Studies In Engineering

Case studies and pedagogical strategies to help science and engineering students improve their writing and speaking skills while developing professional identities. To many science and engineering students, the task of writing may seem irrelevant to their future professional careers. At MIT, however, students discover that writing about their technical work is important not only in solving real-world problems but also in developing their professional identities. MIT puts into practice the belief that “engineers who don't write well end up working for engineers who do write well,” requiring all students to take “communications-intensive” classes in which they learn from MIT faculty and writing instructors how to express their ideas in writing and in presentations. Students are challenged not only to think like professional scientists and engineers but also to communicate like them.This book offers in-depth case studies and pedagogical strategies from a range of science and engineering communication-intensive classes at MIT. It traces the progress of seventeen students from diverse backgrounds in seven classes that span five departments. Undergraduates in biology attempt to turn scientific findings into a research article; graduate students learn to define their research for scientific grant writing; undergraduates in biomedical engineering learn to use data as evidence; and students in aeronautic and astronautic engineering learn to communicate collaboratively. Each case study is introduced by a description of its theoretical and curricular context and an outline of the objectives for the students' activities. The studies describe the on-the-ground realities of working with faculty, staff, and students to achieve communication and course goals, offering lessons that can be easily applied to a wide variety of settings and institutions.

A multidisciplinary introduction to engineering design using real-life case studies. Case Studies in Engineering Design provides students and practising engineers with many practical and accessible case studies which are representative of situations engineers face in professional life, and which incorporate a range of engineering disciplines. Different methodologies of approaching engineering design are identified and explained prior to their application in the case studies. The case studies have been chosen from real-life engineering design projects and aim to expose students to a wide variety of design activities and situations, including those that have incomplete, or imperfect, information. This book encourages the student to be innovative, to try new ideas, whilst not losing sight of sound and well-proven engineering practice. A multidisciplinary introduction to engineering design. Exposes readers to wide variety of design activities and situations. Encourages exploration of new ideas using sound and well-proven engineering practice.

This book compiles proven strategies and information on civil engineering education and the skills necessary for successful practice of civil engineering such as critical thinking, design thinking, leadership, and communication skills. It also addresses other relevant topics including professional ethics, global perspectives, assessment, recruitment, retention, and more. It is designed so that each chapter can be used separately or in combination with other chapters to help enhance and foster student learning as well as development of skills required for engineering practice. Features Includes overviews of successful academic approaches for each topic including implementation examples in every chapter Explains how assessment and the resulting data can be used for holistic evaluation and improvement of student learning Addresses the complexities of moral and professional ethics in engineering Highlights the importance of adopting a global perspective and the successful strategies that have been used or considered in educating resilient, globally minded engineers Compendium of Civil Engineering Education Strategies: Case Studies and Examples serves as a useful guide for engineering faculty, practitioners, and graduate students considering a career in academia. Academic faculty and working professionals will find the content helpful as instructional and reference material in developing and assessing career skills. It is also useful for intellectually curious students who want a deeper understanding and appreciation of the need for professional development and life-long learning.

This book provides a comprehensive, systematic overview of original theoretical, experimental, and numerical studies in the building services engineering domain. It brings together different strands of the topic, guided by the two key features of energy savings and reduction of the pollutant emissions. Technical, economic, and energy efficiency aspects related to the design, modelling, optimisation, and operation of diverse building services systems are explored. This book includes various theoretical studies, numerical and optimisation models, experiments, and applications in this field, giving an emphasis to: indoor environment quality assurance; energy analysis, modelling, and optimisation of heating systems; improving the energy performance of refrigeration and air-conditioning systems; valorising the solar and geothermal energies; analysis of thermal energy storage technologies; hydraulic simulation and optimisation of water distribution systems; and improving the energy efficiency of water pumping. With 11 pedagogically structured chapters, containing numerous illustrations, tables, and examples, this book provides researchers, lecturers, engineers, and graduate students with a thorough guide to building service engineering.

Using a case study approach, this reference tests the reader’s ability to apply engineering fundamentals to real-world examples and receive constructive feedback Case Studies in Mechanical Engineering provides real life examples of the application of engineering fundamentals. They relate to real equipment, real people and real decisions. They influence careers, projects, companies, and governments. The cases serve as supplements to fundamental courses in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, instrumentation, economics, and statistics. The author explains equipment and concepts to solve the problems and suggests relevant assignments to augment the cases. Graduate engineers seeking to refresh their career, or acquire continuing education will find the studies challenging and rewarding. Each case is designed to be accomplished in one week, earning up to 15 hours of continuing education credit. Each case study provides methods to present an argument, work with clients, recommend action and develop new business. Key features: Highlights the economic consequences of engineering designs and decisions. Encourages problem solving skills. Application of fundamentals to life experiences. Ability to practice with real life examples. Case Studies in Mechanical Engineering is a valuable reference for mechanical engineering practitioners working in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer and related areas.

An account of conflicts within engineering in the 1960s that helped shape our dominant contemporary understanding of technological change as the driver of history. In the late 1960s an eclectic group of engineers joined the antiwar and civil rights activists of the time in agitating for change. The engineers were fighting to remake their profession, challenging their fellow engineers to embrace a more humane vision of technology. In Engineers for Change, Matthew Wisnioski offers an account of this conflict within engineering, linking it to deep-seated assumptions about technology and American life. The postwar period in America saw a near-utopian belief in technology's beneficence. Beginning in the mid-1960s, however, society—influenced by the antitechnology writings of such thinkers as Jacques Ellul and Lewis Mumford—began to view technology in a more negative light. Engineers themselves were seen as conformist organization men propping up the military-industrial complex. A dissident minority of engineers offered critiques of their profession that appropriated concepts from technology's critics. These dissidents were criticized in turn by conservatives who regarded them as countercultural Luddites. And yet, as Wisnioski shows, the radical minority spurred the professional elite to promote a new understanding of technology as a rapidly accelerating force that our institutions are ill-equipped to handle. The negative consequences of technology spring from its very nature—and not from engineering's failures. “Sociotechnologists” were recruited to help society adjust to its technology. Wisnioski argues that in responding to the challenges posed by critics within their profession, engineers in the 1960s helped shape our dominant contemporary understanding of technological change as the driver of history.