the engines of engineering the ingenious profession
TRANSCRIPT
The Engines of
Engineering
The Ingenious Profession
What is Engineering? From the moment your alarm clock wakes
you up until you turn the lights out to sleep, You are Surrounded by Engineering Alarm Clock (Electrical, Mechanical) Bathroom (Environmental, Chemical) Kitchen (Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical) Automobile (Mechanical, Petroleum, Electrical) Road (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical) And on and on….
What is Engineering?
There is hardly any Aspect of your Day which isn’t affected by Engineering
Involved with Safety Standards of Practice Protecting Society and Environment Making Life Easier and More Enjoyable
What is Engineering?
But… What is Engineering? Where Did it Start? Who Are Engineers? What Do They Do?
The Story is as old as Civilization….
The Ingeniator as Master
Builder The earliest people
recognized as engineers were the craftsmen, architects and practical artists of the ancient world.
These were the people who: smeltered metals for tools and
weapons Created the roads, the water
conveyances and designed cities designed and built the great
monuments of the classical world
Abu Simbal
Pyramid at Giza
The Ingeniator as Master
Builder They were the people who made life easier
and better for people Controlling water meant dependable crops and
domestic supply for a stable society Building monuments meant permanence and
orderStep Pyramid at Sakkara and Irrigated Fields
The Ingeniator as Master
Builder The Romans were well
known for their construction projects which are large even by today’s standards.
Pont du Gard, France, 19 BCE
In fact, the word “Engineer” comes from the Latin Ingeniator, “One who is Ingenious.”
The Ingeniator as Master
Builder But, the Master Builders of the ancient and
medieval world built only on experience and practice. They did not understand the physical mechanics of the buildings or of the building materials.
Cologne
Bourges
The Ingeniator as Engineer
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia defines Engineering as “the application of scientific and technical
knowledge to solve human problems. 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.”
A scientist studies what is, whereas an engineer creates what never was - Theodore Von Karman
The Ingeniator as Master
Builder Leonardo Da Vinci had the title
Ingegnere Generale. One of his great contributions
to knowledge was that he began to ask not just what works, but HOW.
His notebooks and other writings led to a new understanding of the world and how it works.
The Great Revolutions: Scientific, Industrial and Engineering
Galileo Galilei is considered one of the founders of engineering and scientific studies for his work in “Two New Sciences” (1638). They were:
Mechanics of Materials Motion of Bodies
Drawing of a Cantilever Beam
The Great Revolutions: Industrial, Scientific and
Engineering
The Birth of modern Engineering started with the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution began in England in the 1770’s and spread throughout the world.
The development of technology was fueled by the changes in the military, society, agriculture, manufacturing and the economy.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial, Scientific and Engineering
Mining and Metallurgy started the Revolution. English land owners in the 16th and 17th
centuries started fencing off the ancient feudal estates, forcing the peasant farmers off the land and starting the grazing of sheep.
This provided people who became miners and employers for the mills and factories.
As the mines grew larger, metallurgical processes developed new furnaces to refine ores, such as lead, copper and iron.
By 1750, England was producing quality bar iron which was used in the manufacture of tools.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial, Scientific and Engineering
The Industrial Revolution was fueled by Coal.
Shallow coal had been mined for centuries.
Coal mines were able to dig deeper when they were dewatered using pumps driven by steam engines. James Watt (1736 - 1819) greatlyimproved the efficiency of the steam engine and made it useful in mining, manufacturing and transportation.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial, Scientific and Engineering
Steam engines were also mated with weaving looms to greatly speed the manufacture of cloth from British wool and American cotton.
Newly devised chemical procedures (Led by Charles Tennant) enabled bleaching of the wool in days instead of the months required previously.
Joseph-Marie Jacquard of Flanders developed a Loom which was controlled by punched cards. This allowed the looms to be automated and to make cloth of greater quality and quantity.
The mills, mines and other factories hired great numbers of out-of-work farmers and concentrated them into cities to work in the factories.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial, Scientific and Engineering
Steel started to replace the traditional iron in the 1830’s, allowing larger and more elaborate equipment to be constructed.
Transportation (roads, canals, railroads and steamships) encouraged movement of goods and people.
Food could be transported farther and kept safe longer through refrigeration so that people could gather in cities.
The Great Revolutions: Industrial, Scientific and Engineering
Harrison’s Chronograph, largely completed in 1762, but made cheaper and in large numbers by the 1800’s, allowed mariners to determine where they were while at sea.
During this time, up to about the 1850’s, the Industrial Revolution was being carried by the underlying Scientific and Engineering Revolutions.
Rise of Military Engineering Parallel to the Industrial
Revolution was the rise of Military Engineering. Areas included: Military Strategy Transportation of Troops and
Equipment on Land and Sea Housing and Sanitation for Troops General Protection of the Civilian
Population
Rise of Military Engineering Military Engineers were initially in charge
of weapons (siege engines) and ordinance
Many Countries had a Corps of Engineers: France: 1716 - The Corps of Ponts et
Chaussees England: 1717 – Corps of Engineers USA: 1775/1802 – Continental and US Corps
of Engineers
Military Schools These Corps of Engineers were
supported by schools or academies: England: 1741 – Royal Military
Academy (produce “good officers of artillery and perfect engineers”)
France: 1775 - L’Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees (“School of Bridges and Roads”)
1794 - École Polytechnique (Military/Civilian)
USA: 1795/1802 West Point Military Academy (Recommended By Washington, Organized by Jefferson)
Growth of Engineering It was this period of time when people started
calling themselves Engineers (for example, John Smeaton (1724-1792), the first “Civil Engineer”).
The people who worked with engines, machinery and their production became the Mechanical Engineers
People involved with city growth, transportation and buildings became the Civil Engineers.
Technical training in England was based on the Apprenticeship system, in which a person worked with a master for a minimum of seven years.
Dropping from the program could end a career. James Watt quit after one year and could not get work for several years after.
Training in France was Academic, through the L’Ecoles.
US Engineering Education Sylvanus Thayer.
Graduate of Dartmouth (1807) and West Point (1808).
In 1815, President Madison granted him $5,000 to attend the Ecole Polytechnique for two years.
He also visited the Royal Military Academy and other schools of technology and military science.
He shipped close to 1000 books to start the Academy Library
On his return, he was named the Superintendent of the US Military Academy from 1817 and served until 1833.
US Engineering Education From his experiences overseas, Thayer
outlined a curriculum for the Military Academy He developed a basic Civil Engineering for all
officers that is still a core curriculum today. He required French, Ethics, Philosophy, Drawing
…. And Ballroom Dancing (“Officer and a Gentleman”).
Students had a daily recitation and grades were turned in to Superintendent Thayer every week.
Classes were rearranged on a monthly basis, so all the top students were in the first class, the next group of students in the second class, etc.
Their future appointments were based on class standing.
US Engineering Education The first non-military engineering school in
the United States was the Rensselaer School in 1824. The initial degrees were granted after one
year. The first Civil Engineering Degrees were
awarded in 1835. In 1850, the degree was lengthened to 3
years and the School began a Polytechnical education like that of the Ecole Polytechnique.
In 1861, the degree was lengthened again to 4 years.
The Second Industrial Revolution
Starting in the 1840’s, another great change occurred in technological world.
Electrical motors started to replace steam engines Electrical devices such as the telegraph and the
telephone were being developed and constructed. As more chemical compounds were developed, there
was greater need to manufacture them on a larger, continuous basis.
Diseases such as Cholera were being associated with water supply and sanitation
Expansion into the arid American west brought the opportunity to own land, but also required development of large irrigation and water supply systems.
The Second Industrial Revolution As the problems and solutions grew
more complex, the requirement to measure and reason grew as well The ability to model the world, and to
modify it required more training in the arts, sciences and mathematics.
There needed to be more uniformity in educational background.
There was more need to communicate between engineers to solve the larger (and smaller) problems.
Ethical and Legal questions needed to be solved
The Growth of Professional Societies Professional Societies developed from
the need to share ideas and to insure quality in outcomes Papers were written and disseminated to a
broad audience. Recommendations for basic and advanced
curriculum for schools to follow Development of Codes of Ethics for
Societies Became Advocates for Reform and Change
The Growth of Professional Societies The 1850 US Census listed 512 Civil
Engineers. The American Society of Engineers and
Architects was founded in 1852 in New York City by 12 prominent Engineers
In 1867, it was renamed the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) It is the oldest professional engineering
society in the United States It had 408 members in 1875, 133,000 today. Active in Education, Development of
Standards
The Growth of Professional Societies The American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) was founded in 1880 First Meeting had 80 engineers,
“Industrialists, educators, technical journalists, designers, shipbuilders, military engineers and inventors.”
85 Engineering Colleges in US in 1880, Most had M.E. degree
Members developed Codes and Technical Standards,
First - Screw Threads, Best Known - Boiler Code
The Growth of Professional Societies The Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) grew out of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE, founded in 1884) and the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) Thomas Edison and Elihu Thompson
(founded General Electric) were two of the founding members.
Organization formed to standardize Power, Transmission and Electronics practice
Today-365,000 Members, 27,000 Student Members.
The Growth of Professional Societies The American Institute of Chemical
Engineers (AIChE) was formed in 1908. 19 Founders 40,000 Current Members
Established Education Curriculums and Standards
Provided Technical Publications Many Branches around the world
The Growth of Professional Societies The American Institute of Mining
Engineers (AIME) was founded in 1871 in Pennsylvania, USA, to advance the production of metals, minerals, and energy resources through the application of engineering.
In 1913, a standing committee on oil and gas was created within AIME and proved to be the genesis of SPE. The Oil and Gas Committee of AIME soon evolved into the Petroleum Division of AIME as membership grew.
The Growth of Professional Societies The Society of Petroleum Engineers
(SPE) was formed in 1957 Previously had been the Petroleum
Division within AIME. 12,500 Members in 1957 97,000 Current Members
Establishes Education Curriculums and Standards
Provides Technical Publications Many Branches around the world
The Growth of Professional Societies Andrew Carnegie Gave $1,500,000 to
organize the United Engineering Society and Create the Engineering Societies Building
The Founder Societies were: ASCE ASME IEEE AIChE AIME (American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and
Petroleum Engineers) Developed Uniform Codes of Ethics between
the Societies These Societies Work Together to Mold our
World, both in the US and Internationally
Growth of Computing In the 1880’s, Herman Hollerith of the US
Census Bureau Combined the ideas of a Train Conductor punching
passenger tickets and Jaquard’s punched Loom cards Developed a card punch system to record data from the
1890 census. Hollerith’s patents were purchased by the Computing-
Tabulating-Recording Co., which was renamed IBM in 1924.
In 1936-38, Alan Touring and John Von Neumann proposed the idea that a computer could be developed in which both the instructions and the data could be held in a binary form in storage.
Growth of Computing This led to the development of many early digital computers,
Colossus – 1944 – Used to break the German Enigma code – Hardwired – Vacuum Tube
ENIAC – 1945 - Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer – US Army Ballistics Research Laboratory – Vacuum Tube
EDVAC – Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer – Stored Program in Memory
UNIVAC I – 1951 - Universal Automatic Computer 1 – First Commercial Computer, Built by Remington Rand Corp. – First computer system built for Business and Administrative Use.
The later ones were controlled by assembly language, the basic binary code that fed directly into memory.
International Business Machines (IBM) did not start out in the computer business. IBM CEO Thomas Watson predicted in 1943 that he thought “there is a world market for maybe five computers…”
In 1949, Popular Mechanics predicted that “Computers in the future may weigh less than 1.5 tons.”
Growth of Computing As computer usage spread in the 1950’s, it became apparent
that more knowledge was needed for its support System Architecture Development of Computer Languages and Language Theory
Cobol, Fortran, Algol, Basic, C, C++ Software Development and Engineering
Handling of Large Data Sets Coding of Mathematical Algorithms Logic and Decision Sciences Robotics and Automation, Control, Data Acquisition, etc. Artificial Intelligence Scientific Computing
The term “Computer Science” was coined in the late 1950’s to bring these fields together
These events led to the start of the “Computer” and “Information” Revolutions which are still ongoing.
The Growth of Professional Societies The Association for Computing Machinery –
ACM Founded in 1947 and Headquartered in New
York World’s First Scientific and Educational
Computing Society. Has almost 90,000 members Has more than 170 local chapters and over 500
student chapters Formed to disseminate computer related
information Direct university Computer Science curriculum. 2008 President is Wendy Hall, Manchester, UK
By the way… Sylvanus Thayer’s Curriculum at the US
Military Academy Required the Cadets in 1817 to:
Study the material on their own before class, Work problems on the boards for most of the one to
three hour class periods The professor would walk around and see what the
students were writing, maybe using it as an example of good or bad
There was little or no Lecture, as the student was responsible for his own education
Daily Recite Solutions to the Rest of the Class Be Evaluated Weekly and Ranked Monthly Provide Support Through the Grade Years By Creating
Multi-YearTeams 190 Years Later…They Still Do! (See, Class isn’t so bad.)