Engineering is the discipline and profession that applies scientific theories, mathematical methods, and empirical evidence to design, create, and analyze technological solutions, balancing technical requirements with concerns or constraints on safety, human factors, physical laws, regulations, practicality, and cost. In the contemporary era, engineering is generally considered to consist of the major primary branches of chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, materials engineering and mechanical engineering.[1] There are numerous other engineering sub-disciplines and interdisciplinary subjects that may or may not be part of these major engineering branches.
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the application of chemical, physical, and biological sciences to developing technological solutions from raw materials or chemicals.
Focuses on the design, operation, control, and optimization of chemical processes, including natural and man-made materials, the interaction of materials with machines, safety and health, energy conservation, and waste and pollution control.
Civil engineering
Civil engineering comprises the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and natural built environments.
Prediction, planning, development, and management of water resources.
Hydraulic engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water; intimately related to the design of pipelines, water supply networks, drainage facilities (including bridges, dams, levees, channels, culverts, storm sewers) and canals
River engineering is the process of planned human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit—to manage the water resources, to protect against flooding, or to make passage along or across rivers easier
Coastal engineering is the study of the processes ongoing at the shoreline and construction within the coastal zone, often directed at combating erosion of coasts or providing navigational access
Groundwater engineering involves the analysis, monitoring, and often modeling of groundwater sources to better understand how much remains and if the water can be used for e.g. recharging reservoirs and irrigation
Telecommunications engineering focuses on the transmission and processing of information through communications channels that are created by making use of applied electromagnetism in the physical world and are oftentimes divided in wired and wireless
The design and control of computing devices with the application of electrical systems. It involves the study of hardware and software systems that can process information, as well as digital logic design, computer architecture, and programming languages.
Software engineering denotes the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering and computer science to software[2]
Hardware engineering refers to designing, developing, and testing various computer equipment. Can range from circuit boards and microprocessors to routers
Network engineering involves designing, deploying, and maintaining computer networks, such as corporate networks or the Internet
The generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and the design and maintenance of devices such as transformers, switchgear, electric generators, electric motors, high-voltage engineering, and power electronics.
Power system planning, involves the modelling of power systems to analyse the management of current and future electricity demand
Power system operations and control, involves plant and system operation, where protocols for the safe and continuous operation of individual equipment, subsystems, power plants, or the whole power system are developed and applied
Field-specific to the mechanical aspects of optical systems. Includes design, packaging, mounting, and alignment mechanisms specific to optical systems.[4]
Is a field of engineering that involves the design, development, and testing of sports equipment. The equipment used by athletes has always gone through technological design and development based on current knowledge and understanding.
Vehicle engineering
The design, manufacture, and operation of the systems and equipment that propel and control vehicles.
Energy efficiency, energy services, facility management, plant engineering, environmental compliance, and energy production. Energy efficiency of buildings and manufacturing processes, employing advances in lighting, insulation, and heating/cooling properties.
Medicine and healthcare biology, biocompatible prostheses, diagnostic and therapeutic devices ranging from clinical equipment to micro-implants, imaging equipment such as MRIs and EEGs, tissue regeneration, and pharmaceuticals. The increased utilization of nanotechnology across the existing areas of this branch has led to the specialization Biomedical nanoengineering.
Bioinstrumentation, devices and tools used in the diagnosis and treatment of disease
Bioinformatics, digital tools to collect and analyze biomedical data, such as DNA
Biosignal processing, recording, and processing biological signals for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, such as cardiac signals, speech recognition and brain activity
Biotechnology, use of living systems to make useful products such as pharmaceuticals and foods
Clinical engineering, hospital-related products, including data management, instruments and monitoring systems
The design, installation, operation, and monitoring of the technical services in buildings in order to ensure a safe, comfortable, and environmentally friendly operation.
Energy efficiency, energy services, facility management, plant engineering, environmental compliance, and energy production. Energy efficiency of buildings and manufacturing processes, employing advances in lighting, insulation, and heating/cooling properties.
A discipline of engineering concerned with the application of geological science and engineering principles to fields, such as civil engineering, mining, environmental engineering, and forestry, among others. The work of geological engineers often directs or supports the work of other engineering disciplines such as assessing the suitability of locations for civil engineering, environmental engineering, mining operations, and oil and gas projects by conducting geological, geoenvironmental, geophysical, and geotechnical studies.
The design, development, and operation of systems for collecting and analyzing spatial information about the land, the oceans, natural resources, and manmade features.
An engineering discipline that involves the science, technology, and practice of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment.
The application of quantum theory to the design of materials and devices. Now gaining recognition as its own branch of engineering, but more traditionally associated with sub-disciplines of electrical and computer engineering, communications engineering, solid-state and semiconductor materials engineering, optical engineering, and engineering physics.
A field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of Hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. Petroleum engineers focus on studying subsurface formation properties and design and selection of equipment to maximize economic recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoirs. Petroleum geology and geophysics focus on the provision of a static description of the hydrocarbon reservoir rock, while petroleum engineering focuses on estimation of the recoverable volume of this resource using a detailed understanding of the physical behavior of oil, water, and gas within porous rock at very high pressure.
Reservoir engineering, the flow of fluids in porous and permeable underground reservoirs and sub-surface stresses
Project engineering includes all parts of the design of manufacturing or processing facilities, either new or modifications to and expansions of existing facilities. A "project" consists of a coordinated series of activities or tasks performed by engineers and designers. A small project may be under the direction of a project engineer. Large projects are typically under the direction of a project manager or management team. Project tasks typically consist of such things as performing calculations, writing specifications, preparing bids, reviewing equipment proposals and evaluating or selecting equipment, and developing and maintaining various lists (equipment and materials lists) and drawings (electrical, instrument, and piping schematics, physical layouts and other drawings used in construction). Some facilities have in-house staff to handle small projects, while some major companies have a department that does internal project engineering. Large projects are typically contracted out to project engineering companies. Staffing at engineering companies varies according to the workload and duration of employment may only last until an individual's tasks are completed.
Software engineering the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering and computer science to software.
Cryptographic engineering Cryptographic Engineering is the discipline of using cryptography to solve human problems. Cryptography is typically applied when trying to ensure data confidentiality, to authenticate people or devices, or to verify data integrity in risky environments
Information technology engineering, (ITE) or information engineering methodology (IEM) is a software engineering approach to designing and developing information systems. It can also be considered as the generation, distribution, analysis, and use of information in systems
Teletraffic engineering Telecommunications traffic engineering, teletraffic engineering, or traffic engineering is the application of traffic engineering theory to telecommunications. Teletraffic engineers use their knowledge of statistics including queuing theory, the nature of traffic, their practical models, their measurements, and simulations to make predictions and to plan telecommunication networks such as a telephone network or the Internet. These tools and knowledge help provide reliable service at a lower cost
Web engineering focuses on the methodologies, techniques, and tools that are the foundation of Web application development and which support their design, development, evolution, and evaluation. Web engineering is multidisciplinary and encompasses contributions from diverse areas such as systems analysis and design, software engineering, hypermedia/hypertext engineering, requirements engineering, human-computer interaction, user interface, information technology engineering, information indexing and retrieval, testing, modeling and simulation, project management and graphic design and presentation
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how to design and manage complex engineering projects over their life cycles. Issues, such as reliability, logistics and coordination of different teams, evaluation measurement, and other disciplines become more difficult when dealing with large or complex projects.
Systems engineering deals with work-processes, optimization methods, and risk management tools. It overlaps technical and human-centered disciplines such as control engineering, industrial engineering, organizational studies, and project management. Systems engineering ensures that all likely aspects of a project or system are considered and integrated into a whole
Textile engineering courses deal with the application of scientific and engineering principles to the design and control of all aspects of fiber, textile, and apparel processes, products, and machinery. These include natural and man-made materials, interaction of materials with machines, safety and health, energy conservation, and waste and pollution control. Additionally, students are given experience in plant design and layout, machine and wet process design and improvement, and designing and creating textile products. Throughout the textile engineering curriculum, students take classes from other engineering disciplines including mechanical, chemical, materials, and industrial engineering.
