Category Archives: Engineering

Scientific Illiteracy

Scientific Illiteracy and the Partisan Takeover of Biology by Liza Gross, Public Library of Science:

Since 1979, the proportion of scientifically literate adults has doubled—to a paltry 17%. The rest are not savvy enough to understand the science section of The New York Times or other science media pitched at a similar level. As disgracefully low as the rate of adult scientific literacy in the United States may be, Miller found even lower rates in Canada, Europe, and Japan—a result he attributes primarily to lower university enrollments.

While the 17% figure does not amaze me I am surprised that the scientific literacy has doubled since 1979.

A comparison of science education achievement: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (TIMSS), Average science scale scores of eighth-grade students, by country (2003), top 13 shown below:
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Electronic Stability Control Could Prevent 33% of Crash Deaths

Technology could prevent 10,000 crash deaths a year by

A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates that crash deaths on American roads could be reduced by one third if all vehicles were equipped with the Electronic Stability Control.

This is a vivid example of how significant engineering innovations can be to our lives. Many other advances are made every day. This is one reason I think the increasing number of engineers being produced worldwide is a good thing for society overall.

In a few months, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to announce a proposed emergency handling test that will essentially require ESC on all vehicles, NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson said. Few vehicles would be able to pass the test without assistance from ESC, Tyson said.

NSF Engineering Education Grants

NSF Engineering Education Grants:

Research is sought that contributes to our basic understanding of how students learn engineering. We are looking for significant breakthroughs in understanding so that our undergraduate and graduate engineering education can be transformed to meet the needs of the changing economy and society. We are interested in research that addresses: the aims and objectives of engineering education, the content and organization of the curriculum, how students learn problem solving, creativity and design, new methods for assessment and evaluation of how students learn engineering, and research that helps us understand how to attract a more talented and diverse student body to all levels of engineering study. It is expected that successful proposals will most likely be comprised of multidisciplinary teams of engineers and other fields that bring expertise pertinent to learning research.

The Full Proposal Target Date is 15 August 2006. View, recent proposals that have been funded, including: Integrating STEM Education Through Technological Design and Inquiry and Collaborative Research: Engineering Students for the 21st Century.

Lego Learning

Lego Mindstorms

Lego Mindstorms (via Amazon.com) are a great example of the learning opportunities available today. It seems true that the extracurricular learning options are much greater today than 50 years ago.

I Hear Rumors That Our Education Institutions Are In Trouble by Tom Hill:

We have living proof in my 60 short years that the education construction toy has progressed from the 20th century Erector Set® to 21st century programmable LEGO Mindstorms™ robots.

We don’t have to worry about the future of education. Today’s youth will demand a superior local education system or they will go to any Internet institution that can satisfy their needs. All we have to do as the adults is make sure the local school systems and Internet institutions are capable of living up to our children’s expanding expectations.

I think the educational institutions may not be keeping pace with those advancements. But I agree that we need to see to it that those schools do keep pace with a changing world and changing expectations.

More posts on k-12 science and engineering education.

NSF Engineering Division is Reorganization

Read about the reorganization of NSF’s Engineering Division in their adobe acrobat (pdf) document (the only format in which they provide the document). How does an organization, in this day and age, post a scanned image online instead of posting a text readable document (for a present day document that obviously could just be printed to pdf format and retain text.

In addition to the obvious lameness of such a move when a federal government agency does it (like NSF) they violate the “section 508” regulations put in place to provide adequate access to government documents for those with disabilities.

Hopefully someone will get them to correct their failure soon. NSF does great things, but this failure to provide even the most basic web usability is an embarrassment.

Update – they did correct this, I don’t know when as it is months later when I am updating this but still I am glad they did.

Engineering Education: Can India overtake China?

Engineering education: Can India overtake China? by George Iype, Rediff:

India currently has 113 universities and 2,088 colleges, many of which teach various engineering disciplines. Engineering colleges in the country have been growing at 20 per cent a year, while business schools have grown at 60 per cent.
…
According to a McKinsey Global Institute study on the emerging global labour market, India produces a large number of engineering graduates every year, but multinationals find that just 25 per cent of them are employable. ‘In India, the overall quality of the educational system, apart from the top universities, could improve significantly,’ the report said.

Once again they quote the 600,000; 400,000 and 70,000 figures which the Duke University study shows is misleading. Still the short article provides some interesting information. Also the comment section shows the Duke study is beginning to seep into the public consciousness.

Examining the best numbers we can get (and trying to get better numbers to use for analysis) is a good idea. Still, we should not ignore the importance of the large macro trend. China and India are producing a significantly increasing proportion of the world’s engineers. Duke’s study indicate the comparison numbers are exaggerated, but the underlying trend is still strong and real.

I think the increase in China’s and India’s engineers will be a good thing for the world. And I think the both countries will continue to increase the numbers of engineers that are equal in skill and ability to others internationally (I can imagine today a higher percentage of USA engineers are highly skilled but that will not necessarily be true 30 years from now – it depends on the actions taken by many people, in government, academia and industry).

The continuation of the trend is not guaranteed; it will largely depend on the the continued economic success of India and China. If it continues it will also require some adjustments by engineers everywhere, which is one reason getting better data is wise.

Biological Molecular Motors

bio

Image: The biomolecular portal motor of bacteriophage PHI-29 (yellow) compresses the coiled DNA into the viral capsid at 6,000 times its normal pressure. (courtesy the Bustamante group)

Start Your Protein Engines by David Pescovitz:

Oster and his research group investigate the physics and chemistry behind great engineering mysteries of the natural world, from protein motors to cell motility to how bacteria form thriving populations that aren’t so different from ant colonies, or even human societies.
…
Working with UC Berkeley professor Carlos Bustamante, researchers have also studied the motor that packs a virus’s DNA so tightly that it can be injected into a hijacked cell at ten times the pressure of a cork shooting out of a champagne bottle. And they’ve modeled the donut-shaped molecular motors that move along DNA strands during replication.

In the closing paragraph Dr. Oster is quoted on the use of models, which reminds me a the quote from Dr. George Box: All models are wrong, some are useful.

Other articles from from the most recent ScienceMatters@Berkeley: The New New Math of String Theory and Molecular Rules Of Engagement. Also see previous article: The Cellular Mechanic.

Ventless Clothes Dryers

Ventless Washer Dryer

Ventless Clothes Dryers

Engineers have provided an alternative to the normal cloths dryer that requires venting. This can come in handy in some apartments that don’t offer a good location for a dryer that also provide an easy venting option. How does such a dryer work:

Ordinary dryers suck in cool, dry air from the room, heat it, blow it through the clothes, and then discharge the damp, hot air outside through a vent. This dryer, on the other hand, runs the exhaust through a heat-exchange system to cool it. Cold water flows through the heat exchanger, absorbing heat from the air. As the air cools, the moisture in it condenses and runs down the drain (along with the used cooling water); the dry air is then heated again, sent back through the clothes, and the cycle continues.

There are even dryers that dry clothes in the same compartment they are washed in, photo: EdgeStar Ventless 110 Volt Combo Washer Dryer.

More details from: What is a ‘condenser’ dryer?

Re-engineered Wheelchair

photo of new wheelchair

Wheelchairs given design makeover by Geoff Adams-Spink, BBC News

Five years later – a development phase that Mr Spindle describes as “extremely difficult” – Trekinetic chose the Mobility Roadshow to unveil a radical new design.

The K2 has three wheels – two large ones at the front that can take mountain bike tyres – and a smaller one at the back.

The company says it is ideally suited for off-road use but can be just as useful in towns and cities too.

Manufacturers of the wheelchair: Trekinetic. They seem to be getting a bit too much publicity, when I visited I received the following: “This account has exceeded it’s bandwidth quota and has been temporarily disabled.” I would imagine it will be available again shortly.

Science and Engineering Podcasts

Engines Of Our Ingenuity hosted by John Lienhard, University of Houston’s College of Engineering, (podcasts via NPR).

A complete history, with transcripts and audio of the over 2,000 episodes, is online – episodes include:

This is a great resource. “The Engines of Our Ingenuity tells the story of how our culture is formed by human creativity. he program uses the record of history to reveal the way art, technology, and ideas have shaped us.”

More NPR Technology podcasts