The last time I was here on Crash Course we spent a year working our way through the wonders of physics.

I'm excited to be back again to talk about something even dearer to my heart: engineering.

Why am I excited? Because I'm an engineer!

But what exactly is engineering?

A lot of things, actually.

For now, we'll just say that the history of engineering encompasses

the creation of everything from the physical objects around you to the processes allowing you to watch this video right now.

That's like, really broad, I know.

Don't worry – we'll talk about what that means in a little more detail in our first episode.

There are actually multiple fields of engineering and we're going to spend some time with each of them.

We'll explain the difference between and the history of civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering.

And those four disciplines still don't account for all of engineering.

But over the next year we're going to try to get to the heart of what all of that means.

We'll look at how engineers see problems in the world and then try to solve them.

That problem-solving mindset has helped engineers create everything from spaceships to coffee cups, wireless earbuds to dog whistles, artificial hearts to roads and bridges.

Before we do that, though, allow me to reintroduce myself.

I'm Dr. Shini Somara, and I started my science career studying maths and physics at college.

I then went on to study Mechanical engineering.

And out of everything I learned during my first degree, what fascinated me the most was fluid dynamics, and understanding how gases and liquids flow.

So I researched this topic at depth for 4.5 years, earning myself a Doctorate of Engineering in the process.

Since then I've worked as a science communicator for the BBC, Al Jazeera and even right here on Crash Course.

I'm excited to be back to talk about something that has meant the world to me.

Over the next 46 episodes, we're gonna get a feel for how engineering and engineers have shaped our world.

I hope you'll join me – and our friends at PBS Digital Studios – on this journey with Crash Course: Engineering.