American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (5). First professional engineering society in America. Founded in 1852. Reorganized in 1869.
Boisjoly, Roger (11). Engineer at Morton-Thiokol who warned of defects in the Challenger's booster rockets..
Cultural fit (9). How well the technology fits into the culture of a receiving country. Bad cultural fit is often the source of transfer failure.
Culture-determined technology (10). Belief that the role of the engineer is to do projects defined by the advancing culture. Popular in Nazi Germany.
DELCO (7). Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company. Founded by Charles Kettering. Absorbed into General Motors in 1918.
Design constituency (1). Made up of all the individuals and institutions who exert some influence on the decisions which cause a successful technology to take the shape it does.
Design stage (1). First stage in a successful technology's development. When the technology is fragile, flexible, and open to change. Stage when context will dramatically influence the technology.
Development (4). Second stage of Hughes Model. Testing the solution in increasingly complex environments.
"Educable" engineer (9). Being capable of letting people who are not like you to actually change your thinking so that your interactions with them make you see the world differently.
Engineering theory (8). A body of knowledge using controlled-variable experimental methods to construct a formal and mathematically structured system. It studies the behavioral characteristics of some class of artifact or artifact-related materials.
Ericcson, John (4). Designer of the Princeton and the Monitor. Can be classified as an inventor.
Falsifiability (8). Stating assertions in a way that permits them to be tested for truth or falsehood
Faustian bargain (10). Based on the Goethe version of the Faust myth. A technological expert signs on with a project because it provides them the resources to do cutting-edge research even though the morality of the project is suspect.
Feder, Gottfried (10). Leading engineer in the Nazi party until the mid-1930s. Leader in the Technocracy movement.
Foreseen tradeoffs (11). Negative results from the technological design considered unavoidable and worth incurring in light of the technology's positive benefits.
Franklin Institute (3)(4). A society for the study of science and technology, founded in 1824. Highly influential, the institution supported the Sellers screw and helped investigate the USS Princeton disaster.
Hughes model (4). Model for understanding invention-development-innovation.
Impact Constituency (1). Those people who lose because of the design of a successful technology.
Innovation (4). Third stage of the Hughes model. Introducing the new technology into the world of ordinary use.
Invention (4). First stage of Hughes model. A probable solution to a problem
Jervis, John B. (2). Prominent engineer in the mid-19th century. Influential in the building of the Erie Canal, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and designed the water supply system for New York City. Designed one of the first viable railroad locomotives.
Kettering, Charles F. (7). Founder of DELCO, designer of the automobile self-starter and the copper-cooled engine. Major player in General Motors.
LeMessurier, William J. (11). Structural engineer who caught and reported his mistakes in the design of Citicorp center.
Maintenance Constituency (1). Those people who come to depend on and benefit from a successful technology.
McDonald, Allen J. (11). Engineer at Morton-Thiokol who warned of defects in the Challenger's booster rockets.
Momentum stage (1). Second stage in a successful technology's development. Characterized by a shift from flexibility to rigidity. A technology in the momentum stage is a culture-shaping social force. Marked by increasing dependence of a society on the technology.
Myth (2). A story by which some "we" understands its identity and purpose.
Myth of the Middle Landscape (2). A myth by which America understands itself. In brief: "We are the people who left civilization and endured a hard journey to create a livable place out of the wilderness."
Negotiation (2)(3). A technological style dominant from 1600 to about 1880. Characterized by flexibility and compromise.
Personal ethics (11). What you as an engineer owe yourself as a person who must answer for the choices you make.
Primary Consequences (11). The specific technical capabilities desired by the technology's creator. Also called "First Order Consequences"
Princeton (see USS Princeton)
Process style (5). In the procees style of management, engineers conform to a process managed by someone else who defines the design and sets operational goals. "Management"is sharply differentiated from employees and lines of authority are treated as very important.
Problematic data (8). Data not sought before that is now of interest because of some problem.
Project style (5). the same team manages the invention, development, innovation and manufacture of a product. Project style engineers participate directly in managerial decision- making.
Proprietary company (5). the owner = manager = financial backer. Owner knows workers personally and understands the production technology.
Public corporation (5). the owner (stock holders). is not the manager (hired by the board of trustees and therefore an employee). Management is not normally on familiar terms with lower level employees and may not know the core technologies intimately.
Replicability (8). Stating an experimental process in a way permits others to replicate it in some other place and come to the same conclusions.
Reverse Salient Model (4). Unsolved problems within a large area of research where a great deal of money is being spent. Developed by Thomas Hughes. Used to identify why inventors concentrate on certain design problems.
Risk thinking (7). Schon model. Predicting the future in a situation where you know enough of the variables to make a valid quantifiable prediction. Favored by large corporations.
Robertson, Leslie (11). Engineer who helped avert the Citicorp crisis. Insisted on safety as chief concern.
Schon model (7). Model for understanding development of new technology in large corporations. Discusses difference between risk and uncertainty thinking.
Scientific theory (8). A body of knowledge using controlled-variable experimental methods to construct a formal and mathematically structured system. It studies the character of natural reality. Scientific Management (6). System of management popular in the first decades of the 20th c. Proponants sought to transform industry, government and society through greater efficiency. Utilizes top-down approach.
Secondary consequences (11). Divided into two categories. See foreseen tradeoffs and unforeseen effects.
Sellers, William (3). Designed and lobbied for what came to be adopted as the American standard screw.
Senility stage (1). Third stage in a successful technology's development. When a technology begins to lose its momentum and no longer fits tightly with its social context.
Skill (8). A form of intimacy: knowledge learned through detailed and repeated experience.
Societal Ethics (11). Concerned with the responsibilities an engineer has to society due to his/her expertise.
Standardization (3). A technological style dominant from about 1880 to the present. Characterized by precision, order, measurement, enforcement, and an inaccessible standard- setter.
Stockton, Robert F. (4). Innovator of the Princeton and the Peacemaker.
Successful technology (1). A technology so important it becomes indispensible to its host society.
Talcott, Lt. Col. (4). Developer in Army Ordinance. Recognized the faulty design of the Peacemaker.
Taylor, Frederick W. (6). "Father" of scientific management. Chief developer and promoter of Taylorism.
Taylorism (6). system of scientific management outlined by F.W. Taylor. (see Scientific Management)
Technical fit (9). How well a technology fits into the existing technological infrastructure of a receiving culture.
Technocracy (10). Belief that engineers are most capable of managing society.
Technocrat (6)(10). Someone who believes that engineers should manage society.
Technological style (3). Style in which engineers work in designing technology. ex: negotiation, standardization
Todt, Fritz (10). Leading engineer in Nazi Germany after 1935. Espoused culture-determined technology.
Transfer of Technology (9). the movement of a technology from its culture of origin to some different culture
Transfer vehicles (9). How technology gets from one place to another. ex: theft, contract, gift
Treaty of Versailles (10). Treaty which ended World War I. Harshly punitive to the Germans. Source of resentment which fueled the Nazi's rise to power.
USS Princeton (4). Steam powered war ship carrying the weapon Peacemaker. Designed by Ericcson and Stockton, the Peacemaker exploded on board February 28, 1844 killing two members of the cabinet.
Uncertainty thinking (7). Schon model. Making decisions in a situation were you do not know enough of the variables to make a valid quantifiable prediction. Avoided by large corporations.
Unforeseen effects (11). Positive or negative results of the design that were not apparent during the design stage of the technology.
Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) (10). The largest and leading German engineering society.
Weimar Republic (10). Germany's first democratic government. (1919-1933). Presided over years of high inflation, unemployment, and political turmoil.