VI. Read the text again and find English equivalents to the following Russian words and word combinations.

1) отрасль техники

2) практическое применение

3) вносить огромный вклад

4) с другой стороны

5) не отставать от изменений

6) по крайней мере

7) творческая способность

8) заниматься научным исследованием

9) принимать ответственность

10) предсказывать

VII. Match the words with their definitions:

1) engineer a) a machine with moving parts that converts energy such as

heat or electricity into motion

2) engine b) careful study or investigation in order to discover new facts

or information

3) engineering c) a skilled person who designs, builds or maintains engines,

machines, bridges, railways, etc.

4) research, n d) a thing made or adapted for a particular purpose

5) device e) the practical application of scientific knowledge in the

design, building and control of machines, roads, bridges,

electrical apparatus

VIII. Are these statements true or false? Correct the false ones with the right information from the text and discuss your answers with a partner.

1. The engineer typifies the twenty first century.

2. Engineeringis one of the most ancient occupations in history.

3. The work of an engineer requires three years of university study.

4. Engineering has become a profession as a result of the increase of scientific knowledge.

5. The technologist works with abstract things and abstract objects.

6. It is easy to find the proper Russian equivalent to the term “engineering”.

7. Engineers should include a factor of safety in their design to reduce the risk of unexpected failure.

IX. Give your definition of the term “engineering”.

X. Talk about the profession of an engineer from memory using these prompts:

- to typify the twenty first century,

- to be engaged in research,

- analytical frame of mind,

- to keep up with changes,

- creative ability,

- the essential triangle,

- to make vast contribution in design and engineering,

- understanding of various processes and materials.

XI. Surf the Internet and find new information about the profession of an engineer. Make a note of it and bring your notes to the class.

Part II

I. You are going to read three texts about engineering. Decide which of the headings (1 - 6) best correspond to each text (A, B, C). Explain your choice of headings. There are some extra headings that you don't need to use.

1. Industrial revolution

2. History of mechanical engineering

3. The origin of the term “engineering”

4. Relationships with other disciplines

5. Main branches of engineering

6. Education of mechanical engineers

II. Read the texts again more slowly. For information 1 - 10 choose the appropriate text A, B, C.

1. The definition of the term “engineering”

2. The difference between scientists and engineers

3. Subdisciplinces of engineering

4. The origin of aeronautical engineering

5. The origin of the term “engineering”

6. Engineering science

7. New branches of engineering

8. The appearance of the term “civil engineering”

9. The interaction of sciences and engineering practice

10. The definition of mechanical engineering

Text A

Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying technical and scientific knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria. Engineering is defined as follows:

“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”.

The concept of engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects.

The term “ engineering” itself has a much more recent etymology, deriving from the word “ engineer”, which itself dates back to 1325, when an engine'er (literally, one who operates an engine) originally referred to “a constructor of military engines”. In this context, now obsolete, an “engine” referred to a military machine, i.e., a mechanical device used in war (for example, a catapult). The word “engine” itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ingenium (c. 1250), meaning “innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention.”

Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings matured as a technical
discipline, the term “civil engineering” appeared to distinguish between those specializing in the
construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the older discipline of military
engineering.

Text B

Science

“Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that has never been”. (Theodore von Kármán)

There exists an overlap between the sciences and engineering practice. In engineering, one applies science. Both areas rely on accurate observation of materials and phenomena. Both use mathematics and classification criteria to analyze and communicate observations. Scientists are expected to interpret their observations and to make expert recommendations for practical action based on those interpretations. Scientists may also have to complete engineering tasks, such as designing experimental apparatus or building prototypes. In the process of developing technology engineers sometimes find themselves exploring new phenomena, thus becoming, for the moment, scientists.

In the book What Engineers Know and How They Know It, Walter Vincenti asserts that engineering research has a character different from that of scientific research. First, it often deals with areas in which the basic physics and chemistry are well understood, but the problems themselves are too complex to solve in an exact manner. Second, engineering research employs many semi-empirical methods that are foreign to pure scientific research, one example being the method of parameter variation.

Engineering is quite different from science. Scientists try to understand nature. Engineers try to make things that do not exist in nature. Engineers stress invention. To embody an invention the engineer must put his idea in concrete terms, and design something that people can use. That something can be a device, a gadget, a material, a method, a computing program, an innovative experiment, a new solution to a problem, or an improvement on what is existing. Since a design has to be concrete, it must have its geometry, dimensions, and characteristic numbers. Almost all engineers working on new designs find that they do not have all the needed information. Most often, they are limited by insufficient scientific knowledge. Thus they study mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and mechanics. Often they have to add to the sciences relevant to their profession. Thus engineering sciences are born.

Scientists and engineers make up less than 5% of the population but create up to 50% of the GDP.

Text C

Engineering, much like science, is a broad discipline which is often broken down into several sub-disciplines. These disciplines concern themselves with different areas of engineering work. Although initially an engineer will be trained in a specific discipline, throughout an engineer’s career the engineer may become multi-disciplined, having worked in several of the outlined areas. Historically the main branches of Engineering are categorized as follows:

- Aerospace Engineering. The design of aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. Aeronautical Engineering deals with aircraft design while Aerospace Engineering is a more modern term that expands this discipline by including spacecraft design. Its origins can be traced back to the aviation pioneers around the turn of the century from the 19th century to the 20th although the work of Sir George Cayley has recently been dated as being from the last decade of the 18th century. Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering was largely empirical with some concepts and skills imported from other branches of engineering. Only a decade after the successful flights by the Wright brothers, the 1920s saw extensive development of aeronautical engineering through development of World War I military aircraft. Meanwhile, research to provide fundamental background science continued by combining theoretical physics with experiments.

- Chemical Engineering. The conversion of raw materials into usable commodities and the optimization of flow systems, especially separations. Chemical Engineering, like its counterpart Mechanical Engineering, developed in the nineteenth century during the Industrial Revolution. Industrial scale manufacturing demanded new materials and new processes and by 1880 the need for large scale production of chemicals was such that a new industry was created, dedicated to the development and large scale manufacturing of chemicals in new industrial plants. The role of the chemical engineer was the design of these chemical plants and processes.

- Civil Engineering. The design and construction of public and private works, such as infrastructure, bridges and buildings.

- Electrical Engineering. The design of electrical systems, such as transformers, as well as electronic goods. Electrical Engineering can trace its origins in the experiments of Alessandro Volta in the 1800s, the experiments of Michael Faraday, Georg Ohm and others and the invention of the electric motor in 1872. The work of James Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century gave rise to the field of Electronics. The later inventions of the vacuum tube and the transistor further accelerated the development of Electronics to such an extent that electrical and electronics engineers currently outnumber their colleagues of any other Engineering speciality.

- Mechanical Engineering. The design of physical or mechanical systems, such as engines, powertrains, kinematic chains and vibration isolation equipment. The inventions of Thomas Savery and the Scottish engineer James Watt gave rise to modern Mechanical Engineering. The development of specialized machines and their maintenance tools during the industrial revolution led to the rapid growth of Mechanical Engineering both in its birthplace Britain and abroad.

With the rapid advancement of technology many new fields are gaining prominence and new branches are developing such as Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Nanotechnology, Molecular Engineering, Mechatronics etc. These new specialities sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new branches such as Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics and Electrical and Computer Engineering.

For each of these fields there exists considerable overlap, especially in the areas of the application of sciences to their disciplines such as physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Text D

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