Technology is no more a single device. It has many components and many effects. It has become complex. Example is computer on chip. It is becoming systemic. Also Technology has many dimensions like technology generation, technology acceptance, technology use, technology diffusion and maturity, technology changes and transformations etc. We see only technologies. We need to see other aspects, their interconnections and impacts. People decide on acceptance, use effectively and change usage. So success of technology depends on many factors like ease of use ,cost effectiveness, ruggedness and reliability. That means human behaviors determines the absorption of technology. We need a comprehensive study of the whole, not technology alone
One of my theories
Second Part:
Let us compare technology and engineering. This is similar to agriculture that produces raw materials and food technology that uses raw materials and produce food. Engineering selects a number of relevant technologies, combines them, integrates them with connectors, controllers, communication units and computers so that a usable, rugged, scalable, maintainable, efficient, fault tolerant, reliable and cost-effective system is ready for use. Stand-alone technology can’t be put to use in complex cases of use. Such engineering is also multidimensional with architecture, design, analysis, synthesis, optimization, failure diagnostics, operational strategies and mechanisms. It adds several degrees of complexities. Some technologies like system on chip need engineering actions. There are a large number of parameters and ecological, sociological, economic and behavioral considerations needed in engineering activities. Scope for research is enormous. Remember both technology and engineering are growing and changing very fast in the past decades.
Third Part:
Technology is agnostic of engineering disciplines. Technology is old. many will say engineering is also old. Agreed. We have been using tools for wood cutting, for attacks, ploughs for agriculture, stove for cooking etc. Same is true of applications which happens in household activities, agriculture, health, transportation, industries, etc. But in teaching, we have a strong attachment to our disciplines. We don’t look at other disciplines and practical applications. I have been arguing for decades on allowing students from mechanical branch to register for say, electrical courses. This is being resisted or not accepted by many institutions. The situation became chaotic when electives were introduced in curriculum in the colleges. The registration for management courses was exploding. We were looking to create new courses. Another comedy was many departments taught electronics separately. When we see technology and engineering are interdisciplinary, it becomes necessary to break this barrier. Interdisciplinary, holistic approaches to teaching, research is needed. Particularly when all engineering technologies and systems have become cyber physical systems. The urgency is more now to act on a restructuring of institutions.