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 Engineering is the application
of scientific or mathematical principles to develop economical solutions
to technical problems, creating products, facilities, and structures
that are useful to people.[1][2] One who practices engineering is called
an engineer, and those licensed to do so have formal designations such
as Professional Engineer. Engineers use imagination, judgment, and
reasoning to apply science, technology, mathematics, and practical
experience. The result is the design, production, and operation of
useful objects or processes. The broad discipline of engineering
encompasses a range of specialized subdisciplines that focus on the
issues associated with developing a specific kind of product, or using a
specific type of technology.
Methodology :
The crucial and unique task of the engineer is to identify, understand,
and interpret the constraints on a design in order to produce a
successful result. It is usually not enough to build a technically
successful product; it must also meet further requirements. Constraints
may include available resources, physical or technical limitations,
flexibility for future modifications and additions, and other factors,
such as requirements for cost, marketability, producibility, and
serviceability. By understanding the constraints, engineers derive
specifications for the limits within which a viable object or system may
be produced and operated.
Problem solving :
Engineers use their knowledge of science, mathematics, and appropriate
experience to find suitable solutions to a problem. Creating an
appropriate mathematical model of a problem allows them to analyze it
(sometimes definitively), and to test potential solutions. Usually
multiple reasonable solutions exist, so engineers must evaluate the
different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that
best meets their requirements. Genrich Altshuller, after gathering
statistics on a large number of patents, suggested that compromises are
at the heart of "low-level" engineering designs, while at a higher level
the best design is one which eliminates the core contradiction causing
the problem.
Engineers typically attempt to predict how well their designs will
perform to their specifications prior to full-scale production. They
use, among other things: prototypes, scale models, simulations,
destructive tests, nondestructive tests, and stress tests. Testing
ensures that products will perform as expected. Engineers as
professionals take seriously their responsibility to produce designs
that will perform as expected and will not cause unintended harm to the
public at large. Engineers typically include a factor of safety in their
designs to reduce the risk of unexpected failure. However, the greater
the safety factor, the less efficient the design may be.
Computer use :
As with all modern scientific and technological endeavours, computers
and software play an increasingly important role. Numerical methods and
simulations can help predict design performance more accurately than
previous approximations.
Using computer-aided design (CAD) software, engineers are able to more
easily create drawings and models of their designs. Computer models of
designs can be checked for flaws without having to make expensive and
time-consuming prototypes. The computer can automatically translate some
models to instructions suitable for automatic machinery (e.g., CNC) to
fabricate (part of) a design. The computer also allows increased reuse
of previously developed designs, by presenting an engineer with a
library of predefined parts ready to be used in designs. Computers can
also be used as part of the manufacturing process, controlling the
machines and ensuring a constant level of quality and similarity in the
products. This process is Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) and works in
a similar way to CNC but where CNC controls the machinery, CAM controls
the whole manufacture process from cutting to assembly.
Of late, the use of finite element method analysis (FEM analysis or FEA)
software to study stress, temperature, flow as well as electromagnetic
fields has gained importance. In addition, a variety of software is
available to analyse dynamic systems.
Electronics engineers make use of a variety of circuit schematics
software to aid in the creation of circuit designs that perform an
electronic task when used for a printed circuit board (PCB) or a
computer chip.
The application of computers in the area of engineering of goods is
known as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).
Etymology :
The Oxford English Dictionary gives one, now obsolete, meaning of
engineer (dating from 1325) as "A constructor of military engines".
Engineering was originally divided into military engineering (which
included construction of fortifications as well as military engines) and
civil engineering (non-military construction of such as bridges).
The words engine and engineer (as well as ingenious) developed in
parallel from the Latin root ingeniosus, meaning "skilled". An engineer
is thus implied to be a clever, practical, designer.
With the rise of engineering as a profession in the nineteenth century
the term became more narrowly applied to fields in which mathematics and
science were applied to these ends. In some other languages, such as
Arabic, the word for "engineering" also means "geometry".
In the nineteenth century in addition to military and civil engineering
the fields then known as the mechanic arts became incorporated into
engineering.
Sources : Internet
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