Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge in order to utilize natural laws and physical resources to help design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective. The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET ) has defined engineering as follows:

“[T]he creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.”

One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so may have more formal designations such as European Engineer, Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer, or Incorporated Engineer. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of more specialized subdisciplines, each with a more specific emphasis on certain fields of application and particular areas of technology.