Crossing the Lines

It is important that today’s outstanding engineer must have knowledge of many sciences and disciplines. Interdisciplinary skills help an engineer to cope with the changing social, economic, and political conditions that influence technology and its development. Nanotechnology and biotechnology remind us how important it is to be knowledgeable in many areas of applied science and engineering. A nanotechnology engineer should be well familiar with physics, materials science, surface chemistry, composites, quantum mechanics, materials, and mathematics. Biotechnology merges physics, engineering, and chemistry with biology, life sciences, and medicine. The multifaceted approach helps define and resolve problems in biomedical research and in clinical medicine for improved healthcare. The most surprising discoveries have been made at the boundaries of different disciplines. Alessandro Volta’s electric battery was a meeting of chemistry and physics.