MPU33183 UEME4243

Engineer in Society
3 credit hours
Lecturers:
Prof. Ir. Dr. Tee Tiam Ting

Assessment
Assignment 1: 15%
Assignment 2: 15%

Mid-Term Test: 20%

Final Exam: 50%

Engineer in Society

Engineer (4 yrs university study)

Graduate Engineer (3-5 years working, Engr.)
Professional Engineer (P.Eng. Or Ir.)
Broad of Engineers Malaysia (BEM,IJM) and
Institution of Engineers Malaysia(IEM).
Professional Examination ( Interview, write
one technical report, one Code of Ethnics)

Engineer in Society

Other professional body:

Institution of Chemical Engineer(I Chem E)
Institution of Mechanical Engineer(I Mech.E)
Institution of Electrical Engineer (I Elect. E)
Institution of Civil Engineer.
Etc.

Engineer in Society

As an engineer:
Food
Water
Energy
Housing
Protect the Environment
Safety
Code of Ethnics

Objective of Unit
To provide knowledge of impact of technology
on society.
To provide knowledge of professional issues in
engineering, viz.,
Engineering safety
Sustainable development
Code of ethnics

Learning Outcomes of Unit

Explain and analyze the impact of technology on society from
the social, political, economic and environmental
perspectives.
Explain and identify issues of engineering safety and legal
liabilities.
Analyse the role played by the professional engineer in
sustainable development
Describe and apply conscientiously the professional Code of
Ethics.
Recognizes and apply concepts related to Lifelong Learning to
keep in pace with advancement of technology.

1. TECHNIOLOGY AND SOCIETY

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

1. INTRODUCTION

Science & technology have progressed tremendously in last 100

years at exponential rate
Industrial revolution 19th century
Most technological advances happened in last 200 years

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

2,600,000 BC Stone Age

3,000 BC Bronze Age
1200 BC - Iron Age
1760 Industrial Age
1945 Nuclear Age (Hiroshima)
1957 Space Age (launch of Sputnik- first space ship)
1971 Information Age (based on micro-chips)

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

2. THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIETY
New Technologies
Technological & scientific advancement always have great impact
on society
Inventions such as wheel, pulley, screws etc had changed our life
style
Engineering breakthroughs such as tool-making, ship-building, damconstruction etc had helped to form our modern society

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

From 19th century to 1960s some called it Second Industrial
Revolution there is a huge wave of technical and scientific
discoveries
New inventions such as:
Telephone change our communication mode
Light bulb light the night and extend our productive time
Radio news & entertainment
Television influenced everything from politics to pattern of
consumption
Medical antibiotics, polio was eradicated
Transistor great influence on electronic & communication

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Life will be incomprehensible if without these inventions
Economy will also be seriously affected

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Technology and Economics
Earlier days- people trade with each other with goods produced by
them
All goods need some form of technology to produce
So technology has spurred development of economics
Modern world superior technology give rise to robust economy
Economic excess will flow into greater use of technology
Funds are abundant to source new technology

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Early days - research was done by one or few men
Nowadays research is carried out by big corporations with multi
million dollars investment
Now robots and computers are more efficient and productive than
human beings
Even skilled jobs are also affected
Example design work can be done by computer
Workers will be laid off or wages will be reduced
Owners of big corporations will be richer as cost of production is
reduced
This will lead to depressed consumer spending and economic
growth

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Technology and Life Style
Technology makes life easier and more enjoyable
More informed society due to internet
Global networking - facebook, twitter
Borderless social circle
Cheaper prices as cost of production is lower

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Technology has many bad impact on our life style and environment
Pollution air, water
Congestion in transport too many cars
New forms of risk such as 1st generation nuclear reactors
Video games, internet access great social effect
New disease obesity, heart problem, diabetics
Global warming

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Technology and Environment
Most modern technological processes produce unwanted byproducts, known as industrial waste and pollution
Some may be recycled but some are released into our environment
Effects of technology on environment are subtle:
Depletion of non-renewable natural resources such as
petroleum, coal etc
Long term effects such as global warming, deforestation, loss of
coastal wetland

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

New types of wastes are produced
Radioactive waste
Toxic waste
Electronic waste
Problem how to remove them expediently?
Natural process the organisms recycle the wastes of other
organisms , eg photosynthesis
Technological waste cannot be removed by this method

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

3.

1st INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

This refers to a period (1750 1870) where Britain has gone
through a fundamental change in economics, textile and metal
manufacturing, transportation etc
It transforms a traditional society of England into modern society
through industralisation of the economy
There is a dramatic increase of per capital production through
mechanisation of manufacturing processes

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Factors why Britain was able to increase the economy
tremendously:
Rich in coal and iron ore to fuel the industries
Has easily navigable waterways and coasts to move people and
goods
Good harbours to ship goods to other countries
Was at the crossroads of international trade
System of banks to fund new businesses
Has an open social structure that encouraged accumulation of
wealth
Stable government

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Industrial revolution began in textile industry
Several new inventions helped to produce clothes quickly
Steam engine was invented in 1705 and it helped to provide power
to run the factory
1820 steam-driven train was invented
All railroads were built all over England
This helped to move goods quicker and to more areas
Construction of railroad also helped to provide plenty job
opportunities
Other countries also followed- USA, France, Germany and other
part of Europe

 Student Handouts, Inc.

The Industrial Revolution

The First Industrial

Revolution

Necessity Is the Mother of

Invention
Spinning machine
Need to speed up
weaving
Power loom created

Necessity Is the Mother of

Invention
Power loom
Increased demand for
raw cotton
Invention of the cotton
gin

Necessity Is the Mother of

Invention
Cotton gin

Demands for stronger iron

Improvements in iron smelting and

the development of steel
(Bessemer process)

Necessity Is the Mother of

Invention
As more steam-powered
machines were built,
factories needed more
coal to create this
steam

Mining methods
improved to meet the
demand for more coal

The process of inventing never ends

One invention inevitably leads to improvements upon it
and to more inventions

Development of Steam Engines

Early water power involved mills built over
fast-moving streams and rivers
Early water power had problems
Not enough rivers to provide the power needed
to meet growing demand
Rivers and streams might be far removed from
raw materials, workers, and markets

Steam Power
Humans tried harnessing steam power for
millennia
Hero of Alexandria, Egypt created a steamdriven device in the 1st century B.C.E.

Thomas Newcomen, England (1704)

Created a steam engine to pump water from
mines

James Watt, Scotland (1769)

Improved Newcomens engine to power
machinery

Steam Engines
By 1800, steam engines were replacing water
wheels as sources of power for factories
Factories relocated near raw materials,
workers, and ports
Cities grew around the factories built near
central Englands coal and iron mines
Manchester, Liverpool

Bessemer Process and Steel

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, steel was
difficult to produce and expensive
Henry Bessemer, 1856
Developed the Bessemer process
Brought on the Age of Steel
Steel is the most important metal used over the
past 150+ years

Other improvements in steel production

Open-hearth furnace
Electric furnace

Transportation
Increased
production

Search for more

markets and
raw materials

Before the Industrial Revolution

Canal barges pulled by mules
Ships powered by sails
Horse-drawn wagons, carts, and carriages

After the Industrial Revolution

Trains
Steamships
Trolleys
Automobiles

Better and
faster means of
transportation

Transportation Revolution
Robert Fulton
(American)
Steamboat (1807)
Sped water
transportation

Gottlieb Daimler
(German)

Gasoline engine
(1885)
Led to the
invention of the
automobile

Thomas Telford and

John McAdam
(British)
Macadamized roads
(1810-1830)
Improved roads

Rudolf Diesel
(German)

Diesel engine
(1892)
Cheaper fuel

George Stephenson
(English)
Locomotive (1825)
Fast land transport
of people and
goods

Orville and Wilbur

Wright (American)

Airplane (1903)
Air transport

Railroads
1830 Stephensons Rocket train traveled
the 40 miles between Liverpool and
Manchester in 1 hours
1830-1870 railroad tracks went from 49
miles to over 15,000 miles
Steel rails replaced iron rails
1869 Westinghouses air brake made train
travel safer
Greater train traveling comfort heavier train

Communications Revolution
Samuel F.B. Morse
(American)
Telegraph (1844)
Rapid
communication
across continents

Alexander Graham
Bell (American)

Cyrus W. Field
(American)

Telephone
(1876)
Human speech
heard across
continents

Guglielmo
Marconi (Italian)
Wireless
telegraph, an
early form of
the radio (1895)
No wires
needed for
sending
messages

Atlantic cable
(1866)
United States
and Europe
connected by
cable
Lee de Forest
Vladimir Zworykin
(American)
(American)

Radio tube
(1907)
Radio
broadcasts
could be sent
around the
world

Television
(1925)
Simultaneous
audio and visual
broadcast

Printing Revolution
Printing 1800-1830
Iron printing press
Steam-driven press

Rotary press 1870

Invented by Richard Hoe
Printed both sides of a page at once

Linotype machine 1884

Invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler
A machine operator could create a line of type all at
one go, rather than having to individually set each letter

Newspapers became much cheaper to

produce
Cost of a newspaper plummeted

Agriculture and Industry

The Industrial Revolution brought machinery
to farms
The use of farm machinery meant that fewer
farm workers were needed
Displaced farm workers moved to the cities to
find work in factories
This is called rural-to-urban migration

Growing populations in urban cities required

farmers to grow more crops
Food to eat

Agricultural Machinery
Eli Whitney Cotton gin (1793) Increased cotton
production

Cyrus McCormick Mechanical reaper (1834)

Increased wheat production

Other important inventions: Horse-drawn hay rake,

threshing machine, steel plow
Steam engines, gasoline and diesel engines, and electric
motors were added to farm machinery as these types of
engines were invented.

The Industrial and Agricultural Revolutions

complemented one another. Developments and needs
in one created developments and needs in the other.

The Second
Industrial
Revolution

The First and Second Industrial

Revolutions
The first, or old, Industrial Revolution took place
between about 1750 and 1870
Took place in England, the United States, Belgium, and
France
Saw fundamental changes in agriculture, the
development of factories, and rural-to-urban
migration

The second Industrial Revolution took place

between about 1870 and 1960
Saw the spread of the Industrial Revolution to places
such as Germany, Japan, and Russia
Electricity became the primary source of power for
factories, farms, and homes

The Spread of the Industrial Revolution

Mid-1800s Great Britain, the world leader in the
Industrial Revolution, attempted to ban the
export of its methods and technologies, but this
soon failed
1812 United States industrialized after the War
of 1812
After 1825 France joined the Industrial
Revolution following the French Revolution and
Napoleonic wars
Circa 1870 Germany industrialized at a rapid
pace, while Belgium, Holland, Italy, Sweden, and

Transportation
Railroads
Industrialized nations first laid track in their own countries, then in
their colonies and other areas under their political influence
Russia Trans-Siberian railroad (1891-1905)
Germany Berlin-to-Baghdad railroad across Europe to the
Middle East
Great Britain Cape-to-Cairo railroad vertically across Africa
Canals
Suez Canal (1869) provided access to the Indian Ocean from the
Mediterranean Sea without the need to sail around Africa
Kiel Canal (1896) North Sea connected to the Baltic Sea
Panama Canal (1914) provided access from one side of the
Americas to the other without the need to sail around the tip of
South America

Transportation
Automobiles
Charles Goodyear vulcanized rubber, 1839
Gottlieb Daimler gasoline engine, 1885
Henry Ford assembly line, 1908-1915

Airplanes
Orville and Wilbur Wright airplane, 1903
Charles Lindbergh first non-stop flight across the
Atlantic, 1927
20th-century growth of commercial aviation

Results of the Industrial Revolution

Economic
Changes

Expansion of world trade

Factory system
Mass production of goods
Industrial capitalism
Increased standard of living
Unemployment

Political
Changes

Decline of landed aristocracy

Growth and expansion of democracy
Increased government involvement in society
Increased power of industrialized nations
Nationalism and imperialism stimulated
Rise to power of businesspeople

Social
Changes

Development and growth of cities

Improved status and earning power of women
Increase in leisure time
Population increases
Problems economic insecurity, increased deadliness of war, urban slums, etc.
Science and research stimulated

Economic Changes:
Mass Production of Goods
Motor vehicle production in the United States
1895 33,000 motor vehicles
1910 181,000 motor vehicles
2000 5,542,000 passenger cars alone

Factors contributing to mass production

Standardized (or interchangeable) parts
Assembly line
Labor division and specialization

Mass production meant more items were

produced at lower costs
More people could afford to buy manufactured

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Countries that adopted industry economy enjoyed more wealth and
power
European countries went to other parts of the world such as Africa
and Asia to source for cheap raw materials
Goods are manufactured by using these raw materials and to resell
to the people in Africa and Asia

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

4. TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION
General
Most important happening to humanity
It refers to a period in which new technology is actively pursued and
is heading to a vast increase of technological capability

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

The impact on humans:
Life expectancy genetic technology
Education levels internet, distant learning
Standard of living - entertainment
Nature of work more automation, robotics
Communication email, facebook, twitter
Health care new drugs, new medical tools
War new weapons, laser guided missiles, hydrogen bomb

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Recent Technology Revolution

Computer
Internet
Cell phone
DVD huge storage
Super cell phone camera, internet, TV
Digital TV broadcasting

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Future Technology Revolution
20th century advance in chemistry and physics
21st century advance in biotechnology
Genetic coding able to control biological organisms and their
deficiencies
Diseases like diabetics can be rectified by changing the genetic code
Nanoengineering and nanoscience provides an unprecedented
understanding and control over the fundamental blocks of all
physical things

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

It will affect design and production of almost everything such as
vaccine, computers, cars etc
Material engineering also provides a new impact on the technology
revolution
Cross-disciplinary fields of biomaterials and nanomaterials are
making promising development
New materials with improved properties are likely to be produced
Future materials will be smarter, multi-functional and compatible
with broad range of environment

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

5. TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY
What is Technology
Technology is a tool or process that can be used to build better
products
It is how people modify the natural world to suit their own
purpose
Literally it means an act of making or crafting something

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Technology transfer to developing countries
Technology transfer - flows of technology from one place to
another with a price
Since 1960s, technology has been transferred from Western
countries to 3rd World countries
However this technology transfer brought more problems :
High technology will require high capital investment costs and the
developing countries have to borrow massive sums to finance the
transfer

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

New technology is designed to save labour and thus its transfer will
create unemployment problem. In fact what they need is low
technology which is highly labour intensive
New technology needs a social structure of education, organisation
and disciplines. These are not found in developing countries

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Methods of Technology Transfer
Foreign Direct Investment
This refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting
management interest ( normally 50 percent or more of
company shares) in a company operating in another country.
The investor will bring funds, management personnels and
technology to manufacture goods

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Joint Venture
Foreign partners will establish a company together with local
partners
Normally the foreign partners are Multinational Corporations
and will encourage technology and knowledge transfer

1. TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY

Licensing Agreement
A license is a contract which authorises the use of the
technology for a certain period and the proprietary right of the
technology remains with the foreign partner
This method will provide low risk and high profit as compare to
direct export
However this will only benefit transferor and not transferee in
the long run