Engineering

Engineering is the application of scientific, economic, social, and practical knowledge in order to design, build, maintain, and improve structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes. It may encompass using insights to conceive, model and scale an appropriate solution to a problem or objective. The discipline of engineering is extremely broad, and encompasses a range of more specialized fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas of technology and types of application.

The American Engineers’ Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET has defined “engineering” as:

The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation or safety to life and property.

One who practices engineering is called an engineer and those licensed to do so may have more formal designations such as Professional Engineer, Federal Aviation Administration Designated Engineering Representative, Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, Ingenieur or European Engineer.