Electrical engineering might be less acknowledged than other types of engineering, but it's

probably the most central to the modern world in which we live. It's hard to imagine a world
without electricity and electronics. From computers to televisions, to digital cameras to cell
phones, each of these technologies is a product of electrical engineering. It began with simple
electrical systems like the telegraph, telephone, and light bulb, and advanced more and more
from there.

All electronics are thanks to electrical engineers.

Chemical engineering is perhaps the least well known, but it's a no less important part of the
field. It involves producing chemicals, such as man-made and space-age materials, and fuels for
human use. The gas you put in your car exists thanks to chemical engineering. So do polyester
clothes, plastic toys and bottles, and even treatments for diseases, which often involve chemical
engineering processes.

Distillation plants and refineries are designed by

chemical engineers.

When you put all of these pieces together, you see that the modern world we live in would be
completely impossible without engineering; and even into the future, the problem-solving skills
of engineers have the potential to solve many problems.

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Additional Activities

Engineering

Engineering is basically identifying a problem, such as the need to connect one side of a river to
the other side for cars to cross the river, and using science and technology to do it. As you have
learned, there are many types of engineering fields. Here is a list of a few types of engineering to
consider when you work on some engineering scenarios presented later in this lesson extension.

computer engineering

computer network engineering

electrical engineering

civil engineering

mechanical engineering

chemical engineering

agricultural engineering

biomedical engineering

industrial engineering

Now you will be presented some problems that need to be solved. Determine which type of
engineer from the list above would be best suited to help solve the problem.

Scenarios

1. A bread company is noticing that their bread goes stale within a day of baking thereby
lowering their revenue. They need their bread to stay fresh a little longer.

2. A new housing development is being planned on the west side of a 50-meter wide river. The
river has significant boat traffic with some very tall boats that need to pass by the location where
the bridge is to be built.
3. A company wants to produce a machine to build their widgets instead of using human
assembly. This is to cut down on the time required to manufacture their widgets.

4. A new type of weed is growing in a farmer's cornfield. The weed takes a lot of the nutrients
the corn needs to grow.

5. A company that has existed for 50 years wants to upgrade its customer records storage system.
They want the employees of the company to be able to access the records electronically from
their computer servers.

Solutions

1. They might want to hire a chemical engineer to help design a chemical that will slow the
process of the bread going stale.

2. A civil engineer deals with building bridges.

3. Mechanical engineers design machines.

4. Agricultural engineers would be able to help the farmer in addition to chem