Unprofessional Engineering

We are all probably familiar with telescopes. You set them up in your house and creep on your neighbors with them, right? Well, NASA and the other space programs are creeping on our neighbors in space as well, thanks to space telescopes! We discuss the different types of space telescopes (such as gamma ray, x-ray, infrared, and more), what they are used for, the history of sending telescopes to space, as well as some of the most famous space telescopes ever (including Hubble, Fermi, LISA, Chandra, Kepler, and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)).

There are hundreds of satellites floating around out in space that we depend on every day for a number of things, from gps to internet for some, but they are even more important for the simple needs that we have. Satellites are used to help us understand the cosmos, from how black holes are formed to how the universe was born. They help us to look back in time, all the way to when the big bang happened, to educate us on the creation of life. Learn all there is to know about satellites, from launching them, to the various uses, costs, future plans, and more!

It is hard to believe that aliens weren't involved in the construction of many ancient structures (right, Luke?), and this is certainly the case for the 7 modern wonders of the world! We have kicked off a new mini-series that is looking at the engineering and history behind the 7 modern wonders of the world, starting with Chichen Itza in the heart of Mexico. We discuss how it is thought to have been built, the changes that have taken place over the years, what caused the city to be abandoned, and anything else you could want to know about this world wonder.

What started out as a small gunpowder manufacturer on the Delaware river turned into one of the most diverse and innovative companies ever; DuPont! Sure, a few explosions nearly whipped DuPont off the map but they bounced back better than ever, now completely divested from the gunpowder industry. Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours was the mastermind behind DuPont, which continued on as a family owned company for many years to come. Learn how DuPont went from gunpowder to dynamite, and on to some of the most significant chemical discoveries of all time, such as Kevlar!

Many everyday items that we take for granted were not actually invented all that long ago. Things like television, frozen food, penicillin, and insulin were only invented (or discovered) 100 years ago! My grandma was probably around then!! In this episode, we look back at the greatest and worst inventions of the 1920s to see what that decade had to offer in innovation. It is hard to pick, but we also narrow the list down to our favorite and least favorite invention of the decade.

As we continue to explore the best engineering universities in the world, we have picked Stanford as our next engineering college to focus on. Across the board, Stanford is ranked in the top 5 (or even the top 2) for nearly every engineering discipline. Not only do we discuss the different engineering programs Stanford offers, we also look back at the history of Leland Stanford, how the university go started, the demographics of the student body, the real cost to attend, and other interesting reasons that you might want to go to college at Stanford other than their excellent academics!

There maybe have been no greater time for economic growth an efficiency than during the first Industrial Revolution. It was during the Industrial Revolution that a lot of work, from textiles to agriculture, moved from highly manual work to become much more automated. In addition, the number of significant inventions that arose at this time were extremely important for growing nations. From the steam engine to the cotton gin, the number of intentions that improved lives around this time are nearly endless. Take a listen to our quick summary of the Industrial Revolution, where and how it started, the global impacts, and more!

FIRST Robotics might be the most influential STEM activity that high school and younger students can participate in. Heck, most of those involved with FIRST Robotics are probably better engineers than we are, without having gone to college! Learn what it takes to get started with FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), from giant piles of cash to the time commitment from everyone involved. We also discuss the FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge.

Did your parents ever yell at you for playing to many video games? Did they tell you that video games will never help you in the future? Well, maybe they were wrong! Just don't tell them we said so... Some studies have shown that kids that play video games have better hand eye coordination and therefore make better surgeons. What about engineers? We looked through some of our favorite video games that are great training for engineers, both young and old. From old school games like Tetris and Pong, to more modern games like Sim City, Kerbal Space Program, and Minecraft, there are so many games that instill engineering principles in the players. Did your favorite make the list?

When you think about Thomas Jefferson, being a great inventor might not be the first thing that comes to mind considering President, Declaration of Independence, and many other great accomplishments fill his resume. That said, he has more than a few inventions to his credit. From the polygraph to macaroni and cheese (maybe not exactly the inventor, but worth finding out), Thomas Jefferson could hold his own with many of the other great inventors that we have discussed.

When you are looking for the top engineering university around, it won't take you long to realize that MIT is on the top of the list in nearly every category. But what sets MIT apart from the rest and what does it take to get in to such a great college? To start, you might not even want to look at what your scores need to be on the SATs. Let's skip that and assume you got in. Congrats! Why would you want to go to MIT? For one, they have a pirate certificate! You read that right. If that isn't enough to get you to listen, I don't know what is! Learn everything there is to know about MIT in this episode of Unprofessional Engineering.

There are over one million joint replacement surgeries each year in the United States alone! Most of these are knee replacements followed by hip replacements, and all of them are gross sounding. The technology used for joint replacement has improved over the years, allowing your fake knees and hips to last longer and work better than in the past. We researched what goes into joint replacement surgery (it sounds just the worst), what materials are used to help you get the best results, and previewed new technology that is being worked on to make this process even better in the future.

Almost all of us do it, but do you know why we have daylight saving time? Or is it daylight savings time? Hmm... We look back at the history of daylight saving time to understand when and why we started to do this, who it benefits, and most importantly, why we continue to do this to cost me an hour of sleep and make me even grumpier.

When you think of Silicon Valley, what company comes to mind? If you're not thinking Intel, well, you still probably are thinking about a valid company, but Intel is kind of a big deal too. Take a listen to learn how Intel got started (spoiler, it wasn't just a couple of guys in a garage for a change), how quickly they grew, some of their biggest successes and failures, and of course, how many of their founders went to MIT.

In our third episode about the Periodic Table of Elements, we learned that not all elements are created equal. Sure, we knew that, but we didn't know how useless some elements out there really are (we're talking to you Einsteinium and Mendelevium). That doesn't mean that the history of how they were discovered isn't interesting! Thankfully, we also talk about titanium and Molybdenum, which are much more useful. Take a listen to find out everything you ever wanted to know about these four elements, from how they were discovered to what they are used for, and of course, if being around them is going to kill you.

OK, OK.... before you start yelling at us about Boston Dynamics not being a company that built the world, it is just the series title. Is that better? Even if Boston Dynamics didn't "build the world," they are still doing some next level cool stuff!! Everyone has seen their fancy walking robot dogs or running humanoid robots, even if they didn't know that Boston Dynamics was behind them. We went way back (not really, Boston Dynamics isn't that old) to learn how the company got their start, explored the various projects that the government kindly funded to keep them afloat, learned about the multiple acquisitions of Boston Dynamics, and discuss their most popular robots!

We hear a lot about "the grid," especially during times of inclement weather, but do you understand how the power grid works? Take a listen to understand how electricity makes its way from the power plant to your home and all of the step (ups and down) in between. In addition, we'll discuss the three main power grids in the United States, how they connect together, how power levels are controlled across them, and what causes power grid failure.

What started as a deep dive on Nikolaus Otto ended as a second installment of inventors that are famous for just a single invention. Why did this happen? Well, because Nikolaus Otto didn't do a whole lot other than the four stroke engine, but that sure was a great invention!! In addition to Otto, we discuss others like Laszlo Biro, Samuel Morse, John Walker (not to be confused with Johnnie Walker) and more. They may have only invented one thing, but each one was a real hit.

Food preservation has been around for many centuries, and taken on various forms. How else do you think early man was able to keep all of that t-rex meat fresh?! We look back on when food preservation began, how the forms have changed over the years, what the differences are between the different food preservation methods, when you should use which method, and, of course, the science and chemistry behind what is happening to your food when you preserve it.

When you think about air travel, what comes to mind? Cramped seats, hours of time wasted, and gross airports? Well, the airports would still be an issue, but the Concorde helped with some of the other problems! We looked at the plane that set the record for fastest commercial flight, going from New York to London in around 3 and a half hours! Wow!! Sure, it was so noisy that it was only allowed to fly over the ocean for the most part, but that is the price for speed. Learn all about the Concorde, how it was engineered, the various companies involved, and why this engineering marvel eventually had an early retirement.