History of Engineering

•Engineering science had occurred 60 years before social

sciences.
•It became important after world war II
•History of engineering has been traced back to ancient time
when wedge, lever, wheel and pulley were invented.

•The term engineering was derived from engineer which

itself was dated back to 1390 referred to a constructor of a
military machine used in war

1
 o The relevance of engineering science became
more obvious with the advent of R&D
o Thus opening avenues for more engineering
disciplines
o The pyramid in Egypt,
o The Acropolis and the Pattenon in Greece,
o The hanging Gardens of Babylon and others
are testimonies to the ingenuity and skill of
ancient civil and military engineers.
The first Ph.D. in engineering was awarded to
Josiah Willard Gibbs at Yale university, united
State in 1863.
The Pyramids of Egypt The Parthenon of Athenian Acropolis of Greece

The Hanging Garden of Babylon

• Engineering Disciplines had Stages of Revolutions
emerged from historical
sources and are marked by
revolutions. Industrial
• 5 phases of revolutionary Revolution – 2nd
18 – 19th industrial Material
activities include: Pre-Scientific
Century - revolution – Revolution –
Artistry to before world
Revolution – IT revolution gives room
scientific (e.g; war II,
Leonardo Da developed for
use of
Vinci (various chemical and after world collaboration
frictional
structures in electrical war II between
forces to
Italy) engineering science
develop
developed engineering
weapons to
prosecute essentially
wars)
 History based on Discipline

Civil Engineering

o The oldest profession is Civil Engineering and emerged in 2550 BC

o The 1st Engineer built the stepped pyramid in Egypt using simple mathematical
tools, the structure still exists today.
o The earliest civil engineer is Imhotep who designed and supervised the construction
of the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt, around 2630 – 2611 BC.

o Engineering education of ancient times was developed by Vitruviv’s De architectura

Also:

o Military Engineering – using military and civil skills during conflicts – simple fighting

tools, like catapult, battering rods, towers to develop enemy forts and encampment.
o The first self-proclaimed civil
engineer was John Smeaton and
regarded as father of civil
engineer.

o He designed bridge, canals,

harbours and Light
houses. He is also a mechanical
engineer.
o He pioneered the hydraulic lime, a
form of mortar which set under
water. The hydraulicity in limed led to
invention of Portland cement.
 Mechanical Engineering

o R&D also led to the development of:

Mechanical Engineering– 2nd Engineering Discipline to be developed in 1700s
along with the era of industrial revolution.
Mechanical Engineering thus became recognized in 1847 to build miscellaneous
tools and fuel engines
o The first known mechanical computer known as Antikythera mechanism and
Archimedes’ inventions are early achievement in mechanical engineering.
o These are key principles in machine theory that were used in design of gear
trains of the industrial revolution and are still in use till today in Robotics and
Automotive engineering.
o Steam engine was built by Thomas Savery in 1698.
o Inventions of Thomas Newcomen (Steam engine) in (1712) and James
Watt give rise to modern mechanical engineering.
Thomas Savery (England inventor)’s
steam engine, 1698 for pumping
water
 Electrical Engineering

Electrical – Interest grew in Electrical Engineering in order to provide power to run

the engines & lighting the environment.
Allasandro Volta (Italian) developed the voltaic cell in 1800 and establishes the fact
that fluids in the frog merely provides electrolyte
The first frog Battery was constructed by Carlo Matteucci.
Michael Faraday presented the frog Battery in a paper to the Royal Society in 1845
and later invented Faraday’s law of electrolysis
Georg Ohm discovered Ohm’s law based on Allasandro Volta’s invention.
Frog’s leg experiment by Michael Faraday establishing magnetism by wire
carrying current led to invention of electrical motor in 1872.
Theoretical work of James Maxwell electromagnetic waves and Heinrich
Hertz Radio waves 1887 in the late 19 century lead to field of electronics.
Transistor and vacuum tube were invented in mid 1900s
Software Engineering among several others were also developed
Allesandro Volta’s Carlo Matteucci’s cell, 1845
cell, 1799
 Chemical Engineering

– Chemical Engineering – In 1800, with the advent

of industrial Revolution, chemical processing in
metals, food and textile production became
important thus the development of chemical
industries and chemical engineers started to
design chemical plants.
 Agricultural Engineering

– Agricultural Engineering began late 19 th and early

20th as a result of agricultural revolution and
shortage of manpower after the 1st world war.
Other engineering field developed a long too, out
of circumstances and necessities.
Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering
o Early knowledge of aeronautical
engineering was empirical with some
concept adapted from other
engineering disciplines.
o Aeronautical engineering deals with
design of aircraft process.
o Aerospace engineering engages
with design of space craft.
o Work of Sir George Cayley in the
last decade of 18th century marked
beginning of aerospace and
aeronautical engineering.
o Large development of military
aircraft used in world war I was a
decade after successful flights of
wright brothers
 Materials and Metallurgical Engineering

• Religious Books both Bible and Qur’an

revealed uses and importance of iron as an
instrument for making weapons and useful
materials for human benefits.

• A noble man called Dhul Qornain built a

tall wall from alloy of iron and copper.

• All these marked the origin of and

established Metallurgical and Materials
engineering as an ancient field of
Engineering.

• Hence the timelessness of the

Engineering profession
 More evidence of pre-historic Engineering
(between 6000-3000BC)
• Production of fire at will
• Production of copper and bronze
• Invention of the wheel and axle

• Development of a system of symbols for written communication

• Origination of a system of mathematics

and Construction of irrigation works

 Other Engineering disciplines evolved
as a result of continuous R&D in order to
effectively fulfil the problem solving
characteristic of Engineering. Some
examples are:
o Mining engineering,
o Petroleum and petrochemical engineering,
o Biomedical engineering.
o Petroleum engineering
o Petrochemical engineering
o Polymer and textile engineering
o Welding engineering
o Subsea engineering.
o Robotics Engineering
Nanomaterials Engineering
o Nuclear Engineering
o