What is Engineering

Ask a number of people chosen at random what the word "engineering" conveys to them and you will be surprised at the differences in their answers. Better still, ask a number of students enrolled in an engineering college why they have chosen to study for the engineering profession. It soon becomes clear that few have given it much thought or inquired in any depth as to what it is all about. A student may feel, because of his ability to fix automobiles, that he has a mechanical bent and that he could well become a successful engineer as a result of this aptitude. However, he should realize that what he learns at the university will not help much around the garage and he is more likely to end up behind a desk than with a wrench in his hand.

The question is difficult to clarify in a few words, and precise definitions are dif­ficult to find. Perhaps an adequate starting point would be to claim that engineering is a profession concerned with the application of the resources of the universe to create devices, systems, and structures to satisfy the needs of mankind. This is a very general and not completely satisfactory definition. After all, craftsmen who make tennis racquets or violins, for example, do not look on themselves as engineers. Further, many engineers are engaged in tasks not clearly identifiable with particular devices, systems, or structures.

An easy way out is to let the existing cur­ricula in engineering colleges around the country define the substance of engineer­ing. Undoubtedly, the people who use the concepts and techniques presented in such curricula to satisfy man's needs are mostly engineers. The usual structure of engineer­ing curricula includes four main compo­nents. First come the basic sciences of physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Then a block of humanities courses is required. The engineering courses fall in the general areas of (I) mechanics of solids, (2) prop­erties of materials, (3) mechanics of fluids, (4) thermodynamics, (5) electrical science, (6) transfer and rate processes, and (7) sys­tems. Finally come the design courses which put it all together. It is this design discipline which exemplifies engineering in action, for it illustrates how engineers solve practical problems by applying their scientific knowledge and skills in the iter­ative decision-making process. This is how engineers adapt science to human needs.