Unprofessional Engineering

You might be surprised to find out that there is a lot of engineering that goes into the dairy farming process. Yeah, I didn't believe it either! But dairy farming has come a long way from milking cows in the barn by hand.

Today's farmers use a lot of advanced technology to make sure that they are producing the most milk possible while ensuring the health of their herd. Automated milking systems, RFI tags, and even robots that can milk cows, determine their health and reject contaminated milk are all part of the modern day farmers tool set.

We've made it to our 100th episode!! I know, I can hardly believe anyone still listens to this podcast either, but we're still going strong!

Today, we take a look back on the journey that got us to episode 100, discussing our favorite episodes, which ones we could have done without, and even correcting some of the mistakes that Luke...er...we made throughout the two years of Unprofessional Engineering.

Sit back and enjoy! Who knows, you may even hear yourself getting a shout out for being one of our amazing listeners.

People have been using 2D drawings for thousands and thousands of years to depict everything from creatures they have seen (on cave walls) to detailed design plans.

In this episode, we bring in our friend and 2D drawing expert, Paul Munford, to help us unwrap the history of the 2D drawing and why it is still so critical in the design and manufacturing process today.

Have you ever thought about how much the invention of steel has changed the way the world works? From construction to every day appliances, steel is all around us. But how is it created?

In this episode, we'll look into the engineering, or black magic, behind transforming iron into steel. We'll also take a look at some of the history of steel, including the Bessemer process, Andrew Carnegie's fortune from steel, and even the historic Carrie blast furnace of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Perhaps the greatest inventor of all time, Leonardo da Vinci created a number of amazing works, and theorized even more that technology needed to catch up to. Oh, he was a pretty OK artist too...

In addition to engineering and art, he also liked to diagram the human body to pass the time. Who doesn't dig up the dead and sketch what their bits look like?

From defiling graves and painting the Mona Lisa, to aerial screws and giant crossbows of war(way cooler sounding than helicopters), Leonardo da Vinci may have the most all around impressive life of work ever, or that will ever happen.

We all like to think that we know our way around the grill, but do you really know how to cook the perfect steak? Continuing our series on engineering the perfect food (did you already check out how to engineer the perfect turkey?), we will walk you through a number of methods to achieve perfection the next time you're making steak.

Not only will you learn to be a better cook, we're going to teach you the science behind the Maillard reaction (browning the steak), the laws of thermodynamics, the difference between conduction, convection and radiation, as so much more! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it...

Let's face it, folks. The end of the world is coming, and we're likely going to be the cause. Robots might destroy us, we may end up polluting the world out of existence, or perhaps a breed of super cyborg pigs that have been breed not to fart as much will take over. That is exactly what we're exploring today.

OK, maybe not EXACTLY that, but humanity has made some creepily impressive ventures into cyborg animals. Bees that can detect bombs, viewing the world through the eyes of a cat, and even super computers that are powered with the brains of a leech. And that is just the tip of the iceberg (speaking of which, have you seen the spinach that has been turned into heart tissue?!?).

Dams are a critical part of modern civilization, providing water to those in need, irrigating farms, preventing floods and generating 17% of the world's electricity.

But there is another side of dams that we should consider. What are they doing to the environment, and what can engineers do to fix this problem? In order for us to keep benefiting from all of the great things dams bring to us, we'll need to learn to protect the environment as well.

We all know about 3D printing in the workplace by now, (at least you should since we've already talked about it) but did you know that there are companies out there ready to 3D print houses?!

That's right! And it is fast, too! In just 24 hours you could have a 650 sq foot structure ready to finish up. Just add a roof, electric, plumbing, windows...OK, so there is still a lot of work to do, but this is a huge step in the right direction.

These structures are significantly less expensive, extremely customizable, and perfect for helping out nations hit by natural disasters, which is exactly what ICON and New Story are teaming up to do.

If you're interested in learning more about having a 3D printed house, printing a lunar space base and more, we have it all ready for you.

The Eiffel Tower is more than an ugly metal tower in the heart of Paris. It has ugly elevators and viewing platforms as well!

What is truly impressive about Gustave Eiffel's (stolen) dream is the timeline for constructing the tallest structure in the world, at that time. How does something like that stay on track?!

Even more interesting is the hate that it received from civilians, and that engineering and science is the only thing that saved it from being torn down many decades ago.