Engineering is almost as old as human life on earth.  The world's earliest civilizations employed engineers to design and build structures and buildings.  That was the purpose of engineering for many thousands of years, the design and construction of structures.

        However, in the modern age, engineering has expanded to fields such as electricity, chemicals,  nuclear energy and others.  In these fields engineers create the delivery systems and safety features necessary to the use of the elements with which they work.

 
        Hassan’s father is an engineer.  He designs and builds bridges all over the world.  When Hassan is not in school, he  sometimes takes him to the places where he works.  He explains to Hassan what the problems are that must be overcome to construct bridges over rivers and how those problems are solved.

        He helps Hassan build bridges and towers with  blocks. One week during the summer they built a bridge that was eight feet long and two feet high and that could swing away to permit ships to pass underneath.  Hassan wanted to save it for when school started so that he could submit it as a science project but his father would not permit him to do so.

        "It's not your work," his father said.  "It would be unfair to the other kids and deceptive because I helped you with it."  Hassan was disappointed but he understood.  A project with his name on it must be done by himself.  Otherwise, it was not his project.