2008 Woodie Awards
Is New Engineering a Right Concept?
Sheena Charles
Issue date: 11/24/04 Section: Features
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On the evening of November 9th, Eugene F. Adiutori gave a presentation entitled, "The New Engineering" in the Academy Room at the Leo Engineering building. This topic is quite controversial as it promotes the abandoning of conventional concepts that have been always been an integral part of engineering curriculum. Adiutori presented research and explanations to conclude that many concepts, such as resistance and overall heat transfer coefficients, are in fact unnecessary to solve engineering problems. Adiutori has created alternative ways to look at engineering without moduli and coefficients.
Conventional engineering began in the 19th century. Adiutori concludes that many of the mathematical concepts used in conventional engineering make problems more difficult to solve than they need to be. Adiutori believes that the only reason that resistance and the overall heat transfer coefficients worked was because most of the problems solved in earlier times could be described by homogeneous equations, whereas there are presently many modern inventions that create conditions that can only be described by non-homogenous equations. Adiutori holds that engineering natural phenomena is inherently not homogenous, and it is not necessary to explain non-homogenous processes with homogenous equations.
Also, conventional engineering is based on proportional behavior. In the 21st century, systems can often be found to have non-linear behavior. Semiconductors, boiling of metals, and inelastic regions can all have highly non-linear behavior. Though not every engineer will be faced with solving a highly non-linear problem, some will be. Adiutori considers that the "new engineering" works well for both proportional as well as nonlinear problems. The "new engineering" simplifies the solution of nonlinear problems and makes engineering calculations much easier to learn and apply because there are less parameters. The math used in "new engineering" is the same that is learned in pure mathematics.
Conventional engineering began in the 19th century. Adiutori concludes that many of the mathematical concepts used in conventional engineering make problems more difficult to solve than they need to be. Adiutori believes that the only reason that resistance and the overall heat transfer coefficients worked was because most of the problems solved in earlier times could be described by homogeneous equations, whereas there are presently many modern inventions that create conditions that can only be described by non-homogenous equations. Adiutori holds that engineering natural phenomena is inherently not homogenous, and it is not necessary to explain non-homogenous processes with homogenous equations.
Also, conventional engineering is based on proportional behavior. In the 21st century, systems can often be found to have non-linear behavior. Semiconductors, boiling of metals, and inelastic regions can all have highly non-linear behavior. Though not every engineer will be faced with solving a highly non-linear problem, some will be. Adiutori considers that the "new engineering" works well for both proportional as well as nonlinear problems. The "new engineering" simplifies the solution of nonlinear problems and makes engineering calculations much easier to learn and apply because there are less parameters. The math used in "new engineering" is the same that is learned in pure mathematics.