This volume aims to provide the reader with a broad cross-section of empirical research being carried out into engineers at work. The chapters provide pointers to other relevant studies over recent decades an important aspect, we believe, because this area has only recently begun to coalesce as a field of study and up to now relevant empirical re
This book explains engineering practice, what engineers actually do in their work. The first part explains how to find paid engineering work and prepare for an engineering career. The second part explains the fundamentals of engineering practice, including how to gain access to technical knowledge, how to gain the willing collaboration of other people to make things happen, and how to work safely in hazardous environments. Other chapters explain engineering aspects of project management missed in most courses, how to create commercial value from engineering work and estimate costs, and how to navigate cultural complexities successfully. Later chapters provide guidance on sustainability, time management and avoiding the most common frustrations encountered by engineers at work. This book has been written for engineering students, graduates and novice engineers. Supervisors, mentors and human resources professionals will also find the book helpful to guide early-career engineers and assess their progress. Engineering schools will find the book helpful to help students prepare for professional internships and also for creating authentic practice and assessment exercises.
'Current Trends in Engineering Practice' covers topics such as geotechnical investigations and structures, construction of earthmoving equipment, power system methodologies, inertial systems, launch vehicle design and corporate turnaround.
This book has been developed with an intellectual framework to focus on the challenges and specific qualities applicable to graduates on the threshold of their careers. Young professionals have to establish their competence in complying with multifaceted sets of ethical, environmental, social, and technological parameters. This competence has a vital impact on the curricula of higher education programs, because professional bodies today rely on accredited degrees as the main route for membership. Consequently, this four-part book makes a suitable resource for a two-semester undergraduate course in professional practice and career development in universities and colleges. With its comprehensive coverage of a large variety of topics, each part of the book can be used as a reference for other related courses where sustainability, leadership, systems thinking and professional practice are evident and increasingly visible. Features Identifies the values that are unique to the engineering and computing professions, and promotes a general understanding of what it means to be a member of a profession Explains how ethical and legal considerations play a role in engineering practice Discusses the importance of professional communication and reflective practice to a range of audiences Presents the practices of leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, safety and sustainability in engineering design Analyzes and discusses the contemporary practices of project management, artificial intelligence, and professional career development.
The first edition of Caroline Whitbeck's Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research focused on the difficult ethical problems engineers encounter in their practice and in research. In many ways, these problems are like design problems: they are complex, often ill defined; resolving them involves an iterative process of analysis and synthesis; and there can be more than one acceptable solution. In the second edition of this text, Dr Whitbeck goes above and beyond by featuring more real-life problems, stating recent scenarios and laying the foundation of ethical concepts and reasoning. This book offers a real-world, problem-centered approach to engineering ethics, using a rich collection of open-ended case studies to develop skill in recognizing and addressing ethical issues.
Both sides of the engineering equationâ€"education and utilizationâ€"are studied in this unique volume. A brief discussion of the development of engineering in the United States is followed by an examination of the status of engineering today. A specially developed flow diagram, which defines all aspects of the current engineering community, demonstrates how the profession adapts and responds to change. The book then takes a critical look at the strengths and weaknesses of current engineering and evaluates major trends in the composition of the engineering work force. The final section offers a preview of engineering and its environment in the year 2000. Companion volumes in the Engineering Education and Practice in the United States series listed below discuss specific issues in engineering education.
