Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat reader.

Part of: Synthesis digital library of engineering and computer science.

Series from website.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-112).

1. Introduction -- 2. Throwing away rubbish -- The politics of garbage, Buenos Aires, Argentina -- Finding ourselves -- Kingston hot press -- The press in the making -- Wading into the waters -- Inspiration -- The workers' economy -- The presence of absent ones -- Lost places -- Separation and solidarity -- Who owns the waste -- Variations -- Bottles on cars -- The plot thickens -- Soft collaboration -- No cost housing -- Water turns to mud -- Transferring ownership -- Sorting out the difference -- Reprocessing cooperatives -- Pressing on -- Urban recoverers -- Bajo Flores -- So many hot presses -- Traveling knowledge -- Cooperativa de trabajo "19 de Diciembre" -- INTI -- Synchronicity -- Reciclando sueños -- Painting a picture -- Pressing ahead -- The Phoenix of Lanzone -- The mighty hotpress is finished (almost) -- Sin patrón -- Champagne! -- Handing it over -- Who's doing what? -- Final thoughts -- 3. Turning on the tap -- Turning on the tap -- Blue gold -- The water wars -- Water in Buenos Aires -- Water in Africa -- Privatisation -- Why is privatization taking place? -- Final thoughts -- 4. Awakened by an alarm clock -- Engineering and our concept of time are intricately related -- The alarm clock -- Modern society and welcome to the machine -- The assembly line -- Nature as machine -- Economics and the machine -- Looking forward in time: a new paradigm for science and technology -- Self governing principles, economics and community -- Time in a machine; time in a community -- Conclusions.

5. Driving the SUV -- So what exactly is an SUV -- The SUV and the environment -- The threat from global warming -- SUV's smog forming emissions -- U.S. dependency on oil -- What can be done? -- Case study -- 6. Travelling to Waikiki Beach -- Introduction -- History -- Background -- Case study -- Bibliography.

Abstract freely available; full-text restricted to subscribers or individual document purchasers.

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Engineers work in an increasingly complex entanglement of ideas, people, cultures, technology, systems and environments. Today, decisions made by engineers often have serious implications for not only their clients but for society as a whole and the natural world. Such decisions may potentially influence cultures, ways of living, as well as alter ecosystems which are in delicate balance. In order to make appropriate decisions and to co-create ideas and innovations within and among the complex networks of communities which currently exist and are be shaped by our decisions, we need to regain our place as professionals, to realise the significance of our work and to take responsibility in a much deeper sense. Engineers must develop the 'ability to respond' to emerging needs of all people, across all cultures. To do this requires insights and knowledge which are at present largely within the domain of the social and political sciences but which needs to be shared with our students in ways which are meaningful and relevant to engineering. This book attempts to do just that.

In Part 1 Baillie introduces ideas associated with the ways in which engineers relate to the communities in which they work. Drawing on scholarship from science and technology studies, globalisation and development studies, as well as work in science communication and dialogue, this introductory text sets the scene for an engineering community which engages with the public. In Part 2 Catalano frames the thinking processes necessary to create ethical and just decisions in engineering, to understand the implications of our current decision making processes and think about ways in which we might adapt these to become more socially just in the future. In Part 3 Baillie and Catalano have provided case studies of everyday issues such as water, garbage and alarm clocks, to help us consider how we might see through the lenses of our new knowledge from Parts 1 and 2 and apply this to our every day existence as engineers.

Also available in print.

Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on September 9, 2009).