The impact to engineering vs the impact on engineering

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

I just heard a British engineer say "… the impact it had to engineering was significant’. Shouldn’t it be ‘the impact it had on engineering’?

2 Likes
2

What’s the context?
Is “engineering” describing a process, a department or something else?

3 Likes
3

In this context, the term “engineering” refers to the planning and construction of wind turbines.

3 Likes
4

Trying to climb into the speaker’s brain, the thought I take away from this is “The impact it had to the engineering process”, a little more of an abstract idea than “The impact on the planning and construction…”.
Having said this, “on” would be more normal.

3 Likes
5

I also think “on” sounds more natural, but I don’t think using “to” is “wrong”.

I think he is using engineering as a verb, but I’m not sure if that makes any difference.

4 Likes