Utility of scientific research: The engineer´s use of the products of science

The interface between science and engineering has been characterized as an almost impermeable membrane impeding the interchange of information between the two activities. Evidence presented here suggests that this model is insufficient to describe the complex interaction of sciences and engineering through the formal communication system of science. Engineers who publish are clearly more literature-conscious, and were found to have a stronger science orientation than is typically ascribed to the average engineer.