Panel Organizer: Jack Brown, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia.

Panelists:

Dr. David P. Billington, Gordon Y. S. Wu Professor of Engineering, Princeton University

Dr. Larrie Ferreiro, PE, CEng, Eur Ing, Professor of Systems Engineering, Defense Acquisition University

Dr. Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and Professor of History, Duke University

Dr. Walter G. Vincenti, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Emeritus), Stanford University

Abstract

In important respects, SHOT owes its origins to engineering school professors who saw in technological history a valuable component for the liberal education of undergraduate engineering students.  Beyond that pedagogical link, a small but highly influential group of engineers has, for decades, argued that history can provide direct and useful guides to modern engineering practice.  The topic has just appeared again in the most recent issue of Technology and Culture.  In a roundtable discussion, this distinguished panel will explore a range of questions, including:
–What motivated them to link historical study to modern engineering practice?
–In what specific arenas have they brought history into engineering knowledge or practice?
–What has been the reception of fellow engineers in thinking about the ways in which history can inform/guide engineering practice?
–Is engineering fundamentally anti-historical in some respects?
–As engineering continues to evolve, is an historical awareness more/less important to practitioners?  Why?
–How have the panelists drawn out the connections of history to practice in undergraduate engineering education?
–What threads in the history of technology seem most promising in bolstering the knowledge and practice of modern engineers?  Why?

This panel is sponsored by the SHOT SIG on Engineering and the History of Technology.