About Engineering

Who are Engineers?
For centuries, engineers have imagined, inspired, and invented better ways of living. Whether developing the Step Pyramid in 2550 B.C., or constructing our roads, bridges, and tunnels, or advancing technologies in energy, communications, medicine, and computers, engineering is everywhere.

What do Engineers Do?
From environment to infrastructure, from bioengineering to outer space, product design, transportation, heat conduction, computer technology, all depend on engineers. Engineers staff critical systems -- such as energy, transportation, information and medical technology. Engineers design products for work and play. Engineers help heat our homes and cool our refrigerators. They design roads and bridges and the cars that drive upon them. They make your mobile phone smaller and smaller and its sound clearer and clearer.

Did you know that . . .
. . . the snow board was invented by an engineer? With some engineering twists and turns along the way, the snow board has become a marvel of geometry, chemistry, and biomechanics. Since the snow board allows deft turns, ski manufacturers have quickly adopted some of the snow board innovations, enabling skiers to turn with less effort.

. . . engineers design running shoes for protection, performance, and comfort? Engineers understand how much force travels from the ground through the shoe to the foot. Through the work of engineering, weight is distributed throughout the whole foot -- heel to toe.

. . . a civil engineer created the slippery part of the water slide? A civil engineer designed a pumping system to circulate just the right amount of water to the flume. Without the right flow of water, there is no ride. Additionally, civil engineers have designed the slide to withstand the weight of people, the water, and even the force of the wind blowing on it.

. . . the launch and return of spacecraft, from the Apollo to the Shuttle, is a monumental engineering triumph? The space program has greatly expanded the world's knowledge base. The technological advancement by engineers in energy, communications, materials, structures, and computers, have made space travel possible.

. . . the Ferris Wheel is considered one of the greatest engineering wonders in the world? The first Ferris Wheel was created by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania engineer, George W. Ferris, in 1893 for the Chicago World's Fair. The wheel was supported by two 140-foot steel towers and connected by a 45-foot axle -- the largest single piece of forged steel ever made at that time.