CONSTRUCTION PROFESSION AND SOCIETY

KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

TCBE 110 The Construction Profession and Society (3 CU)

Yr 1 Semester 1 (2022)

Topic: Solving Engineering Problems

ASK
Eng. Malek Abuwarda
 Solving Engineering Problems

Nature of Engineering Problems

An Engineering problem means a problematic situation that is amenable to analysis and solution using
engineering sciences and methods.
The work of civil engineer is quite simply, everything you see around you (and quite a bit that you don’t
see). The buildings, the highways, the parks, the waterways, the electrical grid, cell phone towers. Civil
and environmental engineers have a hand in all of the systems and structures that make our lives possible
Some of the common engineering problems include.
Disaster Recovery and Resilience
Fixing Our Nation's Failing Infrastructure
Population Growth and Urban Density
Traffic and Transit
Safe Drinking Water and Clean Air
Safeguarding Our Water Resources
Energy Efficiency and Alternative Energy
Sustainability
Waste management
Therefore, the nature of the problem depends on the engineering descipline being handled.

Eng. Asuman K
Malek Abuwarda
 Solving Engineering Problems
Methods of Solving Engineering Problems
• In high schools you probably approached these problems with several assumptions: First, you likely
assumed that the problem could be solvedand probably had one correct answer. Second, you may have
assumed that you were given all the information you needed to solve the problem. Third, you probably
started working on the problem in away similar to that used by your teacher in class.
• Solving engineering problems is a bit different. Does an absolute solution to an engineering
problemexist? If multiple solutions are available? (develop alternatives and recommend one answer)
Engineers almost never encounter problems for which they have all the information needed for a
solutioncollecting the required information.
• Finally, engineers may face problems that no one has attempted to answer before. Engineering problems
often are unique enough that you cannot use a scanned approach to solve them.
• Engineers have to learn problems in an orderly, logical,and systematic way. Solving engineering
problems involves a combination ofscience and art. Science refers to a knowledge of the principles of
mathematics, chemistry, physics, mechanics, and other technical subjects. Engineers have to know how
to translate a real-world problem to a form that can be solved using scientific tools.
• Art means the creativity, judgment, experience, andcommon sense to use the scientific tools to solve
real-lifeproblems effectively. Judgment: you must know whether the result is areasonable solution to
the original problem. However, the art is more effective if approached in alogical and organized manner
• Three common problem-solving techniques: the scientificmethod, the engineering analysis method, and
theengineering design method.
Eng. Malek Abuwarda
 Methods of Solving Engineering Problems
Analytical Method.
• Analytical problem solving means reasoning using facts and logic.

• An analytical solution involves framing the problem in a well-understood form and calculating the exact
solution.

• Analytic methods use exact theorems to present formulas that can be used to present numerical solutions
to mathematical problems

• Analytical methods yield mathematical models that have a closed form solution, i.e. the solution to the
equations used to describe changes in a system can be expressed as a mathematical analytic function

• These involve the analysis, modelling and solution of realistic engineering problems. These include the
use of algebraic methods ( polynomial division, exponential,trigonometric and hyperbolic functions,
arithmetic and geometric progressions in an engineering context and expressing variables as power
series) ,trigonometric methods, calculus and statistics and probability.

Eng. Asuman K
Malek Abuwarda
 Methods of Solving Engineering Problems
Numerical Methods
• Numerical methods are techniques by which the mathematical problems involved with the
engineering analysis cannot readily or possibly be solved by analytical methods

• A numerical method is a mathematical tool designed to solve numerical problems. The implementation of
a numerical method with an appropriate convergence check in a programming language is called a
numerical algorithm.

• Numerical methods provide a way to solve problems quickly and easily compared to analytic solutions.
Whether the goal is integration or solution of complex differential equations, there are many tools
available to reduce the solution of what can be sometimes quite difficult analytical math to simple algebra.

• The solution procedure is iterative, with the accuracy of the estimated solution improving with each
iteration and provides only an approximation to true (exact), but unknown solution.
• An analytical solution involves framing the problem in a well-understood form and calculating the
exact solution. A numerical solution means making guesses at the solution and testing whether the
problem is solved well enough to stop.
• Practicle applications include Making Weather Predictions, Car Safety Enhancement, Machine Learning, Spacecraft
Dynamics,Price Estimation by Airline Companies, water resources modeling, traffic flow modelling,

Lecture 1 Eng. Malek Abuwarda

 Methods of Solving Engineering Problems

Scientific/Experimental Method
The Scientific Method is a rigorous, time tested process for determining the probable truth of any cause-and-
effect proposition. The proposition is known as a hypothesis. The method of testing is experimentation.
As simple as the process looks, it has changed the course of history so much that its now called "The Father of
All Processes."
"Solutions of problems too complicated for common sense to solve are achieved by mixed inductive and
deductive inferences that weave back and forth between the observed machine and the mental hierarchy of the
machine found in the manuals. The correct program for this interweaving is formalized as Scientific Method."
The scientific method has five steps.
1) Observe a phenomenon that has no good explanation and ask a question.
The scientific method starts when you ask a question about something that you observe: How, What, When,
Who, Which, Why, or Where?
2) Formulate a hypothesis that explains the phenomenon,
A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work. It is an attempt to answer your question with an
explanation that can be tested. A good hypothesis allows you to then make a prediction:
"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen."
State both your hypothesis and the resulting prediction you will be testing. Predictions must be easy to measure.

Eng. Asuman K
Malek Abuwarda
 Methods of Solving Engineering Problems

Scientific /Experimental method

3) Design an experiment(s) to test the hypothesis,
Your experiment tests whether your prediction is accurate and thus your hypothesis is supported or not. It is
important for your experiment to be a fair test. You conduct a fair test by making sure that you change only
one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same.
4) Perform the experiment(s) and
You should also repeat your experiments several times to make sure that the first results weren't just an
accident.
5) Accept, reject, or modify the hypothesis.
Once your experiment is complete, you collect your measurements and analyze them to see if they support
your hypothesis or not.
Scientists often find that their predictions were not accurate and their hypothesis was not supported, and in
such cases they will communicate the results of their experiment and then go back and construct a new
hypothesis and prediction based on the information they learned during their experiment. This starts much of
the process of the scientific method over again. Even if they find that their hypothesis was supported, they
may want to test it again in a new way.
Eng. Asuman K
Malek Abuwarda
Assignment 2
1. Engineer peter kalekyezi is challenged with a lot of running
water in his premises at Namanve industrial park. He intends to
establish a ware house for his imported goods from United
Arab emirates.
a) Explain the key professional disciplines he envisages to use in
his ware house project clearely showing why and where they will
be used (10Marks).
b) Highlight the methods the differnt engineers would use to
address the challenges in their respective areas of input (5marks).
c) Distinguish between the scientific method and engineering
design process giving real life examples where they are applied.
(5marks).
v Note:
Hand in with in A period of Two weeks in groups of ten.
Eng. Asuman K
Malek Abuwarda