Scientific methodology in the engineering sciences

This chapter aims to address some salient aspects of the engineering sciences and their methodology in scientific research, cumulating in a methodology of scientific modeling in the engineering sciences. A noticeable difference between scientific research in the engineering sciences by comparison with scientific research in the basic sciences is the role and character of phenomena, which in the basic sciences serve as aids in discovering and testing theories, while the engineering sciences analyze (physical-technological) phenomena in view of technological functioning or malfunctioning. Scientific research on technological problem-solving and innovation, therefore, is better cast in terms of design-concepts that are based on functional interpretations of phenomena. This also has consequences for the ways in which (physical-technological) phenomena are investigated and on the specific character of scientific knowledge for creating or controlling them by means of physical-technological circumstances. Scientific modeling of technological systems is central to the engineering sciences, encompassing both the modeling of physical-technological phenomena in specific physical-technological contexts as well as the modeling of technological artifacts producing specific phenomena. A methodology is proposed for how scientific models of (physical or physical-technological) phenomena are constructed, which is on par with the well-known hypothetical-deductive methodology

From caring about sustainability to developing care-ful engineers

Engineering is commonly thought of as a problem-solving profession (e.g. Allenby, 2009; Zhou, 2012). Still, good problem-solving depends on good problem-framing, which typically means capturing both the technical and social aspects of the problem at hand. It can though be challenging for engineering students to capture both these aspects of a problem. Cech (2014) has pointed out that significant challenges still exist within engineering curricula with regard to “reading” technical problems with multiple layers of meaning. What can be done to better this state of affairs? Fortunately, sustainability issues have caught the attention of this generation of college students (Watson et. al., 2013). Building on the student enthusiasm associated with sustainability may be one way to foster student development regarding how to include ethical dimensions as an integral part of engineering framing and problem solving. We suggest that one option to achieve this is by teaching sustainability using an ethic of care framework that offers elements that more easily engage individuals in problem framing. This approach assumes that because engineering students “care” about sustainability as it applies to their disciplines, faculty can use an ethic of care framework to help students operationalize ethics as an integral component of the engineering decision-making process. By building on these initial lessons, students are better prepared to consider the socio-technical dimensions of engineering problems. Our argument draws upon examples from the University of Portland that both demonstrate how students have a difficult time translating ethical theories to engineering problems, and show how the ethic of care approach can manifest itself naturally in the engineering curricula. We hope this paper serves to facilitate efforts to intentionally use sustainability issues to improve the teaching and learning of engineering ethics and further cultivate the T-shaped engineer.Non UBCUnreviewedFacultyOthe

Acknowledge AI’s Dark side

International audienc

Towards a Wilder Community

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