Technology: The Human-Designed World

Introduction Design Technology Solving problems with criteria and constraints Technology Product, system, or environment that results from design New understanding or knowledge gained through design and production

Introduction (cont’d.) Examples of items in our “designed world”

Design Professionals Design professionals apply math, science, and aesthetics principles: To create successful designs Designs are created within constraints Limits on time, money, and other resources

The Design Continuum

The Design Continuum (cont’d.) Graphic designers Most concerned with aesthetic principles Industrial designers Work to improve the function, value, and appearance of a product Engineers Use knowledge of physical principles to design products, systems, or environments

Design and the Industrial Revolution Industrial Revolution began in England around 1750 Workers moved from a craft-based system to an industrial system Resources required Workers, food, energy, capital, and transportation

Engineering Societies American Society of Mechanical Engineers Helped professionalize engineering in the U.S. Helped establish engineering education

The American System American system of production innovations Large-scale production for mass markets Products made to precise design standards Use of interchangeable parts Expanded use of machine tools Unskilled labor performing simple operations

Standardization Standards American National Standards Institute Provide expectations for quality and compatibility of a material or product American National Standards Institute U.S. standard-making organization for products, services, processes, and systems

Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century Electricity Automobile Airplane Water supply and distribution Electronics

Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century (cont’d.) Radio and television Agricultural mechanization Computers Telephone AC and refrigeration

Electricity in the 20th Century Pioneers in electricity Thomas Edison Nikola Tesla Charles Steinmetz George Westinghouse

Engineering Careers Top engineering specialties Civil Mechanical Industrial Electrical/electronic Computer

Science and Technology Science seeks answers to questions about the natural universe Technology seeks to solve problems and create solutions Sometimes application comes before understanding the scientific principle

Impacts of Technology Four components of a technological system Inputs Things that drive the system Processes Require energy, and sometimes material and information

Impacts of Technology (cont’d.) Four components of a technological system (cont’d.) Outputs Results of the processes Feedback Information about the output “fed back” into the system to make corrections

Product Life Cycle

Ethics and Design Impacts of technology Sometimes involve ethical dilemmas Engineering society code of ethics Describes members’ expected behavior

Technology and the Earth’s Resources Technological choices impact: Individuals Society The natural world Designers, consumers, and government must balance trade-offs and risks of technological progress