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2024 Commencement Program
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/commencement_printed_materials/1142/thumbnail.jp
Twelve Angry Jurors
Get PDFA young man has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father as the twelve jurors are taken into a bleak jury room to deliberate. It looks like an open-and-shut case—until one voice challenges a deeper examination into the facts. Over the course of the play, tensions rise among the jurors, as they struggle to reconcile their own views with those of their fellow jurors. As deliberations continue, the jurors are forced to confront their own biases and assumptions, and to consider the implication of their decision on another man’s life.
Originally written by Reginald Rose as Twelve Angry Men, this version incorporates a jury of men and women tasked with deciding the young man’s fate. Intimately set inside the small jury room, the audience will have a personal vantage point in our black-box staging from which they can witness this high-stakes drama sure to leave them on the edge of their seat.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1058/thumbnail.jp
Design Analysis in Light of the Seven Deadly Sins
Get PDFChristian engineers ought to consider how their faith influences their assessment of the effects of their engineering products. In today’s age, words such as “sin” and “righteousness” are routinely deprecated in favor of more neutral terms such as “ethics”. Notwithstanding, the ancient list of the seven deadly sins—Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride—can serve as a refreshing, if supposedly anachronistic, framework for evaluating a product. In other words, to what extent does my product invite sin or virtue, whether in myself as the engineer, or in the end user? In traversing the list, I consider not merely the obvious and outward forms of these sins, but particularly the more subtle. Using student design projects as case studies, I explore how to analyze engineering products in light of each of the seven deadly sins and their corresponding virtues
Reflections on Thomas Tredgold’s Definition of Engineering
Get PDFWhat is engineering? To a practicing engineer or to a college student majoring in engineering this question might be too obvious to ask or its answer too simple to bother articulating. Certainly, an engineering professor, an engineering educator, will have a ready answer... In any case, it behooves every engineer to consider and seek a broad, deep understanding of what he or she is about—after all, engineers know the value of good definitions. It is especially incumbent upon the Christian engineer to consider what engineering is in light of the Christian faith, in light of God, creation, man, Christ, and the gospel, as revealed in scripture.
The concepts in this paper have been developed in the context of the first-year Introduction to Engineering course at a Christian university, with the understanding that it is wise to start one’s journey as a Christian engineer by considering what engineering is in light of the Christian faith. As with most things, the prospects of finishing well are enhanced by starting well. At the same time, reflecting on the definition of engineering is appropriate for the practicing Christian engineer. Fresh insights may be gleaned, and a deeper commitment to Christ and his calling may be inspired. The follower of Christ never outgrows the fundamental truths of the gospel, and revisiting those truths frequently is a source of spiritual growth. The practicing Christian engineer similarly benefits from the revisiting of engineering fundamentals if only to be reminded of what he or she is about.
Many definitions of engineering have been put forward. “Engineering is problem-solving” is a common one and has the benefit of being short and easy to remember. However, this definition is really too simple. All humans are problem-solvers: engineers, nurses, lawyers, plumbers, and baseball players. It is true and interesting to an extent that, in a very general sense, virtually every individual is an engineer—that everyone engineers—but we seek here a narrower definition that will be useful in understanding engineering in its conventional sense as a field of study and a profession.
How else might engineering be defined? Shortly after starting his first engineering position (c. 1994), the author formulated the following: “Engineering is the intersection of science and business” [1]. But this is too narrow, if only with regard to context; engineering takes place in settings other than the private, for-profit sector. An “official” definition composed by a panel of experts defines engineering as [2]:
Business, government, academic, or individual efforts in which knowledge of mathematical and/or natural science is employed in research, development, design, manufacturing, systems engineering, or technical operations with the objective of creating and/or delivering systems, products, processes, and/or services of a technical nature and content intended for use.
This is comprehensive and informative, listing many contexts and products, but it is unwieldy, and using it as a basis for reflection risks missing the forest for the trees.
Finally, we have the classic definition from Thomas Tredgold, a 19th century civil engineer [3]:
Engineering is the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man.
Tredgold captures the essence of the previous definitions, but his is pithy and poetic. It has stood the test of time, it is memorable, and it is accessible to a wide audience. This paper will take Tredgold’s definition as a framework for reflecting on what engineering is in light of the Christian faith
Redeeming and Sanctifying Engineering Imperfections
Get PDFComparing God’s designs with engineering designs can help Christian engineers understand both better. Most of the analogies of God as a creative designer focus on extolling the beauty and wonder of the created universe, but this paper aims to take a deeper look at how good design handles imperfection in this world. Although imperfections are ubiquitous, the imperfect can be used. Even the imperfections themselves can be utilized to accomplish the goals of a good designer. This is evident from three different perspectives: a macroscopic view of engineered products, a microscopic view of materials processing, and a “missioscopic” view of God’s purpose for us and what we are sent to do in this world.
As we appreciate how engineering design deals with imperfection, we can better appreciate God’s design and purposes in the world in which we live. Trusting that God has a design amidst the imperfection we see all around us has profound implications for how we live as imperfect engineering professionals and as imperfect people in general. Our perspective of failings or difficult life circumstances is often a reflection of our view of the Designer. Are these things the result of a flawed design, or are they part of a divinely good design in which our human imperfections can and should be redeemed and sanctified for good? Faith in a good design by a good Designer should lead us to humility, worship, and a desire to bear witness to God’s work in our lives
