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Activity 1.6 Discover Engineering

Introduction
What is engineering? Many people have difficulty answering this question. In fact, engineering is a diverse field – there are many disciplines within engineering that can involve the application of a very different body of knowledge and skills. Nearly everything that is not “natural” (i.e., created by Mother Nature) most likely was designed and created with input from engineers. The shampoo you used this morning to wash your hair, the technology that cleans the water you drink, the buildings in which you live, work, and attend school, and the iPhone you use to communicate all involved the expertise of engineers in the initial design, building and testing, and final production.

All engineers are problems solvers. The differences among engineers in varying disciplines are dependent on the types of problems that they solve. In general there are four major disciplines within the engineering field: chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical. Many other engineering disciplines are derived as an extension of or specialization within one of these major disciplines. For example, environmental engineering is a subcategory of civil engineering. Other engineering disciplines have resulted from the combination of aspects of two or more of the major disciplines. Mechatronics is a relatively new branch of engineering that incorporates both mechanical and electrical engineering principles.

In this activity you will investigate the four major disciplines of engineering and consider their impact on you and the world.

Equipment
Engineering notebook
Pencil
Computer with internet access

Procedure
1. What is engineering? Based on your current perception, in a few sentences define the term “engineering”.
A branch of technology and science involved with the design, building, and use of engines, machines, and structures.

Now investigate the engineering profession. Some websites that may be helpful in your research include the following.
Discover Engineering. www.discoverengineering.org
Engineering Degrees 101. http://engineeringdegrees101.com/engineering-info/why-become-an-engineer/
Engineer Girl. www.engineergirl.org
National Engineers Week. www.eweek.org
The Sloan Career Cornerstone Center. www.careercornerstone.org
Try Engineering. www.tryengineering.org

As you perform your research, record information that will help you respond to the following. Once you have gathered sufficient information, write your responses in the spaces provided.

2. Describe the four major disciplines of engineering and identify problems or projects that an engineer in each discipline might encounter.

Chemical engineering
Chemical Engineering is a branch of engineering that combines chemistry and engineering concepts to help solve problems related the pollution of our environment, creating new materials, or meeting demands for energy. Chemicals can be dangerous and math and science problems can be very difficult
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a branch of engineering that deals with the design,construction,and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment. Civil engineering is math and hard work.
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. The problems faced are energy efficiency and performance
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineers are the most common engineers around that's because they work in every single field of engineering available. They work on creating anything that involves a mechanical process . Problems can be building machines that are portable and light weight.
Choose a discipline of engineering (other than chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical) that is of interest to you. Marine and ocean engineers design and create docks, ports, ships, and other related structures found in the sea. This is a combination of mechanical engineering and civil engineering.

Visit the National Academy of Engineering website on the Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century at http://www.greatachievements.org/. Choose one of the achievements listed and read the information provided about your selected achievement. Then, based on what you learn, respond to the following.

3. Describe your selected achievement in a few sentences.
Fiber optics - it made communication around the world easy and efficient using lasers. Communication is ver impotant in this world.

4. Which major discipline of engineering do you think was most involved in the development of this achievement? Justify your answer.
I would say that electrical engineering had the most involvement. The inventor had to work with fibers and lasers that molecules passed through - using electricity and other things, no doubt. Electrons played a big part in fiber optics' creation.
Visit the National Academy of Engineering website on the Grand Engineering Challenges at http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/. Review your choice of an engineering discipline in number 3 and consider how an engineer within this discipline could contribute to the solution of one or more of the grand challenges.

5. If you were an engineer within the discipline that you chose in number 3, which engineering grand challenge would you like to work on?
I'd work on building a safer oil brig.

6. Describe your selected grand challenge. Oil brigs aren't safe , we all heard about the BP disaster, where the five workers there died almost immediately. They had no chance of escape and had no means too, this is why we need to make this safer.
7. Why is a solution to this challenge important to the world?
Less oil likely to be spilled into the ocean. Less people dead. Less marine life dead.
8. How could you, as an engineer in your chosen discipline, contribute to a solution to this challenge?
Help build and construct a safer oil rig and provide a prototype for ideas.

Conclusion
3. What is it about “engineering” that is common to all disciplines of engineering? That is, what makes an “engineer” an “engineer” regardless of the work one does?
Ability to define a problem and solve it.

4. Why do you think engineering has been called the stealth profession? (Hint: there are many internet resources that address this question.)
Engineering has been called stealth profession because there may be just one thing that no one knows about around them that was built by a engineer.

5. How is an engineer different from a scientist?
An engineer is more of a hands on person while a scientist is the person more involved in doing research.

6. What interpersonal characteristics do you think are important to the success of an engineer of any discipline?
A engineer has to have a creative mind to complete any task that deals with them putting their hands on something.