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Have you ever wondered where technology has come- from the earliest of ages to the present?  Below I have complied a very, very brief accounting.

 

500,000 B.C. – 1200B.C.

·         The hoe and fishing nets introduced

·         The oil lamp and needle introduced

·         A caveman invented the wheel

·         Fire introduced

·         Spear, Bow and Arrow introduced

·         Hieroglyphics introduced

 

1200 B.C. – A.D. 1

·         Quality of wrought iron is improved

·         Swords are mass produced

·         Siege towers are perfected

·         Greeks develop manufacturing

·         Archimedes introduces mathematics in Greece

·         Concrete is used for arched bridges, roads and aqueducts in Rome.

 

A.D. 1-1000

·         Chinese further develop the study of mathematics

·         Gunpowder is perfected

·         Cotton and silk manufactured

 

1000-1400

·         Silk and glass industries continue to grow

·         Leonardo Fibinacci, a medieval mathematician, writes the first Western text on algebra

 

1400-1700

·         First toilet is invented in England

·         Galileo constructs a series of telescopes, with which he observes the rotation about the sun

·         Otto von Guerick first demonstrates the existence of a vacuum

·         Issac Newton constructs first reflecting telescopes

·         Boyle’s Gas Law, stating pressure varies inversely with volume, is first introduced.

 

1700-1800

·         Industrial Revolution begins in Europe

·         James Watt patents his first steam engine

·         Society of Engineers, a professional engineering society, is formed in London

·         First building made completely of cast iron built in England

 

1800-1825

·         Machine automation is first introduced in France

·         First railroad locomotive is designed and manufactured

·         Chemical symbols are developed, the same symbols used today (Au, He)

·         Single wire telegraph line is developed

 

1825-1875

·         Reinforced concrete is first used

·         First synthetic plastic material is created

·         Bessemer develops his process to create stronger steel in mass quantities

·         First oil well drilled in Pennsylvania

·         Typewriter is perfected

 

1875-1900

·         Telephone is patented in the US by Alexander Graham Bell

·         Thomas Edison invents the light bulb and the phonograph

·         Gasoline engine developed by Gottlieb Daimler

·         Automobile introduced by Karl Benz

 

1900-1925

·         Wright brothers complete first sustained flight

·         Ford develops first diesel engines in tractors

·         First commercial flight between Paris and London begins

·         Detroit becomes center of auto production industry

 

1925-1950

·         John Logie Baird invents a primitive form of television

·         The VW Beetle goes into production

·         First atomic bomb is used

·         The transistor is invented

 

1950-1975

·         Computers first introduced into the market, and are common by 1960

·         Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite, put into space by USSR

·         First communication satellite—Telstar—is put into space

·         The U.S. completes the first ever moon landing

 

1975-1990

·         The Concord is first used for supersonic flight between Europe and the U.S.

·         Columbia space s huttle is reused for space travel

·         First artificial heart is successfully implanted

 

1990-Present

·         Robots travel on Mars

·         The “Chunnel” between England and France is finished

·         GPS is used to predict and report weather conditions, as well as many other consumer applications

 

Information  compiled  from “Engineering Your Future” and  “Technology: Shaping Our World”

 

Contributor: James W. Orr

Virtually everything around us and everything we use every day has been designed.

Many different engineers/designers work in our modern society, usually specializing in designing one type of product.

• The pens we use, the chairs we sit on, the rooms in which we spend our time, even the clothes we wear – all of these things are the result of decisions made by engineers/designers.
• In our day-to-day lives we take design for granted. We use pots to cook with, scissors to cut with, we sleep on beds, sit on chairs and climb up stairs.
• We rarely stop to think how these objects came into existence – and what design decisions went into their creation to make them work and look the way they do. 

Design decisions relate to many aspects of an object.

• They include decisions about the use of an object, its size and weight, how it will be constructed, what materials are to be used in its construction, what it will look like, how much it will cost and how long it will last.

 

It is important for you as future engineers/designers to understand how products are conceived and built, and what design decisions are made in that process.

 

• “Unpacking” the design of an object will lead you to the design decisions that were made in its conception – you can then use this knowledge in your own design work.
• Make sure you consider the most obvious decisions as well as those that are more subtle.
• For example, a chair must have a height suitable for sitting on (an obvious design decision), but a particular chair may also be designed to fit under a standard table (a more subtle design decision). 

Design Challenge – Asking the Right Questions

Before an object is made, it must be designed.

• Whether this design process is simple or complex, there are a number of questions that must be asked before construction can begin.
• Good design will greatly enhance the success of an object, and asking the right questions in the design process will greatly enhance the success of the design.
• Many design decisions are made according to a design “brief” – the following suggestions of design questions and considerations may already be included in a design brief, or you can incorporate them.

 Use of the object

• How is the object going to be used?
• Who is going to use it?
• How will other design considerations affect its use?
• Determining the use of an object is an important first step in considering its design, but it is also worth checking your design will still work after you have considered all the other design elements.

 Aesthetics of the object

Aesthetics relates to the appearance, beauty and feel of an object and is another important design element. Sometimes aesthetic decisions are purely up to the designer, sometimes they relate to the person who will use the object.

• What shapes are appealing?
• Do the dimensions of the object seem correct?
• Are different parts of the object in proportion to each other?
• What colors/textures are right?
• How will the object fit into its intended surroundings?
• What sort of finish will look best?

Durability of the object

• How long do you expect this object to last?
• Will it be used inside or outside?
• Does it need protective finishes?
• Will it be used for food or liquid?
• Does it need to withstand heat or moisture?
• Will children be using this object?
• Is it decorative or does it need to withstand heavy handling? 

Construction materials

• Asking questions about which materials to use relates to all of the above questions. Once you have a clear idea about the way you want your object to look and work, you can choose a material that will meet your criteria.
• Sometimes designers work the other way round – they find a beautiful material that they enjoy working with and ask what they could make with that material to enhance its qualities. 

Construction methods

There is nothing worse than spending long periods of time designing an object only to discover that it is unable to be built.  Ask questions about how you will construct the object.

• Is the construction method the most suitable for its intended use?
• Will construction methods affect the appearance or durability of the object?

Cost of the object

Asking questions about the cost of an object may be important if you plan to sell it later, and it is also important to know that you can afford to build it in the first place.

• Is the cost of materials or processes a consideration in your design?
• Do you need to investigate cheaper materials for some elements?
• How much will your object cost to build?
• How long will it take to build?
• Could you use recycled materials?
• What about the environmental cost – is this important to you?

Once you have settled on all the elements in your design, sit back and think about it carefully as a whole design.

• Does it give you all the answers you want?
• Could you change anything that would make it work better or look better?
• What do other people think of your design?
• Can you now develop it into a built object?

 Contributor: James W. Orr