What is Engineering?

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What is Engineering?
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Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology

• Engineering is the profession in which a
  knowledge of the mathematical and natural
  sciences, gained by study, experience, and
  practice, is applied with judgment to develop
  ways to utilize, economically, the materials and
  forces of nature for the benefit of mankind.

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Reasons for Student Interest in Engineering

• Proficiency in math and science
• High school counselor suggestion
• Relative who is an engineer
• Heard its a field with tremendous job
  opportunity
• High starting salaries
• Always took things apart as a child
• Likes building things

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The Engineer and Scientist

• Scientist
• Discovering things or acquiring knowledge
• Answers they seek may be abstract or practical
• Asks Why?

• Engineer
• Thinking about the application when asking why
• Concerned with issues about a product
• Cost
• Demand
• Impact on society and the environment

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Same Industries, Different Roles

• Scientist
• Study planets to understand them
• Atomic structure to understand nature of matter
• Study tectonic plates to understand and predict
  earthquakes

• Engineer
• Design spacecraft to operate on planet
• Smaller and faster microprocessors
• Study the movement of tectonic plates to design
  safer buildings

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Engineering Technology

• Engineering Technology is that part of the
  technological field which requires the
  application of scientific and engineering
  knowledge and methods combined with technical
  skills in support of engineering activities it
  lies in the occupational spectrum between
  craftsman and engineering at the end of the
  spectrum closest to the engineer.
• -ABET

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Engineer and Technologist

• Engineer
• Apply technology for a better society
• Create new technology through research, design,
  and development

• Technologist
• Apply technology for a better society
• Work with existing technology to produce goods
  for society

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Technologist vs. Engineer

• Technologist
• Identifies computer proper networking equipment
  for business use
• Seeks out equipment needed to construct music
  player

• Engineer
• Designs new computer boards to transmit data
  faster
• Designs new music player

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What Do Engineers Do?

• The following slides contain the basic job
  functions of all engineering disciplines

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Research Engineers

• Interested in the application of sciences for a
  breakthrough
• Conduct experiments and interpret the data
• Computational techniques used to answer complex
  problems without experiments
• Work for some research center

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Development Engineers

• Apply knowledge of Research Engineers to a
  specific application
• Shows that something will work under actual
  conditions
• Identify areas of research that need
  modifications before full-scale production could
  begin

www.steffes.com/ engineering/testing.aspx
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Testing Engineers

• Responsible for designing and implementing tests
  to verify integrity, reliability and quality of
  products
• Devises ways to simulate conditions a product
  will be used in
• Challenges are simulating life spans and
  acquiring accurate and reliable data
• Have wide range of technical and problem-solving
  skills, work well in teams and with management
  personnel

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Design Engineers

• Provides detailed specifications of the products
  society uses
• May only be charge of a single part in an
  assembly
• Verifies products integrity
• Communication with manufacturing engineers is
  critical
• Also work with existing products
• Redesign to reduce costs and time to produce

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Analysis Engineers

• Performed in conjunction with design, development
  and research
• Typically specialists in a technology area
  important to products or services
• To produce required info, validation must occur
  with computer and mathematical models

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Systems Engineers

• Work with the overall design, development,
  manufacture, and operation of a complete system
  or product
• Ensure components work as a complete unit
  together
• Responsible for meeting overall design
  requirements

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Manufacturing/Construction Engineers

• Turn specifications from design into reality
• Responsibility is to develop processes to take
  raw materials and change them into the finished
  pieces
• Keep track of equipment, maintenance records, and
  inventories of materials
• Identify high-cost and -risk areas of
  manufacturing/construction
• Manufacturing-Indoor, Construction-outdoor

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Operations and Maintenance Engineers

• Coordinate the technician service schedule to
  ensure efficient service of machines
• Expertise with mechanical and electrical issues
  to maintain production lines and schedule
• Work in non-manufacturing roles

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Technical Support Engineers

• Serves as link between customer and product,
  assisting with setup
• Must have good interpersonal and problem-solving
  skills
• Solid technical training
• May troubleshoot problems with a product

www.coherent.com.au/ service/techsupport.htm
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Customer Support

• Link between customer and manufacturer
• Involved in business aspect of customer
  relationships
• Concerned with actual and perceived value by the
  customer
• Work closely with Technical Support and
  Management Personnel

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Sales

• Have interpersonal skills conducive to effective
  selling
• Trained to identify which products, services, and
  solutions are right for the customer and how they
  can be applied
• Some sales forces use engineers to answer
  technical questions

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Consulting Engineers

• Self-employed or work for a firm that does not
  provide goods and services directly to consumers
• Provide technical expertise to firms
• Handle technical issues as arise and then move on
  to another company
• Might evaluate effectiveness of an organization
  and methods for improvement

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Management

• Engineers work themselves into project management
  positions
• More than one half of all engineers will be
  involved with some management responsibilities
  before career is over
• Acquire business or management training

www.unm.edu/cirt/ photos/hist/cirt90s.html
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Other Fields

• Law, education, medicine, and business
• Patent law needs engineering degree to be
  effective due to technical issues
• Corporate liability law is popular due to ability
  to weigh technical and legal risks
• Engineers may also teach from elementary all the
  way to technical schools and universities