An engineer is a practitioner of engineering. "Science is knowledge based on our observed facts and tested truths arranged in an orderly system that can be validated and communicated to other people. Engineering is the creative application of scientific principles used to plan, build, direct, guide, manage, or work on systems to maintain and improve our daily lives." The word engineer (Latin , Ir is the term and or title of an engineer in countries like Belgium, The Netherlands, and Indonesia) is derived from the Latin words ("to contrive, devise") and ("cleverness").Oxford Concise Dictionary (1995)."engineer". Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford University Press. 22 October 2011 The foundational qualifications of a licensed professional engineer typically include a four-year bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, or in some jurisdictions, a master's degree in an engineering discipline plus four to six years of peer-reviewed professional practice (culminating in a project report or thesis) and passage of engineering board examinations.
The work of engineers forms the link between scientific discoveries and their subsequent applications to human and business needs and quality of life.
Definition In 1961, the Conference of Engineering Societies of Western Europe and the United States of America defined "professional engineer" as follows:Christensen, Steen Hyldgaard; Christelle Didier, Andrew Jamison, Martin Meganck, Carl Mitcham, and Byron Newberry Springer.
Roles and expertise
Design
Engineers develop new technological solutions. During the engineering design process, the responsibilities of the engineer may include defining problems, conducting and narrowing research, analyzing criteria, finding and analyzing solutions, and making decisions. Much of an engineer's time is spent on researching, locating, applying, and transferring information.Eide, A.; R. Jenison; L. Mashaw; L. Northup (2002). Engineering: Fundamentals and Problem Solving. New York City: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Indeed, research suggests engineers spend 56% of their time engaged in various information behaviours, including 14% actively searching for information.
Engineers weigh different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best matches the requirements and needs. Their task is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result. The work of an engineer requires problem solving skills.
Analysis
Engineers apply techniques of engineering analysis in testing, production, or maintenance. Analytical engineers may supervise production in factories and elsewhere, determine the causes of a process failure, and test output to maintain quality. They also estimate the time and cost required to complete projects. Supervisory engineers are responsible for major components or entire projects. Engineering analysis involves the application of scientific analytic principles and processes to reveal the properties and state of the system, device or mechanism under study. Engineering analysis proceeds by separating the engineering design into the mechanisms of operation or failure, analyzing or estimating each component of the operation or failure mechanism in isolation, and recombining the components. They may analyze risk.Hartford, D.N.D. and Baecher, G.B. (2004) Risk and Uncertainty in Dam Safety. Thomas TelfordInternational Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) (2003) Risk Assessment in Dam Safety Management. ICOLD, ParisBritish Standards Institution (BSIA) (1991) BC 5760 Part 5: Reliability of systems equipment and components – Guide to failure modes effects and criticality analysis (FMEA and FMECA).
Many engineers use computers to produce and analyze designs, to simulate and test how a machine, structure, or system operates, to generate specifications for parts, to monitor the quality of products, and to control the efficiency of processes.
Specialization and management
Most engineers specialize in one or more engineering disciplines. Numerous specialties are recognized by professional societies, and each of the major branches of engineering has numerous subdivisions. Civil engineering, for example, includes structural engineering, along with transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, and materials engineering, including ceramic, metallurgical, and polymer engineering. Mechanical engineering cuts across most disciplines since its core essence is applied physics. Engineers also may specialize in one industry, such as motor vehicles, or in one type of technology, such as turbines or semiconductor materials.
Several recent studies have investigated how engineers spend their time; that is, the work tasks they perform and how their time is distributed among these. Research suggests that there are several key themes present in engineers' work: technical work (i.e., the application of science to product development), social work (i.e., interactive communication between people), computer-based work and information behaviors. Among other more detailed findings, a 2012 work sampling study found that engineers spend 62.92% of their time engaged in technical work, 40.37% in social work, and 49.66% in computer-based work. Furthermore, there was considerable overlap between these different types of work, with engineers spending 24.96% of their time engaged in technical and social work, 37.97% in technical and non-social, 15.42% in non-technical and social, and 21.66% in non-technical and non-social.
Engineering is also an information-intensive field, with research finding that engineers spend 55.8% of their time engaged in various different information behaviors, including 14.2% actively seeking information from other people (7.8%) and information repositories such as documents and databases (6.4%).
The time engineers spend engaged in such activities is also reflected in the competencies required in engineering roles. In addition to engineers' core technical competence, research has also demonstrated the critical nature of their personal attributes, project management skills, and cognitive abilities to success in the role.
Types of engineers
There are many branches of engineering, each of which specializes in specific technologies and products. Typically, engineers will have deep knowledge in one area and basic knowledge in related areas. For example, mechanical engineering curricula typically include introductory courses in electrical engineering, computer science, materials science, metallurgy, mathematics, and software engineering.
An engineer may either be hired for a firm that requires engineers on a continuous basis, or may belong to an engineering firm that provides engineering consulting services to other firms.
When developing a product, engineers typically work in interdisciplinary teams. For example, when building robots an engineering team will typically have at least three types of engineers. A mechanical engineer would design the body and actuators. An electrical engineer would design the power systems, sensors, electronics, embedded software in electronics, and control circuitry. Finally, a software engineer would develop the software that makes the robot behave properly. Engineers that aspire to management engage in further study in business administration, project management and organizational or business psychology. Often engineers move up the management hierarchy from managing projects, functional departments, and divisions, and some eventually become CEOs of multi-national corporations.
Branch Focus Related sciences Products Automobile engineeringFocuses on the development of automobiles and related technology Structural engineering, electronics, materials science, automotive safety, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, engineering mathematics, ergonomics, environmental compliance, road traffic safety, chemistryAutomobiles Aerospace engineering Focuses on the development of aircraft and spacecraft Aeronautics, astrodynamics, astronautics, avionics, control engineering, fluid mechanics, kinematics, materials science, thermodynamics Aircraft, robotics, spacecraft, trajectoriesAgricultural engineeringFocuses on the engineering, science, and technology for the production and processing of food from agriculture, such as the production of arable crops, soft fruit and livestock. A key goal of this discipline is to improve the efficacy and sustainability of agricultural practices for food production.Agricultural engineering often combines and converges many other engineering disciplines such as mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, biosystems engineering, soil science, environmental engineeringLivestock, food, horticulture, forestry, renewable energy crops. Agricultural machinery such as tractors, combine harvesters, forage harvesters.