Engineering and Technology History Wiki

The Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW) is a MediaWiki-based website dedicated to the history of technology. It consists of articles, first-hand accounts, oral histories, landmarks and milestones and started operating in 2015.

A partnership between the United Engineering Foundation (UEF) and its member engineering organizations ASCE, AIME, AIChE, ASME, IEEE as well as the Society of Woman Engineers is developing the ETHW as a central historical repository for the documentation, analysis and explanation of the history of technology. For this purpose, UEF has made a grant to develop such an engineering intersociety web platform.[1] This work is mainly done at the IEEE History Center,[2] annexed to the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.[3] Today, the ETHW is a successor to the former IEEE Global History Network (IEEE GHN), which operated from 2008 to 2014. Therefore, most content is related to electrical, electronics and computer engineering so far. As the fields of civil engineering, mining, metallurgical and petroleum engineering, chemical engineering and mechanical engineering will be covered by members of the respective organizations in the future, ETHW is intended to be a global record for preserving knowledge of the history of technological innovation in a broad sense. It differs from other online sources, as personal accounts of technical innovators as primary sources are made available to the public. After its start as a commom platform for several engineering societies in 2015, the Society of Woman Engineers and the Society of Petroleum Engineers have already contributed new content during the first two months of 2015.[4][5]

Sectors

Encyclopedia

This sector includes articles about significant technological achievement (the former STARS articles of IEEE GHN), topic articles as an introduction to important technologies and their evolution, biographies and accounts of the history of engineering societies.

Oral histories

Interviews were conducted with important personalities in the fields of interest. Over 500 transcripts of such interviews, dating back as far as the 1960s, are accessible.

First-hand histories

ETHW offers engineers, scientists and inventors the unique opportunity to publish their own professional experiences as first-hand accounts on this website. First-hand histories of teams working together in the same field are also welcomed. A wide range of First-hand histories, already written before ETHW was started, are now incorporated in this sector of the ETHW and can be accessed.[6]

Landmarks and milestones

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has established a "List of Landmarks" including outstanding monuments and buildings.

Later, the IEEE has started to select "IEEE Milestones" to honor exceptional achievements in the fields of electrical, electronic and computer engineering. Information on how to submit an additional IEEE Milestones can be found on a special website.[7]

There is also a collection of "Landmarks" chosen by ASME as mechanical engineering highlights.[8]

Archives

This archive includes publications, audio and video records as well as document collections bequeathed to this organization.

Education

To help pre-university teachers plan social studies courses in Science, Technology and Society as defined by a Standards Task Force of the NCSS, ETHW provides lesson plans for a series of suitable topics.[9]

Usage and contributions

Browsing for a particular topic can be done, as the content is classified according to categories and subcategories.

Contributions can be made by all member of the engineering organizations mentioned. Restricted rules apply to Oral Histories, Landmarks and IEEE Milestones.

Sources

  1. ↑ UEF Grants 2015
  2. ↑ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE History Center
  3. ↑ IEEE History Center, Stevens Institute of Technology, College of Arts and Letters
  4. ↑ Unveiling the Engineering and Technology History Wiki. IEEE Insight, April 6, 2015
  5. ↑ Meredith Holmes: My Brush with History. SWE Magazine, April 9, 2015
  6. ↑ List of First-Hand Histories
  7. ↑ IEEE Milestones
  8. ↑ Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks
  9. ↑ List of available lesson plans for social studies

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, December 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.