The Engineer and Society (1964) (1964) / Chapter Skim
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What the Engineer Should Understand About Technological Innovation, James R. Bright
What the Engineer Should Understand About Technological Innovation, James R. Bright
Pages 54-68
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From page 54... ...
As scientists and engineers' you appreciate the importance of trying to define what you are talking about, and as a first crude and primitive step, I have tried to do this with respect to the technology and the world of business. I propose to discuss seven directions of technological changes, using slides.
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From page 55... ...
It is rather striking that the first commercial space enterprise, Communications Satellite Corporation, is about to bring out its initial stock offering just seven years after Sputnik. Exhibit 2 suggests the mastery of energy as a direction of technological advance.
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From page 56... ...
They also indicate geographical specialization. They suggest very strongly declining costs for many of the essential foodstuffs of the world.
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From page 57... ...
With it will come lower costs and improved performance, and some badly damaged profit and loss statements. , , And now some ok companies are urging container .
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From page 58... ...
Similarly, television wrecked the movie industry, and parts of the publishing industry in less than ten years. The diesel engine destroyed the steam locomotive industry in about twelve years.
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From page 59... ...
Another element of the future is the role of the government in determining technological progress. Since I came from what some of you facetiously call, ''The West Point of Capitalism,' I have heard many businessmen deplore what they feel is an excessive government role in business affairs.
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From page 60... ...
Can the engineer and scientist continue to be amoral? We had a wonderful old professor at Harvard Business School by the name of Benjamin Selekman.
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From page 61... ...
I do mean that the impact of powerful technological changes is so great that whether or not the businessman cares about moral implications, he must take them into consideration. The engineer and the technologist must participate in the decisions to wisely apply the innovations which they create.
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From page 62... ...
I know you have had a long day, and I am afraid I have added more confusion than light to the technological ferment before us. However, I have tried to convey that we are engaged in incredible technological advances.
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From page 63... ...
Exhibit 1. Increased Transportation Capability Areas of advance Some typical means Some results Mastery of greater distances in less time and/or cost Movement and operations in new media Space Underseas Arctic areas Jet transports Helicopters Ground effects machines "Piggyback" rail transport Container ships and trains Pipelines Supertankers Passenger conveyors Hydrofoil boats Aerospace vehicles Submarines, bathyscaphes, aqua lungs Helicopters, Arctic housing, utilities, trackless trains, and living systems World-wide commerical and pleasure travel of up to 3,000 miles in 8 hours Overnight freight service national y and to most international centers Specialized transportation systems for high-volume items or dense traffic patterns Specialized handling devices linked to these transport systems Warfare in new mediums, with associated attack, defense, surveillance, and communications devices Development of new support devices Acquisition of scientific knowledge Beginnings of new commercial operations (e.g., communications sated ites, weather stations)
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From page 64... ...
preclslon Power generated and transformed by new sources and devices Significant advances in energy storage New techniques for large-scale transportation of energy and fuels H-bombs, nuclear reactors and nuclear dynamite, chemical fuels for rockets Semiconductors, lasers microelectronics Nuclear reactors, fuel cells, solar cells, magnetohydrodynamics, thermoionics, jet engines, stationary power plants Atomic fuel, fuel cells, nickel-cadmium batteries, pump-hydro power, and tidalpower Extra-high voltage transmission lines, liquid propane gas ships, oil, gas, and coal pipelines, unit trains, and crosscountry conveyor belts Major change in methods of warfare, national defense, strategy and tactics, and international politics New scientific knowledge New power-plant fuels Thousands of new technical needs Possibilities for major alteration of geographic features Thousands of new components, products and processes New instrumentation Many new demands for scientific and technical knowledge Reduction in size of many devices Production processes based on highenergy forming, spark erosion, electrodeposition ~ polishing, ultrasonics, and so on Continuing pressure for advances in fuels, materials, and controls Need for scientific knowledge and technical development Increased portability Longer operation between refuelings Lower power costs Cheaper movement of many fuels Transportation of energy and fuels feasible over greater distances Specialized construction and transportation equipment 64
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From page 65... ...
Increased Ability To Alter The Characteristics Of Materials Areas of advance Some typical means Some results New properties for old materials Synthetic materials Combinations of materials to provide unique characteristics Chemical and metallurgical knowledge applied to alter properties of materials Better control of purity, additives, and processes New production processes Typical examples: aluminum engine blocks, paper and plastic replacement of textile cloth Synthetic fibers, rubber, oil, and food Fiberglas, prestressed concrete, ceramicmetallic compounds, laminated wood beams and panels of aluminum-plastic honeycomb construction Improvement of properties such as strength, weight, heat resistance, and corrosion resistance End-users require different production processes and work force skills New product design opportunities Lower cost for many materials and/or end products 65
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From page 66... ...
Radar Electron microscope Television Radio astronomy Microphone and amplification techniques; magnetic tape recording Instrumentation and control combinations which identify minute or distant conditions, and provide for human response to alter them Instrumentation to detect minute quanti.ties and dimensions Measurement and amplification technique Great advances in photographic sensitivity and accuracy of reduction Duplication techniques (Xerography) Instant preservation of vision and sound through video tape, magnetic sound tape, Polaroid photography Transportation and war operations under previously limiting conditions of darkness, fog, rain, and so on.
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From page 67... ...
Reduction in labor per unit output Increased maintenance (usually) Greater capacity Less flexibility (usual y)
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From page 68... ...
Exhibit 7. Growing Mechanization Of Inter ectual Processes Areas of advance Some typical means Some results Direction of long, intricate machinery actions Information processing Problem solving Feedback control of process equipment Punched card control of bulk materials batching Numerically controlled machine tools Punched-tape control of typewriters, and so on Computers and business machinery to acquire, sort, manipulate, interpret, store, and display selected data Mechanical reproduction of selected data, forms, checks, and so on Computer solutions of complex scientific, engineering, and business calculations Computer simulation of business and military problems Operations research problem analysis by computers Increased accuracy, reduced setup time, improved uniformity, reduction in operator training, need for programmers Reduction of clerical labor Increased speed in preparing papers of all types Improved accuracy Speed in summarizing business condi Lions Solution of problems otherwise unfeasible Exploration of complex problems Decision making assistance on major business and military policies and strategies 68
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