The daily round

Abstract

In a recent book written as a guide to engineering for secondary school students, the author suggests that engineering consists of controlling nature, asking questions, designing, making things work, and communicating. As we shall see, each of these broad activities conceals a multitude of tasks in which engineers are involved every day. He also describes the process of engineering:

Engineers are involved in providing material answers to real problems. Engineering does not start by knowing the answers but by attempting to fill the need. Identifying the problem comes first and is often the most difficult part; sorting out the constraints follows, and the art of engineering is in proposing and executing a solution which most closely fits those constraints. (Walton, 1987, p 6)

Although this is a neutral statement of a value-laden professional method, it does provide a framework for understanding what our interviewees do in their professional lives.