Introduction
Engineering systems is an engineering concept that is of great importance to the engineers and non-engineers. This is a way on which systems are developed for some purpose is one of the reasons for the development of this component of engineering discipline. This paper will focus on a summary of the book “Engineering systems: Meeting human needs in a complex technological world” by Weck, Roos, and Magee (2011).
Chapter 1
The first chapter talks about the history of engineering and the various inventions that have been done in the world concerning engineering. The chapter focuses in the way human inventions have complicated the world. From the title, the author tries to bring the issue of how engineering systems are interacting with different models. Although the issue of engineering has been seen to be the savior to most of the solutions that are found in the world today, there is an unclear path through which the different systems of inventions are seen to be taking. From an informal writing style, the author compares the different ways in which the field of engineering has interacted with the different systems that are found in the world. The author tries to compare the engineering models that have been developed in the years ago and the engineering models that are used today and those that will be invented in the future. There are many inventions that have been experienced in the past. The current inventions have been seen to be on a collision trend with the past inventions. The models of past inventions are seen to have a significant contribution to the current approach of inventions. There are boundaries that are seen to be evident with past and current inventions (Weck, Roos, & Magee, 2011).
Chapter 2
There is also the discussion of the engineering systems concept. This is done in chapter 2 where he author defines what systems are, what engineering is and what engineering systems are. The author defines engineering as the process where artifacts, processes and algorithms that did not work initially in order to find the solution to a problem. Systems are designed as the interaction between components which have behaviors which is defined well. The definition of engineering system by the author is that it is system that is evolved by human beings and has a specific purpose to fulfill. It is from this that the author tries to define the interaction between the humans and the technical aspects of engineering systems. The relationship that exists between humans and engineering systems comes out of the fact that large engineering systems have technical and human part. The author explains the different theories and concepts regarding the use of engineering systems. This is an important aspect in this summary. There is also the aspect of the systems environment which is the internal and external factors that affect the interaction of systems in an environment.
Chapter 3
In this chapter, the author discusses about the issues and illities that come with the systems that are being developed. In this aspect, the author brings the issues that affect the system like availability, reliability, and flexibility. There are many factors that affect the systems. It is important to understand the factors that will affect the functionality of the systems. This is where the human side of the engineering systems comes. It is the human factors that affect the illities of the systems engineering.
Chapter 4
It is here that the author talks about the manufacturing concept. The definition that is given by the author is that it is a process where materials are made, and parts or components are fabricated and come from the materials. In this process, products are assembled. The author then goes on to define what constitute manufacturing and define what lean manufacturing entails. There is also the issue of systems architecting where the different components are designed to work together in an engineered system to achieve a given function.
Chapter 5
There is also the aspect of analyzing the engineering system. The author talks about how engineering systems will need to be analyzed for optimized interaction of the different components. From time to time, there will be the need to realign the components of the engineering systems to check if they are still working to provide the needed solutions to the problems that they were designed to solve. The author talks about the need to understand the way the process that is being solved works and if there are changes that have happened in the past.
Chapter 6
In this chapter, the author talks about the need to redesign and rework on the models that have been designed. This is because with time, there are changes that are faced with the use of different engineering systems. At one time, one system is said to be well designed and at some other time, it is said to be partly evolved. The author explains how engineering systems will change from time to time. What works now will not work ten years to come. It is in this context that the author explains the need to have different systems and frequent changes to these systems.
Chapter 7
In this chapter about engineering and education, the author brings out the need to undertake research in engineering systems. There should be more ways in which this field should be enhanced. This will improve the development of the engineering systems. It is important to have researchers who will further explore the relationships between the engineering components and make systems friendlier to be used by humans.
Chapter 8
The final chapter is about the different approaches that the engineering systems can be undertaken in the future. The author identifies the grand challenges that are faced in the world and how engineers are called upon to look for solutions to these problems that have been identified. Some of the problems that were identified by the author include making solar energy affordable. Another challenge raised by the author is that of providing energy from fusion. The other challenges include developing methods of carbon sequestrations, have the nitrogen cycle managed, providing clean water access to people, and prevention of nuclear terror among other challenges.
Conclusion
There are many components that make up an engineering system. The interaction between these systems is of concern in the field of engineering. It is important to understand the way humans and engineering systems interact for a successful co-existence. Engineering systems are improved from time to time in order to improve what has been developed because solutions will keep on changing. There has been the development of different engineering systems to solve different problems.
References
Weck, O. D., Roos, D., & Magee, C. (2011). Engineering systems: Meeting human needs in a complex technological world. New York: MIT Press
