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What is Engineering?

Within the sphere of science and technology, engineering is the study of design, buildings, and structures. At its core, engineers use science and mathematics to design and build structures – from buildings to bridges to dams – machines – from cars to the robots that build cars – and roads. Engineering and the built environment is the backbone of society as it helps communities to thrive by solving problems and making diverse systems work.

Within the sphere of science and technology, engineering is the study of design, buildings, and structures. At its core, engineers use science and mathematics to design and build structures – from buildings to bridges to dams – machines – from cars to the robots that build cars – and roads. Engineering and the built environment is the backbone of society as it helps communities to thrive by solving problems and making diverse systems work.

The societal and business contributions of engineering can be seen in almost every aspect of civilization, including transportation, medicine and even entertainment. Communities can adapt to the changing world by means of creative engineering solutions.

The main sectors of the engineering profession include but are not limited to:

  1. Aeronautical engineering – this engineering discipline is concerned with the development of aircraft. Avionics engineering is similar, though it is focused on the electronics side of aerospace engineering.
  2. Agricultural engineering – this discipline focuses on agricultural production and processing. It combines mechanical, civil, chemical and electrical engineering with food science and agricultural principles according to technological standards.
  3. Civil Engineering – this discipline incorporates the design, construction, and maintenance of the built environment. In particular, it includes public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewerage systems, pipelines, railways and the structural parts of buildings.
  4. Computer Engineering – this branch of engineering integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering to develop computer hardware and software.
  5. Chemical Engineering – this discipline uses the tenets of chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology and economics to use, produce, design, transport and transform energy and materials in an efficient way.
  6. Electrical Engineering – this discipline focuses on studying, designing and applying equipment, devices and systems that use electricity, electronics and electromagnetism.
  7. Electronic Engineering – this is a discipline within electrical engineering that uses nonlinear and active electrical components to design electronic circuits, devices, integrated circuits and their systems.
  8. Environmental Engineering – this professional engineering discipline incorporates broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to engineer solutions that protect and improve the health of living organisms and the quality of the environment.
  9. Industrial Engineering – this discipline focuses on optimising complex processes, systems, or organisations – such as in the manufacturing industry – by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy and materials.
  10. Mechanical Engineering – this branch of engineering fuses engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science to design, analyse, manufacture, and maintain mechanical systems.
  11. Metallurgical Engineering – this field of engineering studies the physical and chemical behaviour of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures (alloys).
  12. Mining Engineering – this focuses on extracting minerals from below, above or on the ground. It is associated with many other technical disciplines, including mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying.

Energy supply constraints, rising electricity costs and logistics expenses are giving rise to innovation in renewable energy sources and sustainable engineering. On-going success in the profession, therefore, rests with the ability of individuals to think outside the box and engage new solutions.

Below are a few titles that one can hold as a qualified engineer:

  • Civil Engineer – Designs, builds and maintains infrastructure projects such as buildings, roads and bridges
  • Construction Manager – Supervises various operations within a building project
  • Project Manager – Produces accurate and biddable plans of execution for construction or other engineering projects
  • Electrical Engineer – Develops and maintains electrical equipment
  • Quality Engineer – Provides statistical information for quality improvement to aid research and development
  • Process or Industrial Engineer – Develops industrial processes to make products
  • Software Engineer – Researches and designs new or modified software products.
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This article was first published on WSP.

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