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 a
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.

Engineering, the study of using math and science in the real world is used to turn ideas into
reality. The term of engineering is an umbrella term for many different disciplines that all real
revolve around furthering society.

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 Now investigate the engineering profession. Some websites that may be helpful in
your research include the following.
Discover Engineering www.discoverengineering.org
Engineer Girl www.engineergirl.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 using chemistry and physics to understand and engineer
new materials and processes. For example, a chemical might have to create
a new fuel that does not produced CO2 when used.

Civil engineering
Civil engineering is the study of creating building and structures that are both
visually pleasing, efficient and safe. One problem a civil engineer might face
is designing a bridge that is relatively cheap, eco-friendly, safe and that is still
useful.

Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering, a relatively young branch of engineering, is the study and
design of machines that use electrons. This includes microscopic transistors
to huge transformers. For instance, a problem that an electrical engineer
might face is to build a durable, efficient solar panel.

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 Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering which combines
math, science and design. A Problem that a mechanical engineer might face
is that they need to build an engine that is more fuel effect so it can pass
government regulations.

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 3. Choose a discipline of engineering (other than chemical, civil, electrical, or
mechanical) that is of interest to you. Describe this engineering field and explain
how it is an extension of, specialization within, or combination of one or more of
the four major engineering disciplines. (Optionalcreate a PowerPoint slide to
describe your chosen engineering discipline.)
Power system engineering, a branch of electrical engineering, deals with the way power
is distrusted and generated. Some power system engineers build machines that
generate electricity like steam turbines while others work on maintaining the power grid.
This discipline of engineering is related to electrical engineering by that they both deal
with electrical power.

Visit the National Academy of Engineering website on the Greatest Engineering

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

4. Describe your selected achievement in a few sentences.

The Internet was originally created for military use to use other computers
computing power from far away. However, this concept and network would later
kickstart a new age for humanity. This invention can be reasonable considered
one of mankinds greatest achievements.

5. Which major discipline of engineering do you think was most involved in the
development of this achievement? Justify your answer.
I think electrical engineering is most involved in the internet because the internet
runs on computing power which comes from computers. These computers are
designed by computer engineers what are a type of electrical engineers.

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 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 item 3 and consider how an engineer within this
discipline could contribute to the solution of one or more of the grand challenges.

6. If you were an engineer within the discipline that you chose in item 3, which
engineering grand challenge would you like to work on?
If I was a chemical engineer I would chose the provide access to Clean Water
grand challenge because too many people on earth die from drinking
contaminated water or drinking no water at all.

7. Describe your selected grand challenge.

The provide access to Clean Water is a grand challenge where the objective is to
help people around the world have a sustainable source of clean drinking water
which can be used for drinking and sanitation.

8. Why is a solution to this challenge important to the world?

A solution to the water crisis is so important to the world because thousands of
people every day die from health problems that could be easily avoided if they
had a reliable source of drinking water.

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9. How could you, as an engineer in your chosen discipline, contribute to a solution
to this challenge?
As an engineer, I could contribute to a solution to this problem by finding a new way
to clean water that kills diseases living in the water but still makes it safe to drink.

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Conclusion Questions
1. 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?
Something common in all disciplines of engineering is that they all have an
objective to make the world a better place. An engineer is someone who is
passionate about making people lives easily and wants to help others by
creating, building and designing.

2. Why do you think engineering has been called the stealth profession? (Hint:
there are many Internet resources that address this question.)
Engineering is considered a stealth profession because engineers are not always
seen as an engineer but as something else. For example, an inventor is an
engineer since they are creating something but that person would not be called
an engineer.,

3. How is an engineer different from a scientist?

While a scientist uses the scientific method and does research on their ideas, an
engineer is someone that builds their ideas.

4. What interpersonal characteristics do you think are important to the success of

an engineer of any discipline?
I think some interpersonal characteristics that are important to the success of an
engineer of any discipline is that they what to make the world a better place,
thinks outside the box, sees everything as a challenge and never gives up.

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