In response to the posting “What is engineering? Updated from 87 to 118 words”, I felt just as Xin Chin that engineering has much broader definition than just “people working as engineers”. I personally do not connect engineering only with “people”. Engineering is for the improvement and quality of life for the human kind but in its process involves not only the professional knowledge, skills, and practical experience to solve problems but include foundations as scientific theories, technologies, systems to create, operate, or destroy physical artifacts or change human conditions.
The U.S. Department of Labor describes engineering as the application of “the theory and principals of science and mathematics to research and develop economical solutions to technical problems…the link between perceived social needs and commercial applications” (US Department of Labor, and Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007). As Shepard , Macatangay, Colby, and Sullivan argue in their book “Educating Engineers: Designing for the future of the field” the outcome is often fabrication specifications, the creation and production of a physical artifact, changed personal or public knowledge, new technologies, or a changed state of the human condition.
ABET describes engineering as “a decision-making process (often iterative), in which the basic sciences and mathematics and engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet a stated objective” (ABET, 2007,p.2).
We can see the above definitions are very similar, as the one that follows and I found most comfortable to share. It is cited from Bordogna, 1992 and belongs to a former official of the National Science Foundation who observed that, “In essence, engineering is the process of integrating knowledge and technology to synthesize new products, systems, and services of high quality, with respect for [for example] environmental fragility”.
Considering we all have different or similar opinions when comes to define things, I don’t want my posting to sound as giving descriptions of what is engineering according to respectful institutions or authors popular in the field of engineering publications. In opposite, I hope these ideas invite for exercising critical thinking and help for making more precise definitions of our own. With these included my only intend was to point out that engineering is much more complex process than just the people who practice or don’t practice the profession.
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