Engineering As Applied Social Science

Abstract

In this paper, I use the case of the defective rear cargo door on the DC-10 aircraft and specifically the actions of the chief engineer at Convair to illustrate the sometimes frustrating problem of deciding just what skills are most useful to engineers if they are to best serve the public need. I suggest that although colleges of engineering are required by society (and accrediting agencies) to prepare engineers to solve technical problems using applied natural sciences such as physics and chemistry, they also should require engineering students to obtain a background in social sciences such as economics, political science, management, and ethics. I argue that engineering should therefore be thought of as not only an “applied natural science,” but also an “applied social science.”