Concepts of Engineering and Technology

Introduction to Engineering Fundamentals and Civilization

Part 1 - Definitions

Photo Courtesy of Gary Payne/Denton Record-Chronicle Photo Courtesy of Steve Van Meter, VideoRay

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Warm-Up Activity

Directions: Please take out a sheet of paper

and respond to the questions below. Please

check your spelling.

• In your own words, “What is Engineering?”• In your own words, “What is Science?”• In your own words, “What is Technology?”

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Questions to ponder:• What is the difference between science and

technology?• What are the greatest engineering accomplishments

of the 20th century?• How do newer engineering accomplishments

compare to those throughout history?• How does technology impact the world?• What is the difference between innovation and

invention?• What is an ethical design dilemma?• Why did engineering societies develop standards?

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ABET defines engineering as:• “The profession in which knowledge of the

mathematical and natural sciences, gained by study, experience, and practice, is applied with judgment to develop ways to use, economically, the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of mankind.”

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Engineer• A person who designs products, structures, or

systems to improve peoples lives• Mathematics is the language of science,

engineering, and technology. • Engineers use math to describe objects in great

detail, and mathematical models can test designs without actually building them.

• Engineers use scientific principles to guide their design.

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• Engineers work in teams, and planning and design is a large part of their work.

• Engineering is a form of problem solving.• Engineers work in teams because different

people have different skills and can look at problems in different ways.

• An engineer must look at problem criteria and solution constraints.

• Engineering involves design and construction.• Engineering is iterative.

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ECE 404 Scott Umbaugh, Textbook: Design for ECE

Engineers, Ford & Coulston

Example Engineering Requirements

• Performance and Functionality• Will identify skin lesions with a 90% accuracy• Should be able to measure within 1mm

• Reliability • Operational 99.9% of the time• MTBF of 10 years

• Energy• Average power consumption of 2 watts• Peak current draw of 1 amp

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ECE 404 Scott Umbaugh, Textbook: Design for ECE Engineers, Ford & Coulston

Constraints

• Economic• Environmental• Ethical and Legal• Health and Safety• Manufacturability• Political and Social – FDA, language?• Sustainability

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Technology • The means by which humans modify the

world to address their wants and needs • Involves an artifact • Includes phones and televisions, and also

things like spoons and running shoes • It even includes the kernel of the grass

grains we use in our cereal

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• Technology often involves a system, and includes the people, infrastructure, and processes.

• Involves the design, manufacture, use, and repair of the object

• The innovation, change, or modification of the natural environment to satisfy perceived human needs and wants

• Human innovation in action that involves the generation of knowledge and processes to develop systems that solve problems and extend human capabilities

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Science

• Involves knowledge about the natural world

• Often involves knowledge for its own sake • Discovers and explains what is • Engineering involves creating what has

never been

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Technological progress promotes science advancement

This mass spectrometer helped make the decoding of the human genome possible.

Courtesy of: www.scienceaid.co.uk.

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The Scientific Process

Courtesy of: Science Buddieshttp://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_scientific_method.shtml

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The Engineering Design Process

Courtesy of: Engineering is Elementaryhttp://www.mos.org/eie/engineering_design.php

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The seven key resources for engineering are:

• People• Energy• Capital• Information• Tools and machines• Materials• Time

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Engineering and Technology, 1st ed.Hacker et al. Delmar Cengage Learning(2010). Engineering Design: An Introduction, 1st

ed. Karsnitz, O’Brian, Hutchinson, DelmarCengage Learning (2008).

Engineering Your Future, 2nd ed, Gomez,Oakes, Leone, Great Lakes Press (2008).

Gateway To Engineering, 1st ed. Rogers, Wright,Yates. Delmar Cengage Learning (2010).

16Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved.