Similar to the evening news, it seems the bad news gets the majority of the air time. For every Denver Airport Luggage System, there are successes that never get air time, yet we take for granted. In my kitchen, only the can opener and toaster don't have keypads and readouts. My car's anti-lock brakes depend on software. In fact, if the main processor goes out, my car won't even run.
Activities generally start as crafts.
As science foundations are determined for the activity, professional engineering becomes possible. Professional engineering and science exist in a symbiotic relationship with engineering providing new problems for science, and science providing new techniques for solving the engineer's problems. The Journey of a single step begins with a thousand miles. Education in the field at this time seems somewhat disjoint from science and current practice. At this point in time, it looks like the next step is one of education.