The term “engineering projects” can refer to any project involving engineering, but can also specifically refer to projects that use the engineering design process. The latter type focuses on meeting needs and is linked to a tiered system of engineering qualifications, with full responsibility for projects only being assumed at the Professional Engineer level.
The phrase engineering projects is not a technical term. It can refer to any of three things. It can simply mean any project where engineering plays a role, projects where the engineering design process is employed, or work supervised by a project engineer.
With the first meaning, engineering projects are often used to apply to science fair projects or other projects that involve engineering in some way, i.e. where something is built, a vague understanding of engineering, but are not created following the engineering design process. That this happens with science fair projects, for example, may be because scientific inquiry has long been taught in school, while the design process has not received as much attention. It can also happen because science fairs may require that project entries follow scientific investigation steps.
The second meaning of engineering projects refers to projects that are like the first in every respect except that they use the engineering design process. To understand the difference between the first and second meaning of engineering project, one needs to understand the difference between scientific investigation and design process. This is because while scientific inquiry and the engineering design process have similarities, they address different goals.
Scientific inquiry involves identifying questions that can be answered through inquiry; design and conduct an investigation; use appropriate tools and techniques to collect, analyze and interpret data; and using logical thinking about evidence to develop descriptions, models, explanations and predictions, which can then be shared. The engineering design process involves defining a need, basic research, defining design criteria, preparing preliminary designs or sketches, building and testing a prototype, testing and redesigning as needed. cases and presentation of results. Thus scientific inquiry focuses on answering questions and engineering projects of the second type on the satisfaction of needs.
Third-type engineering projects also use the engineering design process and focus on meeting needs. Furthermore, they are linked to the tiered system of engineering qualifications. Engineers must be licensed in the United States and elsewhere.
A new licensing model was recommended by a NCEES (National Council of Examiner for Engineering and Surveying) task force in 2003. In this model, a graduate engineer completed his/her training, an associate engineer also passed Fundamentals of Engineering Examination (FE), a registered engineer is the first level of licensure and means that the associate engineer now has four years of experience and has accepted the code of ethics of his state board, and a professional engineer is the second licensure level, offered to registered engineers who have passed the Engineering Principles and Practice (PE) exam.
In this scheme, a graduate engineer does not have the privilege of practicing engineering. At Associate Engineer level, may be an Associate Project Engineer. Full responsibility for engineering projects cannot be assumed until you have reached the Professional Engineer level, at which point you can legally assume responsibility for engineering documents, including projects.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN