History of Engineering

•Engineering science had occurred 60 years before social

sciences.
•It became important after world war II
•History of engineering has been traced back to ancient time
when wedge, lever, wheel and pulley were invented.

•The term engineering was derived from engineer which

itself was dated back to 1390 referred to a constructor of a
military machine used in war

1
 o The relevance of engineering science became
more obvious with the advent of R&D
o Thus opening avenues for more engineering
disciplines
o The pyramid in Egypt,
o The Acropolis and the Pattenon in Greece,
o The hanging Gardens of Babylon and others
are testimonies to the ingenuity and skill of
ancient civil and military engineers.
The first Ph.D. in engineering was awarded to
Josiah Willard Gibbs at Yale university, united
State in 1863.
The Pyramids of Egypt The Parthenon of Athenian Acropolis of Greece

The Hanging Garden of Babylon

• Engineering Disciplines had Stages of Revolutions
emerged from historical
sources and are marked by
revolutions. Industrial
• 5 phases of revolutionary Revolution – 2nd
18 – 19th industrial Material
activities include: Pre-Scientific
Century - revolution – Revolution –
Artistry to before world
Revolution – IT revolution gives room
scientific (e.g; war II,
Leonardo Da developed for
use of
Vinci (various chemical and after world collaboration
frictional
structures in electrical war II between
forces to
Italy) engineering science
develop
developed engineering
weapons to
prosecute essentially
wars)
 History based on Discipline
Civil Engineering
o The oldest profession is Civil Engineering and emerged in 2550 BC
o The 1st Engineer built the stepped pyramid in Egypt using simple
mathematical tools, the structure still exists today.
o The earliest civil engineer is Imhotep who designed and supervised the
construction of the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt, around
2630 – 2611 BC.

o Engineering education of ancient times was developed by Vitruviv’s De

architectura

Also:

o Military Engineering – using military and civil skills during conflicts – simple
fighting tools, like catapult, battering rods, towers to develop enemy forts
and encampment.
o The first self-proclaimed civil engineer was John Smeaton and regarded
as father of civil engineer.

o He designed bridge, canals, harbours and Light houses. He is also a

mechanical engineer.
o He pioneered the hydraulic lime, a form of mortar which set under water.
o The hydraulicity in limed led to invention of Portland cement.
 Mechanical Engineering
o R&D also led to the development of:
Mechanical Engineering– 2nd Engineering Discipline to be
developed in 1700s along with the era of industrial revolution.
Mechanical Engineering thus became recognized in 1847 to build
miscellaneous tools and fuel engines
o The first known mechanical computer known as Antikythera
mechanism and Archimedes’ inventions are early achievement in
mechanical engineering.
o These are key principles in machine theory that were used in
design of gear trains of the industrial revolution and are still in use
till today in Robotics and Automotive engineering.
o Steam engine was built by Thomas Savery in 1698.
o Inventions of Thomas Newcomen (Steam engine) in (1712)
and James Watt give rise to modern mechanical engineering.
Thomas Savery (England inventor)’s
steam engine, 1698 for pumping Antikythera mechanism (1 mechanical computer), basis
st

water for machine theory and used for developing gear train,
automotive and robotics engineering till date
 Electrical Engineering
Electrical – Interest grew in Electrical Engineering in order to
provide power to run the engines & lighting the environment.

Allasandro Volta (Italian) developed the voltaic cell in 1800 and

establishes the fact that fluids in the frog merely provides
electrolyte

The first frog Battery was constructed by Carlo Matteucci.

Michael Faraday presented the frog Battery in a paper to the
Royal Society in 1845 and later invented Faraday’s law of
electrolysis

Georg Ohm discovered Ohm’s law based on Allasandro Volta’s

invention.
Frog’s leg experiment by Michael Faraday establishing magnetism
by wire carrying current led to invention of electrical motor in
1872.
Theoretical work of
James Maxwell
electromagnetic waves
and Heinrich Hertz
Radio waves 1887 in the
late 19 century lead to
field of electronics.

Transistor and vacuum

tube were invented in
mid 1900s
Carlo Matteucci’s cell, 1845
Allesandro Volta’s
Software Engineering
cell, 1799
among several others
were also developed
 Chemical Engineering
– Chemical Engineering

– In 1800, with the advent of industrial Revolution,

chemical processing in metals, food and textile
production became important thus the development
of chemical industries and chemical engineers
started to design chemical plants.
 Agricultural Engineering
– Agricultural Engineering began late 19th and early
20th as a result of agricultural revolution and
shortage of manpower after the 1st world war.

– Other engineering field developed a long too, out of

circumstances and necessities.
Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering
o Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering was
empirical with some concept adapted from other
engineering disciplines.
o Aeronautical engineering deals with design of aircraft
process.
o Aerospace engineering engages
with design of space craft.
o Work of Sir George Cayley in the last decade of 18th
century marked beginning of aerospace and
aeronautical engineering.
o Large development of military aircraft used in world
war I was a decade after successful flights of wright
brothers
 Materials and Metallurgical Engineering

• Religious Books both Bible and Qur’an revealed

uses and importance of iron as an instrument for
making weapons and useful materials for human
benefits.

• A noble man called Dhul Qornain built a tall wall

from alloy of iron and copper.

• All these marked the origin of and established

Metallurgical and Materials engineering as an
ancient field of Engineering.

• Hence the timelessness of the Engineering

profession
 Pre-Historic Engineering (6000-3000 BC)

• Production of fire at will

• Production of copper and bronze
• Invention of the wheel and axle

• Development of a system of symbols for written communication

• Origination of a system of mathematics and Construction of

irrigation works
 Other Engineering disciplines evolved
as a result of continuous R&D in order to
effectively fulfil the problem solving
characteristic of Engineering. Some
examples are:
o Mining engineering,
o Petroleum and petrochemical engineering,
o Biomedical engineering.
o Petroleum engineering
o Petrochemical engineering
o Polymer and textile engineering
o Welding engineering
o Subsea engineering.
o Robotics Engineering
Nanomaterials Engineering
o Nuclear Engineering
o Etc.