A path forward for the engineering and technology

The body of knowledge is known as technology, and the process of developing technologies is called engineering.^[1] Technology can relate to inventions as rudimentary as stone tools or as complicated as genetic engineering and information technology. Engineering attempts to use these inventions to meet societal demands from water, energy, medical care, technical advancements, etc. Herein, the history of technology and engineering projects was in chronological synchrony long ago.

History of technology

Looking at the evolution of humankind’s lifestyle, as observed in Figure 1, one would be amazed at where humanity started at least 2.6 million years ago. The survival tools were sharp flakes of stone and large unshaped stones used as knives, hammers and anvils.^[2] Not until one million years ago was fire discovered. Followed by Neolithic Revolution (20-15 thousand years ago), agriculture, woven fabrics and the wheel were invented. By six thousand years BCE, nearly at the same time, Mesopotamian civilizations in the Tigris-Euphrates River basin and Egyptian civilizations in the Nile River valley developed their first irrigation systems. The Indus Civilization was most prevalent in the north-western regions of South Asia, where Harappan artifacts were evident in pottery, seals, weights, bricks and monumental architecture. During the same era, the Maya were the most well-known of Mesoamerica’s classical civilizations, emerging in the Yucatán at approximately 2600 BC. The Maya invented astronomy, calendars, hieroglyphic writing and ornate ceremonial architecture, including temple pyramids, palaces and observatories created without metal tools. Chinese culture was one of the world’s four ancient civilizations at the same time and made important contributions to papermaking, printing, gunpowder and compass.

Figure 1. Engineering and technology timeline: starting from fire and stone to ending with genetic engineering and other modern discoveries.

Not until 950 CE in Persia that windmills were first built. These were horizontal windmills with vertical shafts supporting the blades. In 1765, the steam engine became one of the most important inventions of the Industrial Revolution. In 1876, German engineer Nikolaus Otto built an engine that, unlike the steam engine, used the burning of fuel inside the engine to move a piston. This type of engine would later be used to power automobiles. In 1901, the radio was successfully introduced to send transmissions over long distances. 73 years later, the Internet was introduced to the world, where data can be broken down into smaller pieces before being transmitted to the right destination. Imagine how humankind’s life would be now without the Internet! Not forgetting that the nineties also included airplanes, rocketry, television, computers and nuclear power inventions. Finally, in 2017, the artificial intelligence program was announced. Through machine learning, artificial intelligence has become better and can compete with humans.

Modern technology has paved the way to undergoing tremendous products. What was impossible in the past is becoming the new possible and exciting products to develop. People now rely on smartphones, watches and faster, more portable and higher-powered computers than before to complete their daily chores and activities. Humans’ lives have been improved regarding means of communication, transportation, healthcare and networking. The best thing is that technology is always improving by allowing for more complex features.

History of engineering

Major engineering undertakings have existed for at least five thousand years. As seen in Figure 2, civil engineering is the oldest branch of engineering.^[3] It deals with designing, constructing, analyzing and maintaining natural and man-made structures such as bridges, roads, dams and buildings. From sharp flakes of stone used as knives and bigger unshaped stones used as hammers and anvils into cranes, drills, transit mixers, concrete mixers, etc., tools’ development played an important part in the construction of the later skyscrapers, the introduction of more imaginative structural forms in buildings and to the development of pre-fabrication techniques.

Figure 2. List of worldwide existing and future in-demand engineering degrees: the roots of engineering are the civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering.

Likewise, during the nineteenth century, advances in physics and machine tools enabled mechanical engineering to be separated from engineering. It encompasses the development of machines, manufacturing things and generating electricity and energy. Mechanical engineering has recently evolved to encompass increasingly technological and innovative sub-disciplines, such as automobile engineering, industrial engineering, nanotechnology, structural analysis, robots and ergonomics.

Electrical engineering may be said to have emerged as a discipline in 1864 when the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell mathematically defined the basic rules of electricity and demonstrated that electromagnetic energy radiation moves through space at the speed of light. The demand for electrical engineers was not recognized until 40 years later when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone (1876) and Thomas A. Edison invented the incandescent lamp (1878). Electrical engineering has now been sub-divided into electronics, telephony and satellite communications, electric light, power and their interdisciplinary applications with mechanical engineering to design turbines, generators, transmission lines, motors, etc.

Chemical engineering has been around as long as the process industries. Its origins can be traced back to early civilizations’ fermentation and evaporation processes. Modern chemical engineering arose with the emergence of large-scale chemical-manufacturing activities in the second half of the nineteenth century. Chemical engineering has been geared toward solving the difficulties of constructing and managing large plants for continuous production throughout its emergence as an autonomous science. Chemical engineers are engaged in plastics, polymers, synthetic fibers engineering, the pharmaceutical industry, the nuclear industry and the metals processing sector.

With the thirst for new technologies and the ongoing evolution of technology, the future of engineering and technology has become intriguing! The new humankind research has actively shaped engineering fields to create critical and trans-disciplinary initiatives and products. Conversely, technology is the long-term development of systematic manufacturing and doing things. A uniform technique for surveying technological experience and developments within each historical period has been adopted. This begins with the time’s major materials and sources of power and progresses to their applications in food production, the manufacturing industry, building construction, transportation and communications, military technology and medical technology.

The life of the engineer

The world is moving into a radical framework where the body and mind are the fields of operational changes. Engineering makes it possible to manipulate and change any aspect of the human being, from physical to intellectual, social, psychological or physiological. Engineers are now expected to be innovative and creative. Civil engineers will be required to reinvent cities, mechanical engineers to improve how people move, biological and chemical engineers to resolve tough health concerns and computer engineers to design the technology for developing solutions that allow exchanging data for a completely connected and efficient world to be realized through artificial intelligence and other technologies. Biomedical engineers will oversee upgrading and inventing new versions of prostheses and organs, diagnostic devices such as MRI scanners and safety gear and equipment for healthcare workers. Faster data transfer and information sharing will demand employees to ensure that these data and information transfer pathways continue to develop and work appropriately. Photonics is also gaining traction among electrical engineers, with applications including fiber networking, medical diagnostics and military laser defense. Green solutions are applied in almost all engineering industries, and the merger of Engineering and Business Engineering is gaining traction among corporate executives. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering is a recently branched field of research and practice that combines the principles of systems engineering, software engineering, computer science and human-centered design to create AI systems in accordance with human needs for mission outcomes. The rise in the availability of computing power and massive datasets has led to the creation of new AI models and algorithms encompassing thousands of variables capable of making rapid and impactful decisions. Hence, innovation is vital for future engineering.

The future of the engineer’s professional life will be marked by economic freedom, more consulting organizations and more entrepreneurship. Minorities, particularly women, will become increasingly important in the industry, and working engineers will have a broad support network to increase their abilities and competence. Additionally, the number of notions included in the professional’s thinking will grow, such as the idea of a non-engineering, social answer for every technical solution. The future of engineering appears promising, as more technical progress in this discipline may help all. This is the finest time in history to pursue a career in engineering.

Farah Mneimneh
Iowa State University, USA
[email protected]
Seeram Ramakrishna
National University of Singapore, Singapore
[email protected]