and electric motors were widely used to power dumbwaiters by the 1920s .
In 1880 , German inventor and industrialist Werner Von Siemens built the first lift to use electric traction , which he demonstrated at the Mannheim Pfalzgau exhibition . The lift had a motor mounted on the bottom of the cab , and used a gearing system to climb wall shafts which were fitted with racks . While the lift was a novelty , the design wasn ’ t sophisticated enough to challenge steam-driven , hydraulic lift technology .
A Brief History of Civil Engineering ( Source : Rutgers School of Engineering )
Civil engineering had its beginnings when the Trustees of Rutgers College established the Rutgers Scientific School in 1863 , and the State of New Jersey on April 4 , 1864 designated Rutgers as the land grant institution of New Jersey . The first class was quickly enrolled and graduated in 1868 . The early engineering enrollment of the scientific school was predominantly civil engineers .
Early civil engineering education was conducted by individuals who had received their education at the Military Academy at West Point or with the Corps of Engineers . The first major civil engineering professor was Alfred Alexander Titsworth , who later became the first dean of engineering in 1914 .
The Origin of the Word Engineer ( Source : Britannica )
The words engine and ingenious are derived from the same Latin root , ingenerare , which means “ to create .” The early English verb engine meant “ to contrive .” Thus , the engines of war were devices such as catapults , floating bridges , and assault towers ; their designer was the “ engine-er ,” or military engineer . The counterpart of the military engineer was the civil engineer , who applied essentially the same knowledge and skills to designing buildings , streets , water supplies , sewage systems , and other projects .
Associated with engineering is a great body of special knowledge ; preparation for professional practice involving extensive training in the application of that knowledge . Standards of engineering practice are maintained through the efforts of professional societies , usually organised on a national or regional basis , with all members acknowledging a responsibility to the public over and above responsibilities to their employers or to other members of their society .
The function of the scientist is to know , while that of the engineer is to do . Scientists add to the store of verified systematized knowledge of the physical world , and engineers bring this knowledge to bear on practical problems . Engineering is based principally on physics , chemistry , and mathematics and their extensions into materials science , solid and fluid mechanics , thermodynamics , transfer and rate processes , and systems analysis .
Meeting the Challenge of Global Engineering ( Source : The National Academies Press )
With the explosive growth in recent years of foreign direct investment and international corporate alliances involving technology transfer and engineering co-operation , the development of products and manufacturing processes increasingly requires co-operation among technical personnel based in two or more countries . Speed to market , efficiency in product development and even the technical success and failure of a given project often depend on the performance of engineers working in international settings with teams spanning diverse cultures . Japan and US based companies are very often at the forefront of these global engineering activities . Even in academic research , collaboration between researchers in different countries is becoming more frequent and more important to the advancement of engineering science .
Recognising the growing necessity for American and Japanese engineers to work effectively in international collaborative activities , the Joint Task Force on Engineering Education decided to focus a major part of its effort on identifying the required capabilities of “ global engineers ,” the skills and approaches that engineers from the United States and Japan bring .
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