30-Second Engineering: 50 key fields, methods, and principles, each explained in half a minute

Description

Major buildings, energy supply systems, chemical plants, food processing, and aircraft are all examples of engineering today. Despite such diversity, nearly all engineering fields rely on common principles and methods, and there is remarkable similarity in the daily work of engineers. Engineers spend most effort organising and coordinating collaborative work by all the diverse people involved, guided by their technical knowledge and experience. Unlike physics or biology, where immutable laws underpin the study, the essence of engineering is found in how theory is applied judgementally. To quickly grasp the nature of engineering the fifty summaries in 30-Second Engineering outlines types of engineering from mechanical to chemical; the universal stages of a collaborative engineering project; and the key ways engineering can solve the challenges of our future earth.

James Trevelyan is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Western Australia. He is best-known for pioneering sheep-shearing robots, remote access laboratories, and landmine clearance methods. He won the pre-eminent award for robotics-the Engelberger Science and Technology Award-in 1993. An expert in the theory of engineering practice, Trevelyan has won several national awards for teaching excellence and awards for papers on engineering education. He is author of "The Making of an Expert Engineer" (CRC Press, 2014) which summarises his pioneering research on how engineering work is actually performed.