Book excerpt: Winner in its first edition of the Best New Undergraduate Textbook by the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the American Association of Publishers (AAP), Kosky, et al is the first text offering an introduction to the major engineering fields, and the engineering design process, with an interdisciplinary case study approach. It introduces the fundamental physical, chemical and material bases for all engineering work and presents the engineering design process using examples and hands-on projects. Organized in two parts to cover both the concepts and practice of engineering: Part I, Minds On, introduces the fundamental physical, chemical and material bases for all engineering work while Part II, Hands On, provides opportunity to do design projects An Engineering Ethics Decision Matrix is introduced in Chapter 1 and used throughout the book to pose ethical challenges and explore ethical decision-making in an engineering context Lists of "Top Engineering Achievements" and "Top Engineering Challenges" help put the material in context and show engineering as a vibrant discipline involved in solving societal problems New to this edition: Additional discussions on what engineers do, and the distinctions between engineers, technicians, and managers (Chapter 1) New coverage of Renewable Energy and Environmental Engineering helps emphasize the emerging interest in Sustainable Engineering New discussions of Six Sigma in the Design section, and expanded material on writing technical reports Re-organized and updated chapters in Part I to more closely align with specific engineering disciplines new end of chapter excercises throughout the book