Engineering is the application of scientific and technical knowledge to solve human problems. Engineers use imagination, judgment and reasoning to apply science, technology, mathematics, and practical experience. The result is the design, production, and operation of useful objects or processes.
Methodology
The crucial and unique task of the engineer is to identify, understand, and integrate the
constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result. It is usually not enough to build a technically successful product; it must also meet further requirements. Constraints may include available resources, physical or technical limitations, flexibility for future modifications and additions, and other factors, such as requirements for cost, marketability,
producibility, and
serviceability. By understanding the constraints, engineers derive
specifications for the limits within which a viable object or system may be produced and operated.
Problem solving
Engineers use their knowledge of
science,
mathematics, and
appropriate experience to find suitable solutions to a
problem. Creating an appropriate
mathematical model of a problem allows them to analyze it (sometimes definitively), and to test potential solutions. Usually multiple reasonable solutions exist, so engineers must evaluate the different
design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best meets their requirements.
Genrich Altshuller, after gathering statistics on a large number of
patents, suggested that
compromises are at the heart of "
low-level" engineering designs, while at a higher level the best design is one which eliminates the core
contradiction causing the
problem.
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Engineering :: Electronics and Electrical
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