30-Second Engineering 50 Key Principles Methods and Fields Explained in Half A Minute by James Trevelyan

30-SECOND
ENGINEERING
30-SECOND
ENGINEERING
50 key fields, methods and
principles, each explained in
half a minute
Editor
James Trevelyan
Contributors
Roma Agrawal Seán Moran
John Blake Paul Newman
Colin Brown Hung Nguyen
George Catalano Jenn Stroud Rossmann
Doug Cooper Veena Sahajwalla
Kate Disney Tomás A. Sancho
Roger Hadgraft Jonathan Scott
Jan Hayes Tim Sercombe
Marlene Kanga Paul Shearing
Gong Ke Donglu Shi
John Krupczak Matthew L. Smith
Raj Kurup Jorge Spitalnik
Julia Lamborn Neill Stansbury
Andrew McVeigh
Illustrations
Nicky Ackland-Snow
First published in the UK in 2019 by
Ivy Press
An imprint of The Quarto Group
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British Library Cataloguing-in-
Publication Data
A catalogue record for this
book is available from the
British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-78240-8-376
Digital edition: 978-1-78240-8-406
Hardcover edition: 978-1-78240-8-376
This book was conceived,
designed and produced by
Ivy Press
58 West Street, Brighton BN1 2RA, UK
Publisher Susan Kelly
Creative Director Michael Whitehead
Editorial Director Tom Kitch
Art Director James Lawrence
Project Editor Katie Crous
Designer Ginny Zeal
Illustrator Nicky Ackland-Snow
Printed in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS 52 Mechanical, Materials & 112 Aerospace & Transport
Mechatronic Engineering Engineering
54 GLOSSARY 114 GLOSSARY
56 Mechanical Engineering 116 Railway Engineering
58 Profile: William John 118 Profile: Liang Jianying
Macquorn Rankine 120 Floating Factories
60 Materials Engineering 122 Fundamentals of Aerodynamics
62 Mechatronics 124 Aerospace Materials
64 Defence Readiness 126 Lessons from Space
66 Thrust Bearings to Terabytes 128 Driverless Cars
6 Introduction 68 Wind Energy
70 Robotics & Automation 1 30 Engineering the Future
10 Engineering Methods 132 GLOSSARY
12 GLOSSARY 72 Chemical Engineering & 134 Thinking Differently
14 Divide & Conquer Energy Production 136 Innovation
16 Applying Mathematics 74 GLOSSARY 138 Profile: Ernst Dieter Dickmanns
18 Beyond Science 76 Chemical Engineering 140 Energy & Finance
20 Problem-solving Design 78 Power Generation & 142 Resource Scarcity
22 Standards & Specifications Energy Storage 144 Feeding Our World
24 Making it Happen 80 Nuclear Power 146 Water Security
26 Engineering Thinking 82 Organizational Safety 148 Controlling Pollution
28 Profile: Charles 84 Process Plant Safety 150 Future Transport: Drone Ships
Yelverton O’Connor 86 Plastics & Fertilizers
88 Profile: Fritz Haber & Carl Bosch 152 Appendices
30 Civil & Environmental 154 Resources
Engineering 90 Electrical & Electronic Engineering 156 Notes on Contributors
32 GLOSSARY 92 GLOSSARY 158 Index
34 Civil Engineering 94 Electrical Engineering 160 Acknowledgements
36 Profile: Fazlur Rahman Khan 96 Electronic Engineering
38 Force Equilibrium Principle 98 Computer Engineering
40 Geotechnical Engineering 100 Software Engineering
42 Engineers & Architects 102 Profile: Grace Brewster Hopper
44 Engineering & Civilization 104 Nanotechnology
46 Taming Great Rivers 106 Information & Telecoms
48 Engineering Ethics 108 Signal Processing
50 Environmental Engineering 110 Biomedical Engineering
INTRODUCTION
James Trevelyan
Almost everything we see, feel, touch, eat or drink

entails engineering: engineering is fundamental for human civilization,
and engineers are the people with the core technical ideas and knowledge.
Yet, engineering itself is a mysterious profession. Many imagine
engineers designing and performing complicated mathematical
Safety is the primary calculations. Some engineers do that, but very few spend much time
concern for engineers. on it. Others think that engineers build bridges and make cars. However,
When accidents occur,
few engineers would know how to fix a car, let alone work with tools
engineers learn from
mistakes and improve on a bridge. Of course, locomotive engineers drive trains in America,
standards as a way of but in this book you will read about engineers as members of a
passing on experience. knowledge-based profession.
The best way to appreciate engineering is to understand
what engineers really do, and recent research has greatly
expanded our knowledge of this. Even with the enormous
variety that comes with the near-300 specialized
engineering fields that exist today, there is remarkable
similarity in the work of engineers, everywhere. Most
engineers rely on a handful of common ideas and
methods, explained in the first section of this book.
So, what do engineers do? In a few words, they
are people with technical knowledge and foresight
who conceive, deliver, operate and sustain man-made
objects and systems that enable people to do more
with less effort, time, materials, energy, uncertainty,
health risk and environmental disturbances.
Organizing their work into specific projects, in the first
phase, engineers conceive safe solutions for human needs and predict
how well these solutions will operate and the cost to build, operate,
sustain and, eventually, remove them. There are always uncertainties:
engineers inform investors about risks and consequences. Sufficient trust
and confidence need to be gained before investors are willing to commit
6 g Introduction
finance for project execution, the second phase, long before benefits
from the project will arise.
Often working in large teams, engineers plan, organize and teach
people to purchase and deliver components, tools and materials, and then
transform, fabricate and assemble them to deliver the intended solution.
They work with an agreed schedule and budget, handling unpredictable
events that influence progress, performance, safety or the environment. Engineers strive to create
highly reliable products,
Later, they organize sustainment: operations, upgrades, maintenance
and endure great
and repairs. In the final phase, engineers plan and organize removal and uncertainty and anxiety
disposal, environmental restoration, reuse, refurbishment or even when testing them in
recycling of the materials. extreme conditions.
Expectations need to be satisfied well enough for
investors to come back and commission more projects.
Most of an engineer’s time is spent coordinating
collaborative efforts by skilled people, guided by
shared technical knowledge. Engineering successes
often reflect the combined performances of tens (or
even hundreds) of engineers and thousands of other
people worldwide, building on decades of experience.
Technical work, such as predicting performance,
designing and solving problems, takes up much
less time.
Certainty is impossible with unpredictable activities by
so many people combined with natural variations in materials
and the environment. Yet engineers have developed systematic
methods that provide amazing predictability. A century ago, few
people watching the hair-raising exploits of aviation pioneers could
have imagined the amazing safety and reliability of modern air travel.
Invention and innovation is a fundamental ethos in engineering,
tempered by accumulated knowledge and standard methods shaped
by past experiences. Another guiding principle is the ethical duty not to
Introduction g 7
cause loss, harm or suffering, and to avoid wasting resources. Engineers
tend to honour ethical obligations for utilitarian reasons because effective
collaboration is based on trust from clients, contractors and employees.
They work in small communities – news of a breach spreads fast. Codes
of ethics and societal regulation dating back to the Code of Hammurabi,
thousands of years ago, help to shape conscientious efforts by engineers
who produce many of humanity’s most durable achievements. A ‘social
Improved sensing licence’ representing trust from government, regulators and local
technology helps create communities also eases collaboration.
public awareness of
Traditionally a culturally diverse male-dominated profession, women
pollution, creating social
pressure on companies are gradually making their presence felt, especially in fields like biomedical,
that enables engineers environmental, food processing and chemical engineering. Many firms
to create better solutions. recognize the value of diversity and are now actively seek to recruit and
retain female engineers, and are creating
more inclusive workplaces.
Some have argued that future
computers with artificial intelligence (AI)
will perform many of today’s engineering
jobs. So far, the main results from AI have
been to improve IT system performance,
providing engineers with faster access
to appropriate information and enabling
more effective robots. Forecasts that
robots and AI would eliminate factory
work, for example, proved to be
premature. Yet computer systems,
often with AI components, do help to
enormously extend human capabilities.
Engineers will continue to provide
essential leadership for many of the
greatest advances in human civilization.
Most engineers have high levels of job
satisfaction and often enjoy the thrill that
comes from spending large amounts of
money to transform ideas into reality,
bringing great benefits to vast numbers
of people.
8 g Introduction
How this book works Engineers are creating
30-Second Engineering is your essential guide to engineering, covering more energy-efficient
the pivotal developments and feats that have created the world in which high-speed trains that
enable more people
we live today. From establishing civilization and all its necessary amenities,
to travel further and
through taming the forces of nature to our advantage, to building a faster using renewable
future of innovation and sustainability – engineering has always been energy sources.
at the forefront of change. Experts from around the globe share their
knowledge and guide us through the carefully selected topics, to ensure
all fundamental bases are covered, clearly and concisely. Each aspect of
engineering is presented on a single page, alongside an illustration that
reflects key themes. The main paragraph, the 30-Second Foundation,
expands on the 3-Second Core: the topic in one or two sentences. The
3-Minute Idea takes it further, adding intriguing aspects of the subject.
Each chapter also features a biographical profile of a widely respected
engineer – the men and women whose lives tell us something about
the lives of all engineers. The book begins with an overview that explains
what engineers do, their contributions and techniques common to all
disciplines. It then delves into engineering disciplines, their associated
achievements and goals: we learn where civil and environmental
engineering started and where it is taking us; mechanical, materials
and mechatronic engineering introduces us to motion and energy;
we compare energy sources and how they are harnessed; and through
electrical engineering we glimpse into the future of automation,
technology and transport. The final chapter addresses the challenges
engineers face today to build a better world for all of us tomorrow.
Introduction g 9
g
ENGINEERING METHODS
ENGINEERING METHODS
GLOSSARY
boundary element method Calculation originated with collaborations between

of stress, pressure, temperature, aircraft designers and mathematicians
displacement, electric or magnetic fields who had access to early digital computers
throughout a component, using conditions in the 1950s.
at the component boundary. This can
be much faster than the finite element force External influence that causes a
method for certain problems, such as stationary object to move, or a moving object
simulating adhesive contact between parts. to slow down, change direction or accelerate.
An example is gravity: the force attracting
convergence Many engineering bodies towards the centre of the earth.
calculations start with an estimated Another example of force is the thrust on
solution and then refine the solution, an aeroplane resulting from its engines.
step by step, converging on the solution
with increasing accuracy. Sometimes the heuristic, or rule of thumb Approximate
accuracy does not improve, however, and mathematical or qualitative relationship that
a different method has to be found. engineers use to make predictions when
detailed measurements or mathematical
eddy current Movement of a solid analysis cannot be used, often because
conductor relative to a magnetic field insufficient time, understanding or data
causes recirculating currents in the is available for more accurate methods
conductor, generating a magnetic force to be used.
that opposes the motion.
model Set of mathematical equations,
finite element method Calculation usually embodied in a computer program
of continuously variable properties, or spreadsheet, which engineers use to
such as stress, pressure, temperature, predict the behaviour of an engineering
displacement, electric or magnetic field system. Engineers also use physical models,
strength, throughout a component, often scale models with identical proportions
by subdividing the component shape but a different size relative to the system
into a large number of small elements, being studied.
each of which can be analysed with
well-known equations. The method
12 g Engineering Methods
network Many systems can be analysed as stress Applied force over a given area inside
networks consisting of separate elements a body. Usually, an external force results in
(or nodes) joined together by a finite an uneven distribution of stress inside a body.
number of connections. Examples include Stretching or fracture starts where stress
electronic circuits, telephone networks, exceeds the material strength. Stress can
and networks of pipes, pumps and tanks. be tension (pulling apart), compression
(squeezing together) or shear (opposed forces
stability Tendency of an engineering on opposite sides of material).
system to remain in a relatively unchanging
state. As a system approaches the limit system and systems thinking Engineers think
of stability, smaller disturbances can cause in terms of systems: complex collections of
a sudden and usually undesirable, often components that interact with each other
uncontrollable change in conditions. For and their surroundings. Engineers construct
example, a slope can remain stable, even an artificial boundary enclosing all the
in an earthquake, unless heavy rain has components in a system, and classify
reduced its stability by reducing friction interactions that cross the boundary as
forces between tree roots, rocks and soil. ‘system inputs’ and ‘system outputs’. Inputs
Under those conditions, even a small are external changes that cause changes
tremor can cause a landslide. inside the system; outputs are changes inside
the system that cause changes outside.
stakeholder Individual or group of people Engineers often subdivide systems into
who can influence, or could be influenced a hierarchy of sub-systems until the
by, an engineering activity. individual components are simple enough
to analyse separately.
strain Relative deformation caused by
stress. Tension stress causes elongation,
and compression stress causes squeezing
of material. Shear stress causes layers of
material to slide relative to each other.
Glossary g 13
DIVIDE & CONQUER
3o-second foundation
Engineers predict the behaviour
of systems so complex they can defy human
comprehension. They divide complex systems
3-SECOND CORE into simpler parts with carefully chosen RELATED TOPICS
Engineers analyse complex boundaries and account for the influences that See also
systems by dividing them APPLYING MATHEMATICS
cross boundaries. For instance, when predicting
into simpler elements and page 16
accounting for influences
a car’s behaviour, engineers draw a ‘free body
ENGINEERING THINKING
that cross element diagram’ for each wheel. The diagram excludes page 26
boundaries. Computers do everything but the wheel and the forces that act
most of the calculations. FORCE EQUILIBRIUM
on it. It shows the road force pushing the wheel PRINCIPLE
up. The car’s weight, transmitted to the wheel page 38
3-MINUTE IDEA through the axle, acts downwards. The axle

A complex piping network driving torque twists the wheel and the road
carrying water is analysed 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
exerts a friction force. The wheel and tyre could CHARLES-AUGUSTIN
in parts. At each pipe joint,
the sum of the separate be defined separately, and subdivided into many DE COULOMB
1736–1806
water flows towards the smaller elements, with analysis of each one. French engineer who described
joint must be zero: water Finer subdivision can yield more accuracy, but friction, explaining why cars
cannot disappear without skid during braking, and the
it takes engineers time to define the element electrostatic forces so critical
a leak. The pressure change in nanotechnology.
along the pipe depends boundaries and forces. Computers handle
on the pipe elevation and calculations, but the engineer has to guide GABRIEL VOISIN
1880–1973
flow. We can represent all element definition and assess the accuracy and French aviation pioneer who
these relationships with invented the first anti-lock
simultaneous equations
reliability of calculated results. Engineers learn brakes to help prevent
that a computer can solve. appropriate levels of subdivision depending on skidding.
Electrical circuits, factory the accuracy required and the consequences

production lines, city of simplification errors. They use this approach
traffic congestion and 30-SECOND TEXT
communication networks for modelling complex systems, such as the James Trevelyan
can be analysed using structural stability of an underground mine,
similar methods. rush-hour traffic congestion and radar
beam forming. Automotive engineers
design new cars using
components that have
14 g Engineering Methods proved to be reliable.
A
A
APPLYING
MATHEMATICS
Frequently applying their maths
indirectly, engineers rely on software with
built-in analysis and also a tacit understanding
3-SECOND CORE of maths principles. They need instinctive ability RELATED TOPICS
Mathematics is most to choose appropriate computational methods See also
often applied by engineers DIVIDE & CONQUER
for given circumstances. Early in an engineering
indirectly through the use page 14
of large software packages.
project, fast and rough calculations may be
BEYOND SCIENCE
Predicting damage from best, because an answer within 20 per cent is page 18
an automobile collision is often sufficient. At this stage, engineers and
one of many engineering SIGNAL PROCESSING
project owners are usually deciding whether the page 108
applications of maths.
project is worth investigating in detail and which
alternative engineering approaches should be
investigated. Later, greater precision is needed 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
3-MINUTE IDEA SIR ISAAC NEWTON
Computational fluid for critical aspects of the project: an engine 1642–1726
mechanics (CFD) software designer may be searching for the most efficient Laid the mathematical
solves complex differential foundations that underpin
equations that describe
layout of passages for the air and fuel mixture modern engineering.
fluid flow. Beautiful images to enter the cylinders of an engine; others may JOSEPH FOURIER
often appear when the use analysis software to predict how well a new 1768–1830
results are portrayed Pioneered methods for
car design will protect passengers in a collision predicting heat conduction
graphically. CFD is not through solid bodies.
necessarily accurate in with another vehicle. These computer analyses
all situations. Numerical take time, so engineers need to understand KATHERINE JOHNSON
1918–
methods sometimes fail cost and limitations. Usually, the software is Prepared orbit predictions
to converge to a usable
operated by specialist engineers who know how for the first manned US
solution. CFD software has space flights.
been refined for particular to set up the appropriate mathematical models
applications where quickly. They need to check that the results are
experimental data can reasonable, often using simpler approximate 30-SECOND TEXT
confirm accuracy – in James Trevelyan
the aircraft industry,
calculations that can be set up in an Excel
for example. spreadsheet or even calculated manually. Mathematics helps
engineers predict
aircraft performance,
reducing the need for
16 g Engineering Methods prototype flight tests.
BEYOND SCIENCE
Engineers use experience and
scientific knowledge to predict the behaviour of
objects that only exist as sketches. Sometimes
3-SECOND CORE they have measurements from scale models to RELATED TOPICS
Engineers often have to compare with predictions and they investigate See also
work beyond the limits of PROBLEM-SOLVING DESIGN
anomalies. They often find themselves far
scientific knowledge. They page 20
conduct experiments with
ahead of science. For example, gears have been
scale models and use used for thousands of years, yet comprehensive page 26
experience as a guide. mathematical theories have only recently
NANOTECHNOLOGY
emerged. Boiling and condensation of page 104
3-MINUTE IDEA
refrigerant gas in an air conditioner is almost
Physics and mathematics impossible to predict accurately from current
provide most of the scientific knowledge. Therefore, engineers 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
scientific knowledge used BLAISE PASCAL
use estimates from experience and simple 1623–62
by engineers – mechanics,
thermodynamics,
calculations. They test a prototype in climate Clarified concepts of pressure
and helped invent the
electromagnetics, atomic chambers that simulate the actual conditions mechanical calculator.
and molecular structure in which it will be used. They add or remove ROBERT HOOKE
of materials, and material 1635–1703
gas slowly until they judge that the cooling
properties. Well-used Described the theory of
mathematical methods performance provides the best compromise elasticity and coined the
biological term ‘cell’.
include calculus, matrix between power consumption and cooling effect
algebra, infinite series in common climatic conditions. Here we see LÉON FOUCAULT
and probability. Chemistry 1819–68
contributes to material
the essential distinction between science and Invented a pendulum to prove
properties knowledge and engineering: engineers work with science to the the Earth’s rotation and
discovered eddy currents.
helps to explain material extent possible with today’s knowledge (and
degradation. Engineers software). They predict the behaviour of
draw on the life sciences,
for food processing,
systems that don’t yet exist, so confirmatory 30-SECOND TEXT
James Trevelyan
packaging and storage, measurements have to come from models. With
removing pollution, making time and resource constraints, they often rely Science is a foundation
artificial body parts and
on experience and practical heuristics. for engineering, yet
manufacturing medicines.
engineers often devise
ideas without scientific
18 g Engineering Methods understanding.
PROBLEM-SOLVING
DESIGN
Engineering design is a
multi-faceted, problem-solving effort leading
to creation of products or systems that meet
3-SECOND CORE the needs of end users or customers. The first RELATED TOPICS
Design is a problem-solving step is identification of the requirements and See also
process to determine the STANDARDS &
conditions that the system must satisfy, which
needs of the user and SPECIFICATIONS
develop efficient creative
requires consideration of the needs of all page 22
solutions. Designers stakeholders. Besides the end user, stakeholders ENGINEERING THINKING
combine individual can include manufacturers, distributors, service page 26
components into overall
and repair technicians, sales people, purchasing ENGINEERS & ARCHITECTS
systems through analysis,
testing and iteration. agents and government regulators. Embodying page 42
the desired functions into physical form through
components that provide specific functions
3-MINUTE IDEA 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
and solve sub-problems creates a technological HERBERT A. SIMON
Today, ‘design thinking’
system. Carrying out the engineering design 1916–2001
is a term being used to Nobel-prize winning economist
describe the creative process requires having knowledge of available whose 1969 book The Sciences
of the Artificial was one of the
approaches used in the components, component functions and an first to analyse the design and
process of designing, as
ability to envision the functions that could problem-solving process.
well as the methods used
to match the needs of be provided by a particular form. Quantitative DAVID M. KELLEY
1951–
customers, with what is analysis is often used to determine specific
A member of the US National
achievable at any current component parameters and to match the inputs Academy of Engineering, Kelley
state of technology and cofounded world-leading
business. Hallmarks of
and outputs of components internal to the design firm IDEO in 1991.
design thinking include system. In designing a technological system,
striving for empathy with more than one solution is possible since there
the user and the use of 30-SECOND TEXT
are many components or ways to embody John Krupczak
multiple perspectives
as a way to discern user
particular functions. The design is compared
needs, resolving competing to the requirements for performance,
or contradictory factors characteristics and features. This may involve
and envisioning innovative
testing of tentative or prototype designs. Frequently, redesign
approaches.
or iteration is
required to achieve
20 g Engineering Methods a satisfactory result.
STANDARDS &
SPECIFICATIONS
Scientific knowledge and
experience guide the work of engineers.
Personal experience is only a small part;
3-SECOND CORE standards incorporate experience acquired by RELATED TOPICS
Standards provide generations of engineers. They provide fast See also
convenient and safe PROBLEM-SOLVING DESIGN
and convenient design and calculation methods
working methods based page 20
on experience acquired by
that provide safe and reliable results. Standards
generations of engineers. are mainly issued by national, professional and page 26
Specifications and industry-based organizations. A group of railway
drawings define products DEFENCE READINESS
engineers formed the American Society for page 64
so that the components
will work as expected Testing Materials (ASTM) in 1902 to standardize
when assembled. steel testing; now ASTM provides standards
and training worldwide. The International 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
GASPARD MONGE
Organization for Standardization (ISO) 1746–1818
3-MINUTE IDEA
Specifications are
co-ordinates global standards. Standards evolve Invented descriptive geometry,
the basis of technical drawings.
interpreted differently, as technology changes and engineers learn
PIERRE ÉTIENNE BÉZIER
depending on local more, sometimes from mistakes. Engineers 1910–99
expectations. A product
write specifications and create drawings to Created techniques and
accepted in one industry software to represent curves
may be rejected in another, define products so that components provided and surfaces.
just because a wire has a by different companies will fit together and DOUGLAS TAYLOR ROSS
different colour. A machine perform as expected. Specifications come in 1929–2007
might be accepted even Developed software to help
though it does not meet all
two broad types: test and method. The former engineers perform design
performance requirements, defines tests or inspections to decide if a calculations.
because specifications are product is acceptable. It can be hard to tell

considered ‘aspirational’ from a test if the product will still perform
goals. Eventually, similar 30-SECOND TEXT
machines off the same
after 30 years, so a specification may also James Trevelyan
production line achieve define fabrication methods. To save time,
most of the stated specifications refer to standards for much
performance, and earlier
of the technical detail. Standards help ensure
models can be upgraded.
that earlier engineers’
experience guides
22 g Engineering Methods future generations.
MAKING IT HAPPEN
About 30 per cent of an
engineer’s time is spent negotiating the willing
and conscientious collaboration of other people
3-SECOND CORE within an agreed time schedule. They rely on RELATED TOPICS
Engineers spend much others to contribute knowledge, experience and See also
of their time organizing ENGINEERING THINKING
skills; the expertise needed for engineering is
collaboration by all the page 26
people needed to construct
distributed amongst the people who collaborate
ORGANIZATIONAL SAFETY
and deliver the products to make it all happen. A network of social page 82
of engineering work, relationships creates the trust needed for this
providing their specialized
collaboration: social interactions lie at the core
skills and knowledge.
of technical practice. Engineers learn much 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
FREDERICK WINSLOW TAYLOR
from others – colleagues, suppliers, contractors, 1856–1915
3-MINUTE IDEA skilled artisans, technicians, financiers, lawyers, American mechanical engineer
known for the influential
While many people think end users and the local community. This early theory of scientific
that engineers build things management, also made many
like bridges and cars,
knowledge is tacit or implicit – seldom written improvements in steel making.
very few actually make or down. Relying on human memory and complex
LILLIAN EVELYN GILBRETH
build anything as part of social interactions, there is unpredictability 1878–1972
their professional work. American psychologist and
beyond variability in materials, natural situations engineer, first female member
Instead they organize
construction and delivery and weather. Most engineering failures are of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, who
by other people, such as communication failures. An engineer has developed time and motion
technicians, who are far study methods that led to
to make sure that everyone has sufficient enormous productivity
more skilled with their improvements in factories.
hands and mechanized
understanding of essential features for
tools. Highly skilled appropriate implementation by others. While
technologists using this social complexity is challenging, it is more 30-SECOND TEXT
computers create the so in developing societies, where trust can be James Trevelyan
drawings often associated
with engineers. Those
elusive. Combined with the tenuous presence
who enjoy hands-on work of knowledgeable engineering suppliers,
mostly do it in their spare this explains why it is more costly to achieve Engineering relies on
time as hobbies.
comparable results in engineering enterprises. an invisible web of
trusting interpersonal
relationships to make
24 g Engineering Methods things happen.
ENGINEERING
THINKING
Engineers use judgement and
experience to find solutions for human needs,
examining existing solutions to identify feasible
3-SECOND CORE improvements. They think about systems RELATED TOPICS
Engineering thinking interacting with people and the environment. See also
requires abstract BEYOND SCIENCE
Parts of systems interact with each other;
visualization with as much page 18
discussion and debate as
each part can be understood as a system itself.
PROBLEM-SOLVING DESIGN
practical implementation. Visualizing helps an engineer transition from page 20
Data from measurements the abstract to reality, mentally rehearsing the
serve as the ultimate ENGINEERS & ARCHITECTS
use of materials and space to create practical page 42
reality check.
solutions. Abstract thinking embraces invisible
effects such as stress, electric and magnetic
3-MINUTE IDEA fields or thermal conductivity, predicting 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
Good engineers appreciate ARCHIMEDES
how a concept might work. Sketches and 3D 287–212 BCE
their own limitations
and build collaborative prototypes follow, and engineers iterate and Measured the volume of
irregular objects to distinguish
relationships with people optimize a solution within constraints such as real gold from alloys.
who complement their lifecycle cost, available time and stakeholder LEONARDO DA VINCI
skills. They enjoy the 1452–1519
needs. Discussions with peers, suppliers,
satisfaction of seeing Invented a computer, solar
their ideas used, creating customers and technicians help engineers shape collector, helicopter and
armoured vehicle.
tangible benefits for their ideas. Successful solutions tend to emerge
people. They also gain from sharing collaborations that learn from MATTHEW BOULTON
satisfaction from resolving 1728–1809
apparently conflicting
failures, responding to feedback. Engineers Saw the critical importance
requirements with measure system performance to confirm of precision manufacture for
making efficient steam engines.
solutions admired expectations, deliberately inducing failure
by peers. They value by going outside the ‘design envelope’.
opportunities to work
on humanitarian ventures. Measurements help shape engineers’ intuitive 30-SECOND TEXT
Colin Brown
ideas on how systems and their worlds actually
work. Unexpected results often force a rethink, Measurements and
strengthening an engineer’s mental model. observed real world
performance often
force engineers to
26 g Engineering Methods rethink their ideas.
11 January 1843 1868 1880 1896
Born in Gravelmount, Appointed District Becomes Inspecting Completes design and
County Meath, Ireland Engineer, Greymouth; Engineer, Dunedin; estimates for Goldfields
completes harbour wall, admitted to Institution of water supply pipeline
railway and other projects Civil Engineers, London
1861
Completes apprenticeship 1898
at Bagnell & Smith; 1872 1883 Funding approved
becomes Assistant Becomes Canterbury Appointed Under for pipeline
Engineer District Engineer, Secretary Public Works,
Christchurch Wellington
1900
1865 Fremantle Harbour
Arrives in New Zealand, 1875 1891 completed
surveys route for Arthur Appointed West Coast Appointed General
Pass road District Engineer, Manager Railways and
Hokitika Engineer-in-Chief for 10 March 1902
Western Australia O’Connor dies by suicide,
pipeline completed on
(amended) schedule
28 g Engineering Methods
CHARLES YELVERTON O’CONNOR
Born in Ireland in 1843, O’Connor O’Connor’s greatest project was a pipeline

set his heart on becoming a civil engineer from to convey water from a dam near Perth to
a young age. He learned railway construction Kalgoorlie, 580 km (360 miles) inland, in
apprenticed with engineering firm Smith and a parched salt desert. O’Connor proposed
Bagnell. The great famine devastated Ireland, an 80-cm (30-in) diameter pipeline to be
so O’Connor migrated to New Zealand in search constructed in one of the world’s remotest
of work. After surveying roads through the locations with little industrial capacity.
mountainous South Island terrain, enduring Anticipating apprehensions of risk averse
continual downpours and flooding, he was London financiers, he designed his pipeline in
soon constructing infrastructure for mining 14 sections. Far longer and larger than any yet
projects. He gained respect for firm handling built, he presented it as ‘simply a repetition,
of corrupt contractors, building harbours at several times over, of schemes within the
Greymouth, Westport and Hokitika, where knowledge of most engineers’.
shifting sands and shingle provided challenging Financing took time, and a natural rock fault
conditions. The remote location honed his under the main storage dam delayed work by
abilities to organize supplies of machinery and 12 more months. In 1901, Premier Forrest was
materials from Britain and Europe, months elected to parliament in Melbourne, leaving
away by sea. O’Connor without strong local political support.
O’Connor was sought out by John Forrest, Corruption accusations, mounting criticism
Premier of Western Australia, to build ports and from newspapers and impatient politicians, and
water supplies for mining rich gold deposits in stress from managing several ‘mega-projects’
desert locations. His New Zealand experience simultaneously led to O’Connor committing
was critical: Fremantle Harbour was constructed suicide in 1902. His pipeline was completed
on shifting sand bars near the mouth of the eight months later only 10 per cent over the
Swan River. O’Connor incurred the wrath of original budget. The pipeline, harbour and
contractors unaccustomed to his insistence that railways built by O’Connor transformed
they meet all their undertakings before being Western Australia, creating immense prosperity,
paid. They retaliated by influencing powerful and are still in use today.
relatives to harass O’Connor with derisory
newspaper articles. James Trevelyan
Charles Yelverton O’Connor g 29

g
CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING
CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING
GLOSSARY
axes Defined directions in space, often formwork Temporary mould for creating
with x and y axes defining horizontal concrete structures.
reference directions at right angles
(perpendicular) to each other, and a z foundation (structural) Specially designed
axis defining the local vertical direction. parts of a building structure that transfer
loads to the underlying soil or rock.
conservation laws Fundamental laws
of physics that guide engineers; include geomechanics Physical principles governing
conservation of mass and energy. Mass behaviour of soil and rock; core knowledge
cannot be created or destroyed, and for geotechnical engineering.
energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Nuclear physics tells us otherwise, but geotextile Fabric material for reinforcing
these laws are sufficiently accurate for loose soil or gravel, preventing erosion.
almost all engineering purposes.
load (civil, mechanical engineering) Can refer
coordinate system A set of three to a force or stress. ‘Dead’ loads are constant
intersecting mutually perpendicular axes. forces on a structure due mainly to gravity.
The point at which all three axes intersect ‘Live’ loads are variable forces caused by
is called the ‘origin’. Engineers locate influences such as people, vehicles, wind,
points in three-dimensional space with earthquakes, etc.
coordinates that define position along each
axis relative to the origin. Engineers may load path The pattern of stress in a structure.
use many different coordinate systems for Load paths can change due to settlement,
different parts of a structure or system. for example.
equilibrium A state in which forces o-ring (mechanical engineering)

(or other influences) on a system or Rubber sealing ring located in specially
component are balanced, so there is machined grooves.
no tendency to move.
32 g Civil & Environmental

Engineering
pile (civil engineering) Large steel, site remediation Removal or stabilizing of
reinforced concrete, occasionally wood rod pollution at a site of engineering or other
or tube, placed, pushed or hammered into human activity to prevent harmful effects
soil to provide additional strength for of pollution.
foundations, or to transfer loads directly
to rock underlying soft soil. slurry Crushed rock, powder, silt or sand
mixed with a liquid (usually water) so it
pollution Harmful materials in water, soil, can be transported by pumping through
air or vegetation. a pipeline.
plant (civil, mechanical engineering) settlement (geotechnical engineering)

Machinery used in manufacturing or other Gradual sinking of foundations caused
engineering activity. Mobile plant refers to by the weight of the structure acting on
special vehicles such as excavators. underlying soil.
reinforced concrete Concrete containing survey Systematic measurements collected

small stones poured into formwork around to provide data for planning construction or
an array of twisted or ribbed steel bars and other engineering work.
wire, forming a strong composite material
used for buildings and bridges. Most steel tailings Waste material from mining
bars are placed selectively at the locations operations.
where the concrete must withstand
tension loads. turbine Wheel with blades designed to
transform kinetic energy in a flowing fluid into
service Pipe or cable connection enabling mechanical energy in a rotating shaft, often
the supply of fluid or energy to an to turn a generator to transform mechanical
engineering process or for general use; energy in to electricity.
also refers to maintenance activity.
Glossary g 33
CIVIL ENGINEERING
Civil engineering is about roads,
railways, buildings, water, sewerage and much
more. Civil engineers such as Eugène Belgrand
3-SECOND CORE and Joseph Bazalgette created sewer systems RELATED TOPICS
Civil engineering enables in Paris and London, eradicating cholera and See also
buildings, roads, bridges GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
saving the lives of millions. The Industrial
and all the other structures page 40
in our built environment,
Revolution reduced the cost of iron and steel
ENGINEERS & ARCHITECTS
ensuring that they are safe in the nineteenth century and Thomas Telford page 42
and durable enough to last showed how it could be used for bridges, canals
for centuries.
and harbours. Together with Isambard Kingdom
Brunel’s railways, bridges and ships, these 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
SIR MARC ISAMBARD BRUNEL
3-MINUTE IDEA developments transformed transport. Today, 1769–1849
Structural engineering, civil engineers are working to solve challenges French-born civil engineer,
father of the more famous
a part of civil engineering, and improve people’s lives – from creating Isambard; created the ‘Thames
is about ensuring that Tunnel’, the first under a
buildings, dams and
flood defences and dams to building our navigable river.
bridges stand up. largest infrastructures and tallest buildings.
EMILY WARREN ROEBLING
Calculations based Every project poses challenges: there may 1843–1903
on maths and physics Managed the Brooklyn Bridge
be obstructions in the ground or poor soil construction for 11 years,
principles predict how
structures respond to the conditions; tunnels or structures that the after father-in-law, designer
John Roebling, died; learned
forces that nature throws new construction needs to weave through; or civil engineering from her
at them – gravity, wind incapacitated husband.
constraints on finance and time. Engineers think
and earthquakes. Equally
important, structural
creatively to work through these problems, try
engineers predict forces different solutions and choose the best option. 30-SECOND TEXT
during construction. That’s Finding creative economic solutions for difficult Roma Agrawal
why homes, schools and construction challenges is immensely rewarding,
offices are safe to live in.
Spectacular structures such
and civil engineers embrace new technologies
as huge bridges reflect to create a world that can support future
the work of structural generations.
engineers, as do invisible
structures such as tunnels.
Civil engineers create
the things we take for
granted but would find
34 g Civil & Environmental hard to live without.
Engineering
3 April 1929 1952 1957 1967
Born near Dhaka, British Awarded Fulbright Director of Pakistan Becomes naturalized
India, now Bangladesh Scholarship and Pakistan Building Research Centre, American citizen
Government Scholarship Karachi; Technical Advisor
to Karachi Development
1950 Authority 1969
Graduates in Civil 1955 John Hancock Center
Engineering at Dhaka Completes PhD; completed in Chicago,
University; appointed employed by Skidmore, 1960 with tubular frame design
assistant engineer, Owings and Merrill Returns to SOM,
Highway Department Architects (SOM), commences teaching
Chicago at Illinois Institute 1971
of Technology Pioneers use of
computers for structural
calculations and design
1963 drawings
43-storey DeWitt-
Chestnut Apartment
Building completed 1981
Hajj Terminal at King
Abdulaziz International
1966 Airport receives Agha
Appointed partner Khan Award for
in Skidmore, Owings Architecture
and Merrill
27 March 1982
Dies in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia
36 g Civil & Environmental

Engineering
FAZLUR RAHMAN KHAN
Cities have been both the cradle needed by 40 per cent or more. His design
and products of engineering for at least eliminated almost all the interior columns and
8,000 years. Skyscrapers form the heart of masonry walls, allowing unobstructed internal
modern cities because people can live and spaces. His buildings were taller and less
work close to each other, developing trusting expensive, and allowed architects to design
relationships on which engineering, trade almost any shape they wanted.
and commerce depend. The ‘father of tubular In 1963, the 43-storey DeWitt-Chestnut
designs’, Fazlur Rahman Khan, transformed Apartment Building in Chicago was completed,
skyscraper design in the 1960s. the first skyscraper to use the structural tube
Born in Bengal, now Bangladesh, in 1929, frame design. The 110-storey Sears Tower,
Khan graduated in civil engineering from Dhaka completed in 1973 and also in Chicago, was
University, winning a Fulbright scholarship to constructed as a bundle of parallel tube
study in the US. After completing a PhD in 1955 frames – as Khan described it, a group of
researching reinforced concrete design, Khan pencils bundled together with a rubber band.
went to work with Chicago architects Skidmore, Use of lightweight concrete and high-strength
Owings and Merrill, because they were steel enabled buildings such as the 160-storey
happy to let him take charge of design and Burj Khalifa in Dubai – 828 m (2,700 ft) high.
construction projects. The firm was renowned Experts consider that the ultimate height using
for skyscraper design. Khan soon realized that the tube frame design has yet to be reached.
horizontal live loads from wind and earthquakes Khan also pioneered innovative building forms
pose the greatest design challenges for tall such as cable-stayed roofs, notably for the
building structures. He explored new ideas, immense Hajj Terminal at Jeddah Airport.
working with students at the Illinois Institute Khan was renowned not only for his technical
of Technology and through public and expertise, but also for his humanity and love of
professional lectures. art and literature. He epitomizes the US success
At the time, masonry shear walls between narrative, a country that has consistently
interior steel columns resisted horizontal loads. attracted and rewarded hard-working migrants.
Buildings had to be rectangular, with little Khan died of a heart attack, aged 52, while on a
flexibility to change the internal layout. Khan’s trip to Saudi Arabia. His body was returned to
breakthrough was to design the outer shell the US and was duly buried in Chicago.
of the building as a framed tube to resist
horizontal loads, reducing the amount of steel James Trevelyan
Fazlur Rahman Khan g 37

FORCE
EQUILIBRIUM
PRINCIPLE
The equilibrium principle enables
engineers to analyse forces in a structure: it will
only move if the combination of all forces acting
3-SECOND CORE on it is not zero. A free-body diagram helps RELATED TOPICS
Engineers use the force identify the forces. For most structures, the See also
equilibrium principle DIVIDE & CONQUER
main forces are static loads: gravity and reaction
to predict forces in a page 14
structure, particularly
forces from the foundations. Live loads can
CIVIL ENGINEERING
the foundations. be significant too: wind, earthquakes, moving page 34
vehicles, liquids sloshing in tanks, accidental
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
impacts or machinery, even people walking. page 56
3-MINUTE IDEA
Predicting storm,
For coastal structures, wave forces are
accident or earthquake critical. Since forces act in different directions,
loads accurately is almost engineers resolve them into components parallel 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
impossible. Engineers rely ROBERT HOOKE
to local x, y and z axes that define spatial 1635–1703
on standards that prescribe
the maximum loads that
reference directions at right angles to each Described the theory of
elasticity, helping to invent
common structures must other. The components can be positive many mechanisms.
withstand. National or negative depending on their direction. ELMINA WILSON
standards tell engineers 1870–1918
Engineers add all the components together
what wind loads to First female civil engineer and
expect where, and how for each direction and then apply the force professor in USA, helped
design skyscrapers.
much weight each floor equilibrium principle. To remain stationary, the
of a building must support. reaction forces from the structure’s foundation STEPAN PROKOPOVYCH
In situations not covered TIMOSHENKO
by standards, engineers
must exactly balance the sum of all the applied 1878–1972
rely on measurements loads. Engineers use these methods to calculate The father of mechanics, the
analysis of forces in machines
or computer predictions. the design requirements for the foundations. and structures.
Particularly in earthquakes or storms, one or
more live loads may have to be resisted by
30-SECOND TEXT
tension forces in foundations that could, if James Trevelyan
large enough, result in them being pulled out
of the ground.
Engineers analyse
forces acting in different
38 g Civil & Environmental directions on structures.
Engineering
+Z
–Y
–X
+Y +X
–Z
GEOTECHNICAL
ENGINEERING
Soil and rock under the earth’s
surface are the domain of geotechnical
engineering, a specialization for civil engineers.
3-SECOND CORE Everything we build needs foundations, and RELATED TOPICS
All man-made structures geotechnical engineers make sure that they See also
need foundations to remain CIVIL ENGINEERING
are strong enough and that the soil underneath
standing. Geotechnical page 34
engineers investigate
will not give way. Geotechnical engineers
TAMING GREAT RIVERS
the soil and rock below characterize soils by measurements of void ratio, page 46
to design foundations density, water content and friction angle, the
that may need to last ENGINEERING ETHICS
angle at which a soil surface begins to slide. page 48
for centuries.
Laboratory tests on bore hole samples provide
data for design. As water content increases,
3-MINUTE IDEA especially with low porosity clay soils, bearing 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
Geotechnical engineers HENRY DARCY
capacity decreases and larger foundations are 1803–58
play an important role in
mining. They advise on pit
needed for a given building. Drying can also Developed ‘Darcy’s Law’,
defining the flow of water
slope stability, shaft and cause soil shrinkage and cracking. Data from site through a porous medium.
tunnel excavation and surveys greatly influence cost estimates. Critical ALBERT ATTERBERG
waste storage. They design 1846–1916
factors in rock include the location and direction
tailings dams to contain Established ‘Atterberg limits’,
waste pumped from the of geological faults, historical cracking of the which help distinguish silt from
clay and provide guidance for
processing plant as a earth’s crust. Vertical faults can be missed easily geotechnical engineers.
slurry – crushed minerals when surveying a site with drill holes and can
carried by flowing water. KARL VON TERZAGHI
The water is recovered
cause water leakage under dam walls. Detecting 1883–1963
and returned to the faults is critical when assessing the stability Established the fundamentals
of geomechanics; developed
plant. Engineers find and safety of mines and tunnel construction. the effective stress principle.
economic solutions with Geotechnical engineers will be onsite during
hydrogeologists and
environmental engineers construction to check that earth works behave
30-SECOND TEXT
to ensure the waste is as expected, making adjustments when needed. Doug Cooper
safely contained for Earthquakes can pose acute challenges, as some
centuries with minimal
soils liquefy when shaken after heavy rain. Engineers decide how
environmental impact.
much material can be
removed safely, without
40 g Civil & Environmental triggering a mine collapse.
Engineering
ENGINEERS
& ARCHITECTS
Engineers and architects have
complementary and mutually dependent roles
in creating buildings. Architects focus on visible
3-SECOND CORE aspects: the exterior, interior layout, finishes RELATED TOPICS
Engineers and architects and ambience. Engineers work almost entirely See also
bring complementary CIVIL ENGINEERING
inside the hidden spaces behind the walls,
skills and knowledge to page 34
create great buildings,
floors and ceilings. They design foundations,
GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
collaborating closely from structure and services such as air conditioning, page 40
start to finish. lighting, security, communications, water, gas,
ENVIRONMENTAL
electricity and sewerage, and renegotiate visible ENGINEERING
3-MINUTE IDEA
boundaries when hidden spaces are insufficient. page 50
Engineers and architects While architects may seek accolades for visual
collaborate from the start appearance, engineers are legally responsible
on major buildings, helping 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
for the structure and safety, during construction SÉBASTIEN VAUBAN
clients and regulators 1633–1707
understand conceptual
and for decades after completion. Architects
Responsible for defensive
possibilities. Designs hone their skills through years of studio fortifications for several
hundred French cities.
evolve within regulatory, workshops; engineers use abstract concepts
economic, structural
to analyse and predict stress fields and invisible OVE NYQUIST ARUP
and subsoil limitations. 1895–1988
Construction practicalities airflow through building spaces. Conceptual Translated architect Jørn
often dictate extensive plans can retain some fluidity in the mind of an Utzon’s ideas into structures
for the Sydney Opera House.
redesign, negotiation architect. Engineers, mindful of their hourly
and ingenuity to preserve SANTIAGO CALATRAVA
agreed visual appearances.
fees and prior estimates, prefer a fixed scope of 1951–
Engineers provide the work. Architects, commissioned by the owner, Engineer, artist and architect:
a rare combination resulting
close supervision needed receive an agreed percentage of the building in visually stunning buildings.
to ensure safety for cost. Engineers provide their services to the
everyone, and to retain
sufficient alignment
architect or project manager. Unsurprisingly,
30-SECOND TEXT
with design intent while with such different backgrounds, thinking and James Trevelyan
accommodating the financial interests, close cooperation requires
interests of everyone
hard work and careful listening. A great building is
involved.
testament to a successful
collaboration between
42 g Civil & Environmental engineer and architect.
Engineering
ENGINEERING
& CIVILIZATION
Engineering has enabled
civilization, supporting humans to move from
being hunter-gatherers to being inhabitants of
3-SECOND CORE towns and cities, by building roads, bridges and RELATED TOPICS
Ancient civil engineers aqueducts. Water was diverted from streams See also
made cities, linked by CIVIL ENGINEERING
to facilitate sustainable village agriculture;
roads, some of which are page 34
still in existence. They
systematic irrigation along the Nile enabled
brought clean water, the prosperity of Egypt and its civil engineering page 40
removed waste and built legacy – pyramids and enormous temples.
stunning structures. ENGINEERS & ARCHITECTS
Similarly, Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan dates from page 42
2500 BCE and is one of the world’s earliest major
3-MINUTE IDEA cities. Located in the Indus Valley, it drew water
‘Engineer’ first emerged in from groundwater wells and channelled away 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
MARCUS VITRUVIUS POLLIO
medieval English: a person wastewater. It was laid out on a systematic ca. 80–15 BCE
who operated engines,
likely from the Latin word grid like many modern cities. Roman engineers Created bridges, buildings and
aqueducts for Rome.
ingenium, meaning clever, later mastered cement using volcanic ash,
SEXTUS JULIUS FRONTINUS
ingenious. Creations constructing dams, aqueducts, vast urban water ca. 40–103 CE
such as the Egyptian and
supply systems and sewers, promoting vital Documented the nine
Central American pyramids, aqueducts of Rome, reduced
Persepolis in Iran and public health for one million people. Other water theft and improved
maintenance.
the Acropolis at Athens extraordinary engineering achievements include
required people with Persepolis in Iran and the abandoned city of APOLLODORUS OF DAMASCUS
extraordinary abilities. The second century CE
Roman engineer Vitruvius
El Mirador in Guatemala, which dates from the Led the construction of Trajan’s
later described the need sixth century BCE and contains many pyramids, Bridge over the Danube.
for technical foresight, one of them amongst the largest in the world
planning and coordination by volume. In China, many grand cities were
of many skilled workers. 30-SECOND TEXT
These people, the earliest built from as early as 3000 BCE. China has also Roger Hadgraft
engineers, gained the contributed four great inventions: the compass,
confidence of rulers, who gunpowder, papermaking and printing, along The Pantheon is still
provided the immense
with many others. the world’s largest
resources required.
unreinforced dome,
built from lightweight
44 g Civil & Environmental concrete.
Engineering
TAMING
GREAT RIVERS
The development of high-
strength steel and steel-reinforced concrete
in the early twentieth century transformed
3-SECOND CORE civil engineering. Concrete is weak in tension; RELATED TOPICS
Steel and reinforced embedded steel resists tension loads. See also
concrete enabled engineers CIVIL ENGINEERING
Empowered with these new materials, engineers
to build bridges and dams, page 34
taming the world’s great
have tamed all the world’s major rivers in just
rivers in the twentieth a few decades. Bridges have enabled roads page 40
century to provide water and railways to cross rivers and gorges that
and energy, and eliminate ENGINEERS & ARCHITECTS
separated populations for millennia. Dams have page 42
rivers as transport
obstacles. brought floods under human control, enabling
vast irrigation schemes that have transformed
deserts into productive agricultural land, hugely 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
3-MINUTE IDEA ERNEST LESLIE RANSOME
increasing food production. Dams also provide 1852–1917
Huge construction projects
fostered the growth
essential reliable water supplies for most of the Pioneered modern techniques
for using reinforced concrete.
of huge engineering world’s cities and industrial centres. Turbines
MOKSHAGUNDAM
enterprises, both under the dams transform the energy of flowing VISVESVARAYA
government and privately
water into electric power, by far the largest 1861–1962
owned. Their elaborate Led development of flood
organizational processes source of renewable energy. Many challenges protection systems and major
successfully choreograph remain, however. Silt from erosion, particularly water storage dams in India.
technical collaboration from over-used agricultural land, accumulates in ZHENG SHOUREN
across vast engineering
teams and with clients and
reservoirs behind dams, significantly decreasing & ZHANG CHAORAN
1940–
suppliers. While technical water storage and hydro-electricity production. Led the design and
construction of the Three
collaboration is a central Water logging and salt accumulation have Gorges Dam.
aspect of engineering eroded agricultural production in many irrigation
practice, methods
that enable successful
projects. Governments anxious to demonstrate
rapid progress by building dams and bridges 30-SECOND TEXT
large-scale technical
James Trevelyan
collaboration are seldom have been reluctant to provide sufficient
recognized as core
maintenance resources. Steel and reinforced
engineering knowledge.
concrete enabled
construction of dams
46 g Civil & Environmental and pipelines.
Engineering
ENGINEERING
ETHICS
A piling contractor building the
foundations for two tower blocks does not drive
the piles down to bed-rock as per the design.
3-SECOND CORE Instead, to save money, the contractor only RELATED TOPICS
Engineering and ethics are drives the piles part way, and deceives the See also
intertwined. Engineers GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
government that the works have been built
take decisions that affect page 40
other people, or people
correctly. When the buildings reach 34 floors
THINKING DIFFERENTLY
yet to be born, and have in height, they begin to tilt. Both buildings are page 134
to be mindful of the demolished, the contractor goes into liquidation
consequences to achieve
and three people are jailed for fraud. Luckily,
the best possible results. 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
no one dies. In other cases, buildings have
THEODORE COOPER
collapsed due to circumvention of building 1839–1919
3-MINUTE IDEA standards – bribes were paid to inspectors to American civil engineer and
chief designer for the first
Previously, prosecutors overlook defects. Quite simply, corruption in Quebec bridge which collapsed
rarely bothered with while under construction
bribery, fraud or cartels
engineering kills. Ethics in engineering is vital in 1907, with 75 fatalities;
to ensure good quality and safe infrastructure criticized in post-accident
in engineering. However, reports for his judgement.
realization of the damage at fair value. To be ethical in engineering means:
they cause has led ROGER MARK BOISJOLY
not to pay or receive bribes (in return for a 1938–2012
to numerous recent
prosecutions. Many major contract); not to commit fraud (covering up American mechanical engineer
who strenuously opposed
organizations have been defects); not to participate in a cartel; to avoid launching space shuttle
Challenger in January 1986,
fined for bribery, fraud conflicts of interest (awarding a contract citing a likely failure of
or cartels – and some booster O-rings. NASA
to family members); to provide honest and ignored the warnings.
managers have been jailed.
Such malpractice has a impartial advice. Organizations can promote
substantial negative effect good ethics by strong leadership, training,
on an organization’s implementing management controls and 30-SECOND TEXT
finances and reputation. Neill Stansbury
The good news is that
encouraging the reporting of bad practice.
the companies in question Disciplinary procedures can help to
have since implemented enforce compliance.
ethical programmes to
Engineering institutions
prevent repetition.
develop ethical codes
to guide practice and
48 g Civil & Environmental decision-making.
Engineering
ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING
Environmental engineers assess
an engineering project in terms of energy
efficiency; effects on air, water, land, flora
3-SECOND CORE and fauna; human health risks; noise emissions; RELATED TOPICS
Environmental engineers conservation measures; and use of natural See also
apply engineering and THINKING DIFFERENTLY
resources. They influence engineering designs,
scientific principles to page 134
develop solutions for
construction plans, process operations and
RESOURCE SCARCITY
pollution and to prevent project economics to maximize environmental page 142
damaging effects on the protection. Environmental engineers analyse a
global environment. CONTROLLING POLLUTION
project as part of a closed system on the earth, page 148
drawing on multidisciplinary perspectives and
3-MINUTE IDEA critical thinking skills. They use computer
Environmental Impact models of material and energy flows, the 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
Assessment (EIA) examines ELLEN SWALLOW RICHARDS
atmosphere and climate, the water cycle and the 1842–1911
the consequences of
a project, both positive
carbon cycle – all to predict how pollution will American civil engineer and
the first female admitted to
and negative, covering disperse in soil, waterways and the atmosphere. Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Richards pioneered
all aspects of a project, These models are built using equations that work in sanitary engineering,
including planning, water supply and public health.
represent physical, chemical and biochemical
construction, operation
and end of life. This principles; for example, conservation of mass RACHEL CARSON
1907–64
process is governed and energy. Social impact assessments draw on American marine biologist,
by legislation in most sustainable development principles and social author and conservationist
countries and includes who attracted world attention
input from the public. The
science research methods such as focus groups. by highlighting the impact of
pesticides on the environment
outcome of this process Environmental engineers work on urban design and started the global
environmental movement.
requires decision makers to projects and often use their knowledge to find
account for environmental clever ways to improve urban environments,
values in their decisions,
taking into account
such as turning water drains into elaborate 30-SECOND TEXT
detailed environmental parks and nature reserves, while providing Julia Lamborn
studies and potential water storage to reduce flows during peak Environmental
impacts for current and
flood events. engineers create
future generations.
sustainable solutions
to help people and
50 g Civil & Environmental our planet.
Engineering
g
MECHANICAL, MATERIALS &
MECHATRONIC ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL, MATERIALS &
MECHATRONIC ENGINEERING
GLOSSARY
actuator Machine component that moves composite material Material comprising

or controls another component, such as an two or more distinct materials with
electrically operated valve regulating fluid complementary properties. Reinforced
flow moving a piston; a cylinder operating concrete consists of cement, stones and
an excavator loading arm. steel – the steel enables brittle cement
and stones to withstand tension stress.
alloy Mixture of metals and other
elements to improve material properties. energy conversion, transformation Energy
Soft aluminium becomes strong like steel can be converted from one form to another;
when alloyed with zinc, magnesium, copper for example, an electric motor converts
and other elements. electric energy into rotational mechanical
energy; a battery converts chemical energy
atomic structure Arrangement of atoms into electric energy.
in a solid; regular, as in crystals and most
metals, or irregular, as in glass, or a energy intensity Amount of energy needed
combination, as in many ceramics. to produce a given quantity of material or to
achieve a given result.
availability Proportion of time that
machinery operates with specified fatigue Progressive failure of metal
performance. components subjected to repeated cyclical
load, for example, loaded axles. Engineers
corrosion Progressive spoiling of exposed have to allow for a lower maximum stress
metal surfaces caused by chemical to avoid fatigue failure in these components.
transformation to oxides or other
by-products, for example, rusting of steel. feedback control System that automatically
regulates the state of a machine by measuring
ceramic Hard, usually brittle, non-metallic the state of the machine with sensors and
materials, often used in high temperature feeding back the measurements to adjust
applications or where excellent insulation actuator settings, to compensate for
is needed. external disturbances.
54 g Mechanical, Materials &

Mechatronic Engineering
heat treatment Using heating and cooling rolling (material processing) Metal properties
to change material properties; for example, can be improved by squeezing the metal
if steel is heated and rapidly cooled in between high-pressure rollers, making it
water, it becomes much harder and brittle. thinner, longer and stronger.
laminar flow Smooth fluid flow with no sensor Device that measures a physical
turbulence, typical of slow-speed flow. property and generates a signal indicating the
measured value. A thermocouple measures
kinetic energy Energy associated with a temperature and generates a small electric
body or fluid that is moving. voltage indicating the temperature.
polymer material Material consisting of sustainment (engineering asset

molecules which are long chains of simpler management) Combination of operating
molecules. For example, polythene plastic practices, planned maintenance, repairs and
has long chain molecules of ethylene, pre-planned refurbishment or replacement
hence ‘poly-ethylene’, shortened to to maximize the proportion of time that
‘polythene’. Some polymers like Kevlar equipment performs as expected.
form extremely strong materials.
thermodynamics Physical principles
potential energy Stored energy – for governing the movement of heat and
example in a compressed spring, a battery, energy transformations that guide engineers
or water in an elevated reservoir – that can working with engines, air conditioning and
be released at a later time. A pendulum chemical processes.
illustrates the regular exchange between
potential energy when it is stationary at turbulent flow Erratic fluid flow with eddies
the ends of the swing, and kinetic energy and rapid small random variations, typical of
when it is moving. high-speed fluid flow.
reliability Time performance of machinery trade-off Compromise between two or more

or plant with no failures, usually measured desirable but incompatible results requiring
as mean time between failures (MTBF). human judgement to decide.
Glossary g 55
MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
30-second foundation
Mechanical engineering guides
design and manufacture for moving objects
and fluids in motion – from machines,
3-SECOND CORE tools and engines, to oil platforms and even RELATED TOPICS
Mechanical engineering artificial hearts and blood vessels. Newton’s See also
guides design for moving MATERIALS ENGINEERING
three laws of motion provide fundamental
objects and fluids, page 60
particularly cars, aircraft
principles used by mechanical engineers
MECHATRONICS
and water supply systems. to explain how machines work. Mechanical page 62
Mechanical engineering engineers became important during the
enables machine tools and DEFENCE READINESS
Industrial Revolution from 1750 onwards, page 64
automation in factories.
applying Newton’s principles and creating
pumps, machine tools, spinning machines,
3-MINUTE IDEA railways, ships and, later, automobiles. 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
DANIEL BERNOULLI
The Carnot Cycle, named Bernoulli’s principles then extended Newton’s 1700–82
after the French engineer,
describes an ideal heat
laws to moving fluids, enabling engineers Swiss mathematician who
described how the kinetic
engine and explains why to design pumps and piping systems, providing energy of a moving fluid
corresponds to potential
we cannot extract all the drinking water and removing sewerage waste, energy of an equivalent
energy in fossil fuels and depth of fluid at rest.
enormously improving health. The laws
convert it to electricity.
It also explains how we of thermodynamics explained the release of NICOLAS LÉONARD
SADI CARNOT
can use mechanical energy chemical energy in heat engines, enabling 1796–1832
for cooling, reversing mechanical engineers to create faster and more French mechanical engineer
the natural flow of heat who explained why heat engine
towards cooler materials.
efficient automobiles, aircraft and spaceships, power is proportional to
the temperature difference
Improving energy as well as energy-efficient air conditioning. between the hottest and
efficiency by improved Machine tool developments started the coolest parts.
mechanical design is one progressive automation of factories, providing
of the easiest ways to
minimize greenhouse gas
high quality manufactured goods at ever- 30-SECOND TEXT
emissions and reduce decreasing prices. Improved materials combined James Trevelyan
global warming. with powerful computer analysis and 3D printing
are greatly increasing design possibilities. Movement of machines,
mechanisms and fluids
is the core issue in
56 g Mechanical, Materials & mechanical engineering.
5 July 1820 1839 1844 1862
Born in Edinburgh, Employed by Employed by Locke Publishes Manual of
Scotland Sir John MacNeill and Errington Civil Engineering
1836–38 1842 1848 1863

Edinburgh University: Elected fellow of Royal Commences research on Awarded Gold Medal of
wins awards for essays Scottish Society of molecular physics and Institution of Engineers
‘Undulatory Theory of the Arts thermodynamics in Scotland for paper on
Light’ and ‘Methods of ‘Liquefaction of Steam’
Physical Investigation’;
graduates in Civil 1843 1849
Engineering Publishes ‘Fracture Elected fellow of the 1866
of Axles’, in which Royal Society, Edinburgh Publishes ‘Shipbuilding –
he identifies metal Theoretical and Practical’
fatigue failures
1852
Designs water supply 1868
for Glasgow from Elected to Royal Academy
Loch Katrine of Sweden
1854 1869
Awarded Royal Society Publishes ‘Machinery
of Edinburgh Keith and Millwork’
medal for research
on thermodynamics;
appointed Regius 1872
Professor of Civil Investigates flour mill
Engineering and explosions, reports
Mechanics, University on causes
of Glasgow
24 December 1872
Dies in Glasgow
58 g Mechanical, Materials,
WILLIAM JOHN MACQUORN RANKINE
Few mechanical engineering Most were original scientific contributions,

topics have had more impact on all our lives based on self-taught knowledge.
than heat engines. Engines transform heat Rankine collaborated with Rudolf Clausius
energy – solar, nuclear, fossil and geothermal – and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), after whom
into usable mechanical and electrical the absolute temperature scale is named.
energy. Scottish engineer Macquorn Rankine Together they refined French engineer Sadi
provided the clear theoretical and practical Carnot’s formulations in his book Motive Power
understanding engineers needed to perfect of Heat, published two decades earlier. They
the automobile engines, generator turbines formulated the theoretical understanding on
jet and rocket engines we use today. the equivalence of heat and mechanical energy,
Born in Edinburgh in 1820, ill-health in and the transformation between the two, which
childhood kept Rankine from school. His explains how heat engines perform useful work.
father and private tutors provided much of his The breadth of Rankine’s understanding is
education, until an uncle presented him with truly astounding: apart from the theory of heat
Newton’s Principia, from which he taught engines, his contributions included practical
himself advanced mathematics and mechanics. methods to plan railway tracks, research on
He studied chemistry and civil engineering liquid-to-gas and gas-to liquid transitions,
at Edinburgh University, and then worked as simple and practical methods to predict the
a civil engineer for 16 years before joining the power required to drive steam ships based
University of Glasgow as Professor of Civil on confidential data provided to him by
Engineering and Mechanics. commercial ship builders, and the shape and
The sheer volume of technical and effects of wind waves on ship stability.
professional articles, books and papers Rankine Rankine was much admired by colleagues, not
published is staggering: several hundred only for technical contributions: ‘His unfailing
between 1842 and 1872. However, even more amiability of temper, the generosity of his mind
amazing is the clarity and simplicity of his and the warmth of his affections, made him
writing, which has enabled so many engineers as dear in the circle of his friends as he was
to build on his ideas. Much of what he wrote distinguished in the world of science.’ He died
forms the standard texts that mechanical on Christmas Eve, 1872, aged only 52. He was
engineers study today around the world. unmarried and had no children.
James Trevelyan
William John Macquorn Rankine g 59

MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
Materials are chosen for their
unique properties: strength, flexibility,
corrosion-resistance, electrical conductivity,
3-SECOND CORE magnetism and even colour and surface RELATED TOPICS
Materials engineering appearance. There are four types of materials: See also
guides design, modification MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
metals, ceramics, polymers and composites.
and selection of materials page 56
used by engineers.
Metals such as steel, aluminium and copper
NANOTECHNOLOGY
Materials engineers create are the most widely used due to strength and page 104
new materials for special flexibility. Ceramics are hard and brittle with
applications by modifying AEROSPACE MATERIALS
excellent corrosion and heat resistance. Plastics page 124
composition and atomic
structure. are usually softer, pliable and easily moulded.
Composites combine different materials to
obtain special properties, and include glass and 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
3-MINUTE IDEA ADOLF MARTENS
carbon-fibre reinforced plastics, bone, concrete 1850–1914
Hooke’s Law, named
after Robert Hooke,
and timber. Materials engineers use ‘processing- Discovered how heating
and cooling steel produced
a seventeenth-century structure-property’ principles. Material a different grain structure.
British polymath, states composition, how it is made and subsequent ALFRED WILM
that a material deforms 1869–1937
processing all influence atomic structure,
in proportion to applied Developed high-strength
stress, up to a limit, and determining properties. Materials engineers aluminium alloys that enabled
use in aircraft.
returns to its original shape find ways to process materials to obtain
when released. The ratio of desired properties. For example, alloying, heat STEPHANIE KWOLEK
stiffness to deformation is 1923–2014
a key material property. A
treatment and rolling make metals stronger. Invented Kevlar, extremely
stiff material like concrete Technological advances often rely on new high-strength polymer fibres
used in bullet-proof vests.
will not deflect much, even materials: the Space Shuttle required special
under very heavy loads. ceramic tiles to protect it from intense heat;
A plastic drinking straw
bends easily, even with
energy-saving lights rely on materials that 30-SECOND TEXT
Tim Sercombe
a light force. emit intense light when electric current flows
through them; refrigeration and air conditioning
rely on special fluids. Materials engineering
lays the foundations
for all other disciplines
60 g Mechanical, Materials & of engineering.
MECHATRONICS
By the 1980s, electronics and
micro-computers controlled machines such as
robots and car engines. Companies soon needed
3-SECOND CORE specialist engineers to design electric machines RELATED TOPICS
Mechatronics describes with sensors and connect them with computers. See also
systems with mechanical, ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION
These engineers also wrote software, because
electrical and electronic page 70
devices working together,
they understood details of the machines. First in
COMPUTER ENGINEERING
usually with computers. Japan, later elsewhere, these engineers became page 98
These systems help to known as mechatronic engineers. Mechatronics
make complex machines DRIVERLESS CARS
has enabled the age of smart machines that can page 128
safe and extremely reliable.
adapt their behaviour. A computer ensures that
car engines start easily and run smoothly even
3-MINUTE IDEA in the coldest weather and use the least fuel 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ÁNYOS ISTVÁN JEDLIK
Spare a thought for the while minimizing exhaust emissions; another 1800–95
engineers who design and
maintain these complex
computer senses the key approaching and Invented practical electric
motors in 1828.
control systems. Designers automatically unlocks the door. Feedback
ERNST WERNER SIEMENS
aim for reliable and safe control is one of the main principles used in 1816–92
operation under normal
mechatronics. A car’s cruise controller adjusts Developed electric telegraphs
conditions. A design that and motors, and founded the
allows sensors and other engine power by feeding the speed sensor Siemens company.
parts to be disconnected signal back to the controller: when the car ROBERT BOSCH
for repairs and yet still slows, more fuel is supplied, boosting power; 1861–1942
provides complete, Created reliable spark plugs
if the speed is too fast, it reduces engine for automobiles, introduced
constant safety is
much more difficult. power. Many cars now can automatically follow eight-hour work days and
ensured his company profits
Software bugs can the car in front on a motorway using radar benefitted charities.
remain undetected because sensors to measure the distance, with automatic
maintenance is infrequent.
Maintenance technicians
braking if needed. Safety and reliability are the
30-SECOND TEXT
need to distinguish main mechatronics challenges. Systems such as James Trevelyan
persistent software anti-lock brakes (ABS) are so reliable that they
faults from random
can be depended on for safety. Smart machines sense
component failures.
impending faults and
alert technicians when
62 g Mechanical, Materials & your car is serviced.
DEFENCE
READINESS
Defence investment is seen as
an insurance policy against potential military
actions by others. Defence engineers have to
3-SECOND CORE ensure that expensive military equipment will RELATED TOPICS
The need for engineers work when needed, maybe 30–40 years after See also
to maintain the readiness MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
acquisition, while minimizing sustainment costs.
of expensive defence page 56
equipment has led to high
Rapid advances in electronics and computer
MATERIALS ENGINEERING
quality manufacturing technology have imposed further challenges. page 60
methods, now used to Original electronics almost certainly have
make highly reliable AEROSPACE MATERIALS
obsolete components, so large quantities of page 124
consumer products.
spares have to be stored. Aircraft, ships and
vehicles may require complete and expensive
3-MINUTE IDEA replacement of their electronics just to maintain 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
KONOSUKE MATSUSHITA
In the mid-twentieth reasonable capabilities, taking them out of 1894–1989
century, there were
automotive or electrical
service for months, even years. High quality Founded Panasonic, one of
the earliest companies to adopt
repair shops at practically manufacturing methods have evolved to Deming’s ideas on quality
manufacturing.
every street corner. meet these challenges, and to provide safety
Breakdowns were a regular W. EDWARDS DEMING
for civilian aircraft. Traceability is one such
and accepted part of life. 1900–93
Today, car-makers provide manufacturing method: recording each batch Influential in the development
of high quality manufacturing.
100,000-km (60,000-mile) of material, each production run, even each
warranties, and those worker’s contributions in making components. GEOFFREY LIGHT WILDE
repair shops have 1917–2007
disappeared. High quality
Engineers predict reliability and availability, and Led developments in highly
manufacturing methods use statistics to decide which improvements reliable aircraft engines at Rolls
Royce, which are used in most
developed for defence and could be most effective. Detailed observation modern civilian aircraft.
civilian aviation have now and record keeping is essential, as are highly
become almost universal.
We all benefit from
trained maintenance technicians.
30-SECOND TEXT
countless small James Trevelyan
improvements made
by thousands of engineers
in factories everywhere.
Engineers predict how
many hours an aircraft
or ship will operate for
64 g Mechanical, Materials & without maintenance.
THRUST
BEARINGS TO
TERABYTES
The invention of propellers for
ships required a second great invention for their
true potential to be realized. Propellers rotate,
3-SECOND CORE but the ship does not. A special thrust bearing RELATED TOPICS
Mechanical engineers is needed to transfer the propeller force from See also
invented the tilting pad MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
the shaft to the ship’s hull. With large ships, the
thrust bearing to transfer page 56
propeller thrust to the
force can be 200 tonnes or more. In 1905, two
ship’s hull. The same mechanical engineers simultaneously conceived page 98
principle enables hard disk the same idea independently. Anthony Michell
recording heads to fly FLOATING FACTORIES
in Australia and Albert Kingsbury in America page 120
nanometres above the
disk surface. invented the tilting pad thrust bearing. A
slightly tilted steel plate immersed in oil will
skate over a rotating disk. Relative movement 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
3-MINUTE IDEA OSBORNE REYNOLDS
squeezes oil between them and keeps them 1842–1912
Disk heads fly over the
spinning surface on a thin
apart. Six plates in a 150-cm (60-in) circle are Irish mathematician, inventor
and engineer who studied
film of air. Force from a sufficient for the largest ships. Hard disk laminar and turbulent flow in
fluids. The Reynolds number
flexible arm balances the designers faced a different challenge – how tells engineers when laminar
lifting force from the thin flow becomes turbulent.
to keep a magnetic recording head at 10,000
film of gas. But what if the
power goes off? What nanometres above a spinning disk surface ALBERT KINGSBURY
& ANTHONY MICHELL
stops the head rubbing on (a human hair diameter is about 90,000 1863–1943 & 1870–1959
the disk when it stops? The nanometres). The designers used the same American and Australian
control computer senses mechanical engineers who
the power loss and quickly
solution: a slightly tilted head flies over the simultaneously invented the
tilting pad thrust bearing, now
moves the head over the disk surface on a thin film of inert gas inside used for ship propeller shafts.
innermost track before the housing. In the early 1970s, hard disk drives
the power fails completely. came with 5 megabytes on 40-cm (16-in)
When the disk stops, the 30-SECOND TEXT
head comes to rest on an
diameter disks. Forty years later, the recording
James Trevelyan
unused section of the disk. head height had reduced to just 5 nanometres,
and pocket-sized disks can store a million times
more data.
Tilting pad thrust
bearings revolutionized
66 g Mechanical, Materials & ships and hard disk drives.
WIND ENERGY
Wind-powered boats traversed
the Nile 2,000 years ago; Chinese farmers used
wind-powered water pumps; ancient Persians
3-SECOND CORE milled grain using wind turbines with woven RELATED TOPICS
Wind farms, often reed sails. Modern wind turbine blades are See also
offshore, generate POWER GENERATION &
designed like aeroplane wings to harvest as
electricity as cheaply ENERGY STORAGE
as fossil fuels. Impacts
much of the wind’s energy as possible. A page 78
of wind power – social, generator transforms shaft rotation into ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
environmental, economic electricity. Traditionally, most wind turbines have page 94
and technological – involve
a ‘horizontal axis’, meaning that the sails rotate AEROSPACE MATERIALS
trade-offs, and can still
be controversial. around a line parallel to the ground, and the axis page 124
must be aligned with the wind. Carbon-fibre
materials enable engineers to design lightweight
80-m (260-ft) long blades. Computer-controlled HERO OF ALEXANDRIA
Wind results from the
machines produce special blade profiles ca. 10–70 CE
solar heating of our Invented a wind-powered
atmosphere and provides designed to reduce noise. With each rotor musical organ, a holy water
vending machine and pumps.
clean energy, although producing more power, specialized cooling
there are trade-offs.
systems are needed to protect both the JAMES BLYTH
Carbon-fibre production is 1839–1906
more energy-intensive than electronics that dynamically adjust the blade Produced the first electricity-
metals, though it can last and axis orientation to get the most power generating wind turbines using
a vertical axis design.
longer. Natural composites possible, and the gearboxes that step up axis
are greener but not yet GEORGES DARRIEUS
as easy to work with as
rotation to the higher speeds of electricity 1888–1979
traditional engineering generation. ‘Vertical axis wind turbines’ Developed the modern vertical
axis wind turbine design.
materials. Wind turbines resemble the beaters of a mixer, and don’t need
are noisy and can be to be aligned with the wind – though they do
hazardous to birds.
Engineers choose designs
require a jump start. Wind strength varies, 30-SECOND TEXT
that achieve economic so complementary power sources are needed Jenn Stroud Rossmann
energy production with to balance electricity demand with supply.

acceptable social and
environmental impacts.
Harnessing renewable
wind energy is an old
idea that engineers
68 g Mechanical, Materials & continue to improve.
ROBOTICS &
AUTOMATION
Robots are the most recent
development in tools that extend human
capabilities. The ones that preoccupy most
3-SECOND CORE robotics engineers are far from mechanical RELATED TOPICS
Most robotics and humanoids empowered with artificial eyes and See also
automation engineers aim MECHATRONICS
the machine intelligence of science fiction. Most
for productivity and quality page 62
improvements in factories
factory automation uses machines for specific
DRIVERLESS CARS
and warehouses. Robots tasks, such as forming a moulded plastic electric page 128
perform best in specially plug, complete with wires. Robots are preferred
designed environments FUTURE TRANSPORT:
when complex movements are needed. Creating DRONE SHIPS
that help them know
where they are. robots requires extensive collaboration: page 150
mechanical structure and mechanism design;
gearing and brakes; electrical motors,
batteries, hydraulics, electronic sensors, KAREL ČAPEK
Artificial intelligence
data communication and computers. Engineers 1890–1938
has long been seen as the Playwright who introduced
breakthrough that would push ingenuity to the extreme limits of material the term ‘robot’ for a
human-like worker.
confer ‘dumb’ robots with economy, strength and durability. Software
intelligence, enabling them
development usually absorbs the greatest GEORGE C. DEVOL JR
to work in unstructured 1912–2011
environments, including effort. Factory robots repeat the same Filed US Patent 2,988,237 for
disaster relief. However, movements precisely with minor adaptation. a ‘programmed article transfer’
machine, later called Unimate.
even with ‘deep learning’, They need an entire production facility around
a promising recent JOSEPH ENGELBERGER
development, this is still a
them, with conveyors to bring parts, clamps 1925–2015
distant vision. Autonomous to hold them and tools such as spot-welding First commercialized industrial
robots for dangerous industrial
drones and vehicles are guns. Safety interlocks enable technicians work, and was an evangelist
evolving with cheaper, to safely repair breakdowns or make changes. for robotics.
more powerful and reliable
sensors, motors and
Designing, building, programming and testing
batteries, and virtual reality the production facility takes the most effort. 30-SECOND TEXT
will help people control It must recover quickly from faults, such as a James Trevelyan
robots more easily
malformed part jammed in a clamp. Mobile robots are
than before.
appearing in ports,
mines, warehouses
70 g Mechanical, Materials & and even hospitals.
g
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
& ENERGY PRODUCTION
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
& ENERGY PRODUCTION
GLOSSARY
base load power Amount of electricity general arrangement drawing (GA) Shows
generation that is required continuously, all the main components of a process plant
24 hours a day, to meet a variable demand. or other machinery, explaining how they
Additional ‘peak load’ power is needed as are arranged relative to each other in
demand rises from the ‘base load’ level. three-dimensional space; usually drawn to
scale. Detailed drawings show the physical
demand (electrical engineering) details of individual components needed for
Requirement for electricity to be provided, manufacturing and assembly.
determined by the number and power
requirements of all devices currently geothermal energy Energy derived from hot
connected and switched on in an electricity rock formations deep in the earth’s crust.
supply network.
grid (electrical engineering) Entire electric
effluent Liquid flowing away from a power supply system, including electricity
process plant, either discharged into generating stations, transformers, switch
a sewer, river or ocean or conveyed yards and powerline interconnections.
to another process plant for further
processing. inertia (spinning) Tendency of a spinning
wheel to continue spinning – in effect, its
electrolyser Reaction vessel or cell rotational kinetic energy.
in which electricity drives a chemical
transformation; for example, converting mass and energy balance Accounting for all
water into hydrogen and oxygen. A fuel the material and energy inputs and outputs in
cell does the opposite. a single process unit using chemical reaction
equations and equations of state that predict
fuel cell Reaction vessel or cell in which physical and chemical transformations.
gases and liquids combine and generate
electricity; the opposite of an electrolyser. nuclear fission Splitting of nucleii of a large
heavy atom, such as uranium, after absorbing
neutrons. Typically the mass of by-products
is slightly less, and the remaining mass is
transformed into a large amount of energy.
74 g Chemical Engineering
& Energy Production
piping and instrumentation diagram a turbine to generate electricity, to help meet
(P&ID) Shows all the tanks, pumps, peak power demand.
reaction vessels, piping connections
and instrumentation needed to create a radioactive waste By-products of nuclear
process plant and regulate its operation. fission or other materials that release
radiation and energetic particles, with
power reactor (nuclear engineering) gradually reducing levels of activity expressed
Shielded vessel containing nuclear fission in terms of half-life – the time needed for the
fuel and control devices to enable level of activity to decrease by 50 per cent.
regulated production of heat energy.
reliability Time performance of machinery
process flow diagram (PFD) Shows all or plant with no failures, usually measured
the process units incorporated in a process as mean time between failures (MTBF).
plant; used to explain how the incoming
solids, liquids and gases are combined and renewable energy Energy derived from very
transformed into the products. large naturally occurring sources such as
wind, solar radiation, tides, ocean waves and
process plant (chemical, mechanical, geothermal energy.
mining engineering) Substantial
installation comprising tanks, reaction risk assessment Human decision-making
vessels, pumps, pipework and associated process evaluating the likelihood and
machinery for combining and transforming consequences of unpredictable but
solids, liquids or gases into valuable foreseeable events, to decide on control
products; for example, a mineral processing measures to reduce the likelihood and
plant transforming crushed rock into a consequences of undesirable events.
refined product. Power plants produce
energy from fuels. unit operation (chemical engineering) Single
step in a chemical engineering process; for
pumped hydro Energy storage example, separation of powder from liquid
arrangement in which water is pumped up containing solid particles.
to a high reservoir when excess electricity
is available, and then released later through
Glossary g 75
CHEMICAL
ENGINEERING
Chemical engineers design and
run the process plants making materials
we need for human civilization. Water, fuel
3-SECOND CORE and medicines all come from such plants. RELATED TOPICS
Chemical engineers design Engineers understand how these complex See also
and operate process plants ORGANIZATIONAL SAFETY
arrangements of machines work together in a
in many industries. They page 82
produce the materials
harmonized way. This understanding is a blend
PROCESS PLANT SAFETY
needed by human of practical knowledge, intuitive art, science and page 84
societies, including mathematics. The plant comprises an interlinked
many not considered PLASTICS & FERTILIZERS
series of ‘unit operations’. Engineers represent page 86
to be ‘chemicals’.
each unit with a mass and energy balance that
specifies the energy and materials going in and
3-MINUTE IDEA out of a unit operation. Since matter and energy 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
GEORGE E. DAVIS
Chemical engineering are neither created nor destroyed, chemical and 1850–1906
is critical for health in
providing supplies of safe
thermodynamic equations determine where all British engineer, now
considered to be the father
drinking water, treating the mass and energy goes. The mass balance of chemical engineering, who
invented key concepts such
sewage and industrial guides creation of a process flow diagram as unit operations.
effluent. Engineered water
(PFD), the starting point for design. The plant MARGARET ROUSSEAU
supplies and sanitation
lead to greater health is defined by the piping and instrumentation 1910–2000
American chemical engineer
improvements than medical diagram (P&ID), showing everything needed to who designed the first
advances. Food packaging control the process and make it safe to operate. commercial penicillin plant
and processing greatly and was also the first female
reduces waste, reducing
A general arrangement (GA) drawing shows the member of the American
Institute of Chemical
the amount we need to actual plant layout, usually in three dimensions. Engineers.
grow. Many chemical Every detail is checked before construction.
plants are potentially very Process plants can cost hundreds of millions
dangerous if operated 30-SECOND TEXT
incorrectly, therefore, of pounds, and can be very dangerous if not Seán Moran
chemical engineers devote designed and operated properly. Engineers need
a large part of their efforts to ensure they have the right balance of cost,
to ensuring the safety of
safety and reliability before construction begins. Engineers must test
these large process plants.
every part of the
plant before full-scale
76 g Chemical Engineering production commences.
& Energy Production
POWER
GENERATION &
ENERGY STORAGE
Early engineers created city-
wide power grids in the 1880s and every
city relies on them today. Mechanical generators
3-SECOND CORE provide most electricity, driven by steam RELATED TOPICS
Renewable energy turbines heated by coal or nuclear reactors, See also
supply is intermittent. WIND ENERGY
or by gas turbines. The inertia of spinning
Energy storage from page 68
huge batteries smooths
turbines stabilizes the grid. Switching on a light
NUCLEAR POWER
out supply and demand creates an instantaneous increase in energy page 80
variations. demand, slightly slowing a massive generator,
ENERGY & FINANCE
and automatic systems then feed more gas or page 140
3-MINUTE IDEA
steam to compensate. Engineers have to make
Lithium-ion batteries were sure there is capacity to meet peak demand:
originally developed for many generators have to be kept spinning just 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM ROBERT GROVE
consumer electronics – in case they are needed. The second law of 1811–96
mobile phones and laptops.
Engineers are increasingly
thermodynamics limits generation efficiency: Invented the gas battery in
1839; principles used by NASA.
using them to power cars generators produce carbon and other pollution
NIKOLA TESLA
and store energy for the and unwanted waste heat. Renewables – wind, 1856–1943
grid. In the struggle to
solar and tidal – are helping to decarbonize Developed alternating
keep electricity prices current generators, motors
low, they place significant electricity generation, although supplies are and electrical transmission
systems.
demands on large variable. Constantly adjusting power from
batteries, stimulating mechanical generators to balance renewable EDITH CLARKE
research into safer, cheaper 1883–1959
batteries with improved
supply with electricity demand is expensive Pioneered mathematical
storage. Made from and creates more pollution. ‘Grid scale energy descriptions of power grids
for predicting load-carrying
hundreds of thousands storage’ – giant batteries – are becoming capacity and stability.
of mass-produced economically feasible. Water electrolyzers
thumb-sized cells, giant
batteries offset their
produce hydrogen to be stored and used
30-SECOND TEXT
high cost by storing cheap later in fuel cells, which can compensate for Paul Shearing
surplus power and selling renewable power and demand variations.
it back when demand and
prices are high.
Electric energy
keeps human
78 g Chemical Engineering societies running.
& Energy Production
NUCLEAR POWER
Nuclear fission in power reactors
produces heat to generate electric power.
Power reactors use very little fuel – mainly
3-SECOND CORE uranium – about 50 million times less volume RELATED TOPICS
Nuclear power provides than fossil fuel power stations for the same See also
base load electricity and POWER GENERATION
energy. Highly radioactive waste products
critical grid-stabilizing & ENERGY STORAGE
capacity. With minimal
are contained; the nuclear power industry page 78
greenhouse gas emissions, is the only one that stores and processes all ORGANIZATIONAL SAFETY
many countries will rely its waste. As with fossil-fuel power stations, page 82
on nuclear power to meet
nuclear power stations work best producing
emission reduction targets. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
base load power, running continuously. By page 94
keeping enough generation capacity in reserve,
3-MINUTE IDEA system controllers can access extra capacity for
Growing demands for 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
demand variations. Even with ongoing safety SIR CHRISTOPHER HINTON
environmental and
biodiversity preservation,
concerns, nuclear power will be needed in many 1901–83
countries to help maintain power supplies and Led the design of Calder Hall,
maintaining indigenous the first civilian nuclear
peoples’ rights and stabilize grid frequency with spinning inertia power station.
reducing greenhouse
while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Clean ENRICO FERMI
emissions are all factors 1901–54
motivating engineers to renewable power can gradually take over from
Built the first nuclear fission
develop small modular coal and gas, but storing enough electricity in research reactor, in Chicago;
nuclear reactor power fermium was named in
batteries or pumped hydro reservoirs to match his honour.
plants (SMRs). Reactor
modules can be quickly
supply variability is expensive and needs new
YANOSUKE HIRAI
exchanged before the fuel technologies. If controlled nuclear fusion is 1902–86
is exhausted and taken to a successfully achieved, fusion reactors might Oversaw design of nuclear
power plants in Japan, which
central refurbishing factory one day produce vast energy supplies. However, withstood the 2011 earthquake.
for refuelling and waste
containment. SMRs will be
the technology will still need many decades of
safer and easier to manage, further development.
30-SECOND TEXT
and will provide base load Jorge Spitalnik
power while stabilizing
power grids.
Nuclear power reactors
produce negligible
80 g Chemical Engineering greenhouse gases.
& Energy Production
100 5f 127s2
Fm
Fermium
257.095
ORGANIZATIONAL
SAFETY
Complex nuclear power plants
and oil refineries are very reliable, but when
they fail, the results can be disastrous for
3-SECOND CORE workers, the public, the environment and RELATED TOPICS
Organizational safety the corporation. Keeping them safe requires See also
requires engineers to be NUCLEAR POWER
more than technical excellence. Disaster
aware about the social page 80
factors that keep complex
investigations rarely reveal new technical
PROCESS PLANT SAFETY
plants safe. High-reliability knowledge, but rather highlight how and page 84
organizations adopt human why existing technical knowledge was not
behaviour strategies to FLOATING FACTORIES
applied. Management systems are procedures page 120
avoid disasters.
and standards that reflect the best way of
designing, operating and maintaining hazardous
3-MINUTE IDEA facilities. Formal risk assessment ensures that 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
KARL WEICK
Disasters are rare events, hazards are identified and risks are mitigated. 1936–
so the enemy of disaster
prevention is complacency.
A systems view of factors causing disasters Influenced organizational
safety with work on
It is helpful for engineers requires that we look beyond the technology to high-reliability organizations.
who work with complex the people and the organizational environment. JAMES REASON
hazardous systems to 1938–
Engineers avert disasters by reporting ‘near
maintain an excellent Known for the ‘Swiss Cheese’
safety imagination, an misses’ – minor events that might otherwise model (how accidents can
happen even with robust safety
ability to anticipate a have led to catastrophes. However, as measures in place).
chain of events that employees, their choices are influenced by
could cause a disaster. JUDITH HACKETT
Good engineers avoid
organizational factors, for example who reports 1954–
psychological rigidities to whom and supervisors’ key performance Led developments in health,
safety and environmental
that make it difficult to see indicators. Engineers also have ethical and regulations for chemical
how everyday actions can industries and process plants.
professional values that help inform their
contribute to disaster. They
listen to plant operators
practice, especially when it comes to pushing
and maintainers who can bad news up through an organization that 30-SECOND TEXT
Jan Hayes
notice early warning signs could help avert catastrophes.
of impending faults.
Many high-reliability
organizations provide
helpful models for
82 g Chemical Engineering effective safety.
& Energy Production
PROCESS
PLANT SAFETY
Chemical process plants have to
make money for their owners. However, safety,
health and environmental (SHE) issues are
3-SECOND CORE even more important for chemical engineers. RELATED TOPICS
Chemical plants can Chemical process plant accidents have the See also
contain large amounts CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
potential to cause tens of thousands of deaths,
of dangerous materials. page 76
Great care is taken by plant
which is why engineering codes of ethics, such
designers and operators as those of the American Institute of Chemical page 82
to make sure these do not Engineers (AIChE), demand that engineers
cause harm. FLOATING FACTORIES
consider safety before profits. Regulatory page 120
bodies and governments can order plants to
3-MINUTE IDEA be shut down if they are not operated safely,
It is important to putting profits at risk. A large accident can 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ALICE HAMILTON
distinguish between destroy a plant, eliminating income and profits. 1869–1970
process safety, which
is about managing the
Chemical engineers do not aim for perfect American physician and
first female faculty member
safety of large quantities safety: they know that every improvement adds at Harvard University who
became the leading US
of hazardous materials cost. Regulations use terms such as ‘as low as authority on lead poisoning,
on a process plant, and industrial toxicology and
reasonably practicable’ (ALARP) and ‘so far occupational health and safety.
personnel safety, which
is about protecting as is reasonably practicable’ (SFAIRP) to define
TREVOR KLETZ
individual workers. Process the required standards of safety. Engineers are 1922–2013
safety controls the risk not required to make plants safer if the cost of British chemical engineer
of fatalities associated credited with introducing the
with large quantities of
safety improvement is grossly disproportionate concept of inherent safety, and
a major promoter of HAZOP
flammable, explosive to the benefit gained. Tools such as hazard methods for safe design.
or toxic materials. If Identification (HAZID), hazard analysis (HAZAN)
uncontrolled, thousands and hazard and operability study (HAZOP) help
may become seriously ill or 30-SECOND TEXT
die, as happened at Bhopal
to detail every safety risk and design intrinsically Seán Moran
in 1984 and Seveso in 1976. safe process plants.
Engineers anticipate
mistakes by operators
and maintainers so they
can design plants that
84 g Chemical Engineering are safe.
& Energy Production
PLASTICS &
FERTILIZERS
The production of nitrogen
fertilizers using nitrogen from the air and
hydrogen from oil or gas is one of chemical
3-SECOND CORE engineering’s great successes. In 1909, German RELATED TOPICS
Cheap synthetic plastics chemist Haber produced ammonia (the raw See also
and fertilizers help sustain CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
material of nitrogen fertilizers) in the lab.
modern society but have page 76
caused unacceptable
Collaboration with Bosch created an industrial
RESOURCE SCARCITY
pollution. With appropriate process, which today yields 450 million tonnes page 142
incentives, chemical of ammonia-based fertilizer annually. Ammonia
engineering companies FEEDING OUR WORLD
fertilizers and insecticides have quadrupled page 144
can find alternatives to
reduce pollution. the productivity of farm land. Chemist Leo
Baekeland produced the first engineered plastic,
Bakelite, in 1907, a liquid that sets in a mould 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
DIANNE DORLAND
3-MINUTE IDEA when heated. This robust insulator transformed 1948–
Thermoplastic polymers
are light, strong, cheap
electrical engineering. Most plastics today are American chemical engineer
and first female president of
and easily moulded into thermoplastic polymers: long chains of small the American Institute
of Chemical Engineers,
intricate shapes. Mineral molecules produced from oil and natural gas in honoured for her work on
fertilizers remain essential reducing mercury pollution
petrochemical plants, heated for moulding or in paper manufacturing and
for large-scale food
production. Alternatives extruded as thin sheets. Environmental pollution on engineering education.
are more expensive, but from fertilizers and plastics is controversial. ISATOU CEESAY
do reduce waste and/or Nitrogen fertilizers dissolve in water and drain 1972–
pollution. Political action Known as the ‘Queen of
into rivers; synthetic plastics break down slowly, Recycling’ in The Gambia,
could impose ‘external Ceesay developed women’s
costs’ to change the contaminating the oceans. Recycled plastic community plastic recycling
schemes.
economics of plastics and is more expensive to produce and of a lower
fertilizers, encouraging quality than new material. Biofertilizers made
chemical engineers
to develop lower cost
from waste are more expensive than industrial 30-SECOND TEXT
alternatives. Governments chemical fertilizers. Regulation and taxes Seán Moran
can encourage less are needed, therefore, to encourage plastics Despite being a success
polluting alternative
recycling and biofertilizer production. story, fertilizers and
plastics and fertilizers.
plastics have proven
to be hazardous to
86 g Chemical Engineering the environment.
& Energy Production
N
H H
H
9 December 1868 1894 1906 1916
Fritz Haber born in Haber joins University Haber appointed professor BASF boosts explosive
Breslau, Prussia of Karlsruhe, researches production from
dye technology and 36,000 tonnes a year to
electrochemistry, and 1908 160,000 tonnes by 1918
27 August 1874 catalytic formation BASF hires Haber to lead
Carl Bosch born in of ammonia design of a commercial
Cologne, Germany high-pressure ammonia 1925
synthesis process Bosch appointed to lead
1898 IG Farben
1891 Bosch receives doctorate
Haber receives doctorate in organic chemistry from 1909
after studying at the University of Leipzig Bosch evaluates 1931
Technical College of commercial potential Haber & Bosch awarded
Charlottenburg the Nobel Prize with
1899 Friedrich Bergius
Bosch joins BASF as 1914
1892 chemistry technologist Bosch supervises
Haber joins University construction of first 1933
of Jena after further large-scale factory Haber leaves Germany
studies in Zürich 1905 for Cambridge
Haber publishes
influential book on 1915
chemical thermodynamics Haber joins army and 29 January 1934
of gas reactions leaves BASF to work on Haber dies in Basel
poison gas production
1935
Bosch appointed IG
Farben board chairman
26 April 1940
Bosch dies in Heidelberg
FRITZ HABER & CARL BOSCH
A century ago, Fritz Haber and to produce and deploy poison gas. Tragically,
Carl Bosch created the industrial process that his wife committed suicide days later. Bosch
provides the nitrogen fertilizers sustaining most and his engineers constructed two large
of the world’s food production today. Theirs is factories to produce ammonia and nitrate
a story of triumph and tragedy. explosives. In 1918, production had increased
Both men were born into industrialist sufficiently to allow fertilizer manufacture,
families (Bosch as the nephew of Robert Bosch, credited with averting famine. After
founder of Robert Bosch GmbH) at a time when the war, Bosch led BASF’s commercial
chemistry was the advanced technology of the developments and co-founded IG Farben,
age, and both studied at technical universities. dominating the world’s chemical industry.
By 1900, chemicals such as dyes, nitrates Haber was born Jewish but converted
and ammonia were crucial for industries and to Christianity, seeking approval in German
defence. Britain and France relied on colonies society. Despite his support for the German war
for supplies; Germany turned to its chemists. effort, he was forced to resign his university
Haber, with his industrial chemistry training, post as Hitler became Chancellor, and
had realized the potential for synthesizing Cambridge scientists helped him leave Germany.
ammonia. Working with his assistant, Robert He died on his way to start a new institute in
Le Rossignol, he found that heat and pressure Palestine. Bosch was outspokenly critical of
could induce nitrogen and hydrogen to Nazi policies and was gradually relieved of his
form ammonia in the presence of a catalyst. position, became dependent on alcohol and
After 14 years of research, Haber persuaded died a few years later.
the chemical company BASF to take an Some see Haber and Bosch as creators of the
interest. They appointed Bosch, by then German military-industrial complex, providing
an experienced chemical engineer, to evaluate the technology that enabled Germany to
the commercial potential. continue World War I by several years. Others
Bosch led a team that performed over 20,000 hail the ammonia fertilizer production process
tests in a few months to find the best catalyst, a triumph that sustains food production for the
before starting work on a full-scale production world’s population today – indeed, the Haber–
plant. The outbreak of war in 1914 was a Bosch process produces 450 million tonnes of
temporary setback. Haber secured military nitrogen fertilizer every year and has vastly
support by promoting the possibility of making increased agricultural yields on a global scale.
low-cost explosives. Whilst Bosch worked to
scale up production, Haber joined the army James Trevelyan
Fritz Haber & Carl Bosch g 89

g
ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC
ENGINEERING
ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC
ENGINEERING
GLOSSARY
avionics Electronics specially designed for determined by the number and power
use in aircraft and spacecraft. requirements of all devices currently
connected and switched on in an electricity
base load power Amount of electricity supply network.
generation that is required continuously,
24 hours a day, to meet a variable demand. electromagnetic radiation Radiation
Additional ‘peak load’ power is needed as associated with changing electric currents –
demand rises from the ‘base load’ level. depending on the frequency, this radiation
appears as radio waves, microwaves, infrared,
binary Number represented by a string of visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays or gamma rays,
1s and 0s instead of normal decimal digits; all travelling at the speed of light.
used by digital computer designers.
filter (electronic engineering) Electronic
chip (electronic engineering) circuit or digital computer program routine
Integrated circuit. used to modify the characteristics of a signal.
cochlear implant Electronic device that fluorescent Material that glows when
stimulates nerves which would respond exposed to invisible ultraviolet radiation.
to sound in a healthy human ear, partially
restoring hearing for some deafness. frequency hopping Radio transmitter
and receiver with synchronized and rapid
complex number Numbers with two frequency changes, making it very difficult
components – one real and one imaginary – to intercept the transmission. Typically used
that enable compact representation of by security forces.
periodic signals, making analysis of electric
circuits much easier. fuel cell Reaction vessel or cell in which gases
and liquids combine and generate electricity.
debug Find design and coding mistakes in
computer programs. grid (electrical engineering) Entire electric
power supply system, including electricity-
demand (electrical engineering) generating stations, transformers, switch
Requirement for electricity to be provided, yards and powerline interconnections.
92 g Electrical & Electronic

Engineering
integrated circuit Single piece of pumped hydro Energy storage arrangement
semiconductor material on which many in which water is pumped up to a high
circuit elements have been fabricated, with reservoir when excess electricity is available,
connections and encased in a plastic or and then released later through a turbine to
ceramic insulating package. generate electricity, helping to meet peak
power demand.
lithography Process used to fabricate
transistors and other circuit elements radar Transmission of high-frequency radio
on the surface of a semiconductor. signals and detection of echoes: the time
taken for the echo to come back indicates
microgrid Small network of connected the distance of the reflecting object.
electricity users with local electricity
generation, often with renewables, that renewable energy Energy derived from
can operate independently or draw power naturally occurring sources such as wind,
from the main grid when needed. solar radiation, tides, ocean waves, biomass
and geothermal energy.
Moore’s Law Named after Gordon Moore,
co-founder of Intel, who predicted the shielding Metal enclosure to reduce
number of transistors on an integrated unwanted effects of radiation.
circuit chip would double every two years,
later amended to 18 months. sonar Transmission of high-frequency sound
and detection of echoes: the time taken for
optical fibre Extremely clear glass fibre the echo to come back indicates the distance
used to transmit digital signals over long of the reflecting object.
distances with pulses of light.
transistor Active semiconductor circuit
pacemaker Electronic device that element enabling a small current to influence
stimulates nerves controlling heart a much larger current in another circuit
muscles; used to stimulate regular branch. Used as a switch or amplifier,
heartbeats in patients with irregular depending on the application.
or intermittent heartbeats.
Glossary g 93
ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERING
Abstract mathematical models
and physics frame engineers’ ideas about
electricity: invisible flow of electric charge
3-SECOND CORE through conductors and associated electro- RELATED TOPICS
Electrical engineers sustain magnetic fields. These concepts enable See also
electric energy generation WIND ENERGY
electrical engineers to create electric energy
and distribution, providing page 68
critical infrastructure for
generation and transmission systems that
POWER GENERATION
human civilization. They provide us with light, heat and power when we & ENERGY STORAGE
have to match supply with need it. They also enable electronic engineers page 78
demand and ensure safety
to create wireless communications, computers
for humans and animals.
and mobile phones. Practical means for storing
3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
electric energy require transformation to and CHARLES-AUGUSTIN COULOMB
3-MINUTE IDEA from chemical energy in batteries, fuel cells, 1736–1806
Centralized energy grids Investigated electrostatic
mechanical energy in rotating machines and charge and forces between
rely on strong societal nearby objects, and similar
governance, trust and
pumped hydro storage reservoirs. All are phenomena in magnetism.
cooperative behaviour. The expensive and some energy is lost, so the
HANS CHRISTIAN ØRSTED
tension between supply primary concern for electrical engineers 1777–1851
reliability, the willingness
is regulating electricity generation and Discovered the relationship
of users to pay, safety, and between electric currents and
protecting our environment transmission to meet the demand. Every time associated magnetic fields.
has never been easy to an energy-saving light or even a huge electric GEORG SIMON OHM
manage. Engineers are arc furnace is switched on or off, a generator 1789–1854
exploring alternatives such Discovered that the voltage
as intelligent community-
has to provide more or less electricity instantly, difference along a conductor
and then countless other adjustments, mostly is proportional to the
scale microgrids, partly electric current.
to manage fluctuating automatic, compensate for the resulting change
renewable energy supplies. in energy flow. Electricity is dangerous for
Increasingly, managing 30-SECOND TEXT
users’ behaviour is critical: people and animals, so electrical engineers
James Trevelyan
the notion of an infinite are also preoccupied with managing numerous
supply of electricity safety hazards and automatic protection devices Power grids support
whenever it is needed
that switch off power instantly when needed. civilization; engineers
does not match reality.
make sure that they
are safe, economic
94 g Electrical & Electronic and dependable.
Engineering
ELECTRONIC
ENGINEERING
The 1903 invention of vacuum
tubes, also known as valves, saw the dawn
of electronic engineering. Valves gave way
3-SECOND CORE to solid-state transistors in the 1960s. Soon, RELATED TOPICS
Electronic engineers create integrated circuit ‘chips’ (ICs) enabled faster, See also
circuits in which tiny MECHATRONICS
more accurate and, eventually, far more complex
electrical components page 62
convey, transform and
circuits. Valves, transistors and ICs are all ‘active
amplify sounds, images devices’. Voltage applied to passive devices such page 98
and other kinds of as resistors or lamps only influences current
information, enabling SIGNAL PROCESSING
through the device. However, voltage applied to page 108
many other technologies.
an active device influences current in a different
circuit branch. This ‘trans-action’ was used to
3-MINUTE IDEA coin the name transistor, from ‘trans-resistor’. 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
In the early twentieth JAMES CLARK MAXWELL
Electronic engineers created broadcast radio, 1831–1879
century, engineers
discovered that complex
which in turn led to the greatest social upheaval Built a mathematical theory
for electromagnetic radiation,
numbers, devised by in the twentieth century. Electronic engineers providing the concepts behind
wireless communication.
mathematician Gerolamo helped automate factories, created radar, sonar,
Cardano centuries earlier,
computers, pacemakers and cochlear implants, WILLIAM SHOCKLEY
could be used to represent 1910–89
electrical signals. This and even electronic musical instruments. They Led the development of the
transistor at Bell Labs and
discovery is the basis of perfected sound reproduction, television, was awarded a Nobel Prize.
the stability of circuits and global positioning systems, mobile phones
electric power grids, and of HEDY LAMARR
broadband technologies.
and the Internet. Electronics turned wind-up 1914–2000
Complex numbers provide wristwatches and film cameras into antique Helped invent a frequency-
hopping military radio to
the foundation for circuit curiosities. Electronic engineering advances defeat interception and
theory, enabling modern jamming. The same technology
leading to electric vehicles, faster, cheaper is used in mobile broadband.
radar, ultrasound and the
analysis of filter circuits.
computers and ubiquitous communications
They unify the ideas used are shaping life in the twenty-first century,
30-SECOND TEXT
by all electrical and just as radio communication and broadcast Jonathan Scott
electronic engineers.
radio changed twentieth-century societies.
Electronic devices and
computers enable many
96 g Electrical & Electronic other new technologies.
Engineering
FIRE
COMPUTER
ENGINEERING
Inside a computer or phone you
can find small, black ‘chips’ up to 2 cm (¾ in)
in size, mounted on circuit boards. Inside each
3-SECOND CORE chip is a small, densely packed electrical circuit, RELATED TOPICS
Computer engineering known as an ‘integrated circuit’ (IC). The first See also
enables the design and ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
transistor radios had circuit boards with
fabrication of enormously page 96
complex electronic circuits
individual transistors in tiny metal cans
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
to process information with three metal legs. Engineers realized page 100
represented as binary that making hundreds of transistors on a single
numbers. INFORMATION & TELECOMS
piece of silicon was possible, and soon the page 106
first integrated circuits appeared, with up to
3-MINUTE IDEA ten transistors each. Transistors work well as
Smaller chips mean on/off switches, and engineers realized that 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
faster and cheaper circuits. JOHN VON NEUMANN
they could use transistors to construct complex 1903–57
Shrinking transistors and
cramming more transistors
logic circuits to add and subtract numbers Helped establish practical
designs for digital computers
together has limits because represented as strings of 1s and 0s – binary. and developed programs.
silicon atoms are finite Arrays of transistors on ICs could perform KONRAD ZUSE
in size. Engineers are 1910–95
lightning-fast binary calculations. Intel, one
changing how transistors Created the world’s first
are manufactured, by using of Silicon Valley’s first IC manufacturers, even programmable digital computer
in 1941.
precise optical lithography derived its name from the term ‘integrated
techniques. Circuits are electronics’. Computer engineers design and ALAN TURING
patterned using extreme 1912–54
ultraviolet light, allowing
fabricate even denser and faster computer chips Developed the logical
for seven nanometre with smaller and smaller elements. Reliably foundations for programmable
computers and what would
feature sizes. Other replicating features just a few atoms in size later be known as ‘software’.
semiconductor materials, is one challenge; another is electromagnetic
such as silicon-germanium,
are used to make
interference; as circuit elements are more
30-SECOND TEXT
transistors. Innovative closely packed, radio signals in one element can Kate Disney
manufacturing has defied interfere more easily with an adjacent element,
the physical limits of the
so additional shielding features are needed. Computers with billons
transistor’s atoms.
of transistors are now
routinely fabricated
98 g Electrical & Electronic on single chips.
Engineering
ON
OFF
SOFTWARE
ENGINEERING
Software engineers create,
maintain and develop software systems: the
instructions and data that enable computers
3-SECOND CORE to perform useful tasks. Software systems are RELATED TOPICS
Software engineers create diverse, from video games all the way through See also
the programs that enable COMPUTER ENGINEERING
to surgical robots. Engineers follow the same
computers to perform page 98
useful tasks. Much of
processes every time, but the emphasis varies
INFORMATION & TELECOMS
the effort goes into according to the importance of ensuring that page 106
creating tests to find there are no critical defects. They start with
programming errors. DRIVERLESS CARS
the requirements – what the software must do page 128
and how it interacts with people, machines and
3-MINUTE IDEA other systems. They devise tests to verify that
Software architecture the software performs as expected. They 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ADA LOVELACE
refers to system design. construct computer models representing the 1815–52
As with a physical building,
there are many different
software so they can predict performance, or English mathematician who
recognized that Babbage’s
architectural styles with prove its logical correctness. Next, engineers mechanical computer, or
‘analytical engine’, had
different characteristics, interpret requirements to write programs in applications beyond pure
ranging from a single calculation, and published
computer languages. They encode algorithms the first algorithms.
program to multiple
separate programs called into the software: known methods for achieving
EDSGER WYBE DIJKSTRA
components or services. common tasks, such as sorting a list of names 1930–2002
Choosing appropriate into alphabetical order. Computer languages Dutch computer scientist who
architecture for particular formalized many critical ideas
requirements demands
allow programmers to write human-readable in computer science, such as
compilers, and helped invent
judgement and experience; instructions which a computer translates for structured programming
languages such as Pascal.
once programming has the processor that will run the software. Most
started, it can be hard software includes a user interface (UI), enabling
to change. The right
architecture can make it
someone to interact with the system. Engineers 30-SECOND TEXT
easier to allow changes rely on software tools, programs that write Andrew McVeigh
needed late in a project. much of the software automatically. Finally,
they perform tests to eliminate mistakes (bugs). Devising tests to detect
defects (bugs) takes
time, but is critical for
100 g Electrical & Electronic good-quality software.
Engineering
9 December 1906 1943 1966
Born in New York, USA Enlists with US Navy Retires from US
Reserve Navy Reserve
1928
Graduates in physics 1944 1967
and mathematics from Assigned to Mark 1 Recalled by the Navy,
Vassar College computer team at leading a team developing
Harvard University validating programs
1931
Starts teaching 1949 1973
mathematics and science Joins Eckert–Mauchly Promoted to Captain
at Vassar College Computer Corporation
1983
1934 1952 Promoted to Commodore
Graduates with a PhD in Leads development of
mathematics from Yale, A-0, a ‘linking loader’,
continues teaching at which she called a 1985
Vassar College compiler, to automatically Promoted to Rear Admiral
combine standard
program components
(subroutines) into a
1986
working program
Retires from Navy,
becomes senior
consultant at Digital
1954
Equipment Corporation
Becomes director
for programming
development
1990
Retires from DEC
1959–66
Advises panels of experts
on development of 1 January 1992
Dies, buried in Arlington
COBOL
National Cemetery
102 g Electrical & Electronic

Engineering
GRACE BREWSTER HOPPER
The safety of money in a bank Hopper recognized that programming

account reflects the work of engineers and the computers was difficult to learn because
leadership of Grace Hopper, who insisted that knowledge of electronic circuits and
computers could be programmed using text mathematics was needed to translate
resembling human languages. She influenced requirements into a sequence of instructions
the development of COBOL, a programming written in 1s and 0s. She demonstrated that
language used from 1960 to today. many more people could learn to program
The young Hopper satisfied her curiosity computers if the instructions consisted
for machines by dismantling alarm clocks. of human language words such as ADD,
Inspired by her mother’s passion for SUBTRACT, REPEAT and INDEX. Standardizing
mathematics, she studied the subject along newly emerging computer languages was also
with physics at Vassar College – founded to critical, requiring negotiation skills to balance
promote the education of women – and then competing human and commercial interests.
completed a PhD in mathematics at Yale in Between 1959 and 1966, Hopper advised
1934, whilst teaching at Vassar College. experts from US industry and government on
After the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hopper development of a standard business-oriented
was determined to follow in the footsteps of data-processing language, COBOL, used for
her great grandfather, an admiral in the US an estimated 80 per cent of all software by the
Navy. She enlisted in the Navy reserve and 1990s. In 1966, Hopper was informed by the
graduated from Northampton Midshipmen’s Navy for the third time that she was too old,
School as lieutenant. She was told she and so retired – only to be recalled a year later
was underweight, too old (38) and, being to lead a team developing validating programs,
a professor, too valuable for combat duty. ensuring COBOL provides the same results on
Instead, she was assigned to the Harvard different computers and operating systems.
University team working on electro-mechanical A six-month temporary term lasted for 20 years.
computers using relays and electro-mechanical Hopper’s ideas were adopted for every
counters – common components of telephone programming language that followed. She
exchanges until the 1970s. became a passionate advocate for using
In 1946 Hopper applied to join the Navy but computers and also for the US Navy, giving
was refused again. She joined Eckert–Mauchly, hundreds of lectures every year until her
a private company formed from the team that death in 1992.
developed the world’s first electronic computer,
ENIAC. She remained with the Navy reserve. James Trevelyan
Grace Brewster Hopper g 103

NANOTECHNOLOGY
Nanotechnology engineers work
with very small structures ranging from
nanometres to microns in size. A human hair
3-SECOND CORE is about 90 microns in diameter (90,000 RELATED TOPICS
Nanotechnology enables nanometres). At this scale, electrostatic forces See also
engineers to create ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
are far larger than the forces that we feel, like
extremely small structures, page 96
some made from just a few
gravity. One application is cancer diagnosis,
atoms. Improved medical which today relies on surgical biopsy and page 98
diagnosis methods and expensive imaging scanners. Some cancer cells
new materials are emerging BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
break away from tumours and circulate in the page 110
as a result.
blood, developing a negative electrostatic
charge on their surface. Engineers created
3-MINUTE IDEA positively charged fluorescent nanoparticles 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
NIELS BOHR
It can be hard for from magnetic iron oxide about the same size as 1885–1962
nanotechnology engineers
to see their creations.
large molecules (50–100 nanometres) but much Provided a fundamental
understanding of the structure
Electron microscopes can smaller than cancer cells (20–30 microns). These of atoms and molecules.
distinguish features as particles attract themselves electrostatically to MAX KNOLL
small as 0.1 nanometre. 1897–1969
tumour cells in a blood sample. A magnet can
To see individual atoms, Showed that a scanning
engineers have created then separate the tumour cells, allowing them electron beam could produce
the image of an object in
atomic force microscopes. to be identified as the nanoparticles glow under a vacuum.
A fine needle probe with ultraviolet light. Engineers are also making new
just a single atom at the tip MANFRED VON ARDENNE
moves over a sample and
materials with special properties. For example, 1907–97
sensors record the forces thin layers of nanoparticles can protect people Demonstrated the first
high-magnification electron
felt from features as small from harmful sunburn and skin cancer. By microscope, amongst many
as individual atoms in the other inventions.
using a combination of integrated circuit
sample. With such high
magnification, it can be
fabrication methods with electrochemical
difficult to work out where etching, engineers can mass-produce tiny 30-SECOND TEXT
to start looking. sensors such as accelerometers and inertial Donglu Shi
sensors for the automobile industry at low cost. Nanoparticles can be

used to detect tumour
cells circulating in the
104 g Electrical & Electronic blood stream.
Engineering
INFORMATION
& TELECOMS
Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) enables the rapid processing
and communication of information, and
3-SECOND CORE reliable storage. Over the past few decades, RELATED TOPICS
ICT engineers create engineers have created information networks See also
systems that enable COMPUTER ENGINEERING
connecting terminals such as computers, mobile
information to be page 98
stored and transmitted
phones, satellites, sensors and controllers
anywhere, almost instantly, by optical fibres, undersea cables and radio page 100
using special techniques communication links. ICT engineers make sure
to minimize the cost. SIGNAL PROCESSING
that information flows through these networks page 108
with the required quality, at a reasonable cost.
3-MINUTE IDEA Information from the natural and societal world,
As a platform with originally in the form of data, text, sounds and 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
various services ranging images, is converted into digital form so that it 1847–1922
from email to e-library,
e-learning, e-community,
can be stored and treated by digital computers. Inventor of the telephone
and founder of the huge Bell
e-commerce, e-home, Engineers use the Nyquist-Shannon sampling telephone company, now AT&T.
e-hospital, e-bank, principle to ensure that no information is GUGLIELMO MARCONI
e-manufacturing and so on, 1874–1937
lost in this conversion process. The global
the Internet has gathered Worked on the long-distance
and stored a huge amount information network is the Internet, which radio transmission over
the Atlantic Ocean in 1896,
of data, which increases links billions of users all over the world, which saw the dawn of
daily. ‘Big data’ refers to while the Transmission Control Protocol wireless communication.
technology for searching,
indexing, analysing and
and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) governs the CHEN ZUONING
way that computers send information from 1957–
classifying data so that Led the development of
people can make use of one to another and acknowledge that they Chinese super-computers,
it. Data collection raises the fastest in the world.
have received it. Furthermore, digital signal
important ethical questions
for engineers because
processing (DSP) techniques enable engineers
people are not always to enhance, protect, encrypt or compress 30-SECOND TEXT
aware of the information information – for example, filtering sounds Gong Ke
about them that is
to remove unwanted background noises. ICT has become such a
being stored.
powerful influence that
many call this period
106 g Electrical & Electronic the ‘Information Age’.
Engineering
SIGNAL
PROCESSING
Data from cameras and laser
radar enables a driverless car to calculate its
location and monitor nearby cars, pedestrians,
3-SECOND CORE bicycles and other potential obstacles. RELATED TOPICS
Engineers use signal Twenty-five times a second, computers analyse See also
processing methods to ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
gigabytes of images and radar reflections,
separate useful information page 96
from irrelevant information
extracting maybe 1,000 bytes of useful
and random noise, enabling information. Tiny computers inside noise- page 98
economic transmission of cancelling headphones suppress ambient
films, images and sounds. INFORMATION & TELECOMS
sounds so that people can enjoy music in noisy page 106
aircraft cabins, factories and offices. Hearing
3-MINUTE IDEA aids enhance sounds using similar methods.
In a stunning series of Cameras use signal processing to transform 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
insights, Kotelnikov, HARRY THEODOR NYQUIST
enormous amounts of data from image sensors 1889–1976
Whittaker, Nyquist and
Shannon observed that a
into compressed images and video, providing Identified the stability
criterion for all feedback
continuously variable signal economic ways to distribute films and control systems and laid the
foundations for Shannon’s
could be sampled at twice entertainment using the Internet. Televisions information theory.
the frequency of the
use signal processing to improve the VLADIMIR KOTELNIKOV
fastest varying component,
and fully reconstructed compressed images, getting the best possible 1908–2005
Discovered the Nyquist-
from just the sampled results from low-priced displays. Engineers Shannon sampling theorem.
values. As human ears can build mathematical models representing the
only perceive sounds up to CLAUDE ELWOOD SHANNON
20,000 Hertz, sampling at
behaviour of the interesting signals that might 1916–2001
40,000 Hertz is sufficient be buried in gigabytes of data, containing lots Contributed to information
theory and digital circuit
to provide a full-fidelity of irrelevant noise and other information. Then design theory, cryptanalysis.
audio signal. This sampling they construct filter algorithms that separate
theorem laid the
foundations for digital
the interesting signals from all the other
30-SECOND TEXT
signal processing irrelevant data, often using software that James Trevelyan
technology, enabling designs the algorithms automatically.
worldwide telecoms
and entertainment.
Most electronic sounds,
videos and images rely
on signal processing in
108 g Electrical & Electronic tiny computers.
Engineering
BIOMEDICAL
ENGINEERING
The interdisciplinary biomedical
engineering of the 1950s brought engineering
solutions into medicine and biology, and is now
3-SECOND CORE one of the fastest-growing areas of technology. RELATED TOPICS
One of the fastest-growing Physics inventions revolutionized medicine, such See also
fields of technology, MATERIALS ENGINEERING
as von Helmholtz’s ophthalmoscope in 1851,
biomedical engineering page 60
holds a prominent place
Rontgen’s X-ray images in 1895, Einthoven’s
ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
as a means of improving electrocardiogram in 1903 and Ruska and page 96
medical diagnosis and Moll’s electron microscope in 1931. Engineering
treatment by healthcare NANOTECHNOLOGY
efforts led to the safe, affordable and reliable page 104
professionals.
instrumentation we take for granted in
hospitals, requiring knowledge of biology and
3-MINUTE IDEA medicine to complement electronic, optical 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
Biomedical engineers and WILHELM RÖNTGEN
and mechanical engineering. New, lightweight, 1845–1923
regulators have developed
stringent requirements for highly corrosion-resistant materials, such German mechanical engineer
and physicist who discovered
certification of medical as titanium, enabled engineers to design more X-rays and invented the X-ray
photograph, enabling doctors
devices, instrumentation elaborate, durable and comfortable prosthetic to see inside living human
and implants. Standards for bodies for the first time.
devices. In the 1970s, engineers extended
hospital instrumentation,
recently extended for X-ray imaging with computed tomography, WILLEM EINTHOVEN
1889–1976
home use, help ensure and developed ultrasound imaging and nuclear Indonesian-born Dutch
that instruments provide magnetic resonance scanners. Electronics physiologist who invented the
accurate information and first ECG, measuring extremely
operate safely. European
miniaturization enabled cochlear implants, small electrical signals from a
beating heart.
directives such as RoHS2 at least partially restoring lost hearing. New
govern the use of materials, nanotechnology and 3D printing are
hazardous materials now enabling novel methods to repair body 30-SECOND TEXT
like radioactive isotopes. Hung Nguyen
The high cost of medical tissues such as cartilage, bone, liver, kidneys,
devices reflects the work skeletal muscles, blood vessels and even the
that engineers have to nervous system. Biomedical engineers
perform to demonstrate
that they are safe to use.
have created new
instruments, implants
and methods for
110 g Electrical & Electronic tissue repair.
Engineering
g
AEROSPACE & TRANSPORT
ENGINEERING
AEROSPACE & TRANSPORT
ENGINEERING
GLOSSARY
aerodynamics Principles governing motion ceramic Hard, usually brittle, non-metallic

of aircraft, particularly forces arising from materials, often used in high-temperature
the flow of air around moving aircraft. applications, or where excellent insulation
is needed.
aileron Small, movable sections near
outermost parts of wings on an aircraft, composite material Material comprising
enabling the roll angle of the aircraft to two or more distinct materials with
be adjusted, in order to make a stable complementary properties; for example,
turn. Some ships have ailerons, also called carbon fibre in a polymer matrix.
‘horizontal stabilizers’, projecting from the
hull, to stabilize the ship and reduce rolling creep Slow extension under stress,
motion caused by waves. particularly affecting metal alloys at
high temperatures in aircraft engines.
alloy Mixture of metals and other
elements to improve material properties. crosstie Wood, steel or concrete support
Soft aluminium becomes strong like steel for rails.
when alloyed with zinc, magnesium, copper
and other elements. delamination Separation of stiffening
fibres from the surrounding matrix in
bearing Machine component that allows composite materials.
another component to rotate or slide
with minimal friction; for example, a ball drag Force impeding motion of a body
or roller bearing. through a fluid.
carbon fibre Extremely high-strength fibre elevator Small, movable section of horizontal
made from pure carbon; used as reinforcing tail surface of aircraft that creates variable
fibre in polymers to produce very stiff, lift force to enable the angle of the aircraft
high-strength aircraft parts. relative to the air stream to be adjusted,
enabling the lift force from the wings to
be controlled.
114 g Aerospace & Transport

Engineering
fatigue Progressive failure of metal reliability Time performance of machinery
components subjected to repeated or plant with no failures, usually measured
cyclical load, for example aircraft wings. as mean time between failures (MTBF).
Engineers have to allow for a lower
maximum stress to avoid fatigue failure rudder Small, movable vertical surface at rear
in these components. of a ship or aircraft, enabling turning of a ship
or aircraft.
gradient Slope, expressed as change
in elevation along a given distance. sloshing Tendency of large waves to form
in liquid stored in mobile tanks, creating
machine learning Computer program large impact forces that can destabilize
designed to be able to improve its a vehicle or ship.
behaviour with the accumulation
of data representing past behaviour suction pile Foundation or anchor point
and performance. consisting of a large steel tube capped at
the top and driven into the seabed or riverbed
magnetic levitation Supporting a by extracting water.
structure using magnetic forces – active
electronic controls are usually needed thrust Propulsion force developed by
to achieve stable operation. aircraft engines, rocket motors and propellers
on ships.
model Set of mathematical equations,
usually embodied in a computer program, turbulent flow Erratic fluid flow with eddies
which engineers use to predict the and rapid small random variations, typical
behaviour of an engineering system. of high-speed fluid flow.
Engineers also use physical models, often
scale models with identical proportions viaduct Long bridge to enable a road or
but a different size relative to the system railway to cross a river or uneven ground.
being studied.
Glossary g 115
RAILWAY
ENGINEERING
Often, an engineer’s job is to
improve existing technology. Railways move
heavy goods and people quickly over long
3-SECOND CORE distances with less energy than road vehicles. RELATED TOPICS
Raiways enable goods and Track design influences the pulling force needed See also
people to travel fast over CIVIL ENGINEERING
from the locomotive: rolling resistance. Rolling
long distances because page 34
the tracks are planned for
resistance is proportional to uphill gradient
very low rolling resistance. through mountains and valleys and increases page 40
High-speed trains can on curves. Engineers can improve a railway by
move people between MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
realigning the track: instead of going down into page 56
cities faster than air travel.
valleys, high bridges and viaducts can keep the
track on a level path; tunnels save long zigzag
3-MINUTE IDEA climbs up mountains. More gradual curves also 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
Railways were invented GEORGE STEPHENSON
reduce rolling resistance. While expensive and 1781–1848
for moving heavy loads
in mines – literally, roads
often difficult to build, viaducts, tunnels and English civil and mechanical
engineer, considered to be the
made from rails. George other improvements allow smaller locomotives ‘father of railways’; developed
the first inter-city passenger
and Robert Stephenson to move heavier trains faster on more direct railways in England.
adapted this idea to move
routes. Low-friction bearings on locomotives ROBERT STEPHENSON
people and goods between
English cities in the and rolling stock can also reduce rolling 1803–59
English civil and railway
nineteenth century. Soon resistance, as can supporting the track engineer, son of George,
railways were built in on concrete crossties or even continuous who pioneered locomotive
Europe, America and other design and railway and
countries. In Europe, tracks
reinforced concrete foundations. High-speed bridge building.
were planned for low passenger rail networks in Japan, France,

rolling resistance from the Germany and China demonstrate the value
start. However, in America 30-SECOND TEXT
of these improvements. Instead of using older John Blake
distances were longer and
capital was harder to raise, rail lines, often completely new lines have
so tracks were improved been constructed to minimize rolling resistance.
later, as money from These lines enable trains to move at speeds
operations permitted.
that make them competitive with air travel. Railways are as straight
and level as possible to
enable high speed with
116 g Aerospace & Transport minimum energy.
Engineering
1972 2006 2012
Born in Jilin province, Appointed as Directing Appointed Vice General
China Designer for 300 km/h Manager and Chief
(185 mph) trains Engineer, CRRC Qingdao
Sifang Co. Ltd
1991 2008
Accepted by Shanghai Appointed as Directing
Railway University (now Designer for first 2013
Tonji University) Chinese-designed Commences design
high-speed train, work on CR400AF train,
CRH380A specifically optimization
1995 of the electric motor
Graduates in Electric drive system. Energy
Drives and Control 2010 efficiency, safety and
System Engineering. CRH380A prototype reduced noise are also
Joins CRRC Qingdao achieves world record important objectives.
Sifang Co. Ltd. speed of 486.1 km/h
(302 mph)
2015
Leads design of CRH2G,
operating at low
temperatures and in
sandy desert regions
2017
CR400AF train enters
commercial service
118 g Aerospace & Transport

Engineering
LIANG JIANYING
Trains have been the focus of countries still lay at the core of the design,
Liang Jianying’s life, from her earliest memories but Liang’s team was determined to develop
living close to the local station in a small town Chinese designs.
in mineral-rich Jilin province in northeast China. By 2008 Liang was leading China’s first
Liang loved watching passing trains and effort to design its own high-speed train, the
admired their creators. Her love for trains was CRH380A, which set the world speed record
tested when returning home from university in for a commercial train running on rails at
Shanghai for the 1992 spring festival, sitting for 486.1 km/h (302 mph). She built on the results
more than 50 hours in a carriage packed with of this effort to lead design of the faster
people, many on the floor, and enduring motion CR400AF, with the aim of exporting China’s
sickness. Liang resolved to do her best to own high-speed rail technology internationally.
prevent people suffering like that in otherwise With a continuous operation speed of 350 km/h
happy festivities. After graduating in her (217 mph), this train was tested to speeds
chosen discipline, Electric Drives and Control of 420 km/h (260 mph). After more than
Systems Engineering, at Shanghai Railway 600,000 km (370,000 miles) of test running,
University in 1995, she joined Qingdao Sifang, it entered commercial service in 2017.
a leading Chinese train manufacturing company. Now Liang is focused on still higher
In 2004 the design team of CRRC Qingdao speeds using magnetic levitation, aiming for
Sifang Co. Ltd built the first of China’s 600 km/h (370 mph). Asked about her greatest
200 km/h (125 mph) high-speed trains with achievements so far, she points to the speed
the help of advanced technology from other record set by the CRH380A, and the fastest
countries. By 2006 Liang was the directing speed achieved by two CR400AF and CR400BF
designer for trains running at 300 km/h trains safely passing each other in opposite
(185 mph). Her determination helped her endure directions, 420 km/h (260 mph), in July 2016.
strenuous working hours, leaving home whilst She is also proud of the energy efficiency her
her daughter was asleep and returning after her team has achieved, consuming less than 4 kWh
bedtime. Imported technology from other per passenger per 100 km (60 miles).
Zhigang Ji & James Trevelyan
Liang Jianying g 119

FLOATING
FACTORIES
More and more minerals, oil and
gas are coming from under the sea. Huge
floating factories are being built to extract and
3-SECOND CORE process these resources. Building refineries on RELATED TOPICS
Floating factories enable ships requires many new technologies. Shell’s See also
seabed resources to be CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
huge floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plant,
extracted far from land. page 76
Storms, ship motion and
Prelude, reveals some of these challenges.
the paramount need for Nearly 500 m (1,650 ft) long, it is one of the page 82
safety pose special largest floating structures in the world, and
engineering challenges. PROCESS PLANT SAFETY
has been designed to withstand 400 km/h page 84
(250 mph) winds in category 5 hurricanes. Over
3-MINUTE IDEA 500 km (300 miles) from the nearest land-based
Safety is paramount, support, the ship has to operate for 25 years 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
particularly for FLNG, ZHENG HE
before returning to a dry dock for overhaul. 1371–ca. 1434
not only for the people
on board but also for
Space and motion pose more challenges. Pioneered long-distance
navigation and established
the marine environment, Engineers had to design the entire process trading colonies at several
Indian Ocean ports.
economics and reputation. plant to operate safely and reliably on a heaving
Companies have learned
ship in one quarter of the area needed for an ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL
that compromising safety 1806–59
for production economies equivalent land-based plant. Liquified gas is Developed large metal
steam-powered ships, railways
causes catastrophes stored in vast insulated tanks designed to curb and spectacular bridges.
that can bring even sloshing that could otherwise destabilize the
multinational companies ROBERT BEA
to their knees. Far from
vessel. Special articulated arms enable liquid 1937–
land-based support, a fire gas at -160°C (-250°F) to be safely offloaded Investigated major offshore
disasters, guiding the design of
or explosion has to be to tankers, even in rough seas. A worldwide much safer floating structures.
prevented, or, in the collaboration involving thousands of engineers
worst case, contained and
extinguished. Safety has
was needed, designing and constructing the
30-SECOND TEXT
to be designed in from the components to the highest quality and reliability James Trevelyan
start and no defects can standards, and assembling them all at Geoje
be tolerated, even in the
Island, Korea. Huge floating factories
paint work.
will extract and process
minerals and food from
120 g Aerospace & Transport the oceans.
Engineering
FUNDAMENTALS
OF AERODYNAMICS
Aerodynamics began with
Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘ornithopter’ invention
in 1485. However, achieving sustained flight
3-SECOND CORE of heavier-than-air machines took until 1903, RELATED TOPICS
Aerodynamic principles when the Wright brothers made their first flight See also
help engineers design MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Aerodynamics
aeroplanes, cars, ships and page 56
trains, enabling them to
explains how fluids such as air move around
AEROSPACE MATERIALS
predict airflow and the objects, at least approximately. It explains page 124
resultant forces. The same aircraft flight, as well as trailer trucks, race cars,
principles help explain how LESSONS FROM SPACE
hydrofoil racing boats and even curved baseball page 126
birds and insects fly.
throws. By using aerodynamics, engineers can
calculate forces and moments on the object
3-MINUTE IDEA from the flow field: the pattern of fluid motion. 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
LEONHARD EULER
Aeroplanes fly because Flow fields describe velocity, pressure, density 1707–93
they are able to generate
lift from the speed of air
and temperature, which vary with position and Laid many foundations for
modern mathematics and
flowing over and under the time, and also depend on properties such aerodynamics.
curved wing surfaces. Air as shape and fluid viscosity. Flow fields can be WILBUR & ORVILLE WRIGHT
moves faster above the 1867–1912 & 1871–1948
measured in wind tunnels or computed from
wing than below, so Pioneers credited with
pressure is less above equations derived from knowing that mass, inventing, building and flying
the world’s first successful
the wing, generating an momentum and energy have to be conserved. aeroplane.
upwards force. Forward For flight, the four key forces are lift, drag,
motion results from engine ANDREI TUPOLEV
thrust or wing movements
thrust and weight. Lift and drag arise from the 1888–1972
for birds. Stable flight flow field. Lift has to overcome weight for an Developed over 100 different
aircraft types, despite being
depends on maintaining aeroplane to fly, and thrust from engines has imprisoned and closely guarded
correct orientation relative during Stalin’s era.
to overcome aerodynamic drag, which tends to
to the airflow. Today,
computers help pilots
slow the plane. Smaller forces from elevators
control planes for added and a rudder stabilize aeroplane orientation and 30-SECOND TEXT
safety and reliability. provide turns when needed. George Catalano
Engineers predict motion

of flying objects using
122 g Aerospace & Transport aerodynamics.
Engineering
AEROSPACE
MATERIALS
Since the hot air balloons of the
eighteenth century, aircraft engineers have
worked at the extreme limits of material
3-SECOND CORE performance. Modern aeroplanes demand RELATED TOPICS
Aircraft and spacecraft extreme reliability in extreme temperatures. See also
require special materials MATERIALS ENGINEERING
Passenger jets cruise in air temperatures of
that are engineered to be page 60
light, stiff, strong, durable
around -50°C (-58°F), while some engines
FUNDMENTALS OF
and resistant to harsh endure more than 1,000°C (1,800°F). Nickel AERODYNAMICS
environments. Experiments superalloys coated with a ceramic thermal page 122
and computer simulations
barrier are used in the combustion chamber and LESSONS FROM SPACE
ensure safe design.
turbine blades because they resist creep at high page 126
temperatures. Materials subjected to varying
3-MINUTE IDEA loads can develop invisible cracks that slowly
Carbon-fibre composites 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
extend each time the load peaks. When the SIR JAMES ALFRED EWING
combine the advantages 1855–1935
of the fibre and a rigid
crack is large enough, a part like a turbine
Investigated magnetic
polymer into a single blade can suddenly fracture – a fatigue failure. materials and connected metal
fatigue failure with microscopic
material. The fibres are Engineers ensure that the peak loads are within defects in metal crystals.
extremely strong along the
known fatigue limits to avoid these failures.
fibre axis. Engineers design LEONARD BESSEMER PFEIL
layered composites to In terms of strength, weight and stiffness, 1898–1969
resist loads from multiple carbon-fibre reinforced polymers are superior Developed one of the first
nickel alloys that could
directions. Shells formed to aluminium alloys, which are superior to steel. withstand the requirements
from composite layers for jet engine turbines.
However, composites can be susceptible to
sandwiched around
honeycomb cores have impact damage and delamination. Though AKIO SHINDO
1926–2016
increased stiffness. New heavier, some high-strength titanium or steel Produced sufficiently
directions for composites alloys are used in critical components. Engineers high-strength carbon fibre to
include the development manufacture aircraft parts.
of high-temperature
use computers to predict the behaviour of
polymers and multi- aeroplane and spacecraft structures, but only
functional materials that full-scale experimental testing can guarantee 30-SECOND TEXT
may enable the elimination Matthew L. Smith
optimal performance and durability.
of redundant materials.
Strength, stiffness and
lightness are crucial
124 g Aerospace & Transport materials attributes.
Engineering
LESSONS
FROM SPACE
Outside Earth’s atmosphere,
spacecraft are subjected to vacuum conditions,
temperature extremes, radiation damage and
3-SECOND CORE the threat of impacts from micro-meteoroids or RELATED TOPICS
Spacecraft experience an space debris. Spacecraft must traverse debris See also
environment of extremes MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
fields around the Earth, and space probes may
of temperature, pressure, page 56
shock and radiation.
also encounter dust and toxic gases in planetary
Engineering designs atmospheres. The high radiation experienced in page 82
have overcome these space is a threat to both humans and electronic
challenges, opening up AEROSPACE MATERIALS
equipment. Spacecraft routinely experience page 124
space for exploration and
commercial use. ultra-wide-ranging temperatures, from as low
as -230°C (-382°F) to 200°C (392°F) or higher.
Batteries and electronics are vulnerable to such 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
ROBERT HUTCHINGS
3-MINUTE IDEA extreme temperatures. Mitigating the effects GODDARD
Today, private ventures 1882–1945
are making access to
of the extremes of space is an engineering
Considered to be the inventor
space more convenient, challenge. Engineers develop thermal and of modern liquid-fuelled rocket
propulsion.
reliable and routine. structural computer models of the spacecraft,
These companies design,
then test and certify prototypes in conditions WERNHER VON BRAUN
manufacture and launch 1912–77
advanced engines, rockets simulating space. Vibration tables and acoustic Led rocket launcher
and spacecraft. Driving chambers simulate launch conditions. Vacuum development in Germany
and later America.
the engineering are chambers test resilience to low pressures
requirements for low MARY WINSTON JACKSON
recurring cost, reusability,
and extreme temperatures. Electronics are 1921–2005
high performance and redesigned with shielding to resist the damaging First African-American
engineer in NASA.
reliability. Significant effects of radiation and cosmic rays. Spacecraft
achievements so far include have ventured into the extreme environments of
the return landing of
a rocket, reuse of an
space, but a major lesson learned from accidents 30-SECOND TEXT
is that success must not breed complacency: John Krupczak
orbital-class rocket and the
first cargo delivery to the the dangers from the extremes of space can
international space station
be temporally overcome, but never mastered. Even in launch, rockets
by commercial spacecraft.
experience powerful
shaking along with
126 g Aerospace & Transport intense sound waves.
Engineering
DRIVERLESS CARS
Instead of human drivers,
driverless cars have computers, lasers, radar,
cameras and GPS. The computer has to answer
3-SECOND CORE three questions: Where am I? What surrounds RELATED TOPICS
Driverless cars use me? What should I do? Special software See also
software and on-board MECHATRONICS
compares incoming sensor data with memorized
sensors to understand page 62
their surroundings and plan
3D maps to figure out where the car is within
ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION
movement. Conceptual a few centimetres. The processing of camera page 70
simplicity is challenging to images and laser data provides information
implement, and it will bring SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
about moving and static obstacles on or near page 100
profound social changes.
the road around the car. Machine learning and
computer vision help computers categorize
3-MINUTE IDEA nearby obstacles. For example, cars move 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
HENRY FORD
Commercial driverless differently to bikes and pedestrians, so the 1863–1947
cars will not be perfect:
economic engineering
computer can identify the type of obstacle and Pioneered factory production
lines in 1913: his famous
requires compromises. then predict what is likely to happen over the Model-T car accounted for
half of America’s cars by 1918.
Because they are driven by next few seconds. The computer makes a plan
software and algorithms, SOICHIRO HONDA
on how to drive for the next few seconds, so
learnings following an 1906–91
accident can be shared as the car will avoid obstacles and provide the Founded the Honda motor
company; Japan’s leading
software updates across occupant with a smooth and natural ride. The automotive engineer of the
entire fleets of vehicles. computer then adjusts the accelerator or brakes twentieth century.
While no accident is
acceptable, it does mean
and operates the steering wheel. The computer RUDOLF E. KÁLMÁN
1930–2016
that every accident – even interprets a new set of sensor measurements
Laid the foundation of modern
a near miss – can help and recalculates the plan again in a continuously navigation systems.
reduce the chances of repeating cycle many times every second.
a repeat. Human drivers
rarely share experience
Engineers draw on computer science, robotics,
30-SECOND TEXT
like this. Could this machine learning, sensing, optimization and Paul Newman
capacity make machines mathematics principles to design these systems.
the best drivers?
Driverless vehicles are
poised to transform our
lives and bring economic
128 g Aerospace & Transport and safety improvements.
Engineering
g
ENGINEERING THE FUTURE
ENGINEERING THE FUTURE
GLOSSARY
alumina Aluminium oxide produced as demand management (electrical engineering)

an intermediate product in aluminium When demand is high, grid controllers can
production. Alumina powder is produced request major power users to switch off or
near bauxite mines (most common reduce their power consumption in return
source of aluminium) and transported for charging less for power consumed. Many
to aluminium smelters, which require devices can reduce their power consumption
large amounts of low-cost electricity. for a while without noticeable effects.
anaerobic (chemical engineering) Process diode (electronics) Electronic component

that takes place in the absence of oxygen, that allows current flow in only one direction.
particularly using bacteria that thrive
in an environment with little or no drone Autonomous or remotely operated
oxygen present. vehicle, commonly a small helicopter.
autonomous machine Machine with GPS Global positioning system – an

sufficient sensing, computing and arrangement of satellites and radio
communication capacity to operate communication that enable a suitably
automatically, without a human controller equipped receiver to calculate its position
being in charge. on Earth with great accuracy.
demand (electrical engineering) green chemistry Development of chemical

Requirement for electricity to be provided, processes that reduce or eliminate harmful
determined by the number and power and hazardous substances.
requirements of all devices currently
connected and switched on in an electricity grid (electrical engineering) Entire electric
supply network. power supply system including electricity
generating stations, transformers, switch
yards and powerline interconnections.
132 g Engineering the Future

industrial ecology Term used for two or sensor Device that can measure a physical
more mutually dependent industries that property and generate a signal indicating the
use waste from other industries as process measured value. For example, a thermocouple
inputs, avoiding the need to discharge measures temperature and generates a small
waste into the environment. electric voltage indicating the temperature.
LiDAR Light detection and ranging using a slag Waste from iron and steel making plants.
laser beam; use of triangulation or timer to
detect the distance of an object reflecting smart machine Generic term used for a
the beam. The direction of the beam machine with built-in sensing, information
indicates the direction of the object. and communication capability that enables
data exchange with other devices and
light emitting diode Diode that emits systems; possibly capable of autonomous
coloured light when current flows. Modern actions without human interaction.
LEDs are energy-efficient light sources
with many applications, including car sonar Transmission of high-frequency sound
headlamps and medical devices. Unlike and detection of echoes: the time taken for
earlier light sources, they release relatively the echo to come back indicates the distance
little heat and so stay cool. of the reflecting object; the direction of the
beam indicates the approximate direction
power generation plant Electricity- of the object.
generating station that can run on fossil
fuels such as coal, oil or natural gas, WiFi Radio communication technology
or use heat from a nuclear reactor or developed to provide convenient wireless
solar collectors. Internet connections for mobile devices
such as laptop computers and phones.
radar Transmission of high-frequency
radio signals and detection of echoes:
the time taken for the echo to come back
indicates the distance of the reflecting
object; the direction of the beam indicates
the direction of the object.
Glossary g 133
THINKING
DIFFERENTLY
Until this century, engineers
designed for an infinite world. Water was
always available and waste could be freely
3-SECOND CORE discharged. There were rules against pollution, RELATED TOPICS
Banks’ reputations but enforcement was weak. Now there are See also
often depend on ENVIRONMENTAL
powerful financial deterrents. Today, every large
the environmental ENGINEERING
performance of projects
project will confront limits on water supply and page 50
they finance, empowering discharge, and countless other restrictions. ENERGY & FINANCE
engineers to design Banks’ reputations can be damaged by projects page 140
clean, green factories
they finance. When the world’s media hear
and refineries running
on renewable energy. about toxic waste being discharged, banks may
recall loans. Sensitive measuring instruments are JAMES LOVELOCK
widely available from online shops, leading to 1919–
3-MINUTE IDEA Proposed the Gaia hypothesis,
leaks and pollution often being discovered by devised methods for detecting
Eliminating greenhouse life on other planets and
gas emissions can only
amateur scientists or community activists, who first identified atmospheric
be achieved with clever can close down whole projects. That’s great accumulation of CFC gases.
engineering and smart news for engineers working on recycling and JOHN GRILL
energy management. 1945–
waste recovery projects. Refineries running on
New technologies take Founded WorleyParsons and
25 years or more to mature, renewable energy, which clean air and water recognized how sustainability
affects all major engineering
so the challenge for rather than polluting them, recover valuable projects, particularly supply
engineers is to devise waste, and are so quiet and clean people want and disposal of water.
simple combinations of
existing technologies that
to live next to them – these are the projects that
capture public imagination attract cheaper long-term finance. Even in the 30-SECOND TEXT
and achieve significant developing world, companies can secure funds James Trevelyan
cost savings to secure from wealthy countries to improve waste
the finance needed for
large-scale investments.
management and reduce emissions.
Clean, green,
sustainable
engineering is
134 g Engineering the Future the future.
INNOVATION
Innovation and invention is at
the core of engineering. The word ‘engineer’
is derived from the Latin words ingeniare,
3-SECOND CORE meaning ‘to contrive, devise’, and ingenium, RELATED TOPICS
Engineering innovation meaning ‘cleverness’. Most inventions need a See also
transforms ideas into real ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
collaboration with engineers, marketing experts,
solutions. Everything page 96
around us has come from
manufacturers and investors to convert an idea
engineering innovations: into a business distributing new products to page 100
housing, transport, food, people who need them. Engineers create a
clothing, energy, water INFORMATION & TELECOMS
succession of prototypes, first in a laboratory, page 106
supply and sanitation,
computers, communication later in the field, learning from testing and
and health. customer evaluations, gradually improving
performance, building confidence and evolving 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
CHARLES F. KETTERING
product designs. New spaceships, mobile apps, 1876–1958
3-MINUTE IDEA
Engineering innovations
materials, processes and engines – they all Led development of countless
automotive innovations, such
have facilitated social follow the same process, and it takes months as electric starting motors and
leaded gasoline.
justice, economic or years. Inventors register patents in each
empowerment and political major country where the products will be used, JOHN O’SULLIVAN
revolutions: the Arab 1947–
Spring relied on Facebook providing investors with exclusive rights to sell Invented WiFi technology that
provides local Internet access
and Twitter. Innovation the products for up to 25 years. Engineer Shuji for computers and phones.
enables economic growth Nakamura and his colleagues researched blue
by increasing productivity. SHUJI NAKAMURA
light emitting diodes (LEDs) for decades. 1954–
Low-cost mobile phones
helped create large Today, billions of blue LEDs, with red and green Awarded Nobel physics prize
for invention of efficient blue
profitable businesses, cousins, provide energy-efficient lighting and and white LEDs.
displacing expensive, colour displays on smart phones and televisions.
inefficient government
monopolies, and providing
Innovations like this help meet human needs for
30-SECOND TEXT
affordable global light and information with much less materials, Marlene Kanga
communications and energy and pollution, helping to build a
universal Internet access. sustainable world for everyone.
Engineering innovation
has been transforming
136 g Engineering the Future our world for millennia.
4 January 1936 1969 1985
Born in Niederkassel, Awarded PhD at RWTH Installs first visual
Germany Aachen with a thesis guidance system
on ‘Optimal Re-entry in 5-tonne van
Trajectories from Space’.
1961 Joins German space
Graduates in aeronautical research centre DLR, 1987
engineering at RWTH becomes acting head. Demonstrates high-speed
Aachen. Joins German autobahn driving
Aerospace Research
Establishment, DLR. 1975
Joins Bundeswehr 1987–1995
University, Munich, Leads the Eureka
seeking more time Prometheus project
1965
for research (PROgraMme for a
Gains master’s degree in
control engineering at European Traffic of
Princeton University, USA Highest Efficiency and
1977–82 Unprecedented Safety)
Researches computer
vision guidance for
aircraft, helicopters, 1995
spacecraft and Achieves substantial
ground vehicles autobahn journeys and
automatic driving at high
speed, with occasional
manual intervention
2001
Completes third-
generation visual
guidance system and
demonstrates automatic
driving on networks of
minor roads. Retires from
teaching at Bundeswehr
University.
ERNST DIETER DICKMANNS
Twelve years after he was born adapted to control cars, if visual guidance from
in a village near Cologne in 1936, the son of a cameras was fast enough – at least ten times a
teacher, Ernst Dickmanns was driving tractors second. Collecting images was easy: analysing
around in wartime Germany. Studying calculus the images at that rate was impossible.
from aged 15, his driving experience helped him Dickmanns realized that analysing small
to see differential equations as an ideal tool windows within the images would be much
for motion control, and inspired him to study faster, and his colleague Volke Graefe made it
advanced aeronautical engineering and flight work. They used two cameras, one with a wide
control – although it would not be until much viewing angle to follow the nearby edges of
later in his career that he turned his attention traffic lanes and one with a telephoto lens to
to driverless cars. measure the road curvature ahead. The seven-
Dickmanns’ initial passion was aerospace year, €749,000,000 Eureka Prometheus project
engineering, and so he studied aerospace and was approved, with Dickmanns in a leading role.
aeronautics at RWTH Aachen, followed by By 1995, Dickmanns’ team demonstrated
control engineering at Princeton University. 1,500-km (1,000-mile) journeys along crowded
On his return to Germany, he worked for the autobahns, with fully automatic driving at
German space research centre, developing speeds of up to 175 km/h (100 mph). The cars
flight dynamics and trajectory optimization, could change lanes automatically to overtake
and then segued into satellite control. By 1977, traffic and required only occasional manual
Dickmanns had started looking into providing intervention. Even with these demonstrations,
‘vision’ for computers on vehicles. Vision- it took years for Dickmanns’ ideas to gain
guided vehicles had first appeared in 1970, acceptance amongst computer science and
though few moved faster than a mile per hour, artificial intelligence communities.
and engineers assumed that driverless cars By the time of his retirement in 2001,
would always need radio guidance from cables Dickmanns’ team had overcome many
buried under roads. However, in 1987, a fully challenges. His ideas have been embodied
automatic, vision-guided 5-ton van, created in today’s driver-assist technologies, and
by Dickmanns and his team at the Munich engineers are currently testing prototype
Bundeswehr University, reached speeds of driverless cars on city streets, whilst legal and
60 mph (100 km/h). regulatory issues are settled in anticipation
This breakthrough came from Dickmanns’ of widespread adoption.
realization that the differential equations used
in aircraft navigation and autopilots could be James Trevelyan
Ernst Dieter Dickmans g 139

ENERGY & FINANCE
Twentieth-century industries
relied on huge power stations, national
electricity grids and centralized control.
3-SECOND CORE Centralized banks raised finance to build these RELATED TOPICS
Mobile phone systems systems, run by engineers and bureaucrats. See also
enable people to buy POWER GENERATION
Elaborate and disciplined policing ensured
on credit, such as solar & ENERGY STORAGE
electricity with battery
sufficient compliance by people to pay page 78
storage. Like pre-paid taxes and bills. Yet resource consumption is INFORMATION & TELECOMS
mobiles, people pay as unsustainable and pollution threatens the page 106
they go.
global climate. A financial revolution is bringing THINKING DIFFERENTLY
renewable energy and other services to the page 134
3-MINUTE IDEA Third World without the same need for

The fossil fuel age is engineers, bureaucrats and policing. Mobile
giving way to an energy 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
phones, more than a means of communication, RUSSELL SHOEMAKER OHL
revolution based on 1898–1987
renewables and smart
verify identity and provide secure, trustworthy
Developed semiconductor
energy storage coupled payment systems and tax collection without diodes and the first silicon
solar cells, which led to the
with market places driven requiring bank accounts. Using what is development of transistors.
by intelligent machines and
known as mobile fintech, farmers will pay
variable speed processes JOHN GOODENOUGH
that adapt to energy for refrigerated storage as they use it, with 1922–
availability and price. credit secured by crop production. Already, this Contributed developments
needed for high-capacity
Telecommunication technology has enabled cash-strapped farmers rechargeable lithium batteries.
systems that act as trust
brokers secure financial
to lease solar panels with battery storage and MOHAMMED ‘MO’ IBRAHIM
earn extra income selling electricity they do not 1946–
transactions that used
Led development of mobile
to rely on fragile human use. Suppliers are able to extend credit knowing phone networks in Africa.
relationships with banks that their customers have to keep up with
as intermediaries. Together,
they have the potential
payments to use the machines. Mobile fintech
30-SECOND TEXT
to transform life for most enables industrial processes to run on variable James Trevelyan
people on the planet. renewable power supplies, buying the cheapest
energy whenever it is available. Mobile Internet
communications enable
even small traders to
140 g Engineering the Future access global markets.
RESOURCE
SCARCITY
A growing population combined
with wasteful material usage has created
scarcities. The World Bank has forecast that
3-SECOND CORE global waste generation by 2025 will exceed RELATED TOPICS
Extracting valuable 6 million tonnes a day, 70 per cent more than See also
materials from waste will PLASTICS & FERTILIZERS
in 2015. Learning to see waste as a valuable
gradually become more page 86
profitable than mining for
resource can solve many problems. For example,
THINKING DIFFERENTLY
increasingly scarce natural recovering copper from electronic waste is page 134
resources. Adaptive sustainable, but also, the copper is far more
transformation processes CONTROLLING POLLUTION
concentrated than that in metal ores. Discarded page 148
are needed as waste
composition changes printed circuit boards contain 10 to 20 times
continuously. more copper metal than the same weight of
copper ore. Electronic waste also contains 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
MAHATMA GANDHI
precious metals such as gold and silver. The 1869–1948
3-MINUTE IDEA
Micro-factories will need
gold content can be more than 20 times greater Anticipated resource shortages
and advocated alternative
to adapt to changing than natural gold-bearing rock, creating a production approaches.
waste composition. An convincing economic justification for recycling. CARL SHIPP MARVEL
electronics waste stream 1894–1988
Conventional recycling converts like for like,
may have more laptops one Developed a synthetic rubber
day, hard drives another. using glass or plastics to make more of the manufacturing process and
high-temperature polymers
Robots and scanners same; however, special processing is needed for for aerospace applications.
using vast data sets will other waste streams. Engineers are working on
collaborate with people AMORY LOVINS
who may still be learning –
‘micro-factories’ – modular production facilities 1947–
the scanners can help that recover resources from waste, converting Advocates environmentally
friendly developments in
people identify items materials back into their original composition energy and materials.
like radioactive fire and structure or into new materials. Micro-
alarm components that
need special handling.
factories will be built where waste accumulates,
30-SECOND TEXT
People can more easily reducing transportation costs and creating Veena Sahajwalla
disassemble products that local employment.
would be too complex for
robots to handle.
Engineers are working
towards a future where
most products are made
142 g Engineering the Future from reused materials.
FEEDING
OUR WORLD
Food engineering is a vital part
of our common future. One third of food grown
on Earth is wasted. However, in many less
3-SECOND CORE developed countries (LDCs), where hunger is RELATED TOPICS
Food engineering common, waste is far more prevalent because See also
developments, particularly PLASTICS & FERTILIZERS
of storage, processing and distribution losses.
in less developed countries, page 86
are crucial for our common
More could be grown with better education
ENERGY & FINANCE
future on Earth. Food and infrastructure. While plastic containers and page 140
engineers enable wrapping cause a global waste headache, they
affordable, consistent, WATER SECURITY
keep food fresh, enormously reducing wastage. page 146
year-round food supplies.
Refrigerated stores could eliminate most
food wastage in developing countries, and
3-MINUTE IDEA appropriate packaging could prevent much 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
Food engineering BRYAN DONKIN
of the rest. The planet’s increasing population 1768–1855
brings together plant
and animal breeders,
could be fed without growing more. A major Pioneered production of
processed food in tin cans.
producers, processors, obstacle is access to credit to buy the necessary
CLARENCE FRANK BIRDSEYE II
food scientists, food processing and storage machinery. Newly 1886–1956
transporters and
emerging secure electronic payment systems Noticed how fish could be
supermarkets to provide snap-frozen to retain their
consistent supplies. Plant linked with mobile phone-enabled machines food qualities when thawed
later, and founded the frozen
varieties provide extended will enable machinery suppliers to extend credit food industry.
harvest seasons and to small enterprises. The user has to keep up
consistent ripening – with G. HOWARD KRAFT
size, consistency and shape
payments through their mobile phones for the 1908–83
adapted for mechanized machines to operate. These technologies will Pioneered inert gas-filled
packaging to extend the shelf
handling and processing. enable farmers and rural enterprises to buy life of cheese and other foods.
Packaging protects food food processing and storage machinery on
from damage and extends
shelf life. This complexity
credit, without needing bank accounts or land
30-SECOND TEXT
enables affordable to secure loans. New biodegradable food James Trevelyan
year-round stable packaging materials can solve the plastic
food supplies.
waste problem.
Food engineering, like
water engineering, is
144 g Engineering the Future crucial for our future.
WATER SECURITY
Water is essential for life, and
there is no substitute. The UN’s 2030
Agenda set the target of ensuring availability
3-SECOND CORE and sustainable management of water and RELATED TOPICS
Engineers need new water sanitation for all. In 2015, 844 million people See also
and sanitation technologies CIVIL ENGINEERING
lacked a basic water service; 2.1 billion lacked
to meet recently updated page 34
sustainable development
safely managed drinking water; 4.5 billion lacked
TAMING GREAT RIVERS
goals, providing safe water a safely managed sanitation service; more than page 46
and sanitation for all. 2 billion lived in countries with acute water
ENVIRONMENTAL
shortages. Adapting to climate change is making ENGINEERING
3-MINUTE IDEA
the challenge even more difficult. Engineers page 50
Water is critical for are needed to design and operate dams and
drinking, food production reservoirs, channels, pipelines, water treatment
and to provide cooling 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
plants and also for planning and managing MANUEL LORENZO PARDO
for electricity production 1881–1953
and industrial processes.
water resources. New nature-based engineering
Spanish civil engineer, founding
Water engineers have solutions are emerging to improve rivers, director of first river basin
organization in the world;
to work with farmers, underground aquifers and urban drainage. Safe helped to transform Spain
government regulators,
wastewater reuse and desalination will also be in the mid-twentieth century.
energy producers and
process engineers. Water needed, along with new irrigation technologies, GIOVANNI LOMBARDI
1926–2017
conservation solutions as agriculture demands account for 70 per cent
Swiss civil engineer who
require an understanding of all water use. Engineers also help prepare for founded the Lombardi firm,
of human behaviour and renowned for tunnel and dam
how to influence farmers,
floods and droughts, reducing economic losses construction; widely respected
for sharing his knowledge
industrial users and all from natural disasters. Integrating information with the civil engineering
other users to make wise technology into water and sanitation systems community.
use of limited resources. offers exciting new solutions. Improved tracking
Integrating knowledge
of human behaviour into
of water flow and consumption can provide the 30-SECOND TEXT
engineering solutions improved security needed to attract private Tomás A. Sancho
requires close collaboration investment while still ensuring that reliable
with social scientists.
services meet basic human needs. Engineers’ contributions
are essential to reach
the UN’s target of
146 g Engineering the Future ‘water for all’.
CONTROLLING
POLLUTION
Engineers have traditionally
controlled pollution in two ways: either retaining
and storing pollutants until a solution is found;
3-SECOND CORE or treating them to an acceptable level before RELATED TOPICS
Future industries discharging them. Both methods can be See also
will see pollutants as ENVIRONMENTAL
expensive, and strong government enforcement
resources that are too ENGINEERING
valuable to discharge into
is needed for compliance. In developing nations page 50
the natural environment. with weak governance, pollutants can often RESOURCE SCARCITY
Engineers can often adapt be discharged without significant penalties. page 142
natural processes to
Engineers are developing exciting and profitable
convert pollutants into
valuable products. alternatives, such as cleaner production and
industrial ecology. Cleaner production processes ROBERT UNDERWOOD AYRES
designed using ‘green chemistry’ bypass 1932–
3-MINUTE IDEA Formalized industrial
pollution problems entirely. For example, ecology concepts.
Government regulations,
taxes and incentives to
alumina-refining oxalate residues can be
GATZE LETTINGA
combat pollution enable converted into sodium carbonate using bacteria. 1936–
engineers to develop The sodium carbonate can then be converted Developed high-rate anaerobic
processes, which inspired
solutions that provide into sodium hydroxide to be used in the alumina contemporary industrial
greater value with stronger ecologists.
community acceptance. As refining process. Waste containing pollutants
DONALD HUISINGH
engineers develop cheaper, from one enterprise can often be converted into 1937–
more efficient techniques valuable products for another. Breweries and Promotes the ecological
to maximize benefits, modernization movement,
food-processing factories generate waste that, arguing that productive use
environmental solutions
instead of being discharged into water, can of natural processes can lead
become profitable, to sustainable prosperity.
and companies adopt be converted by bacteria into nutrient-rich
them without needing fertilizers, generating energy as well as
regulations or incentives. 30-SECOND TEXT
additional income. Engineers adapt natural
Raj Kurup
waste-processing systems for industrial use:
man-made swamps with vegetation can be
effective waste-processing factories. Today’s pollution is
tomorrow’s resource,
with waste transformed
148 g Engineering the Future into raw material.
FUTURE TRANSPORT:
DRONE SHIPS
Autonomous or drone ships,
operating without a crew, represent the next
phase in exploring and navigating the world’s
3-SECOND CORE oceans. Oceans cover 70 per cent of the Earth’s RELATED TOPICS
Autonomous or drone surface, yet 95 per cent remains unexplored. See also
ships operate without MECHATRONICS
Exploring the ocean is difficult, time-consuming
crews using advanced page 62
sensors, satellite data
and expensive. At any time, about 160,000
ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION
and computers to navigate. ships are at sea carrying bulk commodities and page 70
A land-based captain 5 million containers, but more than 10,000
monitors operations, DRIVERLESS CARS
containers are lost at sea each year. Human error page 128
increasing safety
and efficiency. and fatigue are the major causes of maritime
accidents. Autonomous ships navigate, monitor
their surroundings and detect obstacles using 3-SECOND BIOGRAPHIES
3-MINUTE IDEA WILLIAM FROUDE
sensors such as cameras, radar, sonar and 1810–79
Although the technology
is in place, regulatory
LiDAR (light detection and ranging). On-board Formulated laws that enabled
measurements from small
changes are needed before computers interpret the sensor data and models to be used in the
design of full-sized ships.
autonomous ships can control propulsion and steering. Computers use
operate in international
satellite navigation (GPS) and receive weather VICTORIA DRUMMOND
waters. International law 1894–1978
and maritime insurers information along with other ships’ locations First female member of the
Institute of Marine Engineers;
require that all ships be and identity transmissions. Human captains oversaw ship building and was
‘seaworthy’. Definitions are still needed, but they will likely be onshore, honoured for bravery at sea.
of seaworthy demand
that ships be staffed
monitoring multiple autonomous ships, instead MIKAEL MÄKINEN
of being on board, commanding one ship at 1957–
by an appropriate crew, President of Rolls-Royce
shipmaster and pilot. sea. Autonomous ships are expected to reduce Marine, who has led drone
Laws vary from country to ship technology development.
transportation costs and pollution whilst
country, and also from port
to port. Discussions are
increasing safety. Other applications include
ongoing to determine how search and rescue, oceanography research, 30-SECOND TEXT
autonomous or drone monitoring of dangerous weather and cleaning John Krupczak
ships can comply with
up pollution. Unmanned ships can
seaworthiness obligations.
improve sea transport
safety and costs and
150 g Engineering the Future pollution removal.
N
W
g
APPENDICES
RESOURCES Engineering and the Mind’s Eye
Eugene S. Ferguson
(MIT Press, 1992)
BOOKS Engineering Culture

An Applied Guide to Process and Plant Design Gideon Kunda
Seán Moran (Temple University Press, 1992)
(Butterworth-Heinemann, 2015)
Engineering Practice in a Global Context:
Built: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Understanding the Technical and the Social
Structures Edited by Bill Williams, José Dias Figueiredo
Roma Agrawal & James P. Trevelyan
(Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018) (CRC/Balkema, 2013)
C. Y. O’Connor: His Life and Legacy Environmental and Economic Sustainability

A. G. Evans Paul E. Hardisty
(University of Western Australia Press, 2001) (CRC Press, 2010)
Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error Everyday Engineering: An Ethnography

and Judgment in Engineering of Design and Innovation
Henry Petroski Dominique Vinck
(Cambridge University Press, 1994) (MIT Press, 2003)
Disappearing Acts: Gender, Power, and Impossible Engineering: Technology and

Relational Practice at Work Territoriality on the Canal du Midi
Joyce K. Fletcher Chandra Mukerji
(MIT Press, 2001) (Princeton University Press, 2009)
Educating Engineers Introduction to Aerospace Materials

Sheri D. Sheppard, Kelly Macatangay, Adrian P. Mouritz
Anne Colby & William Sullivan (American Institute of Aeronautics, 2012)
(Jossey-Bass Wiley, 2009)
Introduction to Biomedical Engineering
Electrochemical Science and Technology: John Enderle & Joseph Bronzino
Fundamentals and Applications (Academic Press, 2011)
Keith Oldham, Jan Myland & Alan Bond
(John Wiley & Sons, 2012)
154 g Resources
Lees’ Loss Prevention in the Process Soul of a New Machine
Industries: Hazard Identification, Tracey Kidder
Assessment and Control (Avon Books, 1981)
Frank Lees
(Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004) Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology
Bharat Bhushan
The Making of an Expert Engineer (Springer-Verlag, 2017)
James P. Trevelyan
(CRC Press/Balkema, 2014) Springer Handbook of Robotics
Oussama Khatib & Bruno Siciliano
Materials Selection in Mechanical Design (Springer Verlag, 2016)
Michael F. Ashby
(Butterworth Heinemann, 2010) Water Engineering
Nazih K. Shammasand & Lawrence K. Wang
Notes from Toyota-land: An American (John Wiley & Son, 2016)
Engineer in Japan
Darius Mehri
(Cornell University Press, 2005) WEBSITES
Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Of Bicycles, Bakelite’s, and Bulbs: Toward a www.eesi.org
Theory of Sociotechnical Change
Wiebe E. Bijker History of Computers
(MIT Press, 1995) www.computerhistory.org
Railway Transportation Systems: Design, International Association for Hydro-

Construction and Operation Environment Engineering and Research
Christos N. Pyrgidis iahr.org/Web/News_Journals
(Taylor & Francis, 2018)
Software Engineering Introduction
The Reflective Practitioner: How www.edx.org/course/software-engineering-
Professionals Think in Action introduction-ubcx-softeng1x
Donald A. Schön
(Harper Collins, 1983) World Federation of Engineering Organizations
www.wfeo.org
Robots for Shearing Sheep: Shear Magic
James P. Trevelyan
(Oxford University Press, 1992)
Resources g 155
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Kate Disney is Engineering Chair at Mission College,
California, has taught a wide range of engineering
courses and helps develop a broader understanding
of engineering in society.
EDITOR Roger Hadgraft is a civil engineer and Director for

James Trevelyan is a mechanical engineer and CEO Education Innovation and Research in Engineering
of Close Comfort, developing energy-efficient air at University of Technology Sydney. He is a leading
conditioners. He led the development of robots innovator for change towards more practice-based
for shearing sheep and Internet telerobotics, engineering curricula.
and developed tools and safety equipment for
landmine clearance. Jan Hayes had a long career in chemical engineering
safety, and is now Associate Professor in Sociology
CONTRIBUTORS at RMIT University, Melbourne, specializing in
Roma Agrawal, MBE, is a structural engineer who organizational accident prevention.
has made an impact on the skyline of London with
her work on The Shard. She is passionate about Marlene Kanga is President of the World Federation
promoting engineering careers with under- of Engineering Organizations, and is a successful
represented groups. innovator, start-up director and chairs the Australian
Department of Industry Innovation and Science, R&D
John Blake is Professor of Engineering and Incentives Committee.
Technology at Austin Peay State University,
Tennessee, and advocates a broader understanding Gong Ke is an electronics engineer, President Elect of
of engineering and technology through the the World Federation of Engineering Organizations and
development of technological literacy. Professor of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua, Tianjin
and Nankai Universities.
Colin Brown is Chief Executive of the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers, London, and John Krupczak is Professor of Engineering at Hope
worked on jet-engine life prediction and led College, Michigan, and works to improve public
engineering businesses based on advanced understanding about engineering through developing
materials technologies. engineering and technological literacy.
George Catalano is Professor of Biomedical Raj Kurup is an environmental consulting engineer, CEO
Engineering at Binghampton University, New Environmental Engineers International and adjunct
York, and a former Fulbright scholar and NASA Fellow. professor of University of Missouri and Murdoch
He researches aerodynamics, turbulent fluid University. He has developed economic engineering
mechanics and engineering education and ethics. solutions for waste management and waste water.
Doug Cooper is consulting geotechnical engineer Julia Lamborn is Professor of Environmental

with 45 years’ experience, and specializes in mine Engineering at Monash University, Melbourne, and
tailings storage design, management and operation. designed and organized the construction of power-
station cooling towers for ten years before joining
Swinburne University.
156 g Notes on Contributors

Andrew McVeigh is a software engineer with a PhD Jonathan Scott is Foundation Professor of Electrical
specializing in the evolution of large systems, and has Engineering at Waikato University, New Zealand,
worked on systems for investment banking, speech and has expertise in characterization, measurement,
synthesis and recognition, video games and in video modelling and simulation of circuits and systems,
as the Chief Architect of Hulu. especially at radio and microwave frequencies.
Seán Moran is a chemical engineer specializing in Tim Sercombe is materials engineer and Professor and
design, commissioning and troubleshooting of sewage, Head of Engineering School at University of Western
industrial effluent and water treatment plants. Australia, and researches additive metal manufacturing
techniques for medical implants.
Paul Newman is BP Professor of Information
Engineering at the University of Oxford and Director Paul Shearing is Professor of Chemical Engineering at
of the Oxford Robotics Institute, co-founded Oxbotica University College London, researches electrochemical
in 2014, an autonomy vehicle software company. technologies and holds the Royal Academy of
Engineering Chair in Emerging Battery Technologies.
Hung Nguyen is a researcher in biomedical
engineering, artificial intelligence, neurosciences Donglu Shi researches nanomaterials for energy and
and advanced control. He has developed several medical applications at the University of Cincinnati,
biomedical devices and systems for diabetes, disability, Donglu. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of
cardiovascular diseases and breast cancer. Nanomaterials, and an editorial board member
of Nano Research.
Jenn Stroud Rossmann is Professor of Mechanical
Engineering at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, Matthew L. Smith is Associate Professor of
is author of the essay series, ‘An engineer Engineering at Hope College, Michigan, and researches
reads a novel,’ combining literary criticism soft materials that mechanically deform in response to
and techno-cultural analysis. changes in the environment and elastic instabilities in
man-made and biological structures.
Veena Sahajwalla is Scientia Professor at University
of New South Wales, Sydney, and directs the Centre Jorge Spitalnik is nuclear engineer, past President of
for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO)
(SMaRT). Her research is advancing sustainability of and Executive Director of the Pan American Union of
materials and associated processes in collaboration Engineering Societies. He also chaired the WFEO
with industry. Energy Committee and worked as project manager
for ELETRONUCLEAR, Brazil.
Tomás A. Sancho is civil engineer and general
manager of FYSEG, Fulcrum y SERS Engineering Neill Stansbury is a civil engineer and co-founder
Group, Madrid, and has been President of the Ebro of GIACC, was Vice Chair of the World Federation of
Water Confederation and President-founder of three Engineering Organization’s Anti-Corruption Committee,
Spanish state water companies. past Chair of the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) Anti-Bribery Project Committee
and past Chair of British Standards Institution Anti-
Bribery Working Group.
Notes on Contributors g 157

INDEX
A cars 62, 64 diode 132 free-body diagram 14, 38

actuator 54 driverless 128–9, 139 LEDs 133, 136 frequency hopping 92
aerodynamics 114, 122–3 cement 44 disasters 82, 146 fuel cell 74, 78, 92, 94
aerospace materials 124–5 ceramic 54, 60, 114, 124 drag 114, 122
aileron 114 chemical engineering 76–7 driverless cars 128–9, 139 G
alloy 54, 114, 124 chemistry 18 drone 132 general arrangement (GA) drawing
alumina 132, 148 chip 92, 96, 98 drone ships 150–1 74, 76
American Society for Testing civil engineering 29, 34–5 geomechanics 32
Materials (ASTM) 22 civilization 44–5 E geotechnical engineering 32, 40–1
anaerobic 132 COBOL 103 eddy current 12 geotextile 32
ancient world 44, 68 cochlear implant 92, 96, 110 effluent 74, 76 geothermal energy 74
anti-lock brakes (ABS) 62 collaboration 24–5 electrical engineering 94–5 GPS 128, 132, 150
architects 42–3 complex number 92, 96 electrolyser 74, 78 gradient 115, 116
artificial intelligence 70 composite material 54, 60, 114, 124 electromagnetic interference 98 green chemistry 132, 148
asset management see compression stress 13 electromagnetic radiation 92 grid 74, 78, 80, 92, 94, 132
sustainment computational fluid mechanics electron microscopes 104, 110
atomic force microscopes 104 (CFD) software 16 electronic engineering 96–7 H
atomic structure 54 computer engineering 98–9 electronic waste 142 Haber, Fritz 86, 88–9
automation 56, 70–1 computer languages 100, 103 elevator 114, 122 hard disk drives 66
autonomous machine 132 concrete 37, 44, 46, 60 energy conversion/transformation heat treatment 55, 60
autonomous ships 150–1 reinforced 33, 37, 46 54, 59, 68 heuristics 12, 18
availability 54, 64 conservation laws 32 energy intensity 54 high-speed trains 116, 119
avionics 92 container ships 150 energy storage 78–9, 94, 140 Hooke’s Law 60
axes 32, 38, 68 convergence 12 engineering thinking 26–7 Hopper, Grace Brewster 102–3
coordinate system 32 environmental engineering 50–1
B corrosion 54, 60 Environmental Impact Assessment I
Bakelite 86 corruption 48 (EIA) 50 industrial ecology 133, 148
banks 134, 140 creep 114, 124 equilibrium 32, 38 Industrial Revolution 34, 56
base load power 74, 80, 92 crosstie 114, 116 ethics 48–9, 82, 84, 106 inertia 74, 78, 80
Bazalgette, Joseph 34 information and communications
bearing 114, 116 D F technology (ICT) 106–7
Belgrand, Eugène 34 dams 34, 40, 46 fatigue 54, 115, 124 innovation 136–7
Bernoulli’s principles 56 data collection 106 feedback control 54, 62 integrated circuit (IC) 93, 96, 98
binary 92, 98 debug 92 fertilizers 86–7, 89, 148 International Organization for
biomedical engineering 110–11 deep learning 70 filter 92, 108 Standardization (ISO) 22
Bosch, Carl 86, 88–9 defence readiness 64–5 finance 134, 140–1, 144 Internet 106
boundary element method 12 delamination 114, 124 finite element method 12
bridges 34, 46 demand 74, 78, 92, 94, 132, 146 flight 122, 124 K
Brunel, Isambard Kingdom 34 demand management 132 floating factories 120–1 Khan, Fazlur Rahman 36–7
design thinking 20 flow fields 122 kinetic energy 55
C diagrams fluorescent 92, 104 Kingsbury, Albert 66
cancer diagnosis 104 free-body 14, 38 food engineering 144–5
carbon fibre 68, 114, 124 piping and instrumentation force 12, 14 L
Cardano, Gerolamo 96 75, 76 force equilibrium principle 38–9 laminar flow 55
Carnot Cycle 56 process flow 75, 76 formwork 32 Liang Jianying 118–19
Carnot, Sadi 56, 59 Dickmanns, Ernst Dieter 138–9 foundation 32 LiDAR 133, 150
158 g Index
lift 122 O robotics 70–1 T
light emitting diodes (LEDs) o-ring 32 rolling 55, 60 tailings 33, 40
133, 136 O’Connor, Charles Yelverton 28–9 rudder 115, 122 Telford, Thomas 34
liquified natural gas 120 optical fibre 93 rule of thumb 12 tension stress 13
lithium-ion batteries 78 organizational safety 82–3 test specification 22
lithography 93, 98 S thermodynamics 55, 56
load 32, 37, 38, 46 P safety 82, 84, 120 thermoplastic polymers 86
load path 32 pacemaker 93, 96 scarce resources 142 thinking differently 134–5
packaging 144 sensor 55, 104, 133, 150 thrust 66, 115, 122
M physics 18, 34 service 33 tilting pad thrust bearing 66–7
machine learning 115, 128 pile 33, 48 settlement 33 traceability 64
magnetic levitation 115, 119 pipelines 29 shear stress 13 trade-off 55, 68
maintenance 62, 64 piping and instrumentation shielding 93, 98, 126 trains 116, 119
malpractice 48 diagram (P&ID) 75, 76 signal processing 106, 108 transistor 93, 96, 98
mass and energy balance 74, 76 plant 33 site remediation 33, 50 Transmission Control Protocol/
materials engineering 60–1 plastics 60, 86–7 skyscrapers 37 Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) 106
mathematics 16–17, 34, 96 pollution 33, 50, 78, 86, 134 slag 133 transport 34
complex number 92, 96 pollution control 148–9 sloshing 115, 120 cars 62, 64
models 13, 14, 16, 94, 115 polymer material 55, 60, 86 slurry 33 driverless cars 128–9, 139
mean time between failures potential energy 55 smart machine 133 drone ships 150–1
(MTBF) 55, 75, 115 power generation 78–9 social impact assessments 50 trains 116, 119
mechanical engineering 56–7 power generation plant 133 software architecture 100 turbine 33, 46
mechatronics 62 power reactor 75, 80 software engineering 100–1 turbulent flow 55, 115
medical devices 110 problem-solving design 20–1 sonar 93, 96, 133, 150
metals 60 process flow diagram (PFD) 75, 76 Space Shuttle 60 U
Michell, Anthony 66 process plant 75, 76 spacecraft 60, 126–7 unit operation 75, 76
micro-factories 142 process plant safety 84–5 specifications 22–3 user interface (UI) 100
microgrid 93, 94 propellers 66 stability 13, 14
mining 40 pumped hydro 75, 80, 93 stakeholders 13, 20, 26 V
mobile fintech 140 standards 22–3, 38 viaduct 115, 116
models Q steel 46 Vitruvius 44
computer 126 quantitative analysis 20 strain 13
mathematical 13, 14, 16, 94, 115 stress 13 W
scale 13, 18, 115 R structural engineering 34 water security 146–7
Moore’s Law 93 radar 93, 96, 108, 133, 150 subdivision 13, 14 WiFi 133
radioactive waste 75, 80 suction pile 115, 120 wind energy 68–9
N railway engineering 116–17, 119 survey 33
nanotechnology 104–5 Rankine, William John Macquorn sustainment 55
network 13, 14 58–9 system inputs 13
Newton, Isaac 56, 59 reinforced concrete 33, 37, 46 system outputs 13
nuclear fission 74, 80 reliability 55, 64, 75, 82, 115, 124 systems 13, 26
nuclear fusion 80 renewable energy 75, 78, 80, 92, systems thinking 13
nuclear power 80–1, 82 134, 140
Nyquist–Shannon sampling resource scarcity 142–3
theorem 106, 108 risk assessment 75, 82
rivers 46
Index g 159
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The editor would like to thank Sally Male, Roger Hadgraft, John Krupczac 15; Masson: 85; Mauvries: 41; Maxx-Studio: 43; Mega Pixel: 27; MIA
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30-Second Engineering 50 Key Principles Methods and Fields Explained in Half A Minute by James Trevelyan

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30-Second Engineering 50 Key Principles Methods and Fields Explained in Half A Minute by James Trevelyan

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30-SECOND

Copyright © 2019 Quarto Publishing plc

Almost everything we see, feel, touch, eat or drink

boundary element method Calculation originated with collaborations between

3-MINUTE IDEA through the axle, acts downwards. The axle

Electrical circuits, factory the accuracy required and the consequences

because specifications are product is acceptable. It can be hard to tell

Born in Ireland in 1843, O’Connor O’Connor’s greatest project was a pipeline

Charles Yelverton O’Connor g 29

equilibrium A state in which forces o-ring (mechanical engineering)

32 g Civil & Environmental

plant (civil, mechanical engineering) settlement (geotechnical engineering)

reinforced concrete Concrete containing survey Systematic measurements collected

36 g Civil & Environmental

Fazlur Rahman Khan g 37

actuator Machine component that moves composite material Material comprising

54 g Mechanical, Materials &

polymer material Material consisting of sustainment (engineering asset

reliability Time performance of machinery trade-off Compromise between two or more

1836–38 1842 1848 1863

Few mechanical engineering Most were original scientific contributions,

William John Macquorn Rankine g 59

energy production with to balance electricity demand with supply.

Fritz Haber & Carl Bosch g 89

92 g Electrical & Electronic

102 g Electrical & Electronic

The safety of money in a bank Hopper recognized that programming

Grace Brewster Hopper g 103

sensors for the automobile industry at low cost. Nanoparticles can be

aerodynamics Principles governing motion ceramic Hard, usually brittle, non-metallic

114 g Aerospace & Transport

were planned for low passenger rail networks in Japan, France,

118 g Aerospace & Transport

Zhigang Ji & James Trevelyan

Liang Jianying g 119

Engineers predict motion

alumina Aluminium oxide produced as demand management (electrical engineering)

anaerobic (chemical engineering) Process diode (electronics) Electronic component

autonomous machine Machine with GPS Global positioning system – an

demand (electrical engineering) green chemistry Development of chemical

132 g Engineering the Future

Ernst Dieter Dickmans g 139

3-MINUTE IDEA Third World without the same need for

BOOKS Engineering Culture

C. Y. O’Connor: His Life and Legacy Environmental and Economic Sustainability

Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error Everyday Engineering: An Ethnography

Disappearing Acts: Gender, Power, and Impossible Engineering: Technology and

Educating Engineers Introduction to Aerospace Materials

Railway Transportation Systems: Design, International Association for Hydro-

EDITOR Roger Hadgraft is a civil engineer and Director for

Doug Cooper is consulting geotechnical engineer Julia Lamborn is Professor of Environmental

156 g Notes on Contributors

Notes on Contributors g 157

A cars 62, 64 diode 132 free-body diagram 14, 38

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