Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PDF Engineering Your Future A Comprehensive Introduction To Engineering William C Oakes Ebook Full Chapter
PDF Engineering Your Future A Comprehensive Introduction To Engineering William C Oakes Ebook Full Chapter
Comprehensive Introduction to
Engineering William C. Oakes
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/engineering-your-future-a-comprehensive-introductio
n-to-engineering-william-c-oakes/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
https://textbookfull.com/product/coulson-and-richardsons-
chemical-engineering-fourth-edition-volume-3a-chemical-and-
biochemical-reactors-and-reaction-engineering-r-ravi/
https://textbookfull.com/product/transportation-engineering-an-
introduction-3rd-edition-c-jotin-khisty/
https://textbookfull.com/product/exploring-engineering-an-
introduction-to-engineering-and-design-philip-kosky/
https://textbookfull.com/product/engineering-a-better-future-
interplay-between-engineering-social-sciences-and-innovation-
eswaran-subrahmanian/
Introduction to industrial engineering Second Edition
Shtub
https://textbookfull.com/product/introduction-to-industrial-
engineering-second-edition-shtub/
https://textbookfull.com/product/introduction-to-bioplastics-
engineering-1st-edition-ashter/
https://textbookfull.com/product/introduction-to-software-
engineering-second-edition-leach/
https://textbookfull.com/product/tomorrows-lawyers-an-
introduction-to-your-future-second-edition-susskind/
https://textbookfull.com/product/engineering-software-products-
an-introduction-to-modern-software-engineering-1st-edition-ian-
sommerville/
Engineering Your Future
A Comprehensive Introduction to Engineering
CO N T R I B U TO R S
Names: Oakes, William C., 1962- author. | Leone, Les L., author.
Title: Engineering your future : a comprehensive introduction to engineering.
Description: Ninth edition. | New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2017]
| Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016047099| ISBN 9780190279264 (pbk.) | ISBN
9780190279288 (eISBN)
Subjects: LCSH: Engineering--Vocational guidance.
Classification: LCC TA157 .O223 2017 | DDC 620.0023--dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016047099
978-0-19-020892-9
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2N1
Printed by LSC Communications, United States of America
Preface xi
T H E WO R LD O F EN GI N EER I N G
1 The Heritage of Engineering 1
1.1 Introduction 2
1.2 The Beginnings of Engineering: The Earliest Days 3
1.3 Early Cities 4
1.4 A Case Study of Two Historical Engineers 14
1.5 Computers, Information, Networking, and People 18
1.6 The History of the Disciplines 24
1.7 Closing Thoughts 31
REFERENCES 32
EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES 32
2 Engineering Majors 35
2.1 Introduction 35
2.2 Engineering Functions 40
2.3 Engineering Majors 49
2.4 Emerging Fields 74
2.5 Closing Thoughts 76
2.6 Engineering and Technical Organizations 76
REFERENCES 81
EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES 82
10 Teamwork 297
10.1 Introduction 297
10.2 Engineers Often Work in Teams 297
10.3 Team Organizational Structures 303
10.4 Team Growth Stages 304
10.5 What Makes a Successful Team? 307
T H E FU N DA M EN TA L S O F EN GI N EER I N G
15 Units and Conversions 441
15.1 History 441
15.2 The SI System of Units 442
15.3 Derived Units 444
15.4 Prefixes 446
15.5 Numerals 447
15.6 Unit Conversions 448
15.7 Dimensional Homogeneity and Dimensionless Numbers 450
REFERENCES 453
EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES 453
Appendix A Nine Excel Skills Every Engineering Student Should Know 585
Appendix B Impress Them: How to Make Presentations Effective 605
Appendix C An Introduction to MATLAB 619
Index 645
You can’t make an educated decision about what career to pursue without adequate
information. Engineering Your Future endeavors to give you a broad introduction to
the study and practice of engineering. In addition to presenting vital information,
we’ve tried to make it interesting and easy to read as well.
You might find Chapter 2, “Engineering Majors,” to be a tremendous help to you in
determining what areas of engineering sound most appealing to you as you begin
your education. Our “Profiles of Engineers”, available on the Companion Website,
may also be of particular interest to you. It includes information from real people—
engineers practicing in the field. They discuss their jobs, their lives, and the things
they wish they had known going into the profession.
The rest of the book presents such things as the heritage of engineering; some
thoughts about the future of the profession; some tips on how best to succeed in the
classroom; advice on how to gain actual, hands-on experience; exposure to
computer-aided design; and a nice introduction to several areas essential to the study
and practice of engineering.
We have designed this book for modular use in a first-year engineering course that
introduces students to the field of engineering. Such a course differs in content from
university to university. Consequently, we have included many topics, too numerous
to cover in one course. We anticipate that several of the topics will be selected for a
particular course with the remaining topics available to you for outside reading and
for future reference.
As you contemplate engineering, you should consider the dramatic impact
engineers have had on our world. Note the eloquent words of American Association of
Engineering Societies Chair Martha Sloan, a professor emeritus of electrical
engineering at Michigan Technological University:
In an age when technology helps turn fantasy and fiction into reality, engineers
have played a pivotal role in developing the technologies that maintain our
nation’s economic, environmental and national security. They revolutionized
medicine with pacemakers and MRI scanners. They changed the world with the
development of television and the transistor, computers and the Internet. They
introduced new concepts in transportation, power, satellite communications,
xi
Engineering will be one of the most significant forces in designing continued eco-
nomic development and success for humankind in a manner that will sustain
both the planet and its growing population. Engineers will develop the new pro-
cesses and products. They will create and manage new systems for civil infrastruc-
ture, manufacturing, communications, health care delivery, information
management, environmental conservation and monitoring, and everything else
that makes modern society function.
We hope that you, too, will find the field of engineering to be attractive, meaning-
ful, and exciting—one that promises to be both challenging and rewarding, and one
that matches well with your skills and interests.
For the instructor’s convenience, there is an Ancillary Resource Center site with
support materials (PowerPoint figure slides and a test bank). This material may be
found at http://oup-arc.com/oakes-engineering-9e/.
■■ Chapter 16, “Mathematics Review,” presents brief yet concise reviews of many of
the mathematical concepts students will encounter in their engineering studies.
Improvements to previous editions include “in line expansion” of select example
problems, additional help with vector math, and a unit circle to accompany the
trigonometry section of the chapter.
■■ Chapter 17, “Engineering Fundamentals,” provides a review of specific math and
science applications that are fundamental to engineering studies. Select example
problems in this chapter also have more detailed “in line expansion” of solutions,
designed to encourage good problem-solving skills and problem documentation.
Included also in the revised chapter is a brief review of partial pressures in the
thermodynamics section.
■■ Appendix A, “Nine Excel Skills Every Engineering Student Should Know,” While
the number of skills is retained, the skills themselves have been completely
revised. Instead of focusing on “which button to click,” the skills are now
presented in a way that promotes everyday application as well as lifelong
learning.
■■ Appendix B, “Impress Them: How to Make Presentations Effective,” Given a
complete overhaul, this appendix now offers guidelines for making a powerful
presentation that will leave a lasting impression on the audience. The makeup of
a presentation is dissected, and plenty of good and bad examples are included.
■■ Appendix C, “An Introduction to MATLAB,” The programming section has been
significantly expanded. Learning to code is an art, and making an efficient and
elegant code is a lifelong pursuit—with this appendix serving as a starting point.
Acknowledgments
The authors are especially grateful to the reviewers whose opinions and comments
directly influenced the development of this edition:
We would also like to thank those reviewers who provided feedback for previous
editions:
While writing this chapter, I was teaching a class over the Internet to engineering
professors in India. The class was about how to integrate design experiences
(addressing needs of underserved people and communities) into undergraduate en-
gineering courses. I was excited when I finished that day’s class as we had had a
great conversation about how we can use engineering to meet human, community,
and environmental needs in India and the United States. The same ideas could
be applied to any country to make our world a better place. Today’s technology has
opened so many opportunities to make an impact in our communities, our coun-
tries, and our world. I ended the class thinking that this is really an exciting time to
be an engineer or an engineering student—with all of the technological tools we
have at our disposal and the exciting things we can do with them.
As I ended the class, I looked outside at the first snowfall of the year. Because of the
time difference between India and the United States, I have to teach the class very
early in the morning, so the sun was just coming up. The beautiful sunrise with the
falling snow got me thinking. I had just been talking with about 40 colleagues who
were literally on the other side of the world and spread out all over their country.
I was in Indiana, and our course facilitator was from Massachusetts. The incredible
technology that allowed us to discuss how to use technology to make a difference in
the world was created by engineers who had come before us. A generation ago, we
would have had to make a very expensive phone call to have that discussion. Earlier
generations would have had to communicate with letters on actual paper that were
physically carried from one place to the next. Technology has significantly changed
the way we communicate, as well as so many other parts of our lives. Those changes
were created and driven by engineers who started out a lot like you.
As I sat there in the warm house and watched the snow, I began to think about all
of the other ways that engineers have impacted us. The materials to make the house
to keep me warm were developed by engineers. The house is heated with an
ultra-high-efficiency furnace that also protects the environment. The natural gas
burning in the furnace was found, extracted, refined, and piped to the house using
technology developed by engineers. The lights in the house were developed by engi-
neers. The appliances in the house all have computers to make them more efficient
and easier to use. Everywhere I looked I saw something that had been touched by
engineers . . . with the exception of the snowflakes falling outside, of course.
There are so many engineers who have made an impact in our daily lives, and
they came from many different places and backgrounds. I thought about them as I
moved through the day. I had to pick up my daughter from a friend’s house, and I
was grateful for Mary Anderson, who had invented the windshield wiper to clear the
snow from my car’s windshield. When I got to the first intersection, I thought about
Garrett Morgan, the African American inventor who developed the traffic light to
keep us safe on the roads. I was grateful for the computer and electrical engineers
who developed the technology in my hearing aids that allow me to have a conversa-
tion with my daughter when I picked her up.
1.1 Introduction
The impact of engineers on our everyday lives is incredible. Even our life expectancies
are so much higher in large parts due to the technologies that engineers have devel-
oped to provide safe drinking water, sanitation, accessible medicines, and much
more. Engineers have made an enormous impact on our world, and there are so many
opportunities yet to come. Today’s technology has given us the tools to address needs
and opportunities to make a difference in our world.
The purpose of this first chapter is to give you a sense of the strong heritage of the
engineering profession. We will provide a brief glimpse into some of those who have
come before you and a feeling of the incredibly exciting profession you are exploring.
This is not meant to be a comprehensive overview of the history of engineering, as
that would be a book in itself. Instead we use history to illustrate some of the diversity
and wondrous heritage of the engineering profession and highlight a few of the men
and women who have developed the amazing world of technology we live in today.
Definition of Engineering
Even if you already have a general knowledge of what engineering involves, a look at
the definition of the profession may give you some insight. The organization that ac-
credits engineering programs is called ABET, and they define engineering as:
others have applied these principles before us and understand more about the profes-
sion we are entering. Study of history can also give us a sense of belonging to the
profession. There are engineers who come from the very kind of background you
come from and look a lot like you—or did when they were your age.
Definitions are important, but they don’t always inspire. The National Academy of
Engineering is a body of outstanding engineers who advise the federal government
on matters pertaining to engineering and technology. One has to be nominated and
invited to become a member of the national academy. This body studied the percep-
tions of engineering and engineers in the United States and came to the conclusion
that most people do not understand who we are and what great things we could do.
They produced a report entitled Changing the Conversation to help us communicate
the potential of engineering. Part of that report includes a positioning statement to
help guide our conversations. It reads,
We need this positioning statement because engineers and engineering are often
misunderstood as a field. The contributions of engineers are not always seen, under-
stood, or appreciated. As illustration, I think of a class I teach that engages about
500 students per semester in designs to meet community needs locally and globally.
The students work together to develop designs, and they work with community part-
ners. I often hear them describe themselves as “not a typical engineer.” They like to
work with others, have a social life, and want to make a difference in the world. I love
that attitude, and I do wonder how I have 500 students who view themselves as “not
typical.” At least in our class they are typical and are very much more typical of engi-
neers and the overall engineering profession, what it is and what is should be. It may
not match the stereotypes, but it does match the heritage we have as engineers. We
have a strong knowledge of math, science, and technology and have to work with
many others to create solutions that can improve the human and environmental con-
ditions. It takes many different people to do that, and it always has and always will.
The following sections will explore history with examples of some of these diverse
engineers who were real people who have helped make the world a better place.
The foundations of engineering were laid with our ancestors’ efforts to survive and to
improve their quality of life. From the beginning, they looked around their environ-
ments and saw areas where life could be made easier and more stable. They found
improved ways to provide for food, through hunting and fishing. They discovered
better methods for providing shelter for their families and ways to make clothing.
Their main physical concern was day-to-day survival. As life became more compli-
cated and small collections of families became larger communities, the need grew to
look into new areas of concern and specialization.
If you look back at the definition of engineering given by ABET, you will notice a
statement: “The profession in which knowledge of the mathematical and natural
sciences . . . is applied.” Prehistoric engineers applied problem solving and toolmak-
ing but did not have a grasp of the same mathematical principles or knowledge of
natural science as we know it today. They designed and built items more by trial and
error, testing, and intuition. They built spears that worked and others that failed, but
in the end they perfected weapons that allowed them to bring down game animals
and feed their families. Although they couldn’t describe it, they used principles of
aerodynamics and mechanical advantage to develop more efficient tools to hunt.
Since written communication and transportation did not exist at that time, little
information or innovation was exchanged with people from faraway places. Each
group around the world moved ahead on its own. It is inspiring to see how people
from all over the world developed innovations to improve the quality of life for their
families and their communities.
Transportation was another area where early engineers made an impact. The de-
signs of early boats, for example, inspire even today’s engineers. Breakthroughs in
transportation and exploration are being located ever earlier as we continue to make
discoveries about various peoples traveling long before we thought they did—
influencing others and bringing back knowledge. Transportation was used to hunt
and fish, to move families, and to explore new areas. Polynesian boat designers, for
example, developed crafts that could sail great distances and allowed people to settle
many of the islands across the Pacific. Their use of mathematics and astronomy al-
lowed them to navigate great distances on their vessels that were designed for long
ocean voyages. Their vessels are still an engineering marvel today.
AC TIVIT Y Prepare a brief report that focuses on engineering in a historical era and
1.1 cultural area (for example, pre-Columbian Central America, Europe in the
Industrial Revolution, Mesopotamia). Analyze the events that you consider to
be engineering highlights and explain their importance to human progress.
As cities grew and the need to address the demands of the new fledgling societies in-
creased, a significant change took place. People who showed special aptitude in cer-
tain areas were identified and assigned to ever more specialized tasks. This
development gave toolmakers the time and resources to dedicate themselves to
building and innovation. This new social function created the first real engineers,
and innovation flourished more rapidly.
Between 4000 and 2000 b.c., Egypt in Africa and Mesopotamia in the Middle East
were two areas for early engineering activity. Stone tools were developed to help
humans in their quest for food. Copper and bronze axes were perfected through smelt-
ing. These developments were not only aimed at hunting: The development of the plow
was allowing humans to become farmers so that they could reside in one place and give
up the nomadic life. Mesopotamia also made its mark on engineering by giving birth to
the wheel, the sailing boat, and methods of writing. Engineering skills that were ap-
plied to the development of everyday items immediately improved life as they knew it.
During the construction of the pyramids (c. 2700–2500 b.c.) the number of engi-
neers required was immense. They had to make sure that everything fit correctly, that
stones were properly transported long distances, and that the tombs would be secure
against robbery. Imhotep (chief engineer to King Zoser) was building the Step
P yramid at Sakkara (pictured in Fig. 1.1) in Egypt about 2700 b.c. The more elaborate
Great Pyramid of Khufu (pictured in Fig. 1.2) would come about 200 years later. These
early engineers, using simple tools, performed, with great acuity, insight, and techni-
cal rigor, tasks that even today give us a sense of pride in their achievements.
The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the largest masonry structure ever built. Its base
measures 756 feet on each side. The 480-foot structure was constructed using over
2.3 million limestone blocks with a total weight of over 58 million tons. Casing blocks
of fine limestone were attached to all four sides. These casing stones, some weighing
as much as 15 tons, have been removed over the centuries for a wide variety of other
uses. It is hard for us to imagine the engineering expertise needed to quarry and move
these base and casing stones, and then piece them together so that they would form
the pyramid and its covering.
Here are additional details about this pyramid given by Roland Turner and Steven
Goulden in Great Engineers and Pioneers in Technology, Volume 1: From Antiquity
through the Industrial Revolution:
Buried within the pyramid are passageways leading to a number of funeral cham-
bers, only one of which was actually used to house Khufu’s remains. The gran-
ite-lined King’s Chamber, measuring 17 by 34 feet, is roofed with nine slabs of
granite which weigh 50 tons each. To relieve the weight on this roof, located 300
feet below the apex of the pyramid, the builder stacked five hollow chambers at
short intervals above it. Four of the relieving chambers are roofed with granite
lintels, while the topmost has a corbelled roof. Although somewhat rough and
ready in design and execution, the system effectively distributes the massive over-
lying weight to the sturdy walls of the King’s Chamber.
Sheer precision marks every other aspect of the pyramid’s construction. The
four sides of the base are practically identical in length—the error is a matter of
inches—and the angles are equally accurate. Direct measurement from corner to
corner must have been difficult, since the pyramid was built on the site of a rocky
knoll (now completely enclosed in the structure). Moreover, it is an open question
how the builder managed to align the pyramid almost exactly north-south. Still,
many of the techniques used for raising the pyramid can be deduced.
After the base and every successive course was in place, it was leveled by flood-
ing the surface with Nile water, no doubt retained by mud banks, and then mark-
ing reference points of equal depth to guide the final dressing. Complications were
caused by the use of blocks of different heights in the same course.
The above excerpt mentions a few of the fascinating details of the monumental job
undertaken to construct a pyramid with primitive tools and human labor. It was quite
a feat for these early African engineers.
As civilizations grew around the world, the need for infrastructure increased, and
it was the early civil engineers who met this challenge. Cities developed in many
places, including India, China, and the Americas. Early engineering achievements
can be seen even today in many places. For example, pyramids still stand in Latin
America as a testament to the skill and expertise of early Native American engineers.
Cities were constructed that included sophisticated infrastructure and building
techniques. One extraordinary example of ingenuity and skill that inspires many vis-
itors is the Incan city of Machu Picchu (Fig. 1.3) built on top of the Andes mountains
in Peru. Constructed in the 15th century at the height of the Inca Empire, it is an
engineering marvel that used sophisticated techniques of dry-stone walls that fused
huge blocks without the use of mortar. The design of the city itself is based on astro-
nomical alignments that show mathematical and astronomical sophistication. The
site at the top of the mountains would have created significant engineering chal-
lenges, as well as providing for incredible panoramic views that can be enjoyed today.
Recreating that city would be a challenge even with today’s technology.
The Parthenon (Fig. 1.4) was constructed by Iktinos in Athens starting in 447 b.c. and
was completed by 438 b.c. It is an extraordinary example of a religious temple.
Engineers played a role in the religious aspects of societies all over the world. The
Parthenon was to be built on the foundation of a previous temple using materials sal-
vaged from its remains, making this an early example of recycling. The Parthenon
was designed to house a statue of Athena that stood almost 40 feet tall. Iktinos per-
formed the task that he was assigned, and the temple exists today as a monument to
engineering capability.
Structural work on the Parthenon enlarged the existing limestone platform of the
old temple to a width of 160 feet and a length of 360 feet. The building itself, constructed
entirely of marble, measured 101 feet by 228 feet; it was the largest such temple on the
Greek mainland. Around the body of the building Iktinos built a colonnade,
customary in Greek temple architecture. The bases of the columns were 6 feet in diam-
eter and were spaced 14 feet apart. Subtle harmonies were thus established, for these
distances were all in the ratio of 4:9. Moreover, the combined height of the columns
and entablatures (lintels) bore the same ratio to the width of the building.
Remember that this was the year 438 b.c. It would be a significant feat to replicate
the Parthenon today.
As cities and populations grew, additional needs had to be met, including the delivery
of water. In Europe, the Romans developed sophisticated systems of aqueducts to de-
liver and distribute water into their cities. This was the work of early civil engineers who
were using mathematics and an early understanding of sciences. One such aqueduct is
shown in Figure 1.5. It is remarkable that these well-designed structures still stand.
Transportation, including the design and construction of roads, continues to be an
active area of study for civil engineers, and the Romans were among the first great
transportation engineers. Construction of the first great Roman road, the Appian
Way, began around 312 b.c. It connected Rome and Capua, a distance of 142 miles.
The Appian Way eventually stretched to Brundisium, at the very southernmost point
in Italy, and covered 360 miles. The Roman engineers continued building roads until
almost a.d. 200, when the entire empire was connected with a network of roads.
For those interested in civil engineering, the Roman roads followed elaborate
principles of construction. A bedding of sand, 4 to 6 inches thick, or sometimes mortar
1 inch thick, was spread upon the foundation. The first course of large flat stones ce-
mented together with lime mortar was placed upon this bedding of sand. If lime was
not available, the stones (none smaller than a man’s hand) were cemented together
with clay. The largest were placed along the edge to form a retaining wall. This course
varied from 10 inches thick on good ground to 24 inches on bad ground. A layer of
concrete about 9 inches deep was placed on top of this, followed by a layer of rich
gravel or sand concrete. The roadway would generally be 12 inches thick at the sides
of the road and 18 inches in the middle, thus creating a crown that caused runoff.
While this third course was still wet, the fourth or final course was laid. This was
made of carefully cut hard stones. Upon completion these roads would be from 2 to 5
feet thick, quite a feat for hand labor.
It is interesting to note that after the fall of Rome, road building was no longer prac-
ticed by anyone in the world. It would be many hundreds of years before those who
specialized in road building again took on the monumental task of linking the peo-
ples of the world.
In 220 b.c., during the Ch’in Dynasty, military general Meng T’ien led his troops along
the borders of China. His primary role was that of a commander of troops charged
with the task of repelling the nomadic hordes of Mongolians who occasionally surged
across the Chinese border. The Ch’in emperor, Shih Huang Ti, commissioned him to
begin building what would become known as the Great Wall of China (Fig. 1.6).
The emperor himself conceived the idea to link all the fortresses that guarded the
northern borders of China. The general and the emperor functioned as engineers,
even though this was not their profession. They solved a particular problem by apply-
ing the knowledge they possessed in order to make life better for their people. The
ancient wall is estimated to have been 3,080 miles in length, while the modern wall
runs about 1,700 miles. The original wall is believed to have passed Ninghsia, con-
tinuing north of a river and then running east through the southern steppes of
Mongolia at a line north of the present Great Wall. It is believed to have reached the
sea near the Shan-hal-huan River. After serving as a buffer against the nomadic
hordes for six centuries, the wall was allowed to deteriorate until the sixth and sev-
enth centuries a.d., when it underwent major reconstruction under the Wei, Ch’i, and
Sui dynasties. Although the vast structure had lost military significance by the time
of China’s last dynasty, the Ch’ing, it never lost its significance as a wonder of the
world and as a massive engineering undertaking.
Agricultural Engineering
We have used a number of examples of civil engineering, and there were other
branches of engineering that impacted people early in history, including agricultural
engineering. The development of agricultural practices included many contributions
by engineers. Earlier, we mentioned the plow as an example of a mechanism that
made it easier and more productive to grow food. The Native Americans were very
astute agricultural engineers. Today, we are still learning about the sophisticated
ways that indigenous people incorporated an understanding of the land and the en-
vironment into their efforts to produce sustainable processes. They were truly the
first sustainability engineers. Recent discoveries in the Amazon River basin show
that native peoples had cultivated much of what is the Amazon jungle today, and it
was done in a more environmentally friendly manner than our current practices. Re-
searchers are studying the ancient methods to inform practices of today to develop a
sustainable approach for protecting one of the most biodiverse places on the planet.
Like the Romans, Native Americans learned how to distribute water for drinking
and for agriculture. The water systems were often very sophisticated for agriculture
irrigation, drinking, and defense. The Spanish colonists learned from the indigenous
people and their irrigation techniques. In Mexico today, many of the irrigation sys-
tems still derive their designs from the native ones.
Innovative ways of processing food were developed by Mayans, Incas, and others.
For example, the Incas developed ways to freeze dry food, including potatoes, that
could be stored for years. The technique was adapted by the Spanish to send fresh
potatoes back to Europe.
Native Americans were some of the first genetic engineers, and corn is an example.
There is not a wild form of corn that exists today, unlike most other crops. Scientists
hypothesize that Native Americans cross-bred wild grains to produce what has
become one of the largest agricultural crops today.
Early engineers from all over the world helped improve the quality of life of their
fellow citizens. That tradition continues today, and we will discuss some examples of
those engineers and their qualities in the sections that follow.
Industrial Age
The pace of technological change has increased as more technology has been devel-
oped. In the earliest centuries, advances were slow and developed over a long period
of time. That changed significantly with the Industrial Revolution that began in the
1800s. Machines were created that performed tasks more efficiently than people or
animals could. Transportation moved from relying on horses to locomotives and au-
tomobiles. Ships could power themselves instead of relying on wind or rowing.
Machines were introduced to provide power and changed the way many industries
were performed, including mining and agriculture. The Industrial Age produced ma-
chines that could replace the need for manual labor and also created new jobs for
people to manufacture, operate, and repair these machines.
The invention of machines was significant, but engineers are also interested in
how they are used and by whom. The invention of the automobile, for example, didn’t
change the lives of ordinary people until it was made affordable and thus accessible
to more people. Making technology affordable and accessible to a broad and diverse
section of people is, and always has been, an important aspect of engineering. In
1913, Henry Ford pioneered the moving assembly line for the automobile industry,
which began to make the automobile affordable. The idea of mass production reduced
the costs of cars and also provided jobs for people to earn the money to own one.
The advent of large-scale manufacturing created new challenges and areas of en-
gineering related to manufacturing. Understanding the manufacturing processes