Transcript Careers in Engineering Working Smarter, Playing Harder

What is Engineering and Where
Can it Take You?
Adapted from - http://www.vanderbilt.edu/virtualschool/
ETP 2005 – Dan Houston
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation
under Grant No. 0402616. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do
not necessarily reflect the view of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
What is Engineering?
What is technology?
What is science?
Aren’t they the same?
Differences in science and technology.
Science vs. Technology
Science is the discovery of new
concepts and relationships in the
natural world.
Technology is the application of
scientific concepts to better the quality
of life for humans.
Engineering
Business, government, academic, or individual efforts in which
knowledge of mathematics and/or natural science is employed in
research, development, design, manufacturing, systems engineering, or
technical operations with the objective of creating and/or delivering
systems, products, processes, and/or services of a technical nature and
content intended for use – National Research Council
A scientist discovers that which exists. An engineer creates that which
never was -- Theodore von Kármán (1881-1963)
Design in a major sense is the essence of engineering; it begins with the
identification of a need and ends with a product or system in the hands
of a user. It is primarily concerned with synthesis rather than the
analysis which is central to engineering science. Design, above all else,
distinguishes engineering from science (Hancock, 1986, National
Science Foundation Workshop)
Engineering Method
The engineering method is the use of heuristics to
cause the best change in a poorly understood
situation within the available resources – Billy
Koen
The engineering method is design under
constraints – Wm. Wulf
The Engineering Method and
Statistical Thinking
Engineers solve problems of interest to society by
the efficient application of scientific principles
The engineering or scientific method is the
approach to formulating and solving these problems.
An essential aspect of engineering is the use of heuristics. Although difficult
to define, heuristics are relatively easy to identify using the characteristics
listed by Koen(1984): (1) Heuristics do not guarantee a solution; (2) Two
heuristics may contradict or give different answers to the same question and
still be useful; (3) Heuristics permit the solving of unsolvable problems or
reduce the search time to a satisfactory solution; (4) The heuristic depends
on the immediate context instead of absolute truth as a standard of validity.
A heuristic is anything that provides a plausible aid or direction in the
solution of a problem but is in the final analysis unjustified, incapable of
justification, and fallible. It is used to guide, to discover, and to reveal.
Koen, Billy V. 1984. Definition of the engineering method. Washington,
DC: ASEE
The engineering method is the use of heuristics
to cause the best change in a poorly
understood situation within the available
resources (Koen, 1984, p. 70). Typical
engineering heuristics include:
1. Rules of thumb and orders of magnitude;
2. Factors of safety;
3. Heuristics that determine the engineer's
attitude toward his or her work;
4. Heuristics that engineers use to keep risk
within acceptable bounds; and
5. Rules of thumb that are important in resource
allocation.
What does it take to be an Engineer?
Good at math & science? Maybe.
Strong problem solving skills.
Natural inclination for how things work.
Lots of curiosity & creativity.
Willingness to work VERY hard.
Education
4 yrs. at an accredited engineering school
The only 4-year professional degree.
Could take the FE exam & PE exam for
professional licensure (big $$)
Highly desirable to go on for Master’s
(more $$ & higher starting rank)
Jobs
Design
Manufacturing
Sales
Banking
Systems development
Management ($$)
Teaching
Government (FBI, CIA, national labs)
Forensics (professional problem solving)
Medical School or Law School
Starting Salaries
(the “play harder” part)
Approx. $34,000 - $70,000
Average = $52,000
EE, CompE, ChemE – highest $/most
numerous
BME – high/not as numerous
ME – med-high/very numerous
CivilE/EnvE – low-med/very numerous (going
to require Master’s degree soon - $)
Disciplines
Great, you’ve showed us the money.
Now, what are the choices???
Biomedical Engineering
VERY popular with recent biotechnology
explosion. Quantifies biological signals and
measurements. Applies engineering
principles to understanding biological events.
Prosthetics, optics, medical imaging, gene
therapy, surgical devices, health care
procedures & instruments, and laser guided
surgery.
Chemical Engineering
Applies concepts of chemistry and physics to
solve process control problems. ChemE’s deal
with mass production (a.k.a. process
engineers) as well as development of new
products using highly engineered materials.
development and production of
pharmaceuticals and bio-engineered
materials, specialty polymers and high
strength composites, semiconductors and
microelectronic devices, a wide range of ultrapure fine chemicals.
Civil Engineering
Deals with repairing our nation’s decaying
infrastructure, using engineered materials for
stronger, lighter, more reliable buildings and
bridges. Addresses problems with land-use,
increasing population, environmental quality,
construction management.
Reliability and risk management,
infrastructure networks, intelligent
transportation systems, soil, air and water
contamination, environmental restoration,
management of radioactive materials and
wastes, industrial eco-compatibility, and lifecycle analysis
Electrical Engineering/Computer
Engineering/Computer Science
Solely responsible for the information age
(the discovery of the semi-conductor).
Electricity and computers are requirements
for our quality of life and the management of
these technologies is essential to the health
of our economy.
Artificial Intelligence, neural networks,
computer vision, robotics, medical imaging,
semi-conductor development/manufacturing,
electronics in space, power electronics,
communications.
Mechanical Engineering
Design, build, and operate engines, machines
and devices. Whereas Civil Engineers work
with things that don’t move, or move very
little. ME’s manage all aspects of how things
move.
Applied mechanics and materials research,
intelligent mechatronics, ceramics and glass,
combustion and propulsion, dynamic systems,
encapsulation of living cells, fluid physics,
laser diagnostics of combustion, space
experimentation, and vibro-acoustics.
Websites of Interest
www.nspe.org
www.asce.org
www.asme.org
www.ieee.org
www.bmes.org
www.asee.org
The End!