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Changing Nature of Engineering
Author: Wm. A. Wulf
Source: Bridge Archives
Published in The Bridge
Volume 27, Number 2 - Summer 1997
I would like to invite readers of The Bridge - especially those
who are practicing engineers - to share with me their views on
how engineering has changed in the last 50 years.
Let me provide some context. Many of us feel that the practice
of engineering will change dramatically in the coming 2 decades.
The basic purpose and broad outline of the engineering process
won't change, of course. However, there seems to be a powerful
confluence of technological and economic trends that, taken
together, could produce dramatic shifts in engineering. I feel it is
incumbent on the NAE to try to anticipate these changes and
their implications for engineering education and practice.
To say that there will be a change is one thing; to say what the
change will be is quite another. (Predicting the future is a
notoriously risky business.) Later this year, the NAE will convene
a workshop to consider how engineering has evolved in the last
half-century in various industry sectors. While that won't tell us
with certainty what the future will be, perhaps it will tell us
something about the vector of change. Which brings me back to
my opening invitation: I would like to have as many individual
views as possible available to the workshop.
Is engineering really going to experience a dramatic
metamorphosis? I don't know, but consider the following partial
list of trends:
The availability of a vast array of new engineered
materials and processes, including biological ones, resulting
in a much larger "design space" from which the engineer
must choose.
The pervasive use of information technology in both the
products and process of engineering.
The increasing number and complexity of the constraints
on acceptable engineering solutions; where once cost and
functionality dominated, now ecological concerns, safety
concerns, reliability and maintainability, and a host of other
"ilities" are first-order considerations.
The globalization of industry and the associated shift from
a nationally differentiated engineering enterprise to one
that is far more cosmopolitan.
The accelerated rise in the technical intensity of most
manufacturing and service industries, both in terms of the
absolute specific technical knowledge required and the
breadth of knowledge needed in a single product or
service.
The expanded role of the engineer as part a product team,
and the broad business knowledge required to fill that role.
The increased pace of change. There seems to be less
time to assimilate and adapt, and this raises concerns
about long-term employment, which in turn creates stress
among individual engineers. It also elevates the importance
of continual education--life-long learning--among
engineers.
Although I have described them only briefly, it seems to me that
any one of these trends has the potential to change the practice
of engineering significantly, and hence the education required to
be an engineer. Consider my own field of information technology,
for example. Clearly, computers and computer networks have
already had an impact: They have eliminated drafting as a manual
process; they have enabled far more precise analysis of
engineered structures; they permit close collaboration of
engineers who are not physically co-located; and on and on.
Perhaps the design of the Boeing 777, which was accomplished
completely through the use of computers, is the best example of
the cumulative impact that information technology has had on
engineering to date. The future impact, however, will be much
greater. As the cost and size of integrated circuits continue to fall
exponentially, it will make sense to include some degree of
"intelligence" in all engineered products. We can imagine, for
instance, concrete structures that are smart enough to sense the
corrosion in their reinforcing rods and "call home" when they
need to be repaired. As the power of computers also increases
exponentially, more and more routine engineering functions will
be codified and done by computers, simultaneously freeing the
engineer from drudgery and demanding a higher level of
creativity, knowledge, and skill.
It is not any single trend that convinces me the NAE has to look
at the changing nature of engineering; rather, it is their
co-occurrence. While trying to predict the consequences of just
one of these trends is difficult even for an expert in that domain,
to even begin to glean the consequences of their joint effect will
tax our collective wisdom. And so, again, I would appreciate your
retrospective input. How has engineering changed in your
industry in your professional lifetime? We need to collect this
basic information if we are to have a hope of understanding the
future.
We will communicate the results of this exercise to all of you as
they become available. Thanks in advance.
About the Author
Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of
Engineering.
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