The Impact of Technology on Society in an Engineering Context

Abstract

The impact of technology on society in an engineering context is a very vast topic. To describe technology’s effect on society would be equivalent to detail and enumerate all the stars and planets of all the solar systems present in various galaxies. Hence a need for narrowing down the subject arises. This essay expresses how engineering has helped in improving health and longevity of life and increasing the efficiency in every aspect of life. The essay also explains all the reasons contributing towards the improvement of the above-mentioned sectors of life while simultaneously relating the reasons to the core aspects of life including water, food, goods, shelter, energy, transportation and communication. Afterward, the evolution and the advancement of the knowledge, application, and distribution of the mentioned core aspects of life have been explained further through the scope of engineering fields such as Agriculture, Automotive, Environmental and Biological Engineering. The paper also mentions some negative aspects of such advancements but then concludes how the pros of the advancement of technology outweigh the cons. The information given in this essay has been extracted from various journals, books, and material published around the world. The essay concludes that the field of Engineering has significantly improved every aspect of life. All progress and development in this world owes to Engineering. In fact, engineering is the only factor to transform this world from the Stone Age to the modern lavish and luxury life.

Introduction

History reveals that life on earth has been evolving for over two thousand million years (Julian, 1959). Mankind’s favorite occupation has always been to progress and evolve. If we look at the history of mankind with a deeper insight, we can find that from a mother’s warm womb to a cold grave, a person’s life is just a conclusion of what they learned and also what they did with the knowledge they gathered. Engineers and Engineering tend to live by the same code. Engineers are generally perfectionists. The literature reveals that the perfectionists are never satisfied with their innovations or the knowledge they gather and are always enthusiastic towards improving what he already knows and endeavoring about what he does not (Reg, 2019). Engineering is nothing if not solving problems with creativity. Freeman, a well-known theoretical physicist and mathematician stated that “I particularly enjoyed being immersed in the ethos of engineering, which is very different from the ethos of science. A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few ideas as possible. There are no prima donnas in engineering (Jeff, 2015).” Due to such characteristics, engineers have brought a revolution in the social and economic development of the world. Numerous studies reveal a strong positive correlation between the engineering profession and international development.

Impact on Health: Longevity of Life expectation

Engineering has made life much more sustainable (Dutta & Sengupta, 2014). Complex issues such as wastage disposal and availability and transportation of clean water have been addressed creatively through the use of Engineering. In the past, many tribes and nations were eradicated from existence. Such was the case with the Great Roman Empire who suffered from various epidemics. The Roman empire was one of the most advanced of the Ancient civilization. They were known for the long-lasting sewage system which was considered to be a remarkable achievement at the time but their innovation had one major flaw. Their street drainage and sewage flowed through the same pipe which resulted in the contamination of the air through the drainage intake openings on the street (Roger, 1983). “The Roman sewers have been overpraised. Despite their longevity, they ignored basic sanitary principles. They carried sewage, urban runoff, and drainage water together”. Consequently, The Romans suffered hugely from epidemics such as Influenza and Cold.

In this modern era, thanks to engineering, we have a flawless sewage system which does not only sanitizes the wastage but recycles it too (MacDowell, 2012). Firstly, the wastage is filtered and the sludge part is separated which is later used as Fossil fuel. The liquid part of the wastage is then treated with a disinfectant such as Chlorine and then the water flows into seas and rivers. Afterwards, treatment plants are built at various places that provide households with clean water eradicating the chances of any epidemics and prolonging life. All such arrangements ensure a pure and clean environment and provision of clean water for human and animal consumption leading to the longevity of life expectation.

Impact of Technology on Society and Globalization

Mechanical and automobile engineering has also provided modern society with excellent systems of transportation and communication. The distances, which used to take months and even sometime years now take hours to reach the destinations (McGill, 2020). The huge energy, resources and time, the travelers used to waste for traveling and voyages are now saved and utilized on other productive work and welfare of society. Likewise electrical and computer engineers have brought a revolution by inventing radio waves, the internet, the telephone, mobiles and a lot of other communication devices. At first glance, these may seem to be not contributing to the durability of life but on a closer look, we find that the communication technology has exerted significant impact in sharing knowledge, skills and technologies in health, science and arts-related disciplines that have led to the improvement in society as well as quality of life. Now it is commonplace to look up your symptoms on the internet and seek early treatment if necessary. In earlier times, there was no source of communication and people would not be able to determine their ailment at an early stage. As a result, more often than not, the sickness would move to a higher degree before the patient could see a doctor. In addition, the availability of Ambulances, Suicide helplines and Mental health helplines have saved more lives than we could ever dream of. Engineering has us built such houses and shelters that we no longer have a need of fireplaces or thick blankets with the innovation of air conditioners and heating systems which provide both warm and comfort. Theodore (1881-1963) has rightly stated that “Scientists study the world as it is; engineers create the world that has never been (IEEE, 2017).”

Impact on Efficiency

The ancient times were not times of illiteracy but rather times of inaccessibility. Ancient people had more enthusiasm about the attainment of knowledge than the people of the present but they were restricted by various obstacles. Communication of knowledge was the fundamental barrier in the way of technological and engineering advancement (NRCNAE, 2000). A man of knowledge would not be able to share his findings with the world neither a philosopher could share his discoveries and knowledge was only handed down from the teacher to the pupil. In 14th Century B.C., engineering went through a fast growth period due to the creation of Alphabetical writings which led to the use of arithmetic and computation techniques.” Alphabetic writing, however, was invented at least as early as the fourteenth century B.C. Computation techniques and Arithmetic came gradually to be used for commercial purposes and in surveying and mensuration in the third millennium. Closely allied with the ability to compute were some very rough and highly localized standardizations of weights and measures. All of these changes had their influence on the engineering of the period (Hunter, 1957)”

Focusing on the newer times, we now live in an era where speed is the determinant factor in any aspect of life. You will never come to find a product or a company or an organization that does not focus on speed and efficiency. The competition is tough and the requirements very high and for someone to take a lead in any field of life, they must exhibit creativity and extreme efficiency and we have no one but engineering to hold accountable for that. Now entire government systems rely heavily on technology. From military assets to national treasury, all are managed by fast-paced computers. Factories, banks, hospitals, educational institutions are all managed by computers. Gone are the days when you’d have to wait weeks and months for your messages to reach your loved ones. Now, all it takes is typing the words on your favorite applications and pressing a simple button. Even construction has now become much faster. With the availability of Cranes and bulldozers, a building that would take years to build in the old days now take months. Engineering has provided to the world the ability to take matters at a much faster pace imparting both rapid progress and leisure to the world

Fields of Engineering and their contribution towards core aspects of life

Automotive engineering

With respect to the modern era, automotive engineering is probably owed more respect than it is given. Automotive engineering has addressed issues that correlate to almost every aspect of life but most nobly more lives are being saved than ever. Medical emergencies such as a stroke in the old days could not be attended to due to transportation problems but now ambulances have addressed that issue. In 2018 in Canada Heart & Stroke, the Paramedic Services from the Northwestern Ontario (NWO), and Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre joined hands in order to save more lives from dangers of strokes.” Paramedic Services will be helping to raise awareness of the signs of stroke and the importance of acting quickly by placing decals with the signs of stroke acronym ‘FAST’ on all of their ambulances. The decals encourage individuals to seek emergency care right away if they encounter stroke symptoms.

FAST stands for: Face: is it drooping? Arms: can you raise both? Speech: is it slurred or jumbled? Time: to call 9-1-1 right away.

83 percent of those who have a stroke and make it to the hospital will now survive

Automotive engineering has also fixed issues such as the distribution of food and water. Remote areas where food and water are a rarity are now habitable. Communication has also been made better by delivering mails on cars and bikes.

Civil Engineering

Civil engineering has provided humanity with shelter and energy. From mere huts to mansions, both civil engineering and humanity have come a long way. Civil Engineering has been a catalyst in the development of the world. There would be no cars if there were no roads. We would be living in a fragile world where at any moment the building could collapse on us. Civil Engineers have paved ways for humanity both literally and figuratively to walk on and succeed. Mines are now a major source of energy for almost the entire world. Coal and natural gases are derived from mines, tunnels and underground mines and their retrieval would be impossible if it was not for the methods and techniques that Civil Engineering has imparted to us.

Computer Engineering

Computers are the innovation of the century. There is not a field of life where computers are not being utilized. From a hospital bed to a military tank, computers manage every little thing. They have gifted the world with convenient communication. Emails, messages, calls, video calls are now done all through computers and most importantly, it is cheap and hence affordable for the common man. This convenience in communication has made a huge impact on the rate of development of the world. Business deals are now done in seconds. Scientists can now exchange information. Information exchanged between doctors now helps the treatment in being more effective. In essence, the world would not be where it is today without Computers.

Industrial Engineering

Industrial Engineering is now unusually the fundamental engineering in the world because it correlates to every core aspect of life. Industrial Engineering is now being used in textiles for goods, manufacturing of tools and wires and circuits for transportation, communication, and shelter, canned food and water and machinery to produce energy. The modern world needs Industry and the Industry needs the modern world. The industry provides while the people consume but there’s no use for a provider if there are no consumers.

Conclusion

Engineering has imparted to a world a new dynamic. Seeds of Engineering have been sown into our soul. Humans being always tend to be creative and efficient with their problems to save time and avoid struggle. As a result, the world we live in depends on creativity and efficiency. Everyday we keep making rapid progress and the world and the world we have come to be familiar with would not be where it is if it was not for the development in engineering which provided us with luxurious shelter, healthy food, clean water, flawless communication, consistent transportation ,enormous energy and comfortable clothing and goods.

References

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