Introduction to Basic Concepts in Engineering: for adept high school students

Explore the profession of engineering, and learn the tools you need to start strong in college.

This book will introduce you to the engineering profession and give you an idea of what it will be like to major in engineering in college. It covers the wide range of engineering specialties, various career pathways, and the overall benefits of the earning an engineering degree.

Yet this book aims to do more than simply build your excitement about studying engineering. It also means to provide an introduction to the tools that you will need to start strong once you begin college. This text provides a very basic introduction and overview of what we call ‘engineering fundamentals’ - the concepts that every engineer needs to know.

Topics are presented in a straightforward manner that avoids the need for complicated mathematics, allowing for a focus on understanding and applying the concepts, rather than getting bogged down in the technical solution.

Key Features

• Discussions on what engineers do, the various engineering specialties, and the skills and traits common to all successful engineers
• Details what an engineering education entails, and how students can set themselves up for success both in college admissions and in engineering school
• Considerations in choosing an engineering school and on pursuing advanced degrees
• “Professional Profiles” of real-life practicing engineers provide a first-hand perspective on the wide range of career paths available to those with an engineering degree
• Each concept is supported with sample problems and worked solutions, reinforcing theory and developing understanding via hands-on practice
• “Engineering Application” case-studies help relate the presented concepts to real-world challenges and solutions
• Spreadsheets are introduced as an important engineering tool, and their use in solving problems is developed via step-by-step learning activities
• Relevant practice problems with selected answers allow for both additional practice and for measures of proficiency

Andrew S. Heintz is an Engineering Group Leader in the Logic Technology Development group at Intel Corporation. He received his BS in Chemical Engineering (2004) and his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (2008) from Tulane University. He joined Intel in 2008 as a Process Technology Development Engineer specializing in wet cleans processes for semiconductor manufacturing. In 2012 he assumed leadership of a wet cleans process module. Andrew is passionate about the education of the next generation of US-educated engineers. In the spring of 2016 he began teaching an Introduction to Engineering course as a volunteer instructor at Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon. He has developed both that course and this text in support of the parallel goals of promoting interest in engineering to prospective students, and preparing students to succeed in a university undergraduate engineering program by building a foundation of basic knowledge and skills. His hope is not only to increase student interest in studying engineering, but to keep students enrolled in engineering programs once in college.