Weston Middle School
Technology/Engineering Course Materials
Technology
= Knowledge of techniques - How to make things
Each change in technology- stone age, bronze age, iron age, invention of concrete, invention of arch, electronics—has changed society
Examples:
- Food Preparation technology (recipe)
- Cleaning Technology
- Writing Technology
Engineering:
Engineering(one definition) is designing a solution to a human need based on a (mathematical ) model of materials, which is good enough for the required task. It does the job, with an adequate margin of safety, but is not wasteful.
Example: Pizza Engineering: How many pizzas do you order if 10 friends are coming for a pizza party?
Engineering Model: Average person eats 2 slices, but some might eat more.
Calculation: If 8 slices per pizza, you might order 3 pizzas( safety factor of 2 slices) or 4 pizzas ( safety factor of 10 slices).
The most efficient design is the least expensive one that meets the performance criteria
Engineering designs always involve trade-offs- speed vs force, cost vs performance.
Failure- carefully analyzed- is essential to engineering design, as it reveals the weak points of structures and their design limits .
Mianus River Bridge Collapse, I-95 Connecticut 1983
A design is said to be elegant if it is the simplest possible design that does the job.
Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse