The title and content of this class, may seem to the Westernized mind a contradictory topic: Global Engineering. The word "global" carries a connotation of communication, culture and language, while the word "engineering" evokes words such as math, technology and physics, we know this from our first class exercise. However, regardless of how mathematical or technological a topic maybe, it can be and must be investigated through the lens of society and culture because both are so dependent upon each other.

This is the idea Melvin Kranzberg communicates in his article "Science-Technology-Society: It's as Simple as XYZ!"He explains that the correlation between these three are so strong because they are manufactured by society and for society. He says, "Science and technology are very human activities and, as such, they are an inherent part of our social milieu. Society includes all sorts of human activities, thoughts, values, and hopes and our social environment extends, largely as a result of the applications of science and technology, to the whole world" (235). Science and technology are human tools that are informed by biases and thoughts represented from society because its members are its creators. This concept allows us to take a more indepth look at the construction of engineering and the correlation on a global scale because society does inform who does engineering, how they do engineering and for what purposes engineering is done. For example, compact, efficient technology such as the Apple Ipad are growing in popularity in order to fit the need of a society that is constantly doing work on the go. Another example of correlated effects are societal instituations such as education or corporations that dictate who gets the jobs as engineers and what type of skill set is required whether its theory based or experience based.

I think that the another article we read entitled "Science and Technology in a Multicultural World" by David J. Hess, expands upon Kranzberg's idea. Hess takes the concept that science and technology are informed by society further by saying that this implies that different societies will inform science and technology in different ways. He says, "A cultural perspective implies studying science and technology from the point of view of different groups of people" (11). Although there are societies, that have greater impact on the science and technology being produced around the world, we have to take into consideration both, the needs of other societies and be open to the manners in which other societies view the processes of science and technology. The values of different societies effect the formation of their engineereing needs. In class we discussed an example of running water being established in homes in a community in Africa. This would have a large effect on the community if the water source had been the cultural gathering place. Although running water in the homes might seem more efficient from a Western perspective, someone from the community might argue that it would be detrimental to the fiber of the society.

Therefore looking at engineering from a global perspective can open our eyes to see the correlation between how society and technology influence on another but also how different societies can take part in an exchange regarding this topic.