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Chapter 13 Designing the World through Engineering
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environmentally responsible, sustainable, and
resource effi See ficient. Figure 13-11. This requires
a designer to consider a building’s life cycle, which
covers the building’s proposal, erection, operation,
upkeep, renewal, and demolition. See Figure 13-12.
Transportation Technologies
The designed world also includes changes
to the natural world to accommodate the desire
to move freely and conveniently throughout the
world. Transportation technologies move people
and products from one location to another through
land, water, air, and space travel. Transportation
technologies make possible travel to and from work
or school, movement of goods from one geographic
location to another, and recreational travel.
Aerospace engineering largely focuses on
designing new transportation technologies, such
as more effi materials, structures, and fuel ficient
systems, related to space travel. Space travel has
become possible as oversight from NASA has
largely become the responsibility of the private
sector. Organizations such as SpaceX and SpaceDev
now compete regularly for missions to transport
goods to the International Space Station, Figure 13-13.
Additionally, travel to and colonization of Mars is
being explored.
Designing transportation technologies must
be done in coordination with manufacturing and
construction technologies. For example, advance-
ments in transportation technologies, such as solar
or electric vehicles, affect how the manufacture of
those vehicles and their components will occur.
Construction technologies and the manner in
which roadways are designed and built also affect
the design of transportation technologies.
When designing transportation technologies,
engineers respond to new needs and wants to create
better products. For example, understanding local
traffi c patterns and traffic fi jams allows an engineer fi
to design a new road that will reduce bottlenecks
and divert vehicles. When designing cars, engineers
also respond to varying needs. One such need is
for safer transportation. As a result, vehicles have
been designed with driver override systems, which
disregard the driver’s input. For example, brake
override systems use sensors that recognize issues
that may be irregular for a driver’s normal input.
The car’s computer system can then provide the
appropriate feedback to make corrections. Another
safety feature is biometric vehicle access, which
uses facial or fi ngerprint technologies to access and fi
use a vehicle.
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Figure 13-10. When designing new structures,
engineers must understand and apply mathematical and
scientific concepts such as material strength, loads, and
compressive and tensile forces.
Moosician/Shutterstock.com
Figure 13-11. Green buildings are structures that are
environmentally responsible, sustainable, and resource
efficient. Some green buildings feature vertical gardens.