Ir Siow Yun Tong

MIEM, Peng, Asean Eng., Int.Eng.

Credits: EGR2212 Engineering Perspectives

(3 cr)
Pre-requisite: None
Course description:
To provide non-technical information essential to
the engineering students; and to provide key
development perspectives which enables the
students to research, develop and communicate
facts, concepts and reasoned arguments, within the
context of their chosen engineering discipline,
whilst working both individually and co-operatively.

Course Learning Outcomes:

Successful students will be able to:

1. Express a basic understanding of the engineering
profession in general, and the various fields of
specializations therein, with emphasis on
occupational safety and health, professionalism,
sustainable engineering, environmental preservation
and ethics.
2. Think objectively and creatively, and to apply
basic research skills and appropriate design process,
in solving engineering-related problems.
3. Demonstrate their organizational, oral and writing
presentation skills, with a professional attitude, in
interacting and working effectively in groups.

Lecture / Instructional Hours: 2 hrs per

week, Tutorial: 4 hr per week.
[For short semester, Instructional Hours: 4
hrs per week, Tutorial: 8 hrs per week.]

Total Student Learning Time

(SLT)
Face to Face
L

28

24

( L = Lecture; T = Tutorial; P = Practical; O =

Others )
Guided & Independent Total Student Learning
Learning (hr)
Time (hr)
64

120

Quiz: 5%
Group Activity: 5%
Assignments: 10%
Oral presentation: 5%
Project Report : 15%
Final Examination: 60%

Duration:
2 hours

Choice of questions:
Students are required to answer FOUR questions
only out of FIVE.
Section A: 3 compulsory questions
Section B: Choice of 1 from 2 questions

A +(90 - 100),
A (80-89),
A- (75 79),
B+ (70 74),
B (65 69),
B- (60 64),
C+ (55 59),
C (50 54),

C- (45 49),
D (40 44),
F (0 39)

Basic text
1.

Spencer, Richard H., Floyd, Raymond E., 2011, Perspectives on

engineering, Author House.

References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Jonassen, David H., 2011, Learning to Solve Problems: A Handbook for

Designing Problem-Solving Learning Environments, Routledge.
Scott, Bill., Billing, Bertil., 1998, Communication for Professional
Engineers, 2nd ed., Thomas Telford.
Koneru, Aruna., 2008, Professional Communication, Tata McGraw-Hill.
Moaveni, S., 2011, Engineering Fundamentals-An Introduction to
Engineering, 4th Ed., Cengage Learning.
Jayakumar, V., 2007, Professional Ethics and Human Values, Lakshmi
Publication.
Zahn, Robert, 2004, Engineering perspectives of human society:
application of control theory, game theory, and information theory to
social phenomena, Nova Science.
Roger, P.P., Jalal, K.F., Boyd, J.A., 2008, An Introduction to Sustainable
Development, Earthscan.
Friend, M.A., Kohn, J.P., 2010, Fundamentals of Occupational Safety
and Health, 5th Ed, Government Institutes.
Abbott, K.R., & Pendlebury, N., Business Law, 8th ed., Thomas
Learning, 2007

Entitled,
Perspectives on
Engineering
By Richard H.
Spencer & Raymond
E. Floyd
Year of publication :
2011

Lectur
e

Topics

1-6

7-10

11-14

15-16

Course introduction and overview; the role of the professional

engineer; definition of professionalism; quality and
characteristics of a professional; professional boundaries;
desirable characteristics of a professional engineer;
responsibility of the engineer in society.
Types of ethics; engineering ethics; environmental ethics;
computer ethics; aims in studying ethics; theories of moral
development; Kohlbergs theory; Gilligan theory; sample code
of ethics like ASME, ASCE, IEEE; the role of professional
bodies; the role of IEM and BEM; what is Washington Accords;
code of professional conduct for engineers.
Submit Assignment 1 (5%)
Definition of occupational safety and health (OSH); role and
responsibilities of OSH professionals; identifying safety and
health hazards; the concept of safety and risk; assessing and
reducing risk; relationship between safety, risk, and cost;
common workplace hazard groups.
Quiz (2.5%)
Definition of rule of law and good governance; definition of
sustainable development; types of capital in sustainable
development; relationship among rule of law, good
governance, and sustainable development.

Lectur
e

Topics

17-19

20-21

22-24

25-26

27-26

Definition of engineering design process; steps in engineering

design process; models of the design process.
Submit Assignment 2 (5%)
Outline of skills required for giving a professional level oral
presentation to an informed audience, which includes:
introduction, clear structure, visual aids, conclusion, timing
etc.
Submit Project Progress & Group Activity Report (5%)
Effective report writing; structure and format of a formal
report; Problem solving techniques; fish bone diagrams;
IDEAL strategy.
Quiz (2.5%)
Recruitment and selection; job description; post specification;
interviewing to a post specification; resume writing; interview
questions.
Submit Project Report. (15%)
Student Oral Presentations. (5%)
Final Examination (60%)

All the notes uploaded to on-line are meant for

reference.
It serves as part of the teaching materials that may
help the students to understand the delivered topics.

Students should not rely on uploaded teaching

materials as the only source of reference.
Students must read the recommended text and
references for detail understanding of the topics.
Any discrepancies and missing items on the uploaded materials can be clarified with the Text and
references.

If students have any query related to the subject,

they should seek additional information from the
relevant books, or consult with the lecturer.
The consultation hours for this subject will be
announced in the First day of lecture.

Those absentees shall seek this info from Class Rep, or

fellow classmates in the know.

To have a strong grasp of this subject, students

should acquire a unit of the Textbook, and attend
classes regularly.
Students should read the textbook or reference as a
matter of habit.

First two chapters of Perspectives on

Engineering text by Richard H. Spencer &
Raymond E. Floyd

The secret to keep things simple in

approach assignments as engineers:
be considerate of others feelings and abilities,
be consistent when dealing with people not
favoring one over another,
maintain sensitivity to others as there may be
pressures they are under that you are not aware
of, and
do the very best job you can, always striving to be
as competent as you can within your abilities.

In school a failure on a test can be a

transient action, perhaps lowering a grade
point average, possibly requiring a course to
be repeated, or simply an action lost in the
semesters average and is of little
consequence.
In industry, failure on a test can result in
large loss of time and equipment all of
which is quickly equated to the bottom line
as a loss in revenue or to the annual budget.

Academia provides the fundamentals and

introductory tools for the engineer, but it is
the application of that knowledge and those
tools within the industrial environment that
will define the success or failure of an
engineering career.

Sensitivity training is one of the more important

sessions covered in modern manager training
classes.
It is seldom discussed during academic courses,
unless there is a team effort involved.
Simple greetings, comments or gestures:
Good morning, how are you, thank you, good night
Well done, good job, fantastic, welcome,
congratulations
Handshakes, thumbs up, hand wave, peace sign, ok

On the other side, how about the remark,

Thats the dumbest idea I have ever
heard, given by a peer or even a manager
in a discussion.
It may be the dumbest idea ever, but the
remark itself is probably right next to the
dumb idea as being out of line.
Being embarrassed in front of ones peers
by a peer or manager is among the worst
things that can happen to an individual.

Being consistent in how you approach work,

deal with people, handle various situations,
and even how you handle your boss can go
a long way to ensure a successful career.
Being consistent says that assignments are
completed on time and satisfactorily,
providing indications that you can be
depended on.

While this trait is important to the average

engineer, it is critical as a manager.
For example, if a manager is inconsistent in
handling job evaluations the word will get
around that, The boss sure takes care of
his, or her, favorites.
Just the hint of being inconsistent can
destroy the credibility of the manager in the
eyes of his, or her, staff.

Dr. L. J. Peters statement

in his 1968 book, The
Peter Principle,
concerning a persons
ability to rise within the
business world; In a
hierarchy every
employee tends to rise to
his or her level of
incompetence.

Consider that whimsical character of

imagination Don Quixote de la Mancha, the
lead in the stage play Man of La Mancha, as
he sings the familiar words:

To
To
To
To

dream the impossible dream

fight the unbeatable foe
bear with unbearable sorrow
run where the brave dare not go.

Don Quixote (pron.: /dn kihoti/;

Spanish:[do kixote]( listen)), fully titled
The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote
of La Mancha (Spanish: El ingenioso
hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha), is a
novel written by Miguel de Cervantes. The
novel follows the adventures of Alonso
Quijano, an hidalgo who reads so many
chivalric novels, that he decides to set out
to revive chivalry under the name of Don
Quixote.

He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his

squire, who frequently deals with Don Quixote's
rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood with
a unique, earthy wit. He is met by the world as it
is, initiating themes like intertextuality, realism,
metatheatre and literary representation.
Published in two volumes a decade apart, in 1605
and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most
influential work of literature from the
Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish
literary canon.

Intertextuality is the shaping of texts'

meanings by other texts
East of Eden (1952) by John Steinbeck: A retelling
of the story of Genesis, set in the Salinas Valley of
Northern California

Realism takes on various meanings,

depending on the context in which the term
is used and is always related to some form
of reality, opp to idealism

Metatheatre can be described as reflecting

comedy and tragedy, at the same time, where
the audience can laugh at the protagonist
while feeling empathetic simultaneously.
Shakespeare employs metatheatrical devices
throughout his plays. Some examples include
The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet,
A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Tempest.

Representation is the use of signs that stand

in for and take the place of something else.
E.g. portrait of Mona Lisa represents mystic,
ambiguity and enigmatic.

Around 1490, an Italian sailor was laughed at, and

some even called him mad. His vision was to sail
westward from the European continent, westward
until he could circumnavigate his way to India and
the rich spice trade.
He believed the earth was round, against the
popular belief of the majority of people, and that he
should be able to make such a journey.
The rest is history, as children recite each year, In
1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and the
exploits of Christopher Columbus and his three ships
are rememberedfor the founding of America.

Audience with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

Set afoot in America

The day is blustery, overcast, with a stiff breeze

coming in from the Atlantic Ocean. That day saw
the culmination of the work and dreams of Orville
and Wilbur Wright, credited with the first heavierthan-air human flight on December 17, 1903.
While most people are aware of their
accomplishment, few understand the real
accomplishment the Wright brothers had
achieved.
Many inventors had attempted powered flying
before the Wright brothers, all had failed. Why?

First flight of the Wright Flyer I, December

17, 1903, Orville piloting, Wilbur running at
wingtip.

Wright brothers at the Belmont Park Aviation

Meet in 1910

L = k S V 2C

L = lift in pounds
k = coefficient of air
pressure (Smeaton
coefficient)
S = total area of lifting
surface in square feet
V = velocity (headwind
plus ground speed) in miles
per hour
CL = coefficient of lift
(varies with wing shape)

Of the many speeches Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

delivered, it is the one he gave in 1963 on the
steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
that is best remembered, his dream of what could
be, as noted in the following excerpt:
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and
live out the true meaning of its creed, We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,
the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave
owners will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood.

A fiery orator and an inspirational civil

rights fighter.

A few years earlier, a young, new president

told the nation, I believe this nation should
commit itself to achieving the goal, before
the decade is out, of landing a man on the
moon and returning him safely to earth.
With those words, President John F. Kennedy
set in motion a vast network of engineers,
machinists, scientists, literally tens of
thousands of workers with a single goal to
send astronauts to the moon and safely
return them.

Ask not what your country can do for you;

ask what you can do for your country, John
F. Kennedy, 1961.

Explorer, inventor, political activist,

President, and astronauts all unique and
different, yet an underlying commonality of
looking at things as they were and wanting
something better, each having their own
impossible dream.
They were able to make the paradigm shift
needed to achieve their dream.

Having the dream in itself is not

enough. As Lao Tzu once said, A
journey of a thousand miles begins
with a single step, the challenge is
moving from the dream to reality.
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered
with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of
courage
To reach the unreachable star.

There are people who had enrolled in an

engineering curriculum, then decided that
was not what they really wanted to do.
Also there were those who switched their
engineering major when they decided there
were conditions they preferred to work with
that may not be available in their planned
field.
Are you in any of the above categories?
Any change/s would involve costs and time.

Frequently, an individual will simply say,

Im going into Engineering.
That is like saying trees are green there is
such a variation in

what an engineer is,

what courses need to be studied,
what the interests of the student are,
what jobs are available to the graduate,
and the list goes on and on.

If the individual can narrow the choice, even

slightly, to say, Im going to be an electrical
engineer. there remains a large number of
choices to be made as one embarks on the
studies needed for the new career.
Over the years of work as engineers we
have seen many engineering graduates who
have specialized so severely that they
proved to be unable to adapt for success in
some very challenging opportunities.

A young engineer was trained in electronics,

but was unable to handle testing of printers.
Why? The testing involved primarily
mechanical components, although much of
the printer itself contained electronics for
paper advance, hammer firing, data
transfer, and so forth, but he couldnt adapt
to the system aspects of the job.
After a time he left the job

A bright young engineer carrying a 4.0 GPA,

and appeared to have a brilliant future as a
design engineer until he was asked to
perform a simple modification of a printed
circuit card.
In all of his training, he had never soldered
on a circuit board and had no interest in
learning. He moved on

Other young engineers who had adequate

electrical, electronics, and mechanical
training were most often very successful in
design, and/or test of a wide variety of
business machines and systems.
Some expanded their career opportunities
by also becoming adept at programming for
testing and manufacturing process control.

On the other hand, there are those who

want to do research in highly specialized or
specific areas, e.g. in universities, etc
In that case specialization may be
appropriate, as long as the individual
recognizes the possible limitations being
placed on their career path through such
narrow focus.

The engineer must be able to understand

the system aspects of the application,
installation, and, if required, provide
operating instructions that the non-technical
operator can understand and follow quickly
and correctly.
Yes, the engineer must also develop good
communication and writing skills along the
way, and certainly the ability to work with
others in a cooperative and courteous
manner.

One author, Spencer, who had several years

experience as a combat cameraman and
experience in a hand-cast aluminum
cooking ware factory, decided to acquire an
Electrical Engineering degree. He was
offered positions at a television company,
the U.S. Geodetic Survey Service, missile
research, and IBM. He settled on IBM and
had a very satisfying 38 year career there,
spending the major part of that time within
the Product Test function.

While in the university he gave special

attention to mechanical areas of study and
to technical writing; aiming for
understandability by non-engineers.
Later at IBM, he had many technical reports
to write, coached other engineers and
programmers in writing for
understandability by non-engineer product
users, had two books on product testing
published, and was assigned to rewrite a
management manual.

What is the university programme or major

that is the most demanding?
Looking at a survey in USA, College majors
that are most demanding.
The study surveyed 416,000 full-time, firstyear students and seniors attending 673
colleges and universities during 2011.

It is ENGINEERING!!

Avg Weekly
Study
Hours (out
of class)
19 hours

Expected
Study
Hours

20 hours

Percent With
over
20+ Study
Hours

42 percent

Number of
Hours Working
for Pay

9 hours

Life as you know it before has endednow it is

hard at study and at hard at work.

#2 Most Demanding area of study: Physical

Sciences
#3 : Biological Sciences
#4 : Arts and Humanities
#5 : Education
#6 : Social Sciences
#7 : Business

END OF COURSE
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE