• Question: what is the actual point of being an engineer, answer in detail, as well as this are there are any theories behind engineering?

    Asked by n3rdl33roy to Graham, Luke, Maksim, Ruth on 17 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by knsouthby4, ngovani1.
    • Photo: Graham Wiggins

      Graham Wiggins answered on 17 Jun 2014:


      What’s the point of being an engineer ?
      now there’s a question !… and one I’l turn “back atcha ….”
      are you sat on a chair ? that’s designed + made by an engineer. so I’ll take it away. So now you are sat on the floor, pc still onthe desk ? … desk ? desgined + made by engineers. okay, so now the desk and chair have gone, you’re sat on the floor.. hmmmm take that away, and leave you sat on the cold mud that was lurking under the engineer designed floor…..
      not stopped yet 🙂
      I could mention the computer, but if I took that I couldn’t complete this answer 🙂 and I’d also point out your clothes are probably made out of non-natural materials, where engineers have been involved in making the materials. Won’t leave you a happy student though, sat on the cold mud, no computer, no school , no shoes.

      Engineering is everywhere, if something has been made, chances are an engineer has been involved.

      There are loads of theories, depends what part of engineering you are looking at – from principals of forces in accelleration, to current flow in a wire, to heat dispertion in a liquid…. the list goes on.
      Also depends if you are a systems engineer, who looks at how something needs to work, and finds interesting ways to make it so.
      think of a greenhouse – gets hot in summer ? so you can get automated window openers, that only use the power of the sun ( no electricity ) to work…. that’s full of theory, eg mechanical advantage, servo mechanism, how to work out engery transfer through the system.

    • Photo: Luke Fry

      Luke Fry answered on 18 Jun 2014:


      perfect answer down there! can’t argue with that 🙂

    • Photo: Ruth Gregory

      Ruth Gregory answered on 19 Jun 2014:


      An engineer is here to design and make things. We are here to ensure everything man-made you use in your day to day life is safe and functional.

      There theories generally work around keeping others safe and improving the quality of life of others/everyone. It depends what type of engineering you want to get involved in. In my line of work it involves the principles of materials and loading (i.e. newtons laws).

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 24 Jun 2014:


      Without civil engineers how would you be able to; brush your teeth using the running water in your bathroom. You travel to school on a finely constructed network of roads or on a train or underground system. You might travel by bus or train to school. You might even walk through an underpass or over a bridge before finally settling at your desk. None of this would have been possible without civil engineers.

      Civil engineers design and build bridges, roads, railways, and tunnels. They design and build tall structures and large buildings such as multi-storey car parks, train stations, and even the Olympic stadium.

      Without civil engineers we wouldn’t have a constant supply of clean water, or sustainable energy to help us save our planet. Without civil engineers the world we live in would be completely unrecognisable.

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