Why do we need engineers?

This is a FUN one to answer. Often we don’t think too much about engineers and their role in society – but I think that’s exactly how we engineers like it! Engineers are often in the background, doing their thing and only when it is introduced to society, is it known what they were working on!

Consider all the tech devices (phones, laptops, TVs, vehicle technology), that’s electrical and computer engineers at work. Environmental engineers are keeping our world green, making sure we have clean drinking water, disaster relief and working on climate change and how we adjust to those changes as a society. Research and development engineers are involved with prototypes, testing new ideas and materials as well as drugs and even genetics studies. We need mechanical engineers in the automotive industry to develop new ideas and energy efficient vehicles/mechanics. Manufacturing engineers (my personal favorite) are making sure manufacturing facilities are efficient, cost effective and quality is ensured on products as well as logistical processing. Software engineers write code and create software programs and systems. Aerospace engineers are designing and developing aircraft and spacecraft!

You will find engineers as innovative thinkers, entrepreneurial minds, and experimenters. If you like engineering, find your favorite area of study and we’ll see you changing the world in a few years! I’m excited to see young people looking into engineering careers, I hope you never lose your inquisitiveness!

Engineers are critical to society. They are the technical problem solvers and inventors. As you are growing up and in everyday life, you tend not to see engineers, but you use the tools and technology they have invented and developed. Most of the time you do not even know it!

For example, if you are reading this on the internet, think of the technology behind it. The phone or computer display took engineers to develop and manufacture. There are many types of software engineering programs that have been programmed into your computer or phone. The wireless capability was developed by electrical engineers, and the battery that provides the energy source, that is due to power engineers and then manufacturing engineers to produce.

So while you do not see these engineers, they are typically the unsung heroes, the ones behind the curtain to make these things possible. Expanding to other areas of your life, civil engineers work to provide various infrastructure in your world, from roads to bridges to buildings and dams; these engineers are responsible for the designs and safety aspects of the designs. The list goes on!

Scientists and engineers do work together at times. Scientists are typically working at a more basic or fundamental level of a given phenomenology. Engineers will take their discoveries and use it in their designs. Engineers are typically bigger picture thinkers and work towards a product, although engineers do perform quite a bit of their own research and development.

So the next time you get in a car or train or plane, know many engineers were responsible for making that possible. When you use soaps, make-up, and other such products, know that chemical engineers were involved in making that possible.

Also know engineers do not work alone, they are in teams. These teams may include scientists, technicians, mechanics, electricians, and inspectors. But the engineer is often the key problem solver or developer for the product or system.

That's a really good question and a really tough one to answer as engineers do a wide range of things. In my mind, I think of scientists as people who are always seeking to understand more about how the world works. Engineers are using what we understand about how the world works to achieve goals. Those goals could be day to day things like heating our homes or they could be large scale construction challenges like building a massive bridge, they could be designing products like a car but they might be focused on how to make something we've had for years work more efficiently. Both scientists and engineers might experiment but with different goals. Both are important!

This is such a fantastic question! It really gets to the question of – what do engineers do to help society and help people? The answer to that question always has two sides.

Some of what engineers develop is used to help people, but sometimes it is used against them. But, if we take away the question of how people use technology, the answer is that engineers develop technical solutions to problems. For example, how to build a bridge across a body of water that helps us transport food and goods more efficiently from where it is grown or built to the cities where it is needed. Or how to treat water so that people can have access to clean water. Or how to develop a prosthetic that can be used to repair someone’s hip or knee. Or how to create cost effective efficient solar cells that can create electricity without using fossil fuels.

Almost everything that you use every day, and every machine that is used to make it, and every tool used in medicine was developed by engineers.

Engineers are essential because they turn scientific discoveries into real-world applications. They design and construct infrastructure like bridges, roads, and buildings, develop technology such as smartphones and medical devices, and create systems that ensure clean water and efficient energy use. Their work directly impacts our quality of life, safety, and economic growth. Engineers and scientists, while often working closely together, have distinct roles and focuses. Scientists primarily seek to understand the natural world through research and experimentation, aiming to discover new knowledge and principles. Engineers, on the other hand, apply this scientific knowledge to design, build, and maintain systems, structures, and devices that solve practical problems and improve our daily lives

There is literally engineering behind everything you use and do on a daily basis. Many people don’t realize how many types of engineers exist and all the things they engineer of the products and things you do each day. For instance there’s a chemical engineer behind the makeup you put on your face, a structural engineer behind the building you occupy, a civil engineer behind the road you drive on, a mechanical and electrical engineer behind the hair dryer you use to blow dry your hair. The world is run by engineers creating and engineering products and processes that we use every day.

Scientists seek knowledge and engineers seek to apply knowledge to benefit humankind. Anything useful that was ever invented was created by an engineer whether that person identified as one or not. Many scientists are also engineers and vice versa. It may be difficult for educators to separate knowledge from application so they may be using terms like "science" and "scientist" as catch-alls.

What a great question! First let’s talk about what an engineer does. They solve problems using math and science – the solutions then make our lives better. For example – you want to get from your home to the store faster than your horse can carry you. Someone engineered an automobile to solve that problem. Or you need roadways for all of those automobiles to get to all sorts of places – civil engineers design highways, overpasses, bridges, etc. Another good example is people with heart trouble – someone engineered a pacemaker.

I love being an engineer because all my years working designing airplanes, I was helping to make it easier for you, your family, and friends to travel to visit loved ones, visit fun places and to see the world.

I read a book once called Engineers and Ivory Towers by Hardy Cross, published in the 1950s. The book talked about the evolution of engineering. And one thing stuck out at me – Engineering is the application of science in the real world. Where scientists work in labs and do experiments under controlled conditions, engineers need to work within the constraints of the real world - from environmental conditions, supply chain issues, budget constraints, risk tolerance, and a multitude of other non-technical considerations.

Engineering is a multifaceted discipline that results in real change in your community. Roads are built with engineers, the Internet gets to your house with help from engineering, your food gets to your table with engineering. And with a lot of other disciplines too! And someone that studied engineering may not always have a title of engineer but they retain that analytical mindset that helps navigate from problem to solution.

If you look at the spectrum, there are scientists, engineers, and craftsmen. Scientists work in labs and develop theories. Engineers work in the real world and manage constraints. Craftsmen (or tradesmen) work in their specific craft and the constraints of that craft. Another more specific example might be, a scientist developed the formula for blue paint. An engineer figured out how to tweak the formula for mass production, transportation, and storage. And a painter painted your walls blue.

One can view engineers and scientists as very similar. The distinct differences lie in their goals. Scientists research the natural world and scientific discoveries. Engineers develop solutions to everyday problems. For this reason, engineers are important to our communities and society. Ongoing issues need solutions. Engineers use their skills to solve problems. They develop, test, and implement creative solutions. We will always encounter problems that require solving.

When I first considered what degree to take at Cambridge University, I was choosing between a Natural Science program, which covered a wide range of physical and biological science, or engineering. If I had taken the natural science program I would have likely ended up in a career focusing on research breakthroughs, possibly working in exciting new fields such as quantum sensors or space physics. I chose instead to study engineering because I was more excited by the practical application of scientific breakthroughs, than developing the breakthroughs themselves.

I feel that both fields, science and engineering, are very important to advancing technology to the benefit of our communities. I get huge satisfaction though from seeing the real world benefits of engineering projects that I have worked on and now see used on a day to day basis, for example in every smart cell phone used by the general public.

Why are engineers important to a community? A community needs several different kinds of people to function. Police keep law and order, firefighters and paramedics respond to personal and community emergencies, doctors and nurses take care of our well being, grocers make sure we have a variety of food.

Why do we need engineers? I think my previous answer helps with this, but let's consider what some people call "Living off the Grid". Some individuals don't agree with modern society norms and values and they choose to live away from the unusual comforts of life. So they have to be their own engineers. Many individuals in Alaska for example live this way.

First they need a place to live. A tent may be okay for the short term but when winter comes a more substantial place is required. Engineering comes into play in many ways. How did they get to the location? Drive or hike? If they drove, will the road be able to handle large trucks to bring building materials or will they get stuck? Does a road need to be engineered? What materials will be needed to re-enforce and how much do they cost? What can I afford? If you hiked in and roads are not an option, what materials do you have to build a house? What equipment do you have? What is your timeframe before winter?

While you are thinking about your house and maybe a road. How are you going to eat and where is your water source? If you have to hike to get water every day, how much time is left to do the rest of the stuff you need to do? You may need to engineer a way to get water to your location in a better manner. Dig a well? What is the water table? How deep do you need to dig to get water? Planting a garden even requires some engineering. What is the soil like? Where and when is the sun going to hit the area? What vegetables will grow and when do they need to be harvested? What vegetables can keep through a long winter?

During all this time you are probably living by candle or lantern light, cooking over a fire, but eventually most individuals would like some form of electricity. What will you harness for electricity? Solar, water, or wind power? How do you store that power? Or you can bring a generator in, but if you hiked in -- who wants to go to town and trudge gallons of gasoline, propane or other gas into the site?

Are engineers the same as scientists? This is a harder question as it is kind of like which came first the chicken or the egg? Engineers use many theories and principles when they work and a scientist is usually credited with the discovery.

Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703) is an English scientist who studied many disciplines from biology to physics. Hooke's Law states: "the strain of a material is proportional to the applied stress with the materials elastic limit". Hooke discovered this by examining a spring. Compressing and expanding it with different levels of force until it became permanently disfigured.

There is a whole equation to this theory, so is it science, math, physics, or engineering? Who invented the spring? An engineer or a scientist?