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The German engineer H.A. Janssen gave one of the first accounts of the often peculiar behavior of granular material in a paper published in German in 1895. From simple experiments with corn he inferred the saturation of pressure with height in a granular system. Subsequently, Janssen derived the equivalent of the barometric formula for granular material from the main assumption that the walls carry part of the weight. The following is a translation of this article. The wording is chosen as close as possible to the original. While drawings are copied from the original, figures displaying data are redone for better readability. The translation is complemented by some bibliographical notes and an assessment of earlier work, wherein Hagen predicted the saturation of pressure with depth in 1852, and Huber-Burnand demonstrated that saturation qualitatively as early as in 1829. We conclude with a brief discussion of more recent developments resting on Janssen's work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I analyze how recent calls to internationalize publication behavior affect research practices at an automotive engineering department in Germany. Automotive engineering is a field with traditionally rather scarce publication activity and strong connections to industry. Substantial authority to define suitable research problems and ways of organizing knowledge production on a daily basis was therefore reserved for local academic elites as well as corporate partners. However, as engineers are increasingly expected to prove their performance through publishing in international peer-reviewed journals, the judgment as to what should be considered “interesting” or “robust” research is partly relegated to a gradually globalizing community of academic peers. This generates a variety of tensions with established ways of coordinating epistemic work at the department studied here. For example, the thematic interests of journals tend to exert a disruptive centrifugal pull in the context of an otherwise highly modular research culture, and possibilities to publish in international venues are unequally distributed across individual research projects. But while department members agree that there is a lack of fit between current practices and new expectations towards their publishing behavior, their opinions about the conclusions that should be drawn differ significantly. Some researchers argue that profound organizational changes are necessary to foster the academic rigor of German engineering research. Others believe that evaluation criteria should simply be adapted. This situation is arguably characteristic for research areas with a traditionally strong orientation to local stakeholders, and it suggests a need for more deliberative, participatory approaches to research evaluation in such fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. This paper, written in memory of Professor Wolfgang Beitz,(n1) discusses some of the influences of the work undertaken in Germany on systematic engineering design, highlights differences between the language regions, and gives examples of design research and design education linked to Konstruktionslehre--the standard text on systematic engineering design for which Professor Beitz was most widely recognised outside Germany. The paper finishes with a plea for a greater exchange of ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering work in the German automotive industry is currently being dictated by corporate reorganization processes. These are driven by processes of informatization, financialization, and globalization, and evince an increase in the (global) division of labor in product development, as well as an increase in competitive pressures. Being able to deal with information and knowledge is important for coping with these processes at work. In terms of engineers' work, this means that engineers must be able to deal with the increasing amounts of information available in the form of benchmark figures, data, etc., as well as with the challenges presented by work shared in global networks. This paper presents the results of a series of qualitative interviews. The main trends that can be pointed out are the ‘enucleation’ (removing the core) of engineering work, the loss of autonomy, increasing insecurity, and the changing materiality of the objects worked on. Enucleation processes are increasingly changing older engineers' fields of work. More and more, they are being called upon to take over communication and coordination practices. In connection with increasing insecurity, employees' perception of their own position in the company is changing and, in the end, their strategies of action, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on 19th and early 20th century engineering education reveals two quite general phenomena: in several countries (a) curricula have varied widely among engineering colleges with some of them strongly ‘science-oriented’ while others were more ‘practice-oriented’; and (b) at certain times and places the curriculum has tended to shift away from ‘practice’ and toward ‘science’ (a process sometimes known as ‘academic drift’). In this paper I show that relatively little attempt has yet been made to account for either phenomenon. After reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of the literatures on the USA, Germany, Britain and to a lesser extent France, I argue that comparative analysis is essential in order to develop a general understanding of the dynamics of the system of higher engineering education. An example of how this might be done is taken from my recent study of German agricultural colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, based on a paper read before the Royal Society of Medicine, points out that industrial efficiency is as much a problem of physiology and psychology as of engineering. The effect of nutrition on efficiency is considered with particular reference to the rationing of bread ; and other factors, such as air conditions, working hours and training are briefly discussed. An account is given of the extremely interesting training methods pursued by the Deutsche Institut für technische Arbeitsschulung, or Dinta, of Düsseldorf [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]