The role of engineering science

in engineering
By: Shamika Thomas

Course code ENSC110D 9/28/2010






























The role of engineering science in engineering

Page 2



The role of
engineering
science in
engineering
By: Shamika Thomas
The historical development of engineering and the
impact / importance of the solution generated
The concept of engineering originally began in
the ancient times, consisting of simple devices
such as wheels, pulleys and levers all categorized
under inventions exploiting basic mathematical
principles that are useful which is the modern
definition of engineering. The Pharos of Alexandria,
the pyramids in Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, the Acropolis and the Parthenon in Greece,
the Roman aqueducts, Via Apia and
the Coliseum, Teotihuacn and the cities and pyramids
of the Mayan, Inca and Aztec Empires, the Great Wall
of China, these are all examples of early engineering.
One of the earliest engineers was known as Imotep an
official who most likely designed and supervised the
construction of the step pyramid in Egypt in early 2630
-2611 BC. Civilian and military domains were created in
ancient Greece. The Antikythera mechanism, the first
known mechanical computer, and the
mechanical inventions of Archimedes are examples of
early mechanical engineering. Both required
sophisticated knowledge of differential gearing and/or
epicylic gearing, two principles in machine theory
which help in designing gear trains of the industrial
revolution, and now used in robotics and automotives.
Chinese, Greek and Roman armies employed complex
military machines and inventions such as artillery which
was developed by the Greeks around the 4th century
B.C.
In the Pcvoiooov_c Eo, the first electronic engineer
was thought to be William Gilbert (1600s), the
originator of the term electricity. The steam engine
(1698) was built by mechanical engineer Thomas
Savery, giving rise to the industrial era in later years.
With the rise of engineering as a profession in the
eighteenth century, the term became more narrowly
applied to fields in which mathematics and science
were applied to these ends thusly creating engineering
science. Similarly, in addition to military and civil
engineering the fields then known as the mechanic arts
became incorporated into engineering.
NB:* though science and technology have become a
single and hyphenated concept in the twentieth
century they were socially and intellectually separate
modes of activity .university training was given to most
scientist while little or no formal education was what
engineers they gained experience and knowledge in
their craft through an apprenticeship system. Most
engineers used a conceptional framework that differed
from that of science, with a few isolated exceptions
such as Galileos study of material strength. Scientist
dealed with problems using idealized concepts while
engineers found little direct practical use to them. They
were more concerned with phenomenological ideas
such as pressures and elastic fibers. Engineers grew
more dependent on scientific knowledge, but the law
of science never seemed to fit the phenomena of
reality. Engineers needed a model for a new body of
knowledge -an engineering science- that would
provide the missing connection between the laws of
The role of engineering science in engineering

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science and the actual thing (structures, engines, etc)
they were to design.*
The modern era brought many developments.
Experiments by Alessandro Volta, Michael faraday,
Georg Ohm and the electric engine are considered to
be the origin of electrical engineering,
While those of Thomas Savery and James Watt
developed modern mechanical engineering,
development of specialized machines and their
maintenance tools during the industrial revolution led
to the rapid growth of Mechanical Engineering.
Chemical engineering also developed during the
industrial revolution. 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. The role of the
chemical engineer was the design of these chemical
plants and processes.
Aeronautical Engineering deals with aircraft design
while Aerospace Engineering is a more modern term
that expands the reach envelope of the discipline by
including spacecraft design.

Its origins can be traced
back to the aviation pioneers around the turn of the
century from the 19th century to the 20th although the
work of Sir George Clayey 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 making it a hybrid of
sorts.

Role and application of engineering science as a
tool in solving engineering problems.
This is the role of conceptualizing and inventing new
ideas. From this we develop and enhance the answers
to our problems. This ensures that that experiments
carried out are able to prove whether or not the
theories made are accurate.
The future with engineering science And the world
in the next 50 years
What can be expected in the next 50 years is the
transition from an oil-dependent society, new
medicine, the first steps in the development of artificial
intelligence, continued exploration of space, more
people to die from AIDS, a better or worse state for the
poor people in the world, challenges in the climate
change, land loss due to reclamation by the sea, and
new inventions that make life a little easier and
entertaining for some.
It is believed that with the help of engineering science
that there will be great advances in technology and a
vast increase in products and processes. The training of
engineers will be adapted to suit the needs of the
future economy. Engineering, shall rise in importance
and meet the basic needs of all humans for water,
sanitation, food, health, and energy, also it will be their
duty to protect cultural and natural diversity and
improve the lives of the billions of people whose main
concern is to stay alive each day. This role will no
longer be an option to engineers; it is an obligation. It
is said that The engineer of the future applies scientific
analysis and holistic synthesis to develop sustainable
solutions that integrate social, environmental, cultural, and
economic systems.