History and Management of Technology

Soft Skills for Engineering

Thu, 15 May 2025 14:52:52 GMT

Employers today are increasingly recognizing the significance of soft skills, and students are well aware of this crucial fact. Upon graduation, students are expected to possess a firm grasp of the technical skills directly related to their completed courses, whether at the bachelor's or master's level. However, there is another realm of skills that can profoundly impact securing initial employment and, more importantly, advancing one's professional journey.

The importance of developing soft skills thus cannot be overstated, as they have the potential to shape the future of both current and aspiring engineers. Providing training in these essential skills becomes a pivotal aspect of their overall development. This comprehensive text outlines strategies for enhancing the most sought-after skills and serves as a valuable resource for both students and lecturers, facilitating the integration of these vital competencies into traditional university programs.

Topics covered include methodological skills, such as time management and problem solving; social skills, such as teamwork and conflict management; and cognitive skills, such as analytical and critical thinking.

A History of the World Semiconductor Industry

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:29:17 GMT

The book describes the development of semiconductor manufacture on a worldwide basis, from its early beginnings to date. Its approach is wide-ranging, encompassing early experimental work rooted in nineteenth century science, and it includes a brief historical review of the thermionic valve, which played an important part in the genesis of the semiconductor industry. The contents include a description of the establishment and subsequent development of semiconductor manufacture within the various nation states. Although not a technical treatise, major device types and manufacturing processes used in semiconductor fabrication are outlined. Factors affecting the performance of the industry within the major national participants are discussed, and the relationship of the industry to science and technology is also considered.

The book should be of interest to scientists and engineers, technical historians, and indeed anyone with an interest in the development of a modern, all-pervading technology.

A Management Guide to Logistics Engineering

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:18:18 GMT

This guide will prove a great help to businesses in providing the pratical advice that will enable them to master the art of logistics so it can be used to their best business advantage.

A Scientist's War

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:18:50 GMT

Sir Clifford Paterson, OBE FRS, was Director of the GEC Research Laboratories at Wembley from their foundation in 1919 until his death in 1948. This book contains the daily diary which he kept from the beginning of September 1939 until May 1945.

These were the years of the Second World War, and Paterson records work in the Laboratories and his own wider role in the planning and organisation of the scientific war effort, against the background of the progress of the war, on one hand, and on the other, the personal problems of members of his staff. There are also references to the administration and housekeeping which were necessary for the smooth running of the Laboratories.

There are accounts of visits from, and discussions with Ministers, senior Service officers, and officials in government departments and research establishments. There are comments on the contributions that such people were making and, on occasion, references to the delaying effects of some rivalries and bureaucracy. Paterson expresses opinions on the proper roles of government, the universities, and industry in both war and peace.

The diary outlines the progress and frustrations on the wide variety of projects undertaken by the Laboratories, including the development of the cavity magnetron, airborne radar, radio countermeasures, centimetre wave propagation, visibility of and from aircraft, and many others, as well as support for the industrial war effort through, for example, development of diamond dies and a statistical approach to quality control. A recurring theme is the development and production in the Laboratories of more than 300,000 thermionic valves of 45 new types.

The diary is supplemented by an introduction, a chronology of world events, a number of appendices, and explanatory footnotes to many entries. The diary is an important historical document and will be of great interest to political and social historians, as well as those interested in the history of science.

British Television

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:19:23 GMT

On 2 November 1936 the world's first high definition television station was inaugurated at Alexandra Palace. Two competing companies, Marconi-EMI Television Company Ltd and Baird Television Ltd, provided studio and transmitting equipment for the new service which operated, on an alternate basis, with the systems of the two companies. After a trial period the 405-line system of the Marconi-EMI company was adopted and the last transmission by the 240-line system of Baird Television Ltd was sent out on 30 January 1937.

This book is concerned with the history of British television for home reception from 1922/23 to 1939, when the London Station closed down for the war years. Great care has been taken to ensure that an unbiased, accurate history has been written and the work is based predominantly on written primary source material. More than 900 references are given in the text, which is illustrated with many photographs and illustrations.

An endeavour has been made to present a balanced history rather than a purely technical history. Thus the book considers the factors - technical, financial and general - which led to the establishment of the world's first, all-electronic, public, regular, high definition television broadcasting service.

Communications

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 14:32:14 GMT

Communications: An international history of the formative years traces the evolution of communications from 500 BC, when fire beacons were used for signalling, to the 1940s, when high definition television systems were developed for the entertainment, education and enlightenment of society. The book does not simply provide a chronicle of dates and events, nor is it a descriptive catalogue of devices and systems. Rather, it discusses the essential factors - technical, political, social, economic and general - that enabled the evolution of modern communications. The author has taken a contextual approach to show the influence of one discipline upon another, and the unfolding story has been widely illustrated with contemporary quotations, allowing the progress of communications to be seen from the perspective of the times and not from the standpoint of a later generation.

Continuing Professional Development

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 11:25:49 GMT

Managing your CPD as a professional engineer.

Are you making the most of your abilities and experience?

This practical guide, designed specifically for engineers and technical professionals, will help you to realise much more of your potential through considered and structured CPD. It will help you to analyse where you wish to take your career, based on the clear identification and ongoing development of your competencies and skills. It explains how to base your CPD not just on courses but also on capturing your day-to-day learning. Details of personal development planning software and other useful resources are given, including how to use the internet and distance learning in your CPD. The role of the professional institutions, and the importance of coaching and mentoring are also discussed.

Through a very readable text, with many practical diagrams and real-life case studies, you will develop a clear understanding of what CPD is and, more importantly, what it could do for you.

Demystifying Marketing

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:23:45 GMT

Marketing is a big topic. It is complex, vital – and yet too often misunderstood.

Every organisation must have customers or clients to remain financially viable. But they will not beat a path to your door unasked. Marketing is the essential process that actively seeks to generate customers, business and profit.

Designed to explain and inform, and put any misconceptions to rights, this book is logically arranged in a way that builds up understanding; it provides a thorough basic guide to:

What marketing is
How marketing works
How it affects the organisation – and the individuals in it

Demystifying Marketing is a comprehensive and accessible book covering all key marketing matters, with an emphasis on practicality and why marketing is important in engineering. Aimed primarily at non-marketing people wanting clarification of marketing's purpose, role and methods, it can provide major influence to the process of building a marketing culture within an organisation in a way that positively influences results in the market place. Practitioners too can benefit from the book's clear explanations and the practical view it takes of the necessity for marketing and its implementation.

Designing Businesses

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:24:18 GMT

Engineers and other technical professionals are increasingly presented with the opportunity of running their own businesses as entrepreneurs. In other circumstances, particularly in times of great change in industry, they may be considered 'corporate entrepreneurs', leading divisions of larger organisations in an entrepreneurial fashion.

This book aims to support the engineer finding him/herself in this position. It looks at the many issues confronting the technical professional faced with the task of leading a company, or a semi-autonomous unit within a company, with clarity and direction in a changing environment. It focuses particularly on:

designing the business to meet the requirements of the marketplace
financial design of the business and raising venture capital
alliances and acquisitions, management buyouts and buyins

The material will be useful to three groups of engineers: those who are setting up their own businesses or running companies in changing markets, those who are presented with a management-buyout opportunity, and those who wish simply to broaden their awareness of commercial issues.

Developing a Make or Buy Strategy for Manufacturing Business

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 01:08:42 GMT

How can a company decide where to concentrate its expertise? Why are some companies better at exploiting their strengths than others? Is there a link between the range of a company's activities and its success and profitability?

These are just some of the questions at the heart of a make or buy strategy for manufacturing business. Most companies will face issues such as these at some time or other, and in resolving them will determine the future shape of the business - for better or worse.

Based on original research and case experience, this book presents a structured approach to making these important decisions. By drawing on the collective knowledge of people in the company, a make or buy strategy can be developed which focuses manufacturing capability on the factors critical to business success.

The key aspects covered include:

the links between business strategy, vertical integration in manufacturing industry, and business performance;
why a make or buy strategy is central to manufacturing capability and business results;
the difference between strategic, tactical and component make or buy issues;
the best practice approach to make or buy decisions;
what is involved in developing an optimal make or buy strategy for a business;
how to apply the approach to your own business.

The book is aimed at directors and managers from manufacturing companies concerned with developing their capabilities and focusing their strengths, but many other people in manufacturing, finance, engineering, purchasing and service operations will find something of value in this book.

Developing Effective Engineering Leadership

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:25:26 GMT

Engineering companies and other organizations face many serious challenges in the 21st Century. One that is now becoming widely recognized is the loss of corporate knowledge through staff turnover, whether it is natural or forced through downsizing or delayering. A company's store of knowledge and expertise is an asset built up through the learning and experience of its employees.

In this book the authors show that such loss of experience and knowledge can substantially erode corporate culture and impact upon a company's ability to develop and reinvent itself in response to its market. The concentration is on process, culture, structure and leadership, to assist engineering organizations in managing their valuable knowledge resources and the people who possess them. It provides effective methodologies to devise solutions to the real challenges faced by engineering managers today.

Illustrated with scenarios and practical examples, which will be familiar to engineers worldwide, this book represents great value to all those in engineering management practice. In addition, as management increasingly appears within the syllabus of engineering courses, it will interest engineering students preparing for careers in industry, as well as their educators.

Effective Team Leadership for Engineers

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:26:32 GMT

This book is a must for engineers who have just, or will soon, become team leaders. It is also an essential guide for more experienced team and project leaders who wish to brush up their skills and knowledge.

No matter what type of team or project you are leading you will be provided with practical guidance in setting the direction, plus establishing targets, goals and purpose for a winning team. Getting the environment right for your team to flourish, including motivating performance, will be explored, as will the thorny question of how to manage conflict and underperformance and boost morale when times get tough.

Based on their extensive experience in managing change and building teams, the authors are able to share with you best practice case studies from multi-nationals, government bodies and SMEs around the world.

The book cuts through all the management jargon to show you in realistic terms how to develop your skills, competencies and behaviour, and importantly influence others to change and develop. And finally, once you have created a high performing team it will move on to explore how you might enhance your own career options for the future.

Electric Railways

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:27:05 GMT

Electric Railways 1880-1990 explores the history of the integration of both electric and diesel-electric railway systems and identifies the crucial role that diesel-electric traction played in the development of wireless electrification. The evolution of electrical technology and the modern railway produced innovations in engineering that were integral to the development of traction, power and signalling systems. This book presents a thorough survey of electric railway development from the earliest days pf the London Underground to modern electrified main line trains. The distinction between 'enforced electrification' and 'economic electrification' is also discussed and the pioneering role of J.J. Heilmann assessed.

Developed from many years of research into railway engineering, topics covered include signalling and communications, power supplies, and a detailed survey of traction systems, both AC and DC. The introduction first of mercury arc rectifiers, and later of power semiconductor controls, is also discussed in detail. The author has a long-standing interest in engineering history and has written many papers on aspects of railway technology. This book will be of particular interest to scientists and historians interested in the development of electric railways.

Exhibiting Electricity

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:27:38 GMT

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries technical exhibitions, held for the benefit of both cognoscente and the general public alike, have presented a mirror to the progress of science, engineering and, towards the second half of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century, to electrical technology.

Exhibitions themselves are important not only to provide a given generation with a summary of its current capability but also to present a forum for new inventions and techniques, often shown to the public for the first time. The special requirements of exhibitions are also productive of new developments such as sophisticated lighting techniques, use of dioramas, new concepts in architecture, the first use of moving pavements and exploitation of new ideas in mass travel, such as monorail or magnetic levitation railways.

Here the history of such public exhibitions is traced from their beginnings towards the end of the 18th century to the present day, with particular reference to their presentation of electrical invention and manufacture. The key factors determining this progression are described, together with the influence of competing nations in the changing format of these presentations. The book will be of interest to all those engineers who are interested in how their speciality has been presented to a wider public in the past and provide a pointer to its continued presence in the media for the decades ahead.

History of International Broadcasting

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 10:14:06 GMT

The history of radio broadcasting is traced from its earliest origins, through its role as a subversive tool in World War II to the cold war era, and finally to its present day use as an instrument of foreign policy used by over 160 countries.

The effects on the cold war, in which propoganda broadcasting was the ultimate weapon, contributing in no small measure to the collapse of communism in the USSR, are analysed. The roles of Voice of America, the BBC World Service and others come under scrutiny, and the concluding chapters report on the explosive growth in international broadcasting now taking place in the aftermath of recent political events.

The book is supplemented with up-to-date technical data and statistics on major expansions now under way or being planned in many countries, particularly the USA and the Arab states, some of the latter having a broadcasting capacity that dwarfs most western countries.

The appeal of the book is by no means restricted to scientists and engineers and many will find much to stir their memories of international radio broadcasts in wartime and peacetime alike.

History of Telegraphy

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:17:45 GMT

A dominating theme of the 21st Century will be the transmission and processing of information as the global network of communication channels continues to develop. The emergence of today's digital communications technology owes much to the growth of telegraphy in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The realisation of cheap long-distance communication using telegraphy stimulated the initial design and development of coded transmissions that proved vital in both World Wars for use on land, sea, and in the air. Methods of data compaction, coding and encryption in modern communication systems all have their origins in the techniques used by the telegraph pioneers. In fact the two main phases of telegraph development - cable-based techniques that began in the early 19th Century and wireless transmission in the 20th Century - parallel the changes in voice and information communications seen recently.

History of Telegraphy relates many of the discoveries and the ingenuity of the experimenters and engineers involved in the development of telegraphy, the equipment they designed and built, and the organisation, applications and effects of this technology on society. Part One, Terrestrial Telegraphy, discusses the origins of telegraphy via landlines and submarine cables. Part Two, Aerial Telegraphy, focuses on the development of telegraphy through wireless transmission, using previously unpublished material from the Public Records Office and military sources to examine the role of telegraphy in war. The final chapter examines the successors to telegraphy, including its modern descendant, the global communication network.

The book will be of interest to anyone working in communications and of particular relevance to students, researchers and all those with an interest in the history of technology and communications.

How to Build Successful Business Relationships

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:37:28 GMT

People mean business and most professionals know how important it is to get on well with others.

Sometimes it's difficult to find the time or opportunity to develop soft skills, particularly when there is pressure to get jobs done. For those who don't realise it, the value of networking or relationship building should not be underestimated. This is particularly so when the economic climate is harsh and work is harder to come by. Getting on, moving up - however you define success - is often made easier with a little bit of help from your friends.

Whether you work in a large or small organisation, have just landed your first job or have years of experience behind you, developing strong professional relationships will help you personally to progress and your company to flourish. Everyone can acquire the skill of networking and building rapport with others but it does require practice and a degree of curiosity. This book aims to inspire experienced networkers, who have many good contacts, to try new approaches or refresh their methods. If you are newly qualified and starting out on your career it will help you make the most of the many opportunities to build good relationships as you meet people in the course of your work.

What have you got to lose? Give it a try - you may enjoy the experience.

Innovation and the Communications Revolution

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:29:49 GMT

This book describes the stage-by-stage creation and development, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, of the remarkable global communications technologies that have profoundly transformed the way that people live and work.

Written in a highly readable style, this book provides a fascinating account of the key innovators from Faraday, Maxwell and Hertz to the inventors of the transistor, microchip, optical fibre systems and the World Wide Web. The book explores the background and motivation of these pioneers and the social and economic environment in which they worked. The significance of each innovative step is shown in terms of the impact - in scale and relevance - on today's communications world. John Bray also looks to the future for innovations yet to come.

This book will be interest to all those interested in the human thread running through the history of technological advances in telecommunications and broadcasting.

Intellectual Property Rights for Engineers, 2nd Edition

Mon, 11 Jun 2018 20:56:11 GMT

This fully revised and updated edition of Intellectual Property Rights for Engineers addresses recent developments in the area. The book explains the general principles behind the law protecting innovation, quoting cases from the engineering domain in order to clarify legal issues. Chapters outline the basic rights through automatic protection (copyright, design right) and registration systems (patent, registered design, trade mark), and also discusses the issues surrounding confidential information. The book clarifies precisely who owns the rights and how their use is constrained by EC law, and goes on to explain how to license or even litigate when necessary. Finally, strategic aspects for decision-making and management are discussed.

John Logie Baird

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 00:30:22 GMT

Professor Russell Burns attempts to offer a balanced biography of one of the twentieth century's outstanding inventors, published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Baird's first public demonstration of a rudimentary television system. The author's meticulous treatment is based on primary source documents although many personal recollections are included to add humour, colour and context. A great deal of material regarding Baird's business partnerships in the early 1920s has only recently become available to researchers and is covered here for the first time.

Baird is credited in Britain and elsewhere as the inventor of television, realising a quest which for fifty years had engaged the attention of inventors, scientists and engineers. When he started work he had no regular income, no research experience and no laboratory or workshop, his work had no funding or commercial sponsorship, and initially he had no expert help. Having demonstrated a rudimentary system in early 1926 he then developed many other aspects of television and aspired to launch a low-definition television broadcasting service. To raise capital he entered various business partnerships. Holding many patents, he could have retired wealthy but he chose instead to develop his ideas further, focusing on cinema, colour and stereoscopic television, so that when he died he left only £7000.

The book illuminates Baird's life and work in many interesting ways. For example, how did Baird's technical strategy and development compare with the work undertaken in industrial laboratories? How did his development policy compare with the development of wireless by Marconi? Was his 'invention' in 1925 really outstanding?