To Dave for the rings one gold one iron and everything they bring and to Casey and Remy for making my heart happy every day S H For my little engineer Quinn May you find out how everything works J G H Acknowledgments Special thanks for their time and expertise to Mark Ellens P Eng Jon Holland P E Brown and Caldwell Dr Danielle Marceau Schulich School of Engineering University of Calgary Arianna McAllister Sean McDermott Cervélo Sarah Taylor Cervélo
Contents Introduction In the Minds of Engineers 6 Engineering Design Step by Step 8 Aerospace Engineering Seven Minutes of Terror 10 Biomedical Engineering The Ultimate Print Job 16 Chemical Engineering Double Aldea 20 Mechanical Engineering A Need for Speed 22 Electrical Engineering The Tyranny of Numbers 26 Civil Engineering Engineering above the clouds 30 Geomatics Engineering Not So At Home on the Range 36 Computer Engineering The Wonderful Wizard of Woz 40 Environmental Engineering When Good Sewers Go Bad 42 Glossary 48 Index 50
Introduction In the Minds of Engineers It was late 1 30 in the morning Way past bedtime for most of us But that didn't stop hundreds of people from gathering in New York City's Times Square on August 6 2012 They were there to watch NASA's live coverage of an interplanetary drama unfolding on a massive five story television screen The star of the show wasn't a little green alien but a car sized silver rover called Curiosity After an eight month voyage through space it all came down to seven minutes the time it would take to deposit Curiosity on the surface of Mars Nail biting gave way to high fiving as the rover touched down safely The historic landing was over in minutes but the technology that made it possible had originated years before in the minds of engineers Want to find out how engineers got Curiosity to Mars You can read more about the mission on pages 10 15
Who Are Engineers CURIOSITY ON MARS Engineers are problem solvers They use their math science and technology skills to find creative solutions to problems such as landing Curiosity safely on the surface of Mars To solve these problems engineers might improve existing technology They might design a battery that lasts longer or build a bridge that can withstand a major earthquake If existing technology won't solve the problem engineers create new technology such as a machine that prints skin substitutes for burn victims Engineers design not only those batteries bridges or printers but also the machines electronics and software to build them Whatever the problem engineers find creative and cost effective solutions that work well Kids are natural engineers You ask lots of questions you're creative and you're good at solving problems whether it's designing an alarm to keep your annoying brother out of your room or figuring out a way to make sure you not your sister get the biggest serving of insert your favorite food here
