Monday, January 28, 2008

industrial engineering


Engineering is the discipline of acquiring and applying scientific and technical knowledge to the design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development, also known as ECPD, defines Engineering as: "The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property." One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so have formal designations such as Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer or Incorporated Engineer. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of specialised subdisciplines that focus on the issues associated with developing a specific kind of product, or using a specific type of technology.
The history of the concept of "engineering" stems from the earliest times when humans began to make clever inventions, such as the pulley, lever, or wheel, etc. The exact etymology of the word engineer, however, is a person occupationally connected with the study, design, and implementation of engines. The word "engine", derives from the Latin ingenium, meaning "innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention." Hence, an engineer, essentially, is someone who makes useful or practical inventions.
Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering that concerns the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, material and process. It also deals with designing new prototypes to help save money and make the prototype better. Industrial engineering draws upon the principles and methods of engineering analysis and synthesis, as well as mathematical, physical and social sciences together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to specify, predict and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems. In lean manufacturing systems, Industrial engineers work to eliminate wastes of time, money, materials, energy, and other resources.
Industrial engineering is also known as operations management, systems engineering, production engineering, manufacturing engineering or manufacturing systems engineering; a distinction that seems to depend on the viewpoint or motives of the user. Recruiters or educational establishments use the names to differentiate themselves from others. In health care, industrial engineers are more commonly known as management engineers, or even health systems engineers.
Where as most engineering disciplines apply skills to very specific areas, industrial engineering is applied in virtually every industry. Examples of where industrial engineering might be used include shortening lines (or queues) at a theme park, streamlining an operating room, distributing products worldwide (also referred to as Supply Chain Management), and manufacturing cheaper and more reliable automobiles. Industrial engineers typically use computer simulation, especially discrete event simulation, for system analysis and evaluation.
The name "industrial engineer" can be misleading. While the term originally applied to manufacturing, it has grown to encompass services and other industries as well. Similar fields include Operations Research, Management Science, Financial Engineering, Supply Chain, Manufacturing Engineering, Engineering Management, Systems Engineering, Ergonomics, Process Engineering, Value Engineering and Quality Engineering.
There are a number of things industrial engineers do in their work to make processes more efficient, to make products more manufacturable and consistent in their quality, and to increase productivity.
Engineering is a 4 year college degree. You would take lots of math and science courses before you get into the core engineering courses. Chemical engineers often minor in chemistry, electrical engineers in computer science, mechanical and aeronautical engineers take a lot of physics and so on. All use math extensively. Most engineering programs involve a concentration of study in an engineering specialty, along with courses in both mathematics and the physical and life sciences. General courses not directly related to engineering, such as those in the social sciences or humanities, are often a required component of programs. Many programs also include courses in general engineering. A design course, sometimes accompanied by a computer or laboratory class or both, is part of the curriculum of most programs. Admissions requirements for undergraduate engineering schools include a solid background in mathematics (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus) and science (biology, chemistry, and physics), with courses in English, social studies, and humanities. Bachelor's degree programs in engineering typically are designed to last 4 years, but many students find that it takes between 4 and 5 years to complete their studies. In a typical 4-year college curriculum, the first 2 years are spent studying mathematics, basic sciences, introductory engineering, humanities, and social sciences. In the last 2 years, most courses are in engineering, usually with a concentration in one specialty. Some programs offer a general engineering curriculum; students then specialize on the job or in graduate school. Some engineering schools and 2-year colleges have agreements whereby the 2-year college provides the initial engineering education, and the engineering school automatically admits students for their last 2 years. In addition, a few engineering schools have arrangements that allow students who spend 3 years in a liberal arts college studying pre-engineering subjects and 2 years in an engineering school studying core subjects to receive a bachelor's degree from each school. Some colleges and universities offer 5-year master's degree programs. Some 5-year or even 6-year cooperative plans combine classroom study and practical work, permitting students to gain valuable experience and to finance part of their education. ( info from wikipedia)
I haven't yet decided what job I want. I guess it all comes down to my internship. I just want to graduate and I'll see where things go.
From my perspective, i don't really find my career difficult, obviously you have to work hard but that goes for everything you do in life.
I have no major plans for the future. I take my life one step at a time. i just intend on graduating and getting any job in my field. I guess my most gratifying moment about engineering school must be my graduation day.
I recomend engineering as a career because i consider it to be one of the most important fields in our lives. Everything we do involves some sort of engineering, the world wouldn't be the same with out engineering. It pays well and it's always in demand.

Monday, January 21, 2008

welcome to my blog!!!




this is the first time i do this, so i have no idea what i'm doing. so it says realmad4ever, thats because REALMADRID is the best team of the century. they're the best thing that ever happened to football and i don't care if you don't think so. Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (also known as Real Madrid, Los Blancos, Los Merengues or in English Royal Madrid Football Club) is a professional Spanish football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902, it plays in La Liga and is one of the most successful football clubs of the 20th century, having won thirty La Liga titles, seventeen Copa del Rey and was European Champions for a record nine times. The team is also a member of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs.
It plays its home games at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Real Madrid is unusual in that, unlike most football clubs, it has been owned and operated only by its members (socios) since 1902. On December 23, 2000, FIFA awarded the Spanish team the title of the "Best Club of the 20th Century". Los Blancos is the most successful club in UEFA club football competitions history with nine European Cups and two UEFA Cups; more than any other European club. The only European trophy it hasn't won is the European Cup Winners Cup, in which it played two finals, losing both by 2 goals to 1, first to Chelsea 2-1 in 1971, after an initial 1-1 draw in the first leg, the team lost 1-0 in the return leg and Aberdeen 2-1 in 1983.
With over 228 million supporters worldwide, Real Madrid is the biggest football club in the world according to the case studies at Harvard University in 2006, followed by Manchester United with 168 million.