I. What is Engineering?
In general, engineering is a science that deals with design, construction and operation of structures, machines, engines and other devices. Engineer is a person who has received technical education and has a basic knowledge of other engineering fields, because most engineering problems are complex and interrelated. The term engineering is difficult to translate into Russian because it has a lot of meanings. Most often it is translated as: инженерное дело, техника, машиностроение, строительство. There exist the following main branches of engineering:
Civil Engineering (Гражданское строительство)
Civil engineering deals with the design of large buildings, roads, bridges, dams, canals, railway lines, airports, tunnels and other constructions. A civil engineer must have a thorough knowledge of the. properties and mechanics of construction materials, the mechanics of structures and soils, and of hydraulics and fluid mechanics. Among the main subdivisions in this field are construction engineering (строительство), transports engineering (дорожный транспорт) and hydraulic engineering (гидротехника).
Mechanical Engineering (Машиностроение)
Engineers in this field design, test, build, and operate machinery of all types. The field is divided into:
(1) machine-tools, mechanisms, materials, hydraulics and pneumatics
(2) heat as applied to engines, work and energy, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. A mechanical engineer must be trained in mechanics and hydraulics, metallurgy and machine design. A mechanical engineer designs not only the machines that make products but the products themselves.
Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Электротехника и Электроника)
This is the widest field of engineering, concerned with systems and devices that use electric power and signals. Among the most important subjects in the field are electric power and machinery, electronic circuits, control systems, computer design, superconductors, solid-state electronics, robotics, lasers, radar, consumer electronics, and fibre optics.
Electrical engineering can be divided into four main branches: electric power and machinery, electronics, communications and control, and computers.
Electric Power and Machinery (Энергетика и энергомашиностроение)
Engineers working in this field design and operate systems for generating, transmitting, and distributing electric power. Several important developments appeared in this field. One of these is the ability to transmit power at extremely high voltages in both the direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) modes, reducing power losses. Another is the real-time control of power generation, transmission and distribution, using computers.
Electronic Engineering (Электроника)
Electronic engineering deals with the research, design and application of circuits and devices used in the transmission and processing of information.
The revolution in electronics is the trend towards integrating electronic devices on a single tiny chip of silicon or some other semiconductive material. Much of the research in electronics is directed towards creating even smaller chips, faster switching of components, and three-dimensional integrated circuits.
Communications and Control (Техника средств связи и управление)
Engineers in this field work oh control systems and communication systems that are used widely in aircraft and ships, in power transmission and distribution, in automated manufacturing and robotics.
Major developments in this field are the replacement of analogue systems with digital systems and copper cables with fibre optics (optical fibres). Digital systems lower electrical noise. Fibre optics lowers interference, has large carrying capacity, and is extremely light and inexpensive to manufacture.
Computers Engineering (Компьютерная техника)
Computer engineering is now the most rapidly growing field. Computer engineers design and manufacture memory systems, central processing units and peripheral devices. Major developments in this field are microminiaturization (design of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) chips) and new computer architectures. Using VLSI, engineers try to place greater numbers of circuit elements onto smaller chips. Another trend is towards increasing the speed of computer operations through the use of parallel processors and superconducting materials.