Engineering Stories

Are you working towards, or considering a career in engineering? Come into my office, conference room, and laboratory – Experience my engineering adventures, teams, challenges, thoughts, travels, and sudden insights. Be my job shadow as we experience the engineering environment.

• Read 1st Chapter Online (Preliminary version)

In Get a Grip, a young engineer is astonished to be assigned to an experienced team responsible for developing critical automation in the manufacture of smart phones. She travels with the team on a surprising customer visit, participates in creative concept generation, and helps the team through difficult setbacks and technical problems. Travel with this team and feel what it’s like to develop automation, building technologies that enhance our way of life. (~9000 words, Read in about an hour, 4 illustrations)

• Read Online (Preliminary version)
• PDF (Updated May 3, 2013)

In The Orbital Mechanic, a solar flare knocks a space probe off course endangering a billion dollar mission. A simple timely solutions comes just in time from an unlikely source to save the spacecraft. In this story, learn how engineers use science, math and physics to get spaceships from Earth out to distant planets and beyond. (~3000 words, Read in about 20 minutes)

• Read 1st Chapter Online (Preliminary version)

In Foot Notes, an engineer is faced with the daunting task of inventing a cost effective foot scanner in a short amount of time, driven to search for and consider possible solutions, taking clues from the near and far, the past and present, the people and objects all around. After much effort, old impractical perceptions are pushed aside by new achievable techniques. (~4000 words, 23 illustrations, Read in about 30 minutes)

• Read 1st Chapter Online (Preliminary version)

In Quick Step, an engineering team is required to create a way to make customer arch supports (orthotics) in 30 minutes. They face hurdle after hurdle as they try to find an answer to a fundamental friction problem. In the end, after much frustration, determination and creativity, they stumble onto a completely different yet very elegant approach. (~5700 words,  12 illustrations, Read in about 45 minutes)

• Read 1st Chapter Online (Preliminary version)

In Speed Reader, two engineers have been working hard for weeks to prepare for and demonstrate the capability of their design. On the Friday of their last week of testing, the customer is not fully satisfied, launching the engineers into a last minute creative mode to find a quick and reliable solution, and to save their weekend plans. (~3800 words, 5 illustrations, Read in about 25 minutes)

• Read 1st Chapter Online (Preliminary version)

In Cutting Edge, a student engineering team wins a bid to develop an automated synthetic diamond cleaning (blasting) machine. They familiarize and immerse themselves in customer needs, write specifications, research similar equipment, brainstorm solutions and evaluate their options. They experience the pain of unforeseen problems and the thrill of success looking externally and internally to find answers to complex questions. (~17,000 words, 18 Chapters, Read in about 2 hours)

• Read 1st Chapter Online (Preliminary version)

In The Ribbon Cutting, three engineers work to create a complex system, a cutting machine with a blade that automatically morphs into shapes needed for unique products. Ideas and solutions are found all around them, in their hobbies, in other machines, in books and online. Their specific talents unite as they help each other move their company forward. At the end of the story (and all Engineering Stories) test your critical thinking skills by responding to author Mentor Notes. (~4800 words, Read in about 20 minutes, 4 illustrations)

(More Stories coming soon)