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Asked by Ryan to Hilly, Lee, Liz, Tadhg, Yasmin on 15 Jun 2015.
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Lee Margetts answered on 15 Jun 2015:
@Ryan – I think the hardest aspect of engineering is coded into my joke (check it out in my profile). For example, we use maths and physics to design a bridge. We decide what type of bridge we need, how much material is needed to build the bridge and how much weight it can carry. You’d think the job was done.
Then we start saying, “Hmmm, we’d better make it a bit stronger than that just to be on the safe side.” The construction workers might not do a great job. The ground might not be as stiff as we think it is. The concrete might weaken with age when it is exposed to the elements. A lorry might drive into the bridge supports. So we design the bridge very accurately and then add in lots of approximations to make it stronger – just in case.
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Yasmin Ali answered on 15 Jun 2015:
For me, it’s understanding things that I can’t see. Like the flow of electricity, or how oil and gas flow out of rock formations deep underground up to the surface of the ground. It takes me ages to get my head around things like that. I find it helpful to think of analogies, look at diagrams, or 3D models if they are available!
A nice analogy for resistance in electric circuits is imagining the electricity is like water flowing through a pipe, and the pipe gets narrower so it slows the water down. I think that’s much easier to imagine than electric current and resistance.
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Tadhg O'Donovan answered on 17 Jun 2015:
So this might not be exactly what you were asking but just to put a different slant on think…I think the hardest aspect of engineering is this truism:
“The best is the enemy of the good” – Voltaire
Engineers like to strive for perfection – to find the perfect solution to a problem, but because perfection is no possible (things can always be improved), then the product/job/project never gets finished. We need to know when to say “that’s good enough”
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