Philosophy of Engineering

Curating tweets on philosophy & engineering. Supporting the 2026 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering and Technology (fPET). By @zpirtle. Opinions own, RT=/endorse

[Philosophy of Engineering @Phil_Engineer]

Call for abstracts released! The 2026 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering and Technology (fPET) will be June 9-11 at the University of Maryland College Park.

500 word abstracts due January 25th!

Since 2007, fPET meetings have been a place for engineers and philosophers to meet and deepen understanding of engineering.

Link to the CFA in the next tweet

[Philosophy of Engineering @Phil_Engineer]

@astrogrant I liked it before it was cool! And your unicorn metric is hilarious

So much good literature on why engineering isn’t linear but TRL gets misread and interpreted that way by those far from the tech process

[Grant Tremblay @astrogrant]

big consensus at this huge NASA astrophysics missions innovations workshop is that NASA TRLs suck. I agree. Hugely outdated. Ditch or redo them. https://t.co/nMit32PzMf

[NASA @NASA]

We've announced a series of transformative initiatives to achieve America's National Space Policy, reflecting upcoming opportunities for world-changing science and discovery.

Learn more about our plans for the Moon, Mars, and beyond: https://t.co/bc4pf4GPS9

[Michael T Stuart @miikeessttuuart]

I can't believe it! Super excited to start this project, and very grateful to the ERC for the vote of confidence!

[Philosophy of Engineering @Phil_Engineer]

Call for abstracts! https://t.co/Mi6K9aJQ1l

[Philosophy of Engineering @Phil_Engineer]

Call for abstracts released! The 2026 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering and Technology (fPET) will be June 9-11 at the University of Maryland College Park.

500 word abstracts due January 25th!

Since 2007, fPET meetings have been a place for engineers and philosophers to meet and deepen understanding of engineering.

Link to the CFA in the next tweet

[Philosophy of Engineering @Phil_Engineer]

Neat paper! Hope you got good feedback from Cowen’s highlight

I’ve worked a bit on this in ‘space ethics.’ I think you well highlight disciplinary norms on content, negativity, incentives, but I think your argument could be made deeper by looking at broader cultural disconnects of humanities from tech/engineering developers. In writing below, I did worry about the types of biases you note and tried to make the report be framed from outside a singular disciplinary frame.

Ref, especially observation 2 on cultural differences between engineers and humanities scholars: https://t.co/tjokC2u9PU
-Zach

[Peter Königs @Peter__Koenigs]

“There’s this new AI tool, and it’s awesome” doesn’t make for an acceptable AI ethics paper — but “There’s this new AI tool, and it’s deeply problematic” does. As a consequence, the field of AI ethics suffers from excessive negativity about AI. https://t.co/np7G1Pg5i1

[Stewart Brand @stewartbrand]

I'm humbled by the people I admire who offered blurbs for my now-preorderable MAINTENANCE book. Kyle Wiens @kwiens. Kevin Kelly @kevin2kelly. Matt Ridley @mattwridley. Bruce Sterling @bruces. 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @CharlesCMann. George Dyson. And Danny Hillis.https://t.co/d6fRd6w9Ty

[Brian Potter @_brianpotter]

This week on Construction Physics, an engineering history of the Manhattan Project. https://t.co/RZ2T8KQiIK

[Dr Alina Utrata @AlinaUtrata]

Wrote something for University World News about why we should be cautious of embracing private industry and Big Tech with the cutting of public funds, and why all science—like all business—is political.

https://t.co/CYLMhPbxL6

[Brian Potter @_brianpotter]

My book, "The Origins of Efficiency", is now officially available for preorder.
https://t.co/DnZs6r3Wh8

[Science Fiction Research Association Review @SFRAReview]

Read the new SFRA Review for features on queer ethics of AI and the classification tensions of hard vs soft SF, plus #reviews of fiction and nonfiction in a world of #scifi 🌌🤖
https://t.co/lLZDg6PHdm

[Philosophy of Engineering @Phil_Engineer]

I just got the new book by UVA’s Rider Foley, The Myths of Regional Innovation!

Thoughtful and uses extensive interview data to explore broader ways we should consider innovation

It was fun to think through what books it should sit next to on my bookshelf!

[Benedicto Acosta @beneacostaa]

I am pleased to announce that two new papers on inventions made by AI have just been accepted. One will appear in "Prometeica" (in Spanish), and the other (co-authored with Ana Cuevas-Badallo) in Law, Culture and the Humanities. I hope you find them interesting, stay tuned!

[James Knupp @KnuppJ]

The Spring 2025 issue of the SFRA Review is now live! I'm very excited because this issue features our "Alternative Governance" symposium, which I ran and edited. I'm really proud of our work and I hope you enjoy it. https://t.co/UDfXSv8xdO

[Engineering Studies Journal @EngrStudies]

We have been here before.
Engineering has always been entwined with power—sometimes resisting it, sometimes enabling it. In a time of rising authoritarianism, our latest editorial calls on us to stay vigilant, critical, and hopeful. Hope dies last.

https://t.co/YlVzp5EAKb

[Firefly Aerospace @FireflySpace]

Watch Firefly land on the Moon! After identifying surface hazards and selecting a safe landing site, #BlueGhost landed directly over the target in Mare Crisium. A historic moment on March 2 we'll never forget. We have Moon dust on our boots! #BGM1

[Mariana Mazzucato @MazzucatoM]

Dick Nelson was a prolific scholar of evolutionary economics who we had the privilege of calling a friend here at @IIPP_UCL. In honour of his passing, we have republished a working paper he wrote for us in 2017 on rethinking technology policy through an “innovation systems” framework rather than the traditional “market failure” framework.

He will be sorely missed here at IIPP and around the globe, but the impact of his work will be felt for years to come. Read the paper here ➡️ https://t.co/YpIgEehgs5

[Matt Hourihan @MattHourihan]

Really useful paper in @nberpubs this morning from Gullo, Page, Weiner & @heidilwilliams_, surveying the literature on returns to R&D and suggesting ways federal agencies might better incorporate this evidence into their own analyses and projections.