Problem Solving Skills and an Engineering Degree
by admin on 26/01/12 at 8:23 am
Know the importance of developing problem solving skills and how this is developed when obtaining an Engineering Degree.
Engineers are problem solvers as much as they are designers and builders. They have to understand how their creations behave in different situations and circumstances to make sure they would not collapse and kill people. An engineering degree trains students in developing such skills so that only mathematically safe structures will be constructed.
Problem solving is the art and science of understanding a problem and plotting out a solution that truly addresses the problem. There is more to it than simply saying “A-ha.” That “A-ha” moment is a product of years of study and tons of expertise.
Top engineering schools train engineering students for 4 to 5 years. They are taught different facets of mathematics, science, project management, logic, economics and other related fields of study. At the end of the course, students still have to prove themselves through a series of certifications and exams before they become full-fledged engineers.
It is from these learning in different disciplines and years of experience where engineers draw ideas to solve an engineering problem. Engineers create mathematical models to better analyze a problem, create hypotheses and then test probable solutions. This takes serious thinking.
For example, before constructing a skyscraper, engineers create a working model with which they can subject it to different environments and see how their design would hold. Constructing an untested structure could cause millions in life and property damages. Any failure in construction will be traced back to the engineer in charge.
Before construction begins, engineers try to predict and assess the stability of their work by creating not only scale models but also prototypes, simulations, and stress tests. They also conduct destructive and non-destructive tests.
In some cases, they lessen the artistic factors of their work to increase a building’s safety factor.
Nobody hopes for an engineer to fail. But if they do, forensic engineers take over. Forensic engineering attempts to examine, understand, and explain why a structure collapsed so that a similar incident will not happen again.
Engineers come up with a number of design choices and then choose the one that will work the best. Not only do they need to satisfy the artistic preferences of a client, they also have to make sure that their design makes sense mathematically and meet all scientific and safety requirements.Engineers work very closely with architects, and often the two are interchangeable, although while engineers make great architects, some architects may not be as adept mathematically.
Today, engineers make use of the computer and appropriate computer programs. Using computer models are safer and less expensive than physical scale models. The use of computer software and 3D imagery continues to grow and significantly aid engineers in solving structural problems.
The skill of problem solving is a complex intellectual activity. Engineers do not grow on trees. They undergo years of training and education in different fields of science, even when taking an online engineering degree. Earning an engineering degree takes time so that the necessary skills will be developed in each student.
