Specialization and management

Most engineers specialize in one or more engineering disciplines. Each of the major branches of engineering has numerous subdivisions. Civil engineering, for example, includes structural and transportation engineering, and materials engineering includes ceramic, metallurgical, and polymer engineering. Engineers also may specialize in one industry, such as motor vehicles, or in one type of technology, such as turbines or semiconductor materials. Research suggests that there are several key themes present in engineers’ work: (1) technical work (i.e., the application of science to product development); (2) social work (i.e., interactive communication between people); (3) computer-based work; (4) information behaviours.

Part II

1. You are going to read three texts about engineering. Decide which of the headings (16) best correspond to each text (A, B, C). Explain your choice of headings. There are some extra headings that you don't need to use.

1. Industrial revolution

2. History of mechanical engineering

3. The origin of the term «engineering»

4. Relationships with other disciplines

5. Main branches of engineering

6. Education of mechanical engineers

2. Read the texts more slowly. For information 110 choose the appropriate text A, B, C.

1. The definition of the term «engineering»

2. The difference between scientists and engineers

3. Subdisciplinces of engineering

4. The origin of aeronautical engineering

5. The origin of the term «engineering»

1. Engineering science

2. New branches of engineering

3. The appearance of the term «civil engineering»

4. The interaction of sciences and engineering practice

5. The definition of mechanical engineering

Text A

Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying technical and scientific knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria. Engineering is defined as follows:

«The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions».

The concept of engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects.

The term «engineering» itself has a much more recent etymology, deriving from the word «engineer», which itself dates back to 1325, when an engine'er (literally, one who operates an engine) originally referred to «a constructor of military engines». In this context, now obsolete, an «engine» referred to a military machine, i.e., a mechanical device used in war (for example, a catapult). The word «engine» itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ingenium (c. 1250), and meaning «innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention».

Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings matured as a technical discipline, the term «civil engineering» appeared to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the older discipline of military engineering.