The history of humankind is marked by remarkable achievements in the world of engineering. As people become more dependent on technology, the need for engineers will only continue to grow.
The Importance of Engineers
History is proof that engineers have always been important to society. That trend isn’t expected to change anytime soon as engineers and their vast range of talents continue to transform mere theory into practice to benefit humans and animals.
The impact electricity has had on societies, for instance, has been tremendous. The blood, sweat, and tears poured into its development and deployment by outstanding engineers will never be forgotten. It’s because of their talent and hard work that our standards of living have risen considerably over the years.
As the world becomes more and more reliant on technology, the dependence on good technology is going to make engineers more valuable than ever before.
A World Without Engineers
Imagine what a world without engineers would be like. Admittedly, it’s difficult for us to picture such a world since engineers, in some ways, have existed as long as first humans.
In a society whose sole goal is survival, humans would probably remain as hunter-gatherers. Technology or innovation of any kind wouldn’t exist. The time when that society created spears, built traps, or developed techniques for sharpening or smashing things is the birth of engineering.
If we looked at life solely from a scientific perspective, surviving and reproducing would be the only goals of humankind. It’s these basic commands that have shaped the way we develop tools.
Tool conception and development has allowed us to work our way beyond the physical boundaries of being mere animals. It’s this kind of progress that has amplified our ability to not only survive but also thrive in our increasingly challenging environment.
Areas Where Engineers Are Vital
Today, the absence of engineering would mean a country’s complete failure to accomplish anything. Engineers continue to have a significant influence on every aspect of modern living. Some of the sectors that engineering has contributed significantly to are:
1. Agriculture
Without food, society wouldn’t exist; it’s as simple as that. Ancient people, who basically took the role of engineers, enabled us to plant, till, and harvest crops, as well as raise animals. This established a strong relationship between engineering and agriculture.
A major field of engineering today, agricultural engineering, focuses on developing technology and machinery for farm use. The result of that has been increasing yields and efficient production of food.
The agricultural industry further progressed thanks to the chemical engineers who developed food fertilizers. Other engineering specializations then took the role of setting up water supplies for irrigation, even in the aridest locations. There’s little doubt as to the importance of engineers in our society, with evidence suggesting that it continues to grow as the global population increases.
Programs that center on efficient land use are only going to become more important in the future, which is why engineers will become more of a staple in the agricultural industry moving forward.
2. Education
There’s no arguing the importance of education in aspects of society. Engineering is a major part of this sector and is only going to play a more critical role as the years pass. The fundamental engineering principles and products of engineering can be found in both mentors and students alike.
The buildings you find in elementary schools and huge universities wouldn’t be possible without engineers. The systems inside those structures, from the airconditioning to the lighting, wouldn’t exist without engineering. Every physical building erected on campuses, and almost everything inside them, from the seats to every single teaching material and computer, are all vitally important in today’s society and education system
Since education will likely play a more significant role in society’s future, albeit changing in its format every once in a while, so shall engineering. Engineers will be necessary for the facilitation of future classrooms.
3. Health Sectors
Somewhere at the very root of every aspect of life lies the fingerprints of engineers. The healthcare industry is no exception to this. While medical sciences may be largely responsible for the creation of drugs and medicine, equipment and medical supplies wouldn’t exist at all without engineers.
The complex types of machinery that dot operating rooms and increase a patient’s chances of survival can all be attributed to the skills and talents of our engineers. The most basic tool for surgery, the surgical knife, wouldn’t be seen lying around the surgical theater and saving lives if it weren’t for engineers.
Do we go as far as to say surgery wouldn’t exist without engineering? We’ll never know. What we do know, for sure, is that the increasing need for engineers in this field is inevitable.
Conclusion
Our comprehensible obsession and dependence on technology, as evidenced in these three main areas where the value of engineering is most significant, is only going to grow. Consequently, this will also boost the need for engineers in the future.
So again, we ask the question: Why do we need engineers? That’s because the society we know today wouldn’t exist without them.