Engineering and Society: Challenges of Professional Practice

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Joe King is a member of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

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Recognizing the central role of engineering activity in modern societies, Engineering & Society explores the global and social context of contemporary engineering practice. This text breaks new ground in the way that it puts engineering into a broad social, political, economic, and philosophical context.

Engineering & Society utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to explore what engineers do, the education, knowledge and skills they need, and their roles and responsibilities in society. Three ongoing themes provide continuity to this text: the nature of technology and its relationship to engineering; the nature of development and its relationship to engineering; and the role that professional engineering practice plays in the development of technology and the sustainable creation wealth.

• The history of engineering and engineering design
• The social and political contexts in which engineers practice
• How engineers create new products, processes and systems
• Engineering leadership and management
• Economic development and the globalization of engineering practice
• The challenges of reconciling development with ecological consequences
• Ethics and future challenges in professional engineering

Central topical questions are highlighted in boxes showing Key Concepts and Issues. These include basic definitions and descriptions, state major assumptions underlying the approach to a topic, and outline a variety of views that exist, allowing students to reach their own conclusions. The inclusion of Case Studies allows this book to show the ways that professional engineers work in the real world. The Case Studies explore the decision-making process that engineers must go through, how political pressure, a lack of time or resources, and human and environmental factors play a part in their professional lives.