To me engineering is a way to make something do what you want or need it to do, it is a problem-solving discipline. This has become even more apparent as we have learned about different things throughout this semester. From the first Thanksgiving where they had to settle in a new land and survive, to great temples and figuring out how to live while using the stars for guidance and now how to build large civilization while utilizing mother nature.
I believe when most people hear the word Engineer they think of someone who builds tangible items that someone else has come up with. It seems to me that an Engineer is someone who is extremely creative and comes up with these ideas on his or her own to solve a problem that is being faced. This required them to take into account the past, present and future and become familiar with all sorts of other disciplines.
I really liked your take on defining engineering. Your weren’t specifically defining the job title of an engineer. You took the term and used it to describe all of things that we have discussed throughout the semester. Its true, engineering can mean so many different things and I believe that people (especially from history) used ingenuity to improve their lives, build a structure or brain storm ideas on water systems. Good job!