​

What are the best known Canadian Engineering works?

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

The CN Tower, the Canadarm and the IMAX system are currently the best known Canadian Engineering works. Canada has many more Engineering achievements, but they are older or/and less talked about. 

     

Why Civil Engineering is called “Civil Engineering”?

​

In the old days, engineering was not divided into disciplines, as most engineering works were on roads, bridges, aqueducts, etc. The term "Civil Engineer" was established in the 18th century to contrast engineers working on civil projects with the military engineers, who worked on armaments and defenses.

​

With the arrival of the steam engine, electricity, oil, etc. engineering became more specialized and Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical Engineering started to be taught as separate disciplines.

​

Today there are many more engineering disciplines, such as Biomedical, Mechatronics, Software Engineering, etc.

 

In some countries, “civil engineer” is still used to designate all technical engineers (as opposed to “commercial engineer”), thus there are “civil civil engineer”, "civil mechanical engineer”, etc.

​

What are the oldest engineering works ?

​

The Acropolis and the Parthenon in Greece, the Roman Roman aqueducts, Via Appia and the Colosseum, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Pharos of Alexandria, the pyramids in Egypt, Teotihuacán and the cities and pyramids of the Mayan, Inca and Aztec Empires, cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, the Great Wall of China.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

         

 

 

Chinese and Roman armies employed complex military machines including the Ballista and catapult. In the Middle Ages, the Trebuchet was developed.

​

The Antikythera mechanism, the earliest known model of a mechanical computer in history, and the mechanical inventions of Archimedes are examples of early mechanical engineering.

 

Who is the earliest Civil Engineer:

​

The earliest civil engineer known by name is Imhotep. He probably designed and supervised the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630-2611 BC.