What is Engineering?
- Engineering is the application of science and math to solve problems. Engineers figure out how things work and find practical uses for scientific discoveries. Scientists and inventors often get the credit for innovations that advance the human condition, but it is engineers who are instrumental in making those innovations available to the world.
- Engineering is one of the cornerstones of STEM education, an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to motivate students to learn about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
What do Engineers Do?
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- Mechanical engineering involves design, manufacturing, inspection and maintenance of machinery, equipment and components as well as control systems and instruments for monitoring their status and performance. This includes vehicles, construction and farm machinery, industrial installations and a wide variety of tools and devices.
- Electrical engineering involves design, testing, manufacturing, construction, control, monitoring and inspection of electrical and electronic devices, machinery and systems. These systems vary in scale from microscopic circuits to national power generation and transmission systems.
- Civil engineering involves design, construction, maintenance and inspection of large infrastructure projects such as highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels, dams and airports.
- Aerospace engineering involves design, manufacturing and testing of aircraft and spacecraft as well as parts and components such as airframes, power plants, control and guidance systems, electrical and electronic systems, and communication and navigation systems.
- Nuclear engineering involves design, manufacturing, construction, operation and testing of equipment, systems and processes involving the production, control and detection of nuclear radiation. These systems include particle accelerators and nuclear reactors for electric power plants and ships, radioisotope production and research. Nuclear engineering also includes monitoring and protecting humans from the potentially harmful effects of radiation.
- Structural engineering involves design, construction and inspection of load-bearing structures such large commercial buildings, bridges and industrial infrastructure.
- Biomedical engineering is the practice of designing systems, equipment and devices for use in the practice of medicine. It also involves working closely with medical practitioners, including doctors, nurses, technicians, therapists and researchers, in order to determine, understand and meet their requirements for systems, equipment and devices.
- Chemical engineering is the practice of designing equipment, systems and processes for refining raw materials and for mixing, compounding and processing chemicals to make valuable products.
- Computer engineering is the practice of designing computer hardware components, computer systems, networks and computer software.
- Industrial engineering is the practice of designing and optimizing facilities, equipment, systems and processes for manufacturing, material processing, and any number of other work environments.
- Environmental engineering is the practice of preventing, reducing and eliminating sources of pollution that affect air, water and land. It also involves detecting and measuring pollution levels, determining sources of pollution, cleaning up and rehabilitating polluted sites and ensuring compliance with local, state and federal regulations.
EPICS Vocabulary
Process: A process is simply a collection of activities that are arranged in a pattern. All engineering teams use some sort of process to guide them through a project, though different teams use different patterns. For example, the EPICS Design Process has seven phases (which we will discuss later), and is cyclical.
Cycle: Sometimes, activities in a process are arranged into patterns that have loops or cycles (which makes those processes “cyclical”). This means that instead of simply moving in a straight line from the first step to the last step and then stopping, engineers who use a cyclical process move in loops, and may go back to revisit places they have already been. For example, the EPICS Design Cycle is a kind of loop found in the EPICS Design Process.
Model: A model is a simpler (or smaller) guide that can be used to help us think about something more large or complex. For example, a model of a car has smaller or fewer working parts than the actual car that it represents, because this is easier to handle during the design process. The patterns that engineers use to organize their design processes are models too, since they provide a simple skeleton of the phases that the team will go through to finish the project—filling in the rest of the details is up to the team.
Phase: In the EPICS design process, engineering teams go through seven phases to complete a project. Each phase includes a number of tasks or steps, which we will discuss later in this lesson.
Advancing: Moving forward to a later phase in a cycle is called advancing.
Iterating: When the designer is working through the design process and discusses the information with the stakeholder then moves through the phase again, it is called iterating. The review of information and the discussions that arise with the stakeholders, project partners and community partners is iteration.
Divergent steps: Creative steps in which teams brainstorm and think of new possibilities are called divergent steps. This term comes from the word “diverge”, which means to move apart.
Convergent steps: Decision-making steps in which teams narrow down their options are called convergent steps. This term comes from the word “converge”, which means to come together.
Cycle: Sometimes, activities in a process are arranged into patterns that have loops or cycles (which makes those processes “cyclical”). This means that instead of simply moving in a straight line from the first step to the last step and then stopping, engineers who use a cyclical process move in loops, and may go back to revisit places they have already been. For example, the EPICS Design Cycle is a kind of loop found in the EPICS Design Process.
Model: A model is a simpler (or smaller) guide that can be used to help us think about something more large or complex. For example, a model of a car has smaller or fewer working parts than the actual car that it represents, because this is easier to handle during the design process. The patterns that engineers use to organize their design processes are models too, since they provide a simple skeleton of the phases that the team will go through to finish the project—filling in the rest of the details is up to the team.
Phase: In the EPICS design process, engineering teams go through seven phases to complete a project. Each phase includes a number of tasks or steps, which we will discuss later in this lesson.
Advancing: Moving forward to a later phase in a cycle is called advancing.
Iterating: When the designer is working through the design process and discusses the information with the stakeholder then moves through the phase again, it is called iterating. The review of information and the discussions that arise with the stakeholders, project partners and community partners is iteration.
Divergent steps: Creative steps in which teams brainstorm and think of new possibilities are called divergent steps. This term comes from the word “diverge”, which means to move apart.
Convergent steps: Decision-making steps in which teams narrow down their options are called convergent steps. This term comes from the word “converge”, which means to come together.
