Engineering
for Engineering’s sake
We
are living “....in an era where the question of technology is still the subject
of much confusion in theory and practice, especially in context of developing
countries....”
“In
theory and practice” are the words that caught my eyes while going through an
article by T. Jayaraman,
Professor and Chairperson,Center for Science and Technology, Tata Institute of
Social Science. During my years in Jorhat Engineering College, I found that
indeed “the question of technology is still the subject of much confusion” both
among a section of professors and students (Please note that I am not referring
to all professors!). While studying Engineering, we hardly gave or hardly were
being encouraged to give a thought on-“What is technology or Engineering all
about? ; Are we different from a general technician or a mansion (in case of
Civil Engineer, as I studied Civil Engineering)? ; What is the purpose of
technology? Is Engineering related to Society, Economy or Polity?”
To
illustrate the need of raising such simple yet vital questions and highlight
the importance of A PROCESS to clarify the confusion, at an hour when Jorhat
Engineering College completed its 50 years of relentless service and
celebrating the closing ceremony of the Golden Jubilee Function, I would like
to narrate three stories-
The
First story: All of you might have seen the movie-“A Beautiful Mind”, directed
by Ron Howard. It is based on the life story of John Forbes Nash,Jr..He is a mathematical
genius who worked in game theory, differential geometry and partial
differential equations. His mathematical contributions proved insight into the
forces that govern chance and events inside complex systems in daily life and
specially his work on game theory earned him Nobel Prize in Economics in
1944.His work is also utilized in Evolutionary Biology, Artificial
Intelligence,Accounting,Politics and Military theory. He also has suggested
hypothesis on mental illness and advanced psychology.
Second
Story: Steve Jobs is a famous name. Just as Adam's Apple, Newton's Apple, we
have Job's Apple. Read his story at http://newsclick.in/international/steve-jobs-architect narrated by
noted engineer and scientist Prabir Purkayastha.
Third
Story: S.Chatterjee is a physicist in the Indian Institute of Astrophysics. He
narrates an experience in his article-“Commentary: Science Education” as such: “Let me
begin by being personal. For a few weeks, the front lock in my home was giving
trouble but we could manage. Last Sunday it got jammed. I opened it up and
tried to repair with the very few tools that I have at home. I was sitting on
the floor busy with this exercise, when a very experienced experimental
physicist walked in. He was surprised to see me in this work and said, “I never
thought you would be doing such things. I thought you would be busy with
partial differential equations.”....”
Please
give a thought after reading the three stories and express your viewpoint to
yourself or a friend of yours or even me. I have thought over these and will
express my views towards the later part of the article. They may coincide or
may not; that is not important but important thing is that Lets think together.
Till we come to any conclusion, I would like to present a sub-article -
“A
glimpse on Water Management”
Water
is abundant in Assam. The mighty Brahmaputra and its countless tributaries are
large reservoir of water. Flood is a common phenomenon in Assam. At the same
time, we have also the problem of drought. We also face acute shortage of
drinking water, specially we have seen that in Guwahati City, residents are
forced to buy Brahmajal(water supplied through Auto-Van) even at the height of
monsoon season. The persistence of all these problems implies that we have
failed to use technology to uplift our standard of living? No doubt, people are
using mobile phones instead of land line, laptop instead of a bulky desktop, a
CFL instead of a Bulb. But it can be clearly seen that maximum farmers are
still using the same kind of plough used 100 years ago! We are completely at
the mercy of natural forces and history speaks that races that are only nature
dependent have been left behind. In India, agriculture uses 85%, industries 4%
and people use less than 4% of water. Hence, proper technology must be used to
store, distribute and utilize the available water. For storage of water dam,
reservoir etc. must be built; for proper distribution and utilization, we have
to have good canal and irrigation system. Harvesting of rain and wasted water
can solve the problem of drinking water. In India, planning is going on to link
all major rivers. The first step in this regard was taken by Arthur Cotton in
1881 and then by Er. Visvesvaraya. The supreme court of India directed for the
implementation of a scheme for the interconnection of rivers in 2002, which is
to be completed within 12-15 years. Now, for applying all these technology, we
need capital. Around 5lakh 60 thousand crore rupees are required for the
interconnection scheme. Investments on such ventures depend on the Economy and
the kind of Economy depends on the Polity. Also while trying to implement any scheme;
we must have a little knowledge of the demography of the region where the
scheme is employed. We may face opposition from any community or group. Hence,
it assumes a social character.
Now,
let me back to the stories. The 1st story clearly speaks that
“Everything is related”. The 2nd one, I hope u have gone through the
net, speaks that technology which places “Human Being at its heart” can go
beyond traditional style and be more humane, natural. And the last one speaks
of a general scenario-‘the disjoint between brain (theoretical work) and hand (practical
work),’ in understanding science that prevails even among a section of reputed
scientists in India and this attitude is to be reversed. Thus,
we can say that man tries to appropriate Nature’s production in a form adapted
to his own wants by using technology which is developed through the interaction
between man, nature and human labour. Technology is thus not for technologists
only but for mankind as a whole. So with a vision that “Everything is related”,
we should try to be good Engineers with sound technical knowledge, keep an eye
on economy, polity and society so that we develop our technological
understanding in a broader frame, fight for better facilities of research, well
equipped laboratories and industries for proper training to correlate “theory
and practice” in a more vivid way. Lets discuss these aspects frequently
amongst us in our dear college by holding discussions, debates, seminars ,etc.
and let this closing ceremony Golden Jubilee Celebration be the beginning.
“.....Science,
however, cannot create ends and, even less, instil them in human beings;
science, at most, can supply the means by which to attain certain ends..... The
education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities,
would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in
place of the glorification of power and success in our present society....” -Albert Einstein in his article “Why
Socialism?”
Article
by-
Nirangkush
Nath, Passed B.E (Civil) from JEC in 2011, currently pursuing M.E in ‘Water shed management and Flood
Engineering’ in AEC.
References-
2.
Social Scientist.
3.
Xomokaalin Orthoniti, by noted Economist and Columnist of ‘Khabar’ Ananta
Kalita.
