Why We Need Hands-On Engineering Education
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the top analysts, not the top designers. We believe that the emphasis of engineering science over design has contributed significantly to the decline of the nation's industrial base. Clearly many factors are at work — such as management's short-term financial objectives and labor practices that inhibit productivity — but the lack of design capability among U.S. engineers is predominant. According to yet another 1986 NRC report, U.S. engineering graduates no longer have the feel they once had for creating complete, functioning Systems. For example, the majority of graduating mechanical engineers cannot design a combustion engine. They may have studied the strengths and properties of various materials or the way gases flow and react in turbines, but they have not necessarily learned how the parts of an engine are designed, manufactured, and assembled—or even how the components work. Design: From Graphics to Economics Design has fallen so low in the order of educational priorities that many engineers— especially young ones and students— do not understand its meaning. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology defines engineering design as "the process of devising a System, component, or process to meet desired needs." Essential to developing competitive products, design is the central activity of the engineering profession. In the course of designing, the engineer creates by relying on everything from intuition and graphics to science and economics.
Consider the tasks of the civil engineer who bids on designing a highway bridge over a wide river. The engineer must first determine possible bridge shapes based not only on his or her knowledge of mathematical analysis of structures* but also on such Information as long-ra'nge traffic forecasts and the area's terrain. For instance, will delivery of the bridge materials involve travel along mountainous roads with tightly curving hinnels, prohibiting the use of long prefabricated spans? Will the river ice up in winter, making a girder bridge with many piers undesirable? The engineer must next consider details such as the dimensions of individual bridge members, the design of the bridge piers and abutments, and the appropriate construction method. Again, he| or she must rely on intuition and experience as well as a knowledge of science; For instance, if the soil at the river's edge is soft clay, the engineer must know that abutments will have to be placed on piles driven into firmer soil. If a Suspension bridge is called for, the engineer will have to recognize that Suspension cables are too heavy to weave offjsite. So he or she will have to design a special platform for weaving the cables over the construction site. Then the engineer must estimate the total cost by conducting an economic analysis, which requires an understanding of the costs of materials and construction methods. Throughout this process, the engineer also has to recognize that aesthetics, cost, and local politics may determine whether his or her design will be chosen. Similarly, the mechanical en
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