EECQ 5291: PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING PRACTICE ASSIGNMENT

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What were your earliest impressions of the engineering profession?
My earliest impressions of the engineering profession were that it provided information to answer
serious questions that ran in my brain, also it’s a risk profession and its done under strict
legislations which sometimes maybe unfavorable, for example one may face a court sentence if
found with any form of misconduct in line of duty like undertaking engineering projects without a
license.

2. Why did you, or why did you not, chose Civil Engineering as your first choice?
I chose civil engineering as my first choice due to iquit myself with information and knowledge to
solve serious problems such as infrastructural problems that were happening to my society which
is a representation of the large world. I also needed a course that would be interesting in learning
and practicing in the field and corporate world after studies. Above all it would offer me high
income since I could become self-employed from the skills and knowledge I acquire.

3. Briefly define the following terms:

University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in
a variety of subjects.

Engineering
It 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 realize a desired objective and meet specified
criteria.

Science
It is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding of how the physical world works.

Agriculture
This is the art and science of growing crops and keeping of animals.

Civil Engineering
Is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance
of the physical and natural built environment including works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams,
airports, sewerage systems, and pipeline.

Electronic Engineering
it is an electrical engineering discipline which utilizes nonlinear and active electrical components
(such as semiconductor devices, especially transistors, diodes and integrated circuits) to
design electronic circuits, devices, VLSI devices and their systems. The discipline typically also
designs passive electrical components, usually based on printed circuit boards.

Telecommunication Engineering
It’s an engineering discipline centered on electrical and computer engineering which seeks to
support and enhance telecommunication systems.

Instrumentation and control Engineering

Instrumentation is defined as the art and science of measurement and control of the process
variables within a production or manufacturing area. The process variables used in industries are
Level, Pressure, Temperature, Humidity, Flow, pH, Force, Speed etc. Control engineering or
control systems engineering is the engineering discipline that applies control theory to design
systems with desired behaviors.

Power systems engineering

Power system engineering is a field of electrical engineering focusing on the study, modeling,
operation and control of electrical power systems.

Computer systems Engineering

Computer (Systems) Engineering enables is the design of integrated hardware and software
solutions for technical problems i.e involves aspects of computing, from the design of individual
microprocessors, personal computers, and supercomputers, to circuit design.

Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering is the discipline that applies engineering, physics, engineering
mathematics, and materials science principles to design, analyze, manufacture, and
maintain mechanical systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering disciplines.

Geospatial Engineering
Is the discipline of gathering, storing, processing, and delivering geographic
information or spatially referenced information. In other words, it "consists of products, services
and tools involved in the collection, integration and management of geographic data.
4. What are the difference between Science and Engineering?
Science is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding of how the physical world
works while engineering is the discipline and profession of applying technical and the scientific
knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement
materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that realize a desired objective
and meet specified criteria.

5. What is Philosophy of Science?

It is a methodology which seeks to understand the nature and justification of scientific knowledge.

6. What are Methodological Naturalism and Critical Rationalism?

Methodological naturalism is the label for the required assumption of philosophical
naturalism when working with the scientific method. Methodological naturalists limit
their scientific research to the study of natural causes, because any attempts to define causal
relationships with the supernatural are never fruitful, and result in the creation of scientific dead
ends while;
Critical rationalists hold that scientific theories and any other claims to knowledge can and
should be rationally criticized, and (if they have empirical content) can and should be subjected to
tests which may falsify them. Thus claims to knowledge may be contrastingly and normatively
evaluated. They are either falsifiable or thus empirical (in a very broad sense), or not falsifiable
and thus non-empirical. Those claims to knowledge that are potentially falsifiable can then be
admitted to the body of empirical science, and then further differentiated according to whether
they are retained or are later actually falsified

7. What are Pseudoscience and Nonscience?

Any established body of knowledge which masquerades as science in an attempt to claim a
legitimacy which it would not otherwise be able to achieve on its own terms and the most important
of its defects is usually the lack of the carefully controlled and thoughtfully interpreted experiments
which provide the foundation of the natural sciences and which contribute to their advancement.
They can often be used to describe scientific theories or data which, while perhaps legitimate in
themselves, are believed to be mistakenly used to support an opposing position.
8. What are the major functions of Mathematics in Science?
Mathematics plays a major role in science in the expression of scientific models. Observing and
collecting measurements, as well as hypothesizing and predicting, often require extensive use of
mathematics and mathematical models.
9. List the branches of Engineering covering the alphabet, i.e. from A to Z. that is, for
example, Architecture, Biology, Chemical…, Zoology.
Agricultural engineering
Biosystems engineering
Civil engineering
Drafting engineering
Earthquake engineering
Financial engineering
Geotechnical engineering
Highway engineering
Industrial engineering
Java engineering
Kinematic engineering
Locomotive engineering
Mining engineering
Nuclear engineering
Operation engineering
Petroleum engineering
Quality control engineering
Robotics engineering
Structural engineering
Telecommunications engineering
Valve engineering
Utrasonic engineering
Watercraft engineering
X-ray engineering
Yawn engineering
Zoological engineering

10. What is the relationship between the number of Engineers and the development level of
the country?
The more the number of engineers in a country the more the level of development in a country and
vice-versa. This is because engineers play a role in utilizing the available resources which are
scarce for development purposes, they also incorporate technology in developing their countries.

11. Why were Land Grant University established in the USA?

To focus on the teaching of practical agriculture, science, military science and engineering as a
response to the industrial revolution and changing social class.
12. What is Professionalism?
This is the conduct aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional
person. It can also be said to be the skills, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected
from a person who is expected to do a job well.

13. What is Ethics?

It is a branch of philosophy that deals with morality. Ethics is concerned with distinguishing
between good and evil in the world, between right and wrong human actions, and between virtuous
and non-virtuous characteristics of people.