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THE ENGINEER IN
SOCIETY
THREE CORE ASPECTS
(1) Who is the engineer?

(2) The engineer's role in society

(3) The history of engineering and
the engineering profession
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(1) THE ENGINEER
One who translates into action the dreams of
humanity, traditional knowledge and concepts of
science to achieve sustainable management of
the planet through the creative application of
technology.

Science:
Well founded, testable knowledge about natural
phenomena.

Technology:
Systems concerned with solving problems and
meeting needs in the real world.
(2) THE ENGINEERS ROLE IN SOCIETY
The scientist develops knowledge
and understanding of the physical
universe. Science is the pursuit of
knowledge in its purest sense
without any concern to the needs of
the society.

Engineering connects pure science to
society. It is a combination of both.

Unlike in science, in engineering the
environment in which engineers plan,
design, build, manufacture and operate
continually changes and the role of
engineers has been fraught with
challenges and uncertainties.

Throughout history, engineers have
through creativity, analysis and pure guts
met these challenges with success and
unfortunately, failures too.
(3) THE HISTORY OF ENGINEERING AND
THE ENGINEERING PROFESSION
Why study the history of
engineering?

Phases of the history of Engineering

Development of the engineering
profession
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WHY STUDY THE HISTORY OF
ENGINEERING?
To understand why things happened.

To make sense of the present and
the future.

To understand the connections
between engineering and other basic
aspects of human society.
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HISTORY OF ENGINEERING
Consists of 3 overlapping phases:

The Scientific Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution.

The Modern Industrial Era.
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Phase 1: The Scientific Revolution
Started out at the end of the 16
th
century.

The rise of capitalism brought about strong
interest in the practice of the trades of the
traditional artisan who transformed into modern
professionals especially in civil, mining,
metallurgical and mechanical engineering.

Machines powered by steam engines replaced
human muscles.

Practical thinking became scientific in addition to
intuition

Engineering colleges and professional societies
emerged.

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The Scientific Revolution
At the end of the 16
th

century, observation &
experiment challenged
centuries-old dogma to
present a new view of
nature.
Galileo (1564-1642)
developed the
telescope from
observation of Jupiters
satellites.
Concluded that the
Earth revolved round
the sun.
Galileo Galilee
1564 - 1642
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The Scientific Revolution
Francis Bacon (1561-
1626) was an enthusiast
of industrial science
used inductive approach
to draw conclusions from
experimental data.

Rene Descartes (1596-
1650) emphasized
deductive approach
through mathematics.
Advocated that science &
religion should be
separated promoted
the advancement of
science.

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Phase 2: The Industrial Revolution
Started in mid 18th Century.

The Machine Age period:
- Machines replaced animal and human
power.
- Revolutionalised many areas of
production and everyday life.

Symbolised by mass production and
transportation. Adam Smith (The Wealth
of Nations, 1776) division of labour and
standardisation for productivity of
workers.


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Prominent emergent disciplines:
- Electrical Engineering.
- Chemical Engineering.
- Marine Engineering.
- Aeronautical Engineering.


Control engineering accelerated the
pace of automation.


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Industrial engineers designed and
managed mass production and distribution
systems.

Graduate schools emerged.

Tinkering became organised research.

Individual inventions organised into
systematic innovations.
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Some British Pioneer Engineers
in the 2
nd
Phase
John Rennie (1716 1821)
- Built Canals, docks and bridges

John Smeaton (1724 1792)
- Built a lighthouse, bridges, engines, windmills.

Thomas Telford (1757 1834)
- First president of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, built canals, harbours, bridges,
roads.
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John McAdam (1756 1836)
- Built roads.

Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1769 1849)
- First chief engineer of New York. Designed
gun factory. Pioneered mass-production.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1769 1849)
- Designed first steamship to cross the
Atlantic.

George Stepherson (1781 1848)
- Railway engineer, the first president of the
Institution of Civil Engineers.
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John Rennie John Smeaton Thomas Telford
(1716 1821 (1724 - 1792) (1757 - 1834)











1
st
President of ICE, 1820


Contributors to Industrial
Revolution
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Marc Isambard Isambard Kingdom Brunel George
Brunel Stephenson
(1769 - 1849) (1806 - 1859) (1781 - 1848)














Contributors to Industrial
Revolution
1st President of
IMechE,1847

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High Point of British
Industrialization
The Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851 was a
celebration of British engineers and engineering, as it
marked the high point of British industrial ascendancy.
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Phase 3: The Modern Industrial Era
From mid 19
th
Century, Engineering
sciences took great strides:

- Material science & engineering
brought advanced material with
performance undreamed of.

- Astronautic engineering conquered
outer space.



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- Atomic power brought about a whole new
field of nuclear engineering.

- Microelectronics, communications and
computer engineering joined forces to
kick start the information revolution.

- Maturing of graduate education.

- Rise of large-scale R & D organised at
the national level.
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At the turn of 21
st
Century:
Rapid development in information
technology.

Emergence of notable complex
technologies that required disciplinary co-
operation and integration of knowledge:
- Biotechnology.
- Nanotechnology.
- Environmental Technology.
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Timeline of Modern Technology
1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition
1869 Union Pacific Railroad across US, Suez
Canal opened
1876 Invention of telephone, 1
st
internal
combustion engine
1878 Beginning of electric lighting
1900 Invention of radio
1903 Wilbur Wrights propeller biplane flight
1913 Ford introduced moving assembly line
1914 Panama Canal opened
1926 Invention of TV
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Timeline of Modern Technology
1930 Invention of gas turbine
1942 1
st
electronic computer
1947 Invention of transistor
1957 Sputnik launched
1958 1
st
integrated circuit
1969 1
st
man on the moon
1977 1
st
personal computer
1981 Microsoft MS-DOS computer operating
system
1982 Compact disc
1996 Dolly the cloned sheep was born on 5
July
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Engineering Education & the
Rise of the Profession
During the Industrial Revolution, engineer
training in Britain involved paying a substantial
fee for a 5-year pupilage in an engineers office.

Britain did not establish engineering schools (@
London & Glasgow Universities) until 1840.

Failure to recognize the need for systematic
science-based education for technologists allowed
other countries to overtake Britain.

Formal & informal associations of practising
engineers, manufacturers, & scientists allowed
exchange of ideas & experience in the general
development of the engineering profession.
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Engineering Education & the
Rise of the Profession
One early leader of the engineering profession was John
Smeaton, the 1
st
Englishman to differentiate himself as a
Civil engineer (rather than military).

In 1771, Smeaton & some colleagues formed the
Smeatonian society of Civil Engineers.

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) was formed in 1818
to distinguished itself from other societies.

In 1920, Thomas Thelford, a leading engineer of that time,
became the President of ICE.

In 1928, he obtained the Royal Charter for ICE to give it
the status as the leader of the profession.
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Engineering Education & the
Rise of the Profession
Other major powers adopted a much more
structured approach to training engineers.

In 1676, France set up a specialized army corps of
engineers.

In 1747, France established the 1
st
engineering
school, the Ecole Nationale des Ponts st Chaussees.

In 1794, the Ecole Polytechnique was established.

The engineering profession in France continues to
enjoy high social status.
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Engineering Education & the
Rise of the Profession
US Military Academy at West Point, established in 1802, was
the first American military engineering school.

The first non military engineering school in America, the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was established in 1823 in
New York.

The success of Rensselaer in attracting students forced other
established US universities to introduce technical courses.

Germany established Berlin University in 1809 prototype
for the modern research university with academic rigor &
laboratory experiments.

Germany also established polytechnics the 1
st
at Karlsruhe
in 1825.
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THANK YOU
30
Q & A