Engineers are trained from the start to look at problems in different ways. They don’t just take the solution head on, but try to find the various ways and possibilities around it. They not only have been trained intensively with mathematics in order to strengthen their logic, but with many other science subjects. This allows them to analyze situations taking into consideration the different hazards and problems that could occur.
If an architect presents a group of engineers with a sketch or drawing; the engineers build what the architect asks for in the most feasible and safest way possible. When they eventually find a solution; they tend to solve it in steps. In doing so, this helps them amend or delete any unnecessary steps, making the process faster. It is an engineer’s job to look at the problem as a whole and try to solve it systematically. If solutions cannot be obtained, a compromise would be reached.
As an engineering student myself, I have seen the difference between school education and university education for engineers. Unlike school, where you were required to memorize most of the time, the engineering course requires you to understand and explain every aspect of a situation. Even when presented with a set of problems, we are trained to sum up all those problems into a single equation. There is also a lot more hands-on training where we get to experiment and test out different methods of finding solutions.
It is all due to the rigorous mental training that engineers have gone through. Many of today’s solutions have been further enhanced by the minds of engineers. This is proved by the amount of engineers employed in various non-engineering sectors, where they are required to design complicated working systems and plans. Without them some of the world’s greatest problems would not have solutions today.source:http://henri1471.blogspot.in/2009/01/how-do-engineers-think.html
