Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Engineering is active. It is a process that takes the raw materials and energy that exist at a given
time and creates new things and improves things that already exist. Engineers solve problems and build.
Engineers do things.
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We are seldom satisfied merely in possessing information or mastering skills.
The real test of engineering is when we put our knowledge and aptitude into practice. I noticed this
in the Duke engineering students who recently returned from Indonesia and Uganda after participating
in the Engineers without Borders projects abroad. They were joyous about their opportunities to apply
the theoretical information in real projects. It is this eagerness to apply what we know that is a gift that
has truly made the world a better place. Many of the improvements in public health, safety, and quality
of life are largely attributed to engineers.
In North America and Europe, public works projects designed by engineers have given us clean
water,
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which has prevented many of the diseases responsible for the majority of premature deaths
and disabilities so common 100 years ago. Pollution control equipment has allowed for cleaner air.
Vehicle and transportation designs continue to improve the safety of travel. Chemical engineering
advances have improved product manufacturing, leading to higher quality and safer consumer products
and pharmaceuticals. And, biomedical devices and systems have lengthened and extended an improved
quality of life to millions.
The engineering call will be even stronger in the future. The knowledge and creativity of the engineer
will have to grow in proportion to the increased societal expectations. Kristina Johnson, Dean of Duke
University's Pratt School of Engineering, characterized the engineer's future obligation to society:
[A]s an engineering dean, I'd argue that it is our responsibility as good citizens of the planet to solve
many of our global problems, such as developing renewable energy sources, purifying water, sustaining the
environment, providing low-cost health care and vaccines for infectious diseases, to mention a few. Coupled
with global climate issues, transportation and urbanization, we need all the technical horsepower we can
educate.
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As in all aspects of engineering, however, there are challenges and obstacles. We are familiar with
design challenges, such as the unique conditions of situations that make us think outside of the box.
An equation or model seems to work well in most cases, but those few instances that fail can be the
difference between good engineering and poor design. Or, we commonly experience the challenge of the
lessons to be learned when we move from a prototype to an actual application. Slight changes in scale
or complexity (i.e., effects of some unknown variable) limit the application of a design. One specific
challenge, the subject of this topic, is the ethical challenge, specifically the challenge of how engineering
decisions and actions affect human life, for good or ill.
FEEDBACK
AND
ENHANCEMENT
OF
DESIGN
Engineering, like poetry, is an attempt to approach perfection. And engineers, like poets, are seldom com-
pletely satisfied with their creations.
Henry Petroski (1985)
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Engineering is not only active, but, as Petroski reminds us, it is a system filled with feedbacks. We are
frequently told where we fall short, but we are sufficiently optimistic to recognize our progress. This
