While science, engineering and technology are often viewed as distinct disciplines, many of them overlap and intersect. For instance, biotechnology encompasses anything that utilizes biological cells and living organisms for a technological purpose. This includes creating vaccines, antibiotics and even traditional medicine. Similarly, animal sciences include any study of the genetic and chemical makeup of animals to improve livestock production or create new consumer products.
Computer engineering (CE) focuses on the design, development and implementation of computer hardware and software systems that are embedded in most modern processing, manufacturing and communication devices. It also involves the design and maintenance of wide area networks, local computers and wireless devices, as well as specialized applications like air and automobile control systems. For students interested in this field, National University offers both bachelor's and master's degrees in the major.
The discipline of computer science (CS) is broader in scope, including theoretical work on computability and the foundational concepts that underpin the design of computing systems. The first stored-program computers were developed in the 1950s, allowing multiple users to access the same information at once from terminals hard-wired to the computer system. The 1960s brought the invention of magnetic disk storage, leading to more sophisticated file systems that allowed rapid retrieval of data from any point on the disk.
In addition to a deep understanding of math and science, CS majors must be creative problem-solvers. For example, early hunter-gatherer societies managed to develop some relatively advanced spear-launching technologies without having a thorough grasp of the laws of aerodynamics. Likewise, the evolution of language among human beings is widely thought to be in part a result of trial and error rather than a thorough understanding of how brain structures relate to the emergence of speech.
