, when the safety of nuclear reactors was called in question after serious accidents caused by operator errors, design failures, and defective equipment.

Задание2. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. What is the most widespread trend in engineering profession?

2. What are computers used for in modern engineering?

3. What approaches are used in today’s engineering?

4. What is ergonomics?

5. What is your future engineering profession?

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