UNIT 7
ENGINEERING –WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?
Engineering is largely a practical activity. It is about putting ideas into action. Civil engineering is concerned with making bridges, roads, airports, etc. Mechanical engineering deals with the design and manufacture of tools and machines. Electrical engineering is about the generation and distribution of electricity and its many applications. Electronic engineering is concerned with developing components and equipment for communications, computing, and so on.
Mechanical engineering includes marine, automobile, aeronautical, heating and ventilating, and others. Electrical engineering includes electricity generating, electrical installation, lighting, etc. Mining and medical engineering belong partly to mechanical and partly to electrical.
Ex.1 Прочитайте текст, скажите о каких отраслях инженерии идет речь.
Ex.2 Заполните схему, используя информацию из текста:
Ex.3. Заполните пропуски, используя информацию из диаграммы:
The main branches of engineering are civil, 1 _____________, 2 ______ ________ and electronic. Mechanical engineering is 3_ ___________, 4 _________ machinery of all kinds. This branch of engineering includes 5 ________, automobile, 6 __________, and heating and ventilating. The first three are concerned with transport: 7 ___________, cars and planes. The last 8 __________ with air-conditioning, refrigeration, etc. Electrical engineering deals with 9 ______________ from generation to use. Electricity generating is concerned with 10 _______________ stations. Electrical installation deals
11 ____________ cables, switchgear, and connecting up electrical equipment.
Two branches of engineering include both 12 ___________ and 13 _______ engineers. These are mining and 14 ____________ engineering. The former deals with mines and mining equipment, the latter with hospital 15 _________ of all kinds.
Choosing a course
Ex.1. Прочитайте утверждения и отметьте те, которые относятся к вам:
1 You enjoy practical projects-creating and investigating things.
2 You like finding out how things work.
3 You are interested in improving the environment.
4 You like helping people.
5 You enjoy solving problems.
6 You enjoy organizing activities.
7 You enjoy science programmes on TV or on the radio.
8 You sometimes read articles on scientific or engineering topics.
9 You have a lot of determination and stamina.
If you have ticked most of these statements, engineering is the right course of study for you.
Source: Adapted from Cyberpunks and Technophobes, BBC Education
Ex.2. Заполните пропуски, используя слова после текста:
In the United Kingdom you can 1________engineering at a college of further education or a university. Most college courses 2________ from one to two years. University undergraduate courses 3________engineering last from three to four years.
A college will take 4_________after four years of secondary school education. Most students study full-time, 5___________day-release courses are available for people who 6________in local engineering companies.
Students will be given a certificate 7___________a diploma at the 8__________ of their course.
Most university students will have completed six 9_________of secondary school. Others will have taken a diploma course at college. 10___________give degrees. A Bachelor's degree 11_________three to four years. A Master's 12__________requires a further year.
(students, study, in, or, last, but, although, end, work, degree, years, tales, Universities)
CAREERS IN ENGINEERING
Ex.3. Прочитайте текст:
Jobs in engineering
A
Professional engineers may work as:
Design engineers: They work as part of a team to create new products and extend the life of old products by updating them and finding new applications for them. Their aim is to build quality and reliability into the design and to introduce new components and materials to make the product cheaper, lighter, or stronger.
Installation engineers: They work on the customer's premises to install equipment produced by their company.
Production engineers: They ensure that the production process is efficient, that materials are handled safely and correctly, and that faults which occur in production are corrected. The design and development departments consult with them to ensure that any innovations proposed are practicable and cost-effective.
B
Just below the professional engineers are the technician engineers. They require a detailed knowledge of a particular technology - electrical, mechanical, electronic, etc. They may lead teams of engineering technicians. Technician engineers and engineering technicians may work as: Test/Laboratory technicians. They test samples of the materials and of the product to ensure quality is maintained.
Installation and service technicians: They ensure that equipment sold by the company is installed correctly and carry out preventative maintenance and essential repairs.
Production planning and control technicians: They produce the manufacturing instructions and organize the work of production so that it can be done as quickly, cheaply, and efficiently as possible.
Inspection technicians: They check and ensure that incoming and outgoing components and products meet specifications.
Debug technicians: They fault find, repair, and test equipment and products down to component level.
Draughts men/women and designers: They produce the drawings and design documents from which the product is manufactured.
C
The next grades are craftsmen/women. Their work is highly skilled and practical. Craftsmen and women may work as:
Toolmakers: They make dies and moulding tools which are used to punch and form metal components and produce plastic components such as car bumpers.
Fitters: They assemble components into larger products.
Maintenance fitters: They repair machinery.
Welders: They do specialized joining, fabricating, and repair work.
Electricians: They wire and install electrical equipment.
Operators require fewer skills. Many operator jobs consist mainly of minding a machine, especially now that more and more processes are automated. However, some operators may have to 45 check components produced by their machines to ensure they are accurate. They may require training in the use of instruments such as micrometers, verniers, or simple go/no go gauges.
Ex.4. Объясните, как выполнить следующие задания:
1. Test completed motors from a production line.
2. Find out why a new electronics assembly does not work.
3. Produce a mould for a car body part.
4. See that the correct test equipment is available on a production line.
5. Find a cheaper way of manufacturing a crankshaft.
Ex.5. Рассмотрите рисунок «Company structure» и переведите значения слов:
Ex.6. Закончите предложения, используя информацию из рисунка выше:
The head of an engineering company in the UK is the 1__________ or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). If it is an American subsidiary, the head may be known as the Vice President. Unless the person at the top is the Chairman of the company, or the owner, he or she will be responsible to a 2___________, or, in the case of a US subsidiary, the President. In turn, the Chairman or President is responsible to the company shareholders.
The managers of the various departments which are vital to a company report directly to the Managing Director. These managers may be referred to as the Management Team. They are required to advise the Director on the consequences of any decision made by the Board in terms of costs, personnel, materials, time, plant, etc. They also have to brief the Director on any matters which should be taken to the Board for decision.
The 3_________________, with the support of the Mechanical, Electronic, and
4___________________ Sections, is responsible for the introduction of new products. The
5___________________ decides how the new products will be produced. The
6___________________ and Industrial Engineer Manager report to this member of the Management Team.
The 7__________________ ensures that the products are fault-free and that the
components and materials used in their manufacture meet company standards.
The 8 _________________ handles market research, promotion, and sales.
The Field Service Manager is responsible for the installation and maintenance of the company's products wherever required.
The structure shown in Fig. 1 is common to most engineering companies but there can be differences in reporting channels. For example, in some companies the Field Service Department may report through Marketing, through Quality, or even through a separate Product Assurance and Support Group.
Although the company structure shows managers for each separate department, departments are interdependent. For example, the Development Manager would not start the design of a new product without first discussing the project with other managers. The design would not be completed without regular meetings with other departments to ensure that it fitted the customers' requirements, and that cost targets would be met without adversely affecting quality, manufacturability, and serviceability. These meetings would ensure that trained manpower, tooling, documentation, etc., were in place at the correct time for each stage of the product's launch.
Ex.7. Ответьте на вопросы:
1. What is the US equivalent of the Managing Director?
2. Who is the Chairman of a company responsible to?
3. Who comprise the Management Team?
4. In what way might companies differ in structure from the example given?
5. Which department would advise on whether a new product would meet customers' requirements?
Text A
MY FUTURE PROFESSION
I will become a specialist in computer technologies — a computer engineer.
Computer industry is developing so fast, that it comprises almost all spheres of professional life. No business now is possible without computers. This is especially true about automated manufacturing of products and robotics. Computer control of automated production opens new horizons for the cheap and quality production of goods. Information is now generated, transmitted, received, and stored electronically through computer networks on a scale unprecedented in history, and there is every indication that the explosive rate of growth in this field will continue.
Computer engineering is a general field. It deals with both electric and electronic industries.
Electronic engineering deals with the research, design, integration, and application of circuits and devices used in the transmission and processing of information.
Engineers in the field of electric and electronic engineering are concerned with all aspects of electrical communications, from fundamental questions such as “ What is information?" to the highly practical, such as the design of telephone systems. In designing communication systems, engineers rely on various branches of advanced mathematics, such as Fourier analysis, linear systems theory, linear algebra, differential equations, and probability theory.
Engineers work on control systems which are used extensively in automated manufacturing and in robotics.
Major developments in the field of communications and control have been the replacement of analogue systems with digital systems; fibre optics are used now instead of copper cables. Digital systems offer far greater immunity to electrical noise. Fibre optics are likewise immune to interference; they also have great carrying capacity, and are extremely light and inexpensive to manufacture.
Computer engineering is now the most rapidly growing field. The electronics of computers is the design and manufacture of memory systems, of central processing units, and of peripheral devices. The most prospective industry now is the Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) and new computer architectures. The field of computer science is closely related to computer engineering; however, the task of making computers more «intelligent» (artificial intelligence), through creation of sophisticated programs or development of higher level machine languages or other means, is generally regarded as the dream of computer science.
One current trend in computer engineering is microminiaturization. Engineers continue to work to fit greater and greater numbers of circuit elements into smaller and smaller chips.
Another trend is towards increasing the speed of computer operations through the use of parallel processors and superconducting materials.
So, as you see, there are a lot of employment opportunities in my field. I don't worry about finding a job. The most important thing for me now is to study well and to graduate from the university.
Vocabulary
to comprise - включать в себя
automated manufacturing of products - автоматизированное производство товаров
robotics - робототехника
horizons - горизонты
cheap - дешевый
to generate - генерировать, производить
to transmit - передавать
to store - хранить
scale - масштаб
unprecedented in history - не имеющий прецедентов в истории
indication - указание, свидетельство
explosive - взрывной
to deal with - иметь дело с, заниматься чем-либо
integration - интеграция
application - приложение, использование
circuits - электрические схемы, цепи
device - устройство
transmission - передача
processing - обработка
to rely - полагаться
Fourier analysis - анализ Фурье
linear systems theory - теория линейных систем
linear algebra - линейная алгебра
differential equations - дифференциальные уравнения
probability theory - теория вероятности
extensively - широко
replacement - замещение
fibre optics - оптоволоконные технологии
copper - медь
digital - цифровой
immunity - защищенность, невосприимчивость
carrying capacity - пропускная способность
rapidly growing - быстрорастущий
artificial intelligence - искусственный разум
sophisticated - сложный
superconducting - сверхпроводимость
Add to your active vocabulary:
a) mechanical engineer - инженер-механик
electric engineer - инженер-электрик
electronic engineer - инженер электроник
computer engineer - инженер-компьютерщик
military engineer - военный инженер
a) prestigious job (work) - престижная работа
well-paid job - высокооплачиваемая работа
employee - наемный рабочий
employer - наймодатель
state-employed - государственный служащий
white-collar worker - «белый воротничок», работник умственного труда
blue-collar worker - «синий воротничок», работник физического труда
skilled worker - квалифицированный рабочий
unskilled worker - неквалифицированный рабочий
experienced worker - опытный работник
c) to be hired for a job - быть нанятым на выполнение работы
to look for a new job (work, position) - искать новую работу
to apply for a new job - претендовать на какую-либо должность
application for a position of - заявление на какую-либо должность
resume - резюме
C.V. (curriculum vitae) - автобиография
to be fired - быть уволенным
to retire - уходить на пенсию
to be unemployed - быть безработным
Ex.1. Ответьте на вопросы:
1. What does computer industry comprise?
2. How is computer industry developing?
3. What does computer engineering deal with?
4. What does electronic engineering deal with?
5. Are engineers in the field of electric and electronic engineering concerned with all aspects of electrical communications?
6. What systems do engineers work?
7. Are there a lot of employment opportunities in computer engineering? Why?
Ex.2. Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты следующих слов и выражений:
Робототехника; автоматизированное производство; информация передается и хранится; электронная инженерия занимается; дифференциальное уравнение; главные достижения; замещение аналоговых систем; медные кабели; цифровые системы; невосприимчивость к электрическому шуму.
Ex.3. Закончите предложения подходящими по смыслу словами:
1. Computer control of automated production opens …
2. Computer engineering deals with both …
3. Engineers in the field of electric and electronic engineering are concerned with …
4. Engineers work on control systems which are used extensively in …
5. Computer engineering is now the most…
Ex.4. Обсудите следующее:
1. What kind of work are you interested in?
a) well paid
b) interesting
c) in a large and famous company
d) quiet
e) in an industry which has a future
f) prestigious
g) not to sit the whole day in the office
h) to travel a lot
2. What position would you like to have?
a) to manage people - manager
b) to work for someone else - an employee
c) to be your own boss - self-employed, businessman
d) be responsible for everything - top manager, director
e) to work for the state - state employee
Ex.5. Обсудите в группе преимущества и недостатки вашей будущей профессии:
1. Do you think that engineering profession is prestigious?
2. Is it well-paid?
3. How difficult is it to find a good work in this field?
Ex.6. Переведите следующие предложения на английский язык:
1. Никакой современный бизнес не возможен без компьютерной техники.
2. Компьютерная индустрия - наиболее быстроразвивающееся производство.
3. Компьютерное управление автоматизированными производственными линиями открывает новые горизонты дешевого и качественного производства товаров.
4. Крупным достижением в сфере коммуникации является замена аналоговых систем на цифровые.
5. В настоящее время оптоволоконные цифровые технологии обеспечивают боле качественную и доступную связь, чем аналоговые системы.