Bench Talk

Internet’s Benefits Can Far Outweigh Its Downsides

On August 7, 2014 in All by Caroline Storm Westenhover

Some days I just stare off into space and think about the impact the Internet has on our lives. I recently took a break to listen to a song. The fascinating thing is the comments below the song. They, at the time I was listening, were encouraging. You hear all about stupid people on the Internet, but there are also encouraging people. How different was it before the Internet?

Tagged With: internet, Moore's Law, technology

Engineering Horror Stories #2

On July 30, 2014 in All by Lynnette Reese

In the purely scientific interest of allowing others to learn from mistakes that I have not made myself but either witnessed or heard about, let’s hear Story #2 (OK, that’s purposely tongue –in-cheek; do you really think I would tell you about stuff I have broken? Usually it’s something in my house that I’m trying to do myself.)

Tagged With: Engineering Horror Story

Engineering Horror Stories

On June 28, 2014 in All by Lynnette Reese

I recently commented to a colleague that engineers either learn by “letting the smoke out” of something (breaking it) or they can learn vicariously through another’s mistakes, if the mistake is catastrophic enough. I don’t have a lot of these, but I have noticed that engineering horror stories are effective training tools and often funny.

Tagged With: engineering, Engineering Horror Stories, failure, mistakes

Be Very Quiet, I’m Hunting Aliens

On June 25, 2014 in All by Caroline Storm Westenhover

When I think of encounters with extraterrestrials I imagine them coming in their big space-traversing ships and with far more knowledge than we have. This is of course assuming that they find us. Not only do they find us, they decide to visit us.

Tagged With: Aliens, Telecommunications, transmitters

Workbench for the Road: Mouser and LEMO at Le Mans 2014

On June 13, 2014 in All by Erik Smith

For those who don’t know, “24 Hours at Le Mans” is the oldest active sports car race in endurance racing. Think of it as the ultimate test lab for advanced technology. And there’s no trick to that name, this year’s race starts June 14th, 15:00 CEST (9:00am EST / 8:00am CST) and ends 15:00 CEST on June 15th. Driver, Crew and vehicle need to be at the top of their game to compete in this grueling test of racing and engineering.

Tesla Motors Embraces Open Source Philosophy

On June 12, 2014 in All by Erik Smith

Elon Musk and Tesla Motors made a HUGE announcement today, stating in a blog post that they "will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology."

Tagged With: Elon Musk, Open Source, Tesla Motors

How to Crash an Engineering Course at Rice University

On June 11, 2014 in All by Lynnette Reese

I never thought that I would be sitting in on an EE class, years after graduating, taught by a Professor Emeritus at Rice University. I snuck in at the tail end of the course when he was in the middle of discussing op amps. I feel so guilty; I haven’t paid the university a dime, but I am excited to be here. I settle in and listen for a while. No one asks any questions; I assume they are all busy taking notes. Then I sped up time a bit so things would go 25% faster, since I had seen most of this before. It’s handy, but you have to have a MOOC to do that.

From a Little STEM Grows an Exciting Future

On June 9, 2014 in All by Caroline Storm Westenhover

I got to the end of my last blog and found myself so excited about the possibilities of Radio Frequency Identification that I could not help but sit down and do some thermal engineering to satiate my desire for some math and physics, the foundations of engineering.

Tagged With: College, Engineering, STEM, Student

A Brief History of Robots

On May 30, 2014 in All by Mouser Electronics

Since Karel Capek first introduced the world to robots in his 1920 Czech play, R.U.R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots, people have been fascinated by robots (and slightly afraid that they might take over the world). Thirty years later, American author Isaac Asimov began to popularize robots through his science fiction books including I, Robot and The Bicentennial Man. While actual working robots have a long way to go before they live up to their science fiction personas, many exciting advancements in robotic technology have been made. Here are a few of our favorite moments in the brief history of robots...

Tagged With: I Robot, Isaac Asimov, Robots, The Bicentennial Man

There’s Failure And Then There Is Constructive Failure

On May 20, 2014 in All by Caroline Storm Westenhover

The awesome thing about the human mind is it never fully shuts off. The terrible thing is, this does not always mean it is being clever. Case and point. Some time ago I went to Body Worlds, a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared to reveal inner anatomical structures. By the by, never take friends to Body Worlds without first feeding them. Hunger plus Body Worlds can make for an unpleasant experience.

Tagged With: Body Worlds, challenge, mind, Video Games

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