Looking back at the movie "Back to the Future II", you see self tying shoes, holograms, and even hover boards, all in the year 2015. Well, the year 2015 has almost come and gone and there has not been anything like the movie's 2015, or is it?
Canadian engineer, Catalin Alexandru Duru,is trying to make the dreams of Back to the Future a reality. With the help of his company, Omni Hoverboards, Duru has created a actual hover board that can fly a distance of 905 feet for a minute and a half, as well as being 16 feet in the air(Lamour)!
Engineers design everything. From the pencils we write with
in class to the toothbrushes we use before we go to bed, engineers are one of
the biggest reasons we have all the manufactured items that we use. With
this responsibility there comes a more innovative and creative side where
engineers can come to design some really exceptional types of technology.
From new types of biotechnologies, to break-through energy technologies,
to cutting edge consumer technologies, engineers can be responsible for some
amazing products that have an impact on people's’ everyday lives. Through
the field of engineering you are able to apply your engineering skill-set and
knowledge to create or have a hand in creating different types of new
technology.
These days just about everything needs some sort of energy to be
able to function. From cell phones to pick-up trucks, these things all
require energy and engineers are able to play a hand in the development and
creation of new and improved energy technologies that benefit just about
everyone. Within our blog we tackled a few of these new energy
technologies discussing what they were and how they are affecting people today.
The first energy that we covered was the development of geothermal energy
which is currently ongoing. This type of energy utilizes CO2 in its liquid state sending it into the earth to be heated by the
earth’s core. When the liquid is heated it becomes steam which is then
used to turn turbines and generate energy. The continued innovation of
this energy will keep engineers busy as they strive to find the most efficient
way to generate energy on such a massive scale. This example that
were covered in the blog are just a few ways of how becoming an engineer can
lead to helping create new types of energy technologies.
As science advances and scientists are able to study and
understand how the world around us works, technology will be following close
behind. Engineers are continuing to push further and further towards more
advanced biotechnology. Biotechnology is the technological application of
biological systems. The blog covered mostly the application of human
biotechnology, like how engineers have been working on the reverse engineering
of the human brain. One post in particular covered a new technology
involving the human eye involving the fixing of damaged cataracts.
Chemical engineers are in the process of developing a solution that will
be able to mend a damaged cataracts allowing the common person to be able to
heal their cataracts with a not-so-expensive solution. All these and more
breakthroughs in biotechnology have been driven to the forefront by determined
engineers who are fixed on creating new types of advanced biotechnologies.
However, engineering has a much broader impact on society than just fixing
human ailments or making revolutionary new technology.
Engineers everyday are affected by culture, whether that be a
major in the way one would live to just something that will amuse the user.
Take, for example, the new iPhone 6s screen. Engineers layered very thin
screens on top of one another to enable more capabilities of the new phone,
such as touching the screen harder to bring up more options. Is the phone
screen really needed in society? More than likely not, but engineers did come
up with a whole new way of making touch sensing products go to a whole new
level. There are even engineers working on the future of human life. Thanks to
world renowned engineer, Elon Musk, colonization of Mars is becoming a
possibility of the future. This could be a major impact on how people live
their lives and how they perceive space travel. Engineers are helping to
revolutionize the world, from small changes, like iPhone screens, to traveling
to another planet to live. People in the next few decades will be living a
world that no one would have dreamed possible.
Interview between Elon Musk and Steven Colbert on his mission to Mars.
All of these new types of technologies are brought about with the
intention of benefiting society in some way. Engineers are the main
catalyst for this idea of a better world where new technologies, no matter what
kind they are, will make life easier for people. New energy technologies,
biotechnologies, and consumer technologies are all under the umbrella of
responsibilities of engineers. Engineers that will be entering the workforce
soon have these types of things to look forward to. The world needs
engineers to keep doing what they do best and that is designing and creating
advanced technologies.
Elon Musk, one of the most profound and accomplished engineers of the modern time is working on projects that have the opportunity to change the way we live. As I mentioned in a past post, Living on Mars, Elon is has done far more than this project of living on Mars. His other accomplishments were the creation of PayPal, Tesla, Solar City, and more. In this particular post, I will further describe the achievements and accomplishments that went behind the making of the Tesla, and the future goals of the company.
Tesla is a car company whose products are far more advanced and creative than any other car company in the market. The electric cars have magnetic based engine as a component to the motoring of the vehicle, hence the name Tesla. Also, the cars are the most efficient products on the market. From the light aluminum frame, to the most aerodynamic structure, the car reaches a maximum of 150 miles to the gallon. According the the video below, Musk is working on a system of renewable energized cars that are able to travel across the nation, as you recharge your vehicle in their designated stations as needed. The particular charging stations Tesla cars are only available in California, and along the East Coast, but are soon to be found all around America.
Elon Musk is a world renown engineer, changing the world of technology as we know it. From the efficiency of the Tesla, to the colonization of Mars, Musk is using his profound ideas to revolutionize the way we go about our daily lives.
I recently interviewed an engineer asking him questions about how he communicates in his profession. Although he is not the same type of engineer as the type that I am studying to become I was still able to ask him many questions about communicating as an engineer in general. The engineer that I interviewed is named Tim Foster and he is an electrical engineer who works at Bosch. Bosch is German multinational engineering and electronics company. This will be his 3rd year working at Bosch although before his current job he worked at a smaller company that was still owned by Bosch called ETAS. Earlier in his life he graduated from the engineering school at the University of Michigan getting a job straight out of school working for Ford. His current position is a product manager.
The first question I asked was what types of things does he write and how does he write them. The biggest examples that I believe will have an effect on me in the future are project reports, test plans, and DFMEAs or Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis. Project reports are essentially what the name tells you. The document is a report on a project and the different things that were important to the project such as the design, testing, and implementation of the product. Test plans are another essential document that I'm sure I will see in the future because we are already using these in my intro to engineering class this semester. These test plans are essentially a plan explaining the steps on how the engineer is going to go about testing their product. Finally, DFMEA are basically a way to detail how the product fails in certain areas and how to minimize these failures of the product. He said that DFMEAs are definitely a type of writing that most if not all engineers will come across in their careers. Then I proceeded to ask how he writes these documents and he gave me a very simple answer. He said that all that matters is the audience. You are given an audience and then you make a decision about how to write the document based on that audience. The writings however, are almost always very technical and concise .
When I inquired about misconceptions that he has run into over the years he really didn't have any he could think of and the reason being was because he only works with engineers rather than with normal people. So I moved on to another question. I asked him if he has to write memos. In my intro to engineering class we are always writing these papers called memos. memos consist of an intro explaining what is going to happen in the paper and what the problem is, a section on how we were going to go about addressing this problem, results about how the our approach to the problem went and then an overall conclusion about the project. I explained this to Tim, but he had no idea about what I was talking about. His response was that he write reports similar except he doesn't need to give any background because the person he is writing the paper for already has sufficient prior knowledge on the subject. I thought this was interesting because the things that I am learning in class are not directly translating to the real world.
Finally I asked Tim about the comparison of where he began as an electrical engineer to where he is now. He gave me a general answer of how usually beginning level engineers start out analyzing products. They take past models and make modifications to these past models and then make sure that they work in a specific way. From there most engineers will begin working in project groups where they are assigned one part of a project and then the multiple engineers come together to create the final product. From their most engineers can either stay on the technical side or move to the more business side of things where the engineer gathers requirements from a customer and then feeds them to a project team.
Overall the communication that goes on between engineers is very simple and technical which makes sense because the field of engineering is very straightforward and technical. What I learned basically solidified my own guesses on how professional engineers connect and communicate.
Students were asked to develop a car that could run on and stop
on a chemical reaction. The team that took first place created a car that ran
on a hydrogen cell and was stop by using an iodine clock stop reaction. Both of
these chemical reactions took the team to first place. The team says that they
could create a better car for next year by seeing all of the designs from this year’s
competition.
This is important because this allows for chemical
engineering students to be able to see how they can apply the knowledge they
have learned through school and put it into good use. Competitions like these
help students realize what they have learned collectively and how it can be
applied to things such as competitions.
Personally, I wish that MSU held competitions like this. This
would be a great way for students to get out there and apply their knowledge. Hopefully
as time goes on, I am able to participate in competitions like these because
they seem fun and interesting!
Stanford engineers have developed a plastic skin like
material that can detect pressure and deliver signals to the brain. This is a
big step in creating a sense of touch to prostetic limbs.
This technology works by have a double layer piece of
plastic. One of the layers is malleable and is able to flex whenever it is
touched. From that, the flex is then detected by a second layer of plastic.
This second layer then sends a Morse code like signal to the brain. The range
of this technology in regards to sensitivity is almost human-like. This can
activate neurons and make them send signals to the brain.
Although this technology is still being developed, it is incredible
to see where we have come in terms of prosthetics and creating a way for people
who are handicapped to live like normal. This technology is a huge leap in
engineering and will lead to new developments in the engineering field.
Recently I found a new technology online on the public funding site Indiegogo. The technology is a shaving razor that uses a laser to cut the user's hair. The company called Skarp is in the process of creating their product and consumers have the opportunity to purchase a razor as well as help fund this project. The final product is scheduled to be finished as early as March 2016.
The company's razor is, "powered by a small laser which cuts through hair for an incredibly close shave without irritating or damaging the skin" ( The Skarp). The company emphasizes that this laser does not pose a threat to the consumer's health. The razor will allow the user to achieve a close clean shave no matter where the razor is being used. It will not require any lathering with shaving cream, but it can be used with water or shaving cream/gel. Razor burns, cuts, and uneven shaves will become a thing of the past with this 21st century turned razor. The company engineered this laser as to specifically target a type of wavelength in the hair. This allows the razor not to actually burn the hair but actually cut it. This type of laser is safer and cannot be of any harm especially to the user's eye.
There is however one problem with this new "dream" razor. Before the company showed up on Indiegogo, the razor was first on a similar website called Kickstarter where similarly people can pledge an amount of money and in turn will receive the product or other perks. Kickstarter recently shut down Skarp's page as it did not have an appropriate working prototype. I myself was looking into investing into this product and this development has made me a bit skeptical of this new razor. I hate shaving and this product would be a spectacular alternative to the disposable razors I usually use. I hope this product makes it out onto the market but you always have to be sure when you as a consumer are investing your money. Engineers can create many spectacular things, but sometimes those things aren't as they seem.
Sources:
"The Skarp Laser Razor: 21st Century Shaving." Indiegogo. Idieogo, Oct. 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
"The Skarp Laser Razor: Shaving Century Shaving." Kickstarter. Kickstarter, Sept. 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
It seems these days that anything anyone could think of is already done already. I am here to tell you that world is far from creating new things that will enhance our future. What you are about to see is amazing piece of technology that will be able to treat water for a whole city.
Engineers and scientist have been working in San Diego since 2008 on a major water treatment process that will enable treated water for the expanding population of San Diego. It can filtrate up to 800,000 m³ of water every day, which will be double the size as when it was first built. The facility has been built in phases in order to maximize its productivity, with a few more stages still needing to be built(Schilling). This revolutionary machine has taken engineers a little less than 10 years to make, but the pay offs will be worth it in the end.
What can we do with an engineering degree? There are many possible professions aside from an engineering oriented job. A degree in engineering allows people to succeed in almost any profession they would like to pursue. Engineers have the ability to think critically about problems and solve them in the most efficient and fastest way possible which gives them the upper hand in almost every profession. This ability is very appealing to employers looking for the best candidate in a business profession, law profession, or any other type of engineering profession. Below is a graph of the different types of professions that people use with an engineering degree.
There are limitless possibilities of jobs that fall under the title engineer, including: electrical, mechanical, industrial, safety, chemical, aerospace, petroleum, biomedical, ocean and mining. With the endless possibilities, engineers have the opportunity for a suitable job that meets the interests and criteria of the job they're looking for. Furthermore, within those fields of engineering, graduates have the opportunity to take many different approaches towards their job including: transportation, energy, entertainment, medicine, consumer products, agriculture, telecommunications, computer, power, shipping and food processing. The field of engineering is endless, with all of the different possibilities and job opportunities, engineering graduates could pursue any career they would like!
