Engineering Field Experience: Industrial Archaeology Studies In England

The practice of engineering could be described as a nascent profession when contrasted with medicine, law, academia, politics or the clergy. Engineering as a career emerged as recently as the 1800s as an outcome of newly created industry-based economies. Today the engineering profession is well established, respected, and contributes to the greater benefit of society. Bringing science, technology and creativity together, engineers conceive solutions to problems, develop new designs for products, and generate new wealth through the resultant economic activity derived from manufacturing, construction, medicine, agriculture or other industries. The variety of disciplines under the engineering descriptor continues to grow as technology becomes more advanced and complex, always looking to the future and the next new idea and its application. Yet, few students in engineering and related technology programs are given the opportunity to explore and gain understanding from the historical events upon which modern engineering practice was built. To this end, faculty members at South Dakota State University and Manchester Metropolitan University have collaborated to offer an Industrial Archaeology study abroad experience based out of Manchester England, the epicenter of modern engineering application: the Industrial Revolution.