The Hamburg scientist argues that the termites' behaviour surpasses the accomplishments of that other great ecosystem engineer - the beaver.

BBC: Termites 'engineer fairy circles'

He built up HP during the 1940s-to-1960s-that great midcentury time in America when the "aw-shucks, " workaday engineer was an esteemed figure.

FORBES: CEOs for the next century

In 1960, as a young mechanical engineer, Valdiserri was hired on at National Steel's Great Lakes division as midnight -shift construction engineer on the blast furnace.

FORBES: Man of steel

Readers of the series lived with Harry, but also with Rowling, as the almost-visible engineer of a great fantasy machine that, in the course of seven volumes, runs with remarkable smoothness.

NEWYORKER: Mugglemarch

Using a single material for two functions has great potential for carmakers, says Per-Ivar Sellergren, a senior engineer at Volvo's Material Laboratory in Gothenburg.

ECONOMIST: Carbon-composite batteries

Our starting point was the eye-catching assertion last year by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that a single great software engineer can be more valuable than 100 others who are merely competent.

FORBES: Picking Talent The SXSW Way: Fewer Rock Stars, More Hidden Gems