Engineer Functions and Responsibilities
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- Date Submitted: 11/07/2011 11:09 PM
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ENGINEER – FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
ENGINEERING:
Engineering is the professional art of applying, science to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature to benefit man. The words engineer and ingenious are derived from the same Latin root “ingenerare” meaning “to create”.
Associated with engineering is a great body of special knowledge; preparation for professional practice involves extensive training in the application of that knowledge.Engineering is an art requiring the judgment necessary to adapt knowledge to practical purposes, the imagination to conceive original solutions to problems, and the ability to predict performance and cost of new devices or processes.
The function of the scientist is to know, while that of the engineer is to do. The scientist adds to the store of verified, systematized knowledge of the physical world; the engineer brings this knowledge to bear on practical problems. Engineering is based principally on physics, chemistry & mathematics and their extensions into materials science, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, transfer and rate processes, system analysis, computer programming, electronics and optronics.
Unlike the scientists, the engineer is not free to select the problem that interests him; he must solve problems as they arise; his solution must satisfy conflicting requirements. Usually efficiency costs money; safety adds to complexity; improved performance increases weight. The engineering solution is the optimum solution, the end result that, taking many factors into account, is most desirable. It may be the cheapest for a specified level of performance, the most reliable within a given weight limit, the simplest that will satisfy certain safety requirements, or the most efficient for a given cost. In many engineering problems, the social costs are significant.
Engineers employ two types of natural resources – materials and energy. Since most resources are limited, the engineer must concern...
ENGINEERING:
Engineering is the professional art of applying, science to the optimum conversion of the resources of nature to benefit man. The words engineer and ingenious are derived from the same Latin root “ingenerare” meaning “to create”.
Associated with engineering is a great body of special knowledge; preparation for professional practice involves extensive training in the application of that knowledge.Engineering is an art requiring the judgment necessary to adapt knowledge to practical purposes, the imagination to conceive original solutions to problems, and the ability to predict performance and cost of new devices or processes.
The function of the scientist is to know, while that of the engineer is to do. The scientist adds to the store of verified, systematized knowledge of the physical world; the engineer brings this knowledge to bear on practical problems. Engineering is based principally on physics, chemistry & mathematics and their extensions into materials science, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, transfer and rate processes, system analysis, computer programming, electronics and optronics.
Unlike the scientists, the engineer is not free to select the problem that interests him; he must solve problems as they arise; his solution must satisfy conflicting requirements. Usually efficiency costs money; safety adds to complexity; improved performance increases weight. The engineering solution is the optimum solution, the end result that, taking many factors into account, is most desirable. It may be the cheapest for a specified level of performance, the most reliable within a given weight limit, the simplest that will satisfy certain safety requirements, or the most efficient for a given cost. In many engineering problems, the social costs are significant.
Engineers employ two types of natural resources – materials and energy. Since most resources are limited, the engineer must concern...