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Introducing engineering

Engineering encompasses a broad range of disciplines from design to manufacturing. This free course, Introducing engineering, introduces a number of key themes that explore how engineering is undertaken in our modern world. These themes include engineering design, rules that govern engineers, manufacturing for products and electricity generation using solar energy.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- understand the characteristics of ‘engineering’ and the role engineers have played in shaping engineering up to the present and into the future
- understand a range of principles in science, mathematics and engineering in order to make well-founded decisions as part of a design process
- have an appreciation of the design decision-making process when developing new products
- recognise the effects on the conduct of engineering relating to issues such as patents, standards and risk
- understand the use of appropriate candidate/potential materials and processes for the manufacture of a given artefact.
First Published: 07/04/2014
Updated: 19/06/2019
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If you want to be able to track your progress, earn a free Statement of Participation, and access all course quizzes and activities, sign-up.
Course content
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Engineering beginnings
- 2 Engineering by design
- 3 Engineering to rule
- 4 Engineering for products
- 4 Engineering for products
- 4.1 What is manufacturing?
- 4.2 Manufacturing processes: making things
- 4.3 Joining
- 4.4 Mechanical joining
- 4.5 Adhesive joints – gluing
- 4.6 Welding
- 4.7 Joining our gearwheel
- 4.8 Additive manufacturing
- 4.9 Fundamentals of additive manufacturing
- 4.10 Capabilities and potential of additive manufacturing
- 4.11 3D printing our gearwheel
- 5 Engineering: pushing back the boundaries
- 5 Engineering: pushing back the boundaries
- 5.1 Electrical beginnings
- 5.2 Simple electrochemical cells: invention or discovery?
- 5.3 An inventive step – a 'battery' of cells
- 5.4 Batteries, chemistry and corrosion
- 5.5 Electricity from sunlight
- 5.6 Photovoltaics in the context of renewable energy
- 5.7 Types of renewable energy
- 5.8 Why renewables?
- 5.9 Why photovoltaics?
- 5.10 PV terminology
- 5.11 Economics, environmental impact and integration
- 5.12 Economics and implementation
- 5.13 Large-scale implementation
- 5.14 Environmental impact
- 5.16 Summary
- Conclusion
- Appendix: British Standard Personal eye-protection – Specifications
- References
- Acknowledgements
- This site has Copy Reuse Tracking enabled - see our FAQs for more information.
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15 hours study
Level 1: Introductory
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