Hello SWEsters!

This month, in honor of Thanksgiving, this blog post is dedicated to giving recognition to the engineering innovations of the past century, revolutions that through creativity and a little math and science, have come to shape our society. In my search for revolutionary engineering ideas, I came across a fore ward to a novel written by Neil Armstrong that I think is wonderfully fitting for this blog topic. Here is a portion of that fore ward:

      “Engineering is often associated with science and understandably so. Both make extensive use of mathematics, and engineering and require a solid scientific basis. Yet as any scientist or engineer will tell you, they are quite different. Science is a quest for “truth for its own sake,” for an ever more exact understanding of the natural world. It explains the change in the viscosity of a liquid as its temperature is varied, the release of heat when water vapor condenses, and the reproductive process of plants. It determines the speed of light. Engineering turns those explanations and understandings into new or improved machines, technologies, and processes—to bring reality to ideas and to provide solutions to societal needs.
 
     During the past century, the engineering disciplines, which had been principally civil and mechanical, broadened with the addition of a number of new sectors such as metallurgical, automotive, electrical, and aeronautical and deepened with the development of new methods, powerful computational tools, and dependable testing techniques. This evolution has left its imprint on our society in countless ways. Certainly the ability to cross continents and oceans in a matter of hours has changed our sense of the size of the world—it is a much smaller place than it was in our great-grandparents’ day or even our grandparents’ day. The world is also smaller by virtue of our being able to communicate instantly with people at a distance, whether across town, across the state, or on the other side of the globe by telephone or electronic mail. 
 
     There are myriad other ways in which engineering has affected society and our quality of life, ways we so take for granted they are virtually invisible to us. In part that may be because we each have our own definition of the term “quality of life.” One person might think having no need to work would be ideal, while another person would think having a great deal of work to do would be ideal. But most of us would probably acknowledge that certain living conditions are essential to a preferred quality in our own lives. Think for a moment about what your day would be like if you turned on the tap in the morning and there was no water. Of if you knew that the water coming from the tap needed to be boiled before it was safe to drink or to use to brush your teeth. A century ago, typhoid fever, cholera, and other waterborne diseases could strike anyone at any time. Today, clean, safe water is something everyone can expect in most of the developed world.”
 

     I thought these few paragraphs were wonderful, and really put into perspective the amazing engineering innovations that have impacted our world, and that we should be so thankful for whether we are cognizant of them or not!

On another note, information is out about applying to host Regional Conference next year (2013). Collegiate Sections, make sure to take a look at the information – you should definitely consider hosting it! Not only does it bring visibilty to your school/section, but it’s also a great way to bring in money! Here’s the timeline for application process:

November 1, 2011: Receive bid tool kit (Email Lora Lechago if you did not receive this information via email)

January 15, 2012: Submit the bid package to the Region Governor (Carol Bachman: Carol.Bachman@SWE.org)

January 27-29, 2012: Answer questions about your bid at the 2012 Region Conference in Lubbock Texas

Early May: Receive word of the results of voting by the Region Council

That’s all from me ladies. Until next time!

-Caitlin

 

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