Engineering, Fuck Yeah

Anyone can design a bridge that stands. It takes an engineer to design a bridge that barely stands. Submit Here

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

I'm sure you've seen all of the gifs recently, but here is the video showing the process of water transfer printing

Notice on some of the more complex shapes, you can see the pattern gets stretched and distorted or they try to not show the difficult area. This is still a developing technology and it is worth bearing in mind that it does have its limitations.

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

What happens when a ship engine hydrolocks.

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

ST-124 Inertial Guidance Platform used in the Saturn V

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

An excerpt from the book "Sled Driver" by former SR-71 pilot Brian Shul:

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane. Intense, maybe, even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment. It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat. There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us and tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions and when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace. We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot who asked Center for a read-out of his ground speed. Center replied: "November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground." Now the thing to understand about Center controllers was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the "Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed in the Beech. "I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed." Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. "Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check." Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: "Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground." And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: "Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?" There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if it was an everyday request. "Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground." I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money." For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice when L.A. came back with, "Roger that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one." It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on frequency were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

Making the Apollo Guidance Computer

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

zis-zas said: "Trust me I’m a better-than-you engineer."

Yeah, basically

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

Once again I feel the need to make a request

Please please please do not be that guy. There are so many pretentious, arrogant, entitled engineers in this world. They think they have the toughest courses at university, that they have the most important careers, and that they deserve more money and recognition than they receive. I don't care whether you think any of that is true or not, but when you feel the need to express these thoughts to your peers and those outside of engineering on a regular basis, you just come across as an entitled asshole and make the rest of us respectful engineers look bad. 

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

NASA shuttle loading onto a modified 747

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

A detailed look at the car that will aim to travel at 1000mph.

I'm sure you've all heard about this amazing project. If you'd like to support the team and have your name put on the tail fin for only £15, visit this link to donate.

I've met Andy Green before and he's such a cool guy.

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

How hot steel strip is rolled

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

I really wish I had the gear and time to turbo my Miata

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

God damn it Tumblr is so fickle about the gifs that you upload. This isn't 2010 anymore, guys. 

The universal joint gif can be viewed here.

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

A CAD motion study of a universal joint. Notice how the left half moves at a constant speed while the right half does not. This can be overcome using a Double-Cardan joint where two universal joints are used to cancel out the velocity errors or another Constant Velocity joint.

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]

What's the best present a girl can buy for her engineer? :D

Oh man, that’s a tough question and really depends on budget and what he does in is free time. I know tons of engineers who have no technical knowledge and so wouldn’t enjoy tools or models etc. What’s he into and what are you looking to spend? We can talk privately if it’s easier.

With no idea on budget and his preferences, I’ll just throw some things out there that he may appreciate but if you can give me more information I’d be happy to make more suggestions!

Model kit like those Metal Earth kits or if you can afford it one of these amazing model Sterling enginesNixie tube clock kitRaspberry Pi or ArduinoMaybe a good mechanical pencil (Kuru Toga or Rotring)Nice LeathermanCitizen Ecodrive or Seiko Automatic watchIf he’s a fan of XKCDLEGO!A lot of people recommend the Machinery’s Handbook

Or if you’re going BIG budget, everyone wants a 3D printer!

Alternatively you could have a look at Makezine and Intructables, find a project he’d like, and buy him the kit he needs for it.

Just a word of advice however, don’t try to overdo the engineering thing. While I’m an engineering student and it occupies most of my time, I have other hobbies and interest that are very different to my studies and occupation and people can obsess over the engineering bit too much at times. An engineering themed present is still a great idea don’t get me wrong, just  that maybe there’s other areas to look too? (again, it really depends on the person)

Hope this helps!

P.S. I frequent /r/engineering and /r/engineeringstudents and if you search “gift” and “present” on those subs you’ll find a lot of posts filled with suggestions and discussion. (The most suggested gifts are the mechanical pencil, a nice pen, and a set of vernier callipers. While these can be good suggestions, they’re not necessarily suited for everyone. I’m very happy using a Pilot G2 and wooden pencil and have little need for callipers.)

[engineeringfuckyeah-blog]