Engineering of Science

A metascientific framework that treats science as something that can be designed, built, and optimized—an engineered system rather than a natural phenomenon. The engineering of science examines how scientific institutions, practices, and systems can be deliberately shaped to produce better outcomes: more reliable knowledge, more efficient discovery, more equitable participation, more socially beneficial research. It draws on insights from metascience, sociology of science, and science policy to ask practical questions: How should peer review be designed? What funding mechanisms produce the best science? How can scientific careers be structured to encourage innovation while maintaining rigor? How can scientific institutions be made more resilient, more adaptive, more just? The engineering of science treats science as a human artifact—something we have built and can rebuild—rather than something we simply study and accept.

Example: "His engineering of science proposal redesigned the grant review process to reduce bias and increase innovation—treating funding decisions not as natural occurrences but as systems that could be optimized like any other engineered system."

by Dumu The Void March 16, 2026

College of Science and Engineering

A college of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities which is the only university branch worth attending. Contrasted with the Carlson School of Management and the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Engineering (CSE) is populated by people who don't deserve to be kicked in the balls (Carlson students do; CLA students have none to be kicked). Most CSE students could kick your ass in any academic endeavor, and they'd be willing to prove it.

Carlson student: "I see by your intact testicles that you attend the College of Science and Engineering!"

CSE student: "Why thank you, Carlson student! Now stand still with your feet four feet apart."

by WaspHives July 7, 2010

Social Sciences of Engineering

The empirical study of engineering as a social activity—how engineers work, how design happens, how values shape technology, how engineering communities function. Social Sciences of Engineering examines engineering education, professional norms, design practices, and the social impacts of engineering decisions. It reveals that engineering isn't just technical problem-solving—it's social practice with social consequences.

"Engineering is just applied science, they say. Social sciences of engineering asks: then why do engineers rely so much on tacit knowledge? Why do designs reflect cultural values? Why do some technologies fail socially even when they work technically? Engineering is human, and social science shows how."

by Dumu The Void March 2, 2026