School of Engineering Branch: New Cairo

Department of Mech. Engineering Course Name: History of Engineering & Technology

Semester: Spring 2019/2020 Course Code: MED 021
Final Research Project Total Marks: 100
Instructor Name: Dr. Naguib Saleh No. of Pages: 20 page(s)

Part Mark Student Grade

1 10
2 30
3 30
4 20
5 10
Total 100

Student Name:

Student ID:
Research Cover Page

History of Engineering and

Technology

MED 021

Research Project
Spring 2019/2020

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Final Research Project

Part 1 (10 Marks)

YOU HAVE TO ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS IN PART 1

- This course aims to:

● Knowledge of the history of engineering science and its stages of
development.
● Knowing the challenges and difficulties faced by humanity until they
reached this advanced stage.
● Also knowing the stages of technological development by using the primary
materials of the earth to reach this great technological development.
● Exposure to great events that led to major engineering and technological
development.
● Create a historical engineering background for the reader to know the

longevity of this science and this field.

- The importance of this course is:

● Knowing the exact definition of engineering and how important that field of

science is.
● Every person whose studies related to engineering will arise will be attached

to this science because of this presentation of the course on the history of

engineering and technology.
● Get much information in details about the main events related to engineering

and technology and also the great Engineers that led to the improvement of
engineering and technology.
● Make a comparison between primitive technology in the past and what we
have recently achieved.
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Part 2 (30 Marks)

ANSWER ONLY 3 OF THE GIVEN QUESTIONS IN PART 2

Part (2) - Question # 1 (10 Marks)

In the information age we live now; explain in details:

- What do engineers do?

- What is the engineer’s mission?

Engineering is the innovative application of science, mathematical principles,

and scientific evidence to invent, design, create, and maintain
structures, equipment, materials, tools, systems, processes, and
organizations. The engineering discipline covers a broad
variety of more specific engineering fields, each with a much
more particular focus on different areas of applied
mathematics, applied science, and application forms.

So, it is clear that the engineers are all on these parts of

science they study the parts in the previous paragraph
theoretically and how they establish the connection
between the theoretical science and the applicable one
so that is their mission to use science and turning it into
practical applications.

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Part (2) - Question # 3 (10 Marks)

“There are six main causes of the industrial revolution”

- What are they?

- Explain each one in details.

1. Political and economic competition in Europe: By the mid-18th century

many European countries had their colonial powers rising. What was now at
stake was competition to become a global superpower.
2. Scientific revolution in Europe: It is defined by
many within the period of Nicolaus Copernicus
(1473-1543) and Isaac Newton (1642-1727).
The Scientific Revolution refers to European
progress that change conceptual, cultural,
social, and institutional relationships that
include nature, knowledge, and belief.

Statue of Nicolas Copernicus

3. Agriculture revolution in Britain: Agricultural changes started in Europe in

Belgium and Holland but it appears clearly in Britain. The British

Agricultural Revolution refers to the unprecedented rise in agricultural
production in Britain from the 17th to mid-19th century.
4. The key factor in the success of the Industrial Revolution was obviously
innovation and new technology. The Industrial Revolution 's defining
invention was perhaps James Watt's Steam Engine in the late 1760s, which
was invented primarily to pull water from the coal mines. It also fueled the
textile industry, however, with inventions such as power mule and power
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loom. Most importantly it led to the steam-powered carriage allowing goods

to be transported as never before.

Watt double-acting steam engine

5. Growth in population: Britain had an estimated population of about 4 million

in the year 1700. This was a quarter of its European rival France's population
and about 4% percent of India and China, which were the leading economies
of the time. Lack of working hands was a major drawback in a world
without machines. The agricultural revolution
gave the society enough food and over the
century the population expanded
exponentially, more than doubling itself in a
hundred years. This resulted in Britain having
sufficient workers to feed its industrial growth.
6. Availability of coal and iron: Britain was blessed with huge resources of
coal and iron that proved valuable for industrial evolution. Large quantities
of coal were required for melting of iron ores and transportation. With the
invention of the coal powered steam engine, the demand of coal further
increased.

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Final Research Project

Part (2) - Question # 4 (10 Marks)

“There are seven characteristics of any civilization”

- What are they?

- Explain each one in details.

1. Social structure: A Community level system. This may be economic

(employment and wealth), social (popularity).
2. Food supply: When there's enough food in a community to survive, plus
some extra to sell.
3. Religion: A collection of creeds, usually in gods or spirits, along with
worship types such as holidays, prayer services, and rituals.
4. Government: they are supposed to be the people who make the law and
keep the law between the other citizens.
5. Writing: That title refers to the symbols that can be together to make
words and that is the way that any civilization can record its progress.
6. Culture: That refers to how people live their daily life with expressions and
traditions and that can be different from civilization to another one.
7. Technology: That refers to any progress or invention created to solve a
challenge that faces the humanity may be for entertainment but it is all
about getting better and easier life.

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Final Research Project

Part 3 (30 Marks)

YOU HAVE TO ANSWER ALL GIVEN QUESTIONS IN PART 3

Part (3) - Question # 1 (10 Marks)

Discuss in details the difference between technological developments in the early

technological ages and now?

The difference between the technological developments in the early ages and now
is in the need of humans. These needs determine many things as in the early times
humans where in need to communicate with each other so they established their
languages and created alphabets u can take the meaning from here till the need of
remote communication so that led to the invention of the telephone so it is clear that
the needs determine the ways which humans will go through it and now the
difference can be presented as technology categories as the following:

1. The premechanical age: The earliest age of information technology is pre-

mechanical age. The period between 3000 B.C refers to that age and A.D.1450
When humans first started to interact, they would attempt to use words or
basic picture drawings known as petroglyths that were usually carved in rock.
Early alphabets such as the Phoenician alphabet, have been created.
2. The mechanical age: It can be illustrated as it is the connection between
current technology and the ancient ones. It also occurs in the period between
1450 – 1840.

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3. The electromechanical age: One may describe the electromechanical period

as the time between 1840 and 1940. Those are the telecommunications
commencements. The telegraph, for example, was developed in the early
1800's.
4. The electronic age: That age started from 1940 till the present time. In that
age we heard the computer term for the first time. The ENIAC was the first
high-speed, digital computer capable of reprogramming to overcome a whole
range of computing issues.

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Final Research Project

Part (3) - Question # 2 (10 Marks)

In our course; we have discussed four different phases of engineering history that
are:

1- The pre-history of modern engineering (engineering before scientific revolution)

2- The first industrial revolution age

3- The second industrial revolution age

4- The Information Revolution age

Choose only one of them and discuss it in the next 2 pages.

- Talk about the main characteristics of this age

- What happened to get into this age (discuss the reasons)

- Give examples of the famous engineers who made huge changes in this age and
what are these changes

- What are the main achievements considered in this age

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Final Research Project

The industrial revolution is the spread and substitution of manual labor in

mechanization. During the eighteenth century, the countries of Western Europe
witnessed a comprehensive scientific renaissance. Research and experience varied
to include the various branches of science and lead to important inventions and
discoveries that were the direct cause of the industrial revolution during the
nineteenth century.

Technological, political, and cultural were the main factors involved in the
Industrial Revolution. The technological changes included: (1) the use of new raw
materials , mainly iron and steel, (2) the use of new energy sources, including both
fuel and motive force, such as coal, steam engine , electricity, petroleum, and
internal combustion engine, (3) the invention of new devices, such as the spinning
jenny and the power loom, which allowed increased production at a lower level of
human energy expenditure, (4) a new organization of work known as the factory
system, which involved increased division of labor and specialization of functions,
(5) major transportation and communication advances, including steam
locomotives, steamships, vehicles , aircraft, telegraphs and radio, and (6) growing
scientific application to industry. These technological changes allowed an
enormously increased use of natural resources and mass production of
manufactured goods.

Of course, there are many reasons for this industrial revolution and that reasons
will be discussed as the following:

1. Political and economic competition in Europe: By the mid-18th century

many European countries had their colonial powers rising. What was now at
stake was competition to become a global superpower.

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2. Scientific revolution in Europe: It is defined by many within the period of

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) and Isaac Newton (1642-1727). The
Scientific Revolution refers to European progress that change conceptual,
cultural, social, and institutional relationships that include nature,
knowledge, and belief.
3. Agriculture revolution in Britain: Agricultural changes started in Europe in

Belgium and Holland but it appears clearly in Britain. The British

Agricultural Revolution refers to the unprecedented rise in agricultural
production in Britain from the 17th to mid-19th century.
4. The key factor in the success of the Industrial Revolution was obviously
innovation and new technology. The Industrial Revolution 's defining
invention was perhaps James Watt's Steam Engine in the late 1760s, which
was invented primarily to pull water from the coal mines. It also fueled the
textile industry, however, with inventions such as power mule and power
loom. Most importantly it led to the steam-powered carriage allowing goods
to be transported as never before.
5. Growth in population: Britain had an estimated population of about 4 million
in the year 1700. This was a quarter of its European rival France's population
and about 4% percent of India and China, which were the leading economies
of the time. Lack of working hands was a major drawback in a world
without machines. The agricultural revolution gave the society enough food
and over the century the population expanded exponentially, more than
doubling itself in a hundred years. This resulted in Britain having sufficient
workers to feed its industrial growth.
6. Availability of coal and iron: Britain was blessed with huge resources of
coal and iron that proved valuable for industrial evolution. Large quantities
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Final Research Project

of coal were required for melting of iron ores and transportation. With the
invention of the coal powered steam engine, the demand of coal further
increased.

The engineers had the main actions of this industrial revolution due to their
inventions. Matthew Boulton and James Watt, paired up to create a machine that
would be able to power the industrial revolution.

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Final Research Project

Part (3) - Question # 3 (10 Marks)

In your opinion; what are the professions that are expected to disappear in the near
future and what are the reasons for their disappearance? Choose only three to five
careers and discuss them?

1. Librarian: As there are many online libraries that you can access the books
online so the librarian is supposed to disappear.

2. Mail carrier: Due to the E-mails the mail carrier career will disappear as
everyone doesn’t need to write a letter and sending it that is an old way but
now, they can write online and sent it whoever they want with one click.

3. Newspaper reporter: That job also will disappear because of the online
reporting as many blogs are established everyday so soon the newspaper
reporter will have nothing do.

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Final Research Project

Part 4 (20 Marks)

Search information on the internet about:

“Structure of Engineering”

Write only 4 pages to demonstrate your ideas and discuss the three main aspects of
the structure of engineering and their relation to the main aspects of technology

The engineering structure includes many principles but before knowing about
each of them everyone should know and understand the definition of engineering
and how it can be applied. So, the engineering field is a creative application of
scientific principles to design or create structures, devices equipment, or
manufacturing processes, or works using them individually or in combination; or
to build or operate the same with full knowledge of their design or to forecast their
actions under different operating conditions; all in compliance with intended
purpose, operating economy, and health.

Good engineers should have the right communication skills, the ability to solve
problems, outstanding analytical capacity, the ability to make hard decisions, the
ability to work hard, concentrate, and also the ability to avoid procrastination. If all
these aspects are present in a student of engineering, then he or she is the best
engineer. So here the research will represent the engineering aspects and they are
method, material, money, men, machines, marketing and management.

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The method means the theoretical science that every engineer learns during his
study and that methods are divided into many subjects and fields like mathematics,
mechanics, theory of machines and etc. Material and that term refers to the
availability of the raw materials that the engineer will use in his work and designs
so that is a very important term as it show how clever is the engineer that can adapt
to the available materials to achieve the goal of his designs and made them
applicable. Money so the financial part is a very important condition of any
engineering process because any engineering progress costs a lot of money so each
project should be supported with high budget that can achieve the goals.

Men so that term refers to the employment or human endeavor so that means that
the engineers only aren’t enough to make a successful engineering process and it
requires to a lot of workers that can do the required instructions. That also requires
some qualifications for these workers to do their work cleverly. Machines and that
term refers to the availability of the devices and machinery systems that can make
many processes as the engineering projects improve each day that requires
machines that can do very hard parts that the humans can’t do manually. Marketing
so every project needs its marketing cycle that lead to a successful project like
marketing the machines and the constructions so it is clear that engineering
projects relate to supply and demand policy so they need marketing as a main
concept of engineering process.

An engineer is proactively interested in handling various tasks, since the engineer

is ultimately responsible. An engineer doesn't sit on the side hearing about bridge
building from builders. An engineer is actively involved in listening to builders and
will allow them to do their job, but is proactive in coordinating the different
specialists towards the ultimate goal. Bridge construction is usually handled by
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structural engineers. There are concrete and steel experts but they are generally
organized at a design level by the builder, not by company.

Now this is the part of talking about the technology and how important it is in
our life. Our everyday lives are permeated by the high-tech products and services.
Specific implements and infrastructures are less oriented towards production
processes. They reflect not only capital investment but also other human skills and
hardware experiences:

• Layouts of the facilities and operating procedures.

• Engineering and industrial robots.
• Mechanisms to monitor the automation.
• Technological structure and quality requirements.
• Efficient electricity, communications, transport, information technology,
public health and national security infrastructures.

The number of sensors and automated systems that

collect data on aircraft, railcars, locomotives and
automobiles is increasing rapidly. The fundamentals
of how transport machinery works are influenced by
artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technologies. And consumers,
realizing the possibilities, demand more tailor-made equipment and smarter
interfaces.

Such new components and innovations also reshape the design and production of
the equipment by the engineers. They create opportunities that can reduce research
and development costs when used to the full extent and significantly speed up the
introduction of technologies that enable manufacturers to better respond to rapidly
evolving customer requirements.
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So, it is so obvious that there is a very deep relation between engineering and
technology as the advanced technology complements engineering and help the
engineers to apply their theoretical science into real applications.

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Part 5 (10 Marks)

Conclusion:
-I have learnt from this course:

● That that engineering passes through many events that take part in improving

that field.
● The exact definition of engineering and how the engineers connect their

theoretical study with real applications

● Knowing about some great inventions and great engineers as they take part in

the engineering history.

● Knowing about the great event like the industrial revolution.

● The technology definition and how it directly relates to engineering.

Suggestions:
- I suggest the points below in order to modify this course and
improve it for future students:

● Knowing more about the great engineering events that led to our progress in

engineering nowadays.
● Knowing more about the ages of technology and the inventions in that ages.

● Read more about the professions that are in danger of disappearing and know

the reason of that and how devices can be instead of humans.

● Making many researches to justify more information about the relation

between engineering and technology.

● Learn deeply in the history of engineering and technology as it lead the

engineers to love their field more and more.

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References
• Rod L. Flanigan, Dale Scott Porter, Engineering, The Influence of the
Grinter Report on Engineering Technology and the Emergence of
Manufacturing Engineering Technology, 2015.
• W. W. BuchananProceedings 2015 ASEE Conference for Industry and
Education Collaboration, The Development of the Engineering Technology
Listserv over Its First Twenty Years, 2015.
• “Causes of the Industrial Revolution.” History Crunch - History Articles,
Summaries, Biographies, Resources and More,
www.historycrunch.com/causes-of-the-industrial-revolution.html.
• “Read ‘The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century’
at NAP.edu.” National Academies Press: OpenBook,
www.nap.edu/read/10999/chapter/3.
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Industrial Revolution.”
Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 Sept. 2019,
www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution.
• A History of Engineering: the Evolution of Bentley at Crewe. Franey
Publishing, 2007.

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