Engineering and Society

(ECV3001)

Introduction to
engineering

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 Outcome
• 1. Menerangkan tugas dan tanggungjawab jurutera
dan peranan jurutera dalam masyarakat
• 2. Membincangkan isu semasa termasuk isu
keselamatan dan kesihatan
• 3. Menghuraikan sistem perundangan, pengurusan
dan keusahawanan
• 4. Menghuraikan hasil tugasan dan laporan kajian
kes kemasyarakatan melalui pembentangan lisan dan
penulisan
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Content
1. What it means to be an engineer?

2. What is Engineering?

3. Rules of conduct

4. Functions of Engineers

5. Profession and Professionalism

6. Good Leaders

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What is your understanding
of engineer as a profession?

-What is the engineer’s duty?

-What type of knowledge
involved?
-What is the difference
between an engineer
compared to a scientist?
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 What it means to be an engineer ?
• An engineer is a person professionally engaged in
a field of engineering
• A vocation (profession) whose principal duty is to
serve mankind
• Applying knowledge to create
• practical devices or machines,
• structures and
• processes

• In contrast: Scientist aims to seek knowledge5

 Contributions …..
Scientist Engineer
Knowledge Knowledge &
applications
Can analyse Can analyse &
solve
Upstream K, Downstream K,
fundamentals applied 6
What is engineering ?
-Origins of the word
-IEM (Institution of Engineers
Malaysia) Definition of
Engineering

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Engineering-origins of the word
• Practical form of art and a profession, evolved
from the work of builders thousands of years ago
• Originated probably in the Middle Ages
around 1000-1200 AD(Anno Domino or Current
Era)
• There were mainly builders of civil and
mechanical structures such as buildings,
bridges, roads, mills and war machines

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What is Engineering?
• Engineering is the discipline and profession of
applying technical and scientific knowledge and
utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to
design and implement materials, structures,
machines, devices, systems, and processes that
safely realize a desired objective and meet specified
criteria
• The profession in which a knowledge of the
mathematical and natural sciences gained by study,
experience, applied practices with judgement ,to
develop ways to utilize economically the materials
and forces of nature for the benefit of mankind 9
Science and Technology Definition

• Science:
• Business of seeking knowledge
• Technology
• Intelligent organization and
• manipulation of materials for useful
purposes

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IEM (Institution of Engineers
Malaysia) Definition of Engineering
• Share a common heritage of knowledge, skill
and art
• Renders (give) a specialized services
• Involves a confidential relationship between
practitioner-client and/or employer
• Is charged with a substantial degree of public
obligation (duty)
• Is bound by a distinctive Ethical Code
• Has learned organizations or societies 11
As a summary, Engineering is..
• A profession: it has standards of conduct,
responsibilities, is based on specialized
knowledge and members can attain professional
status in well-defined ways.
• An art as well as science: experience and
practice is required.
• The application of professional judgement in
seeking optimum solutions.
• The utilization of resources: nature, forces,
energy, material, knowledge.
• An exercise in optimizing economic cost. 12
…with rules of conduct pertaining

• Who is permitted to practice?

• What are an engineer’s obligations to his/her
client or employer and his/her colleagues?
• What further obligations does an engineer owe
to society?
• By what standards (benchmark) shall an
engineer be compensated (rewarded)?
• How and by whom shall an engineer’s
professional conduct be judged? 13
What is the
role
of engineers ?

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Functions of Engineers
• Engineers act as a leader to technicians,
craftsmen and workers
• Engineers should be
• familiar with the skills of his/her subordinates,
and in addition to that,
• innovate,
• design,
• make decisions,
• and foresee,
• identify,
• assess, and
• solve problems
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… in the following areas:
Design
R&D

In various fields
Construction
of engineering
Engineering skills
use in the
Management following areas
Sales

Production
Operation

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Public Perception
Parents Public

•High esteem •Poor

communications
•Good job
opportunities •‘Square’/ Rigid
•Male
•Well paid
•Socially inept
•Responsible (hard to adapt)
positions
etc

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Objectives of Engineering
and Society Subject?

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Objectives of Engineering and
Society Subject
Learn
social
Understand Analyse Propose
side of problems solution
engineering importance

Include Understand In reality Propose

issues like: equal Engineers rational
•national Importance are expected solutions or
development of social to analyse recommendations
•Environment knowledge situations
•Social to technical and problems
•Professionalism knowledge

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What is the difference
between profession and
professionalism?

Pekerjaaan vs Kerjaya ?
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Profession
• Involve the application of specialised
knowledge of a subject, field, or science to fee-
paying clientele
• Claim authority on specific professional
knowledge and skill
• Possess criteria for membership privilege,
obligation and rights

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Characteristics of Profession
• Having a specialized knowledge and skill
• Have undergone a recognized educational
process successfully
• Having acquired a standard of specialized
qualification based on a specific discipline of
education and proven competence
• Action guided by a standard of conduct based
upon ethical code
• Status recognition
• Involved actively in an organization devoted to
common advancement
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Professionalism
• Professional status, methods, character, or
standards.
• Refer to members common way of thinking
and living
• Sense of moral and vocational (profession)
satisfaction
• Professional attitudes and motivation based
on community recognition and level of
reward
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…Professionalism
• A self imposed standards of excellence in its
performance
• Sharing advances in professional knowledge
by rendering gratuitous services to society
• Professional activity carrying high level
responsibility
• Motivation for service

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…Professionalism
• Engineers practise as members of teams, led and
managed by senior engineers.
• Senior engineers -tended and managed large
resources of man, materials and finance
• Junior engineers -involved in detailed technical
practice
• Technical direction came from -middle level
engineers
• Generally in the client-practitioner characteristic, the
individual role is taken over by the engineering
management 25
• Significant learning outcome …..

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What is the criteria
of good leader?

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Good Leaders
• Tend to treat people as colleagues, companies or
partners
• To gain respect, relying upon authority of
knowledge and personality
• Require considerable inner confidence to lead
the people on their journey and to show them the
way forward
• Able to motivate, making people understand the
importance by stressing on the significance of the
job
• A good listener
• Ask question to create a climate of participation
• Trust the team 28
…Good Leaders
• Accept responsibility
• Courteous, positive outlook and cool under
pressure
• Full of humility but has no doubt of his own
power or hesitation in speaking his opinion
• Understand what he can do or say depending
on the situation and condition
• Be right in the business but not just for himself
• Spot any crisis before it happens
• Lead by example 29
Engineer as Leader
• Willingness to practise the qualities of
good leader
• Acquire intense professional will and
display workmanlike diligence
• Committed to produce sustained results
with continuous improvement
• Took full responsibility
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Engineers who are potential leaders

Self-reflection Conscious
Personal
A significance development
life experience
Being a mentor

A loving parent
A great teacher

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What are possible challenges
when working in an
organization?

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Bureaucracy and Hierarchy
• Endure culture of discipline and avoid
hierarchy and bureaucracy
• Bureaucracy compensate incompetence and
lack of discipline
• Problem is minimized if the right people is
chosen in the right place

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…Bureaucracy and Hierarchy
• Bureaucracy
• inhibit (hold back) creativity,
• innovative people leave,
• organization will suffer
• A culture of discipline together with
entrepreneurship driving spirit would achieve
superior performance and sustained results

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Suggestion for organization
structure and mechanism?

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 Freedom within
a Framework
• Invent mechanism that drive culture change
and enhancement
• Enabling manager to be responsible for the
return on investment
• No cover-up on ineffective management
• Uses rigour (strictness) and discipline to
enable creativity and entreprenourship
• Given the freedom to determine the best path
to achieve objectives
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…Freedom within a Framework
• Discipline by itself would not produce great result
• Tremendous discipline can produce disaster
• Ideally, require self-disciplined people who
are also engaged in thorough thinking
• Disciplined action within the framework of a
consistent system around the area they can
be best

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…Freedom within a Framework
• Discipline people do not need a hierarchy
• Disciplined thought do not need bureaucracy
• Disciplined action requires no excessive
controls
• Great performance achieved through the
combination of culture of discipline with
cultural entrepreneurship

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