(Image courtesy of DiscoverE.)
Happy National Engineers Week!
Observed by more than 70 engineering, educational and cultural societies, as well as more than 50 corporations and government agencies, National Engineers Week highlights the good works done by engineers all across the USA.
The celebration is held annually in the same week as President George Washington’s birthday, since Washington is considered by many to be the nation’s first engineer due to his surveying work.
This year’s theme, as announced by DiscoverE (formerly the National Engineers Week Foundation) is “Engineers Dream Big,” an idea emphasized in a new IMAX film from MacGillivray Freeman.
You can see a trailer for the film below:
In celebration of the Dream Big theme, here are three stories that embody the spirit of engineers transforming dreams into reality:
1. Solar Impulse
We’ve been covering the story of Solar Impulse for quite some time. The project is based around a simple yet compelling idea: circumnavigating the globe in a solar-powered airplane. Last year, the aircraft officially completed its journey, demonstrating the ingenuity and perseverance of its engineering team.
2. Hyperloop
The idea of the Hyperloop has a lot of people excited, and that excitement is pulling together some of the best engineering minds to work on a problem that’s as challenging as it is rewarding. Elon Musk’s vision of propelling pressurized pods through depressurized tubes at high speed may yet be far from realization, but you can be sure that if and when it happens, we’ll have engineers to thank for making it so.
3. Carbinite LSR
If there’s a unifying theme in the dreams of engineers, it’s speed. The vehicle, known as Carbiliner, is designed to be the first wheel-driven car to exceed 500 mph, a project that not only seeks to break records, but to inspire and encourage students to pursue STEM education. Click here to watch an interview about the project from inside the vehicle’s cockpit.
What are you dreaming big about? Click here to share or help fellow engineering minds make their dreams a reality!