Engineering

In early times, the practice of engineering
was that of a trade or craft with training occurring through some
form of apprenticeship. As it developed into a profession and more
recently as an academic discipline, it took on the shape of other
academic disciplines, with preparation being an education rather
than a training. An important turning point in the Unites States
was the land grant college act (Morrill act) of 1862 which
established an institution for the teaching of agriculture and the
mechanical arts (engineering) in each state. This officially
legitimated engineering in higher education although it still had
the form of training. Interestingly, this act came into being
during the American Civil War and was signed by Abraham
Lincoln.

World-War II was the second turning point
when it was discovered that many of the technical innovations
necessary for that effort came from scientists, mathematicians, and
theoretically educated engineers rather than traditionally trained
engineers. Most engineers prior to that time had been trained to
develop and apply ideas already in existence, not to create new
solutions to new problems. After WWII, the university curricula in
engineering became much more scientific and mathematical. It took
on more elements of an education rather than a training. It slowly
became a real academic discipline in its own right rather than only
an application of other disciplines. However, it retains the
integrating role of applying the physical and life sciences using
some of the tools of the social sciences, law, and policy and the
values derived from the humanities, letters, arts, and
business.

We are now going through a third transition
in engineering in response to many factors in society and in
technology itself. In the larger picture, society went through the
agricultural phase, the industrial phase, and now the information
phase. These three phases of civilization created and were created
by the most powerful and applicable technologies of the time.
Engineering is and will be the creative element in the information
age as it has been in preceding ages.