How to overcome writer’s block
A few weeks ago I gave my students their first lecture on technical writing. As part of their two-semester capstone course, they produce a comprehensive report for their client. The […]
Engineering education
How natural experiments inform public health
Previous posts on this blog have explored learning—or failing to learn—from experience. Ultimately, survival and flourishing depend on being able to extract the right lessons from experience. Ideally, experiences would […]
Wherever you go, there you are
Who first observed that “wherever you go, there you are”? Buckaroo Banzai? Confucius? While it may sound like Eastern wisdom, it seems to have a Western origin: So, the cross […]
Supply chain ethics of electric vehicles
Engineering students must demonstrate “an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, […]
Science and advocacy
Previous blogs have cautioned against crossing the line between science and advocacy. But what does that mean in practice, and why is it a problem? For one thing, it’s contrary […]
The National Academies
The National Academies are a private, nongovernmental organization advising the federal government on science, engineering, and medicine. Abraham Lincoln authorized the creation of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. […]
Clarence Wigington, architect
A contemporary of Julia Morgan, Clarence Wigington was the nation’s first African-American municipal architect. Despite a lack of formal training, he became a senior architectural draftsman in the office of […]
Engineers aid in urban search and rescue
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established the National Urban Search & Rescue Response System in 1989. Engineers started serving on urban search and rescue teams the following year. Disasters […]
Science and magic
The British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke developed three laws, the most famous of which is, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Isaac Asimov expressed a similar […]