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OCR for page 2
l~duchon
The years 1964 to 1989, the first 25 years of
the National Academy of Engineering, have
witnessed more advancement in technology
arid, consequently, greater change in the lives
of people than any previous 25-year period
in recorded history. As part of its anniversary
celebration, the Academy has selected what
it considers to be the 10 outstanding engi-
neering achievements that have reached the
public since the Academy's founding on
December 5, 1964. Each represents a major
advance or breakthrough in engineering and
a significant contribution to human welfare.
This brochure presents each of the 10
achievements in a separate story, where we
share with you some of the engineering I
challenge, insight, and excitement that
attended the achievements. In doing so, we
hope also to convey a better understanding
of what engineering does and how it has
contributed to human welfare over the past
quarter century by improving our lives,
extending our possibilities, and expanding
.
our norlzons.
Members of the Academy and represen-
tatives of several professional engineering
societies submitted suggestions of outstand- j
ing engineering achievements. More than
340 suggestions were reviewed by the NAE
Advisory Committee on the 25th Anniver-
sary Celebration. The Council of the Acade-
my approved the top 10.
No such list can encompass all the
technological advances important to society;
many other engineering accomplishments
nearly made our list. The Indus Basin
Scheme and its Tarbela Dam, for instance,
bring flood relief and stable water supply to
millions in Pakistan. The entirely new cities
of Jubail and Yanbu ports at either end of
the crude-oil pipeline across Saudi Arabia
2
gave modern living conveniences to tens of
thousands of people in the desert. The
Alaska pipeline, deepwater oil platforms,
and drilling technologies help supply much
of our energy need. Auto emission control
systems, including the catalytic converter,
and processes for vitrifying hazardous
waste sealing them in glass for long-term
storage provide additional protection for
our environment. Artificial hearts, cardiac
pacemakers, and orthopedic implants give
new life to thousands of people.
The top 10 achievements are presented
here in nearly chronological order. In some
cases we have grouped related achieve-
ments. For instance, lasers stimulated the
development of fiber-optic communication,
so we placed them together. And we chose to
lead the list with the moon landing, which is
truly one of the outstanding engineering
achievements of all time.
The most striking aspect of these 10
diverse achievements is how closely they are
tied together. The microprocessor, which has
probably had the widest impact of all, has
contributed to the development of today's
application satellites, the CAT scan, computer-
aided design and manufacturing, as well as
genetically engineered products. Modern
jumbo jets benefit from microprocessors,
computer-aided design and manufacturing,
lasers, fiber-optic communication, advanced
composite materials, and application I
satellites. In turn, many of these achieve
ments are closely tied to earlier, sometimes
seemingly unrelated advances in the basic
sciences, including mathematics.
It is also striking how widely and deeply
these engineering advances have affected
our daily lives. Weather satellites, which
have been routinely used only since 1966,
generate the satellite pictures seen on almost
every television weather report. The micro-
processor, invented in 1971, operates toys,
televisions, videocassette recorders,
~ E N G ~ N E E R ~ ~ G ~ N D T ~ E A D VA N C E M E N ~ O F ~ U M A N W E ~ FA R E
OCR for page 3
microwave ovens, and burglar alarms in
probably the majority of U.S. homes.
Advanced composites, which first appeared
in commercial products in 1973, are now
used by most people who golf, ski, or play
tennis. And every telephone call of any
distance is undoubtedly carried on beams of
laser light flashed through fiber-optic cable, a
service that has been commercially available
only since 1977.
Because some engineering achievements
are often viewed as sources of environmental
degradation, it is important to note the
beneficial effects many of these 10 have had
on the environment. For example, the
famous pictures of the earth taken by Apollo
astronauts on their moon flights vividly
I show us how delicate and small our planet is
compared with the forbidding immensity of
space. Photos from Landsat and other earth-
observation satellites for the first time have
given us a good look at our fragile global
environment, pinpointing areas needing
I help. And microprocessors, by improving
the efficiency of everything from cars to
power plants, help conserve scarce natural
resources and greatly reduce the amount of
pollutants released into the environment.
The next 25 years will witness even
more advances in technology, bringing ever-
greater changes to our way of life. It is
therefore important, if we are to ensure the
wise use of technology, that all of us-
engineers and nonengineers alike
understand the nature of engineering and
how it can be used to benefit us individually
and as a society.
Finally, it is obvious that many more
fascinating challenges for engineers lie in
the future. We've built CAT scans and other
wonderful machines that peer into the
unopened human body, but can we develop
devices and techniques that perform a total
chemical analysis of the body without
breaking the skin? We've used microproces-
sors to make soda machines talk, but can we
use them to make computers really think
before they speak? And yes, we have been to
the moon, but what about going to Mars?
The engineering achievements of the future
are limited only by the laws of nature and
. . .
Our own ~mag~nahon.
~ 7~ ~,0:,,,
ROBERT M. WHITE
President
I N T R O ~ ~ C T I O ~
;'
l
3
Representative terms from entire chapter:
outstanding engineering
