Everyday Engineering Magazine

Building on the breakthrough text Philosophy and Engineering: An Emerging Agenda, this book offers 30 chapters covering conceptual and substantive developments in the philosophy of engineering, along with a series of critical reflections by engineering practitioners. The volume demonstrates how reflective engineering can contribute to a better understanding of engineering identity and explores how integrating engineering and philosophy could lead to innovation in engineering methods, design and education. The volume is divided into reflections on practice, principles and process, each of which challenges prevalent assumptions and commitments within engineering and philosophy. The volume explores the ontological and epistemological dimensions of engineering and exposes the falsity of the commonly held belief that the field is simply the application of science knowledge to problem solving. Above all, the perspectives collected here demonstrate the value of a constructive dialogue between engineering and philosophy and show how collaboration between the disciplines casts light on longstanding problems from both sides. The chapters in this volume are from a diverse and international body of authors, including philosophers and engineers, and represent a highly select group of papers originally presented in three different conferences. These are the 2008 Workshop on Philosophy and Engineering (WPE-2008) held at the Royal Academy of Engineering; the 2009 meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT-2009) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands; and the Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology (fPET-2010), held in Golden, Colorado at the Colorado School of Mines.

What makes a windup toy get up and go? How does an earbud operate? And why does the line you’re waiting in always seem the slowest? Get middle-schoolers engaged in the fascinating science behind familiar items with More Everyday Engineering. Like Everyday Engineering, this compilation brings together activities based on the “Everyday Engineering” columns from NSTA’s award-winning journal Science Scope. Thirteen hands-on investigations focus on three aspects of engineering: designing and building, reverse engineering to learn how something works, and constructing and testing models. Like the original collection, this book is easy to use. Each investigation is a complete lesson that includes in-depth teacher background information, expected sample data, a materials list, and a student activity sheet for recording results. The activities use simple, inexpensive materials you can find in your science classroom or at a dollar store. Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or enrichment-program leader, go beyond the usual bridge-building and egg-drop activities. Spark curiosity with appealing activities that will help middle schoolers understand that engineering truly is a part of their everyday lives.