Two Words

Engineers are facing a complex world with complex systems where two words are important. The first is emergence, which refers to the relationship between the details of a system and the larger view. When engineers focus on the small-scale details of a systems or situation, they run the risk of missing the larger picture; but focusing solely on the large-scale view is not adequate either. Historically, engineering has been either a forest or tree profession. What we need are engineers and "managineers" who have the ability to shift back and forth between seeing the trees and the forest - - this shifting allows engineers to see which aspects of the trees are relevant to the forest, and vice versa. Emergence seeks to discover which details are important for the larger view, and which are not; and how collective properties arise from properties of the parts. Emergence demands of engineers the ability to move between different perspectives.

The second word is interdependence. It is about engineers understanding the indirect effects of complex systems. Many problems are difficult to solve because the causes and effects are not obviously related. The interdependence of our energy and water systems provides a clear example. Nuclear power is typically seen as a long-term energy solution. A gas/steam combined cycle plant consumes 20,000 gallons of water per megawatt-hour - - a nuclear plant will need 60,000 gallons per megawatt-hour. One system has indirect impacts on the other. Ethanol is seen as a highly desirable drop-in fuel alternative. A standard gasoline powered vehicle consumes approximately 14 gallons of water per 100 miles. The ethanol vehicle will require 6,200 gallons of water per the same 100 miles. Pushing the energy system here will have effects to the water system over there because the parts are interdependent.

Two key words - - emergence and interdependence.