Any engineers here? (Scientists are welcome too)

[Roshanak]

I chose to train to be a specialist in incorporating Victorian structural elements and design into modern buildings.

Wooow...


(Imagination runs rampant) Do you also do Art Nouveau?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

http://www.google.es/search?hl=es&client=firefox-a&hs=ATz&rls=org.mozilla%3Aes-ES%3Aofficial&tbs=&tbm=isch&q=amazed+face&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&biw=1920&bih=921&sei=Bu4JT9K2OcjU4QSeiJzpDw#hl=es&client=firefox-a&hs=PAK&rls=org.mozilla:es-ES%3Aofficial&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=art+nouveau+architecture&oq=art+nouveau+architecture&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=26279l27338l9l27770l7l7l0l0l0l6l372l2087l2-4.3l7l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=450b07d03eeadc6f&biw=1920&bih=921

[Eric T Paradigm]

If you don't mind me prying, has your interest in steampunk themes and aesthetics affected your professional life at all? (This is a question that all other participants to this thread are invited to answer, by the way.)

I do not consider it prying. The answer to your question is - not in the least. I studied cybernetics between 1967-70, worked as an electronics engineer until I was about 40, mainly on safety-critical systems, and for the last 20+ years have been earning a crust as a consultant on safety-critical systems in various industries. The opportunity to introduce steampunk themes has been extremely limited, particularly since I have only been aware of the existence of steampunk for little over a year.

[Lady Ava]

If you don't mind me prying, has your interest in steampunk themes and aesthetics affected your professional life at all? (This is a question that all other participants to this thread are invited to answer, by the way.)

it made me quit engineering to be a part-time extra thing instead of my career. I found steampunk, then that I could make things, now I own a small steampunk business!

[Cubinoid]

If you don't mind me prying, has your interest in steampunk themes and aesthetics affected your professional life at all? (This is a question that all other participants to this thread are invited to answer, by the way.)

it made me quit engineering to be a part-time extra thing instead of my career. I found steampunk, then that I could make things, now I own a small steampunk business!

Good for you Lady Ava! Jolly well done.

[Lady Ava]

If you don't mind me prying, has your interest in steampunk themes and aesthetics affected your professional life at all? (This is a question that all other participants to this thread are invited to answer, by the way.)

it made me quit engineering to be a part-time extra thing instead of my career. I found steampunk, then that I could make things, now I own a small steampunk business!

Good for you Lady Ava! Jolly well done.

Thankyou!
www.facebook.com/avasapparel       [/selfpromotion]   

[Birdnest]

Structural Design Engineer here (the un licensed version) responsible for coming up with creative ways of putting wood, steel and concrete together as it relates to structures such as bridges and dwellings of all sort.  I've been doing this for pay for around 35 years.

Mainly wood though.

In that I came upon Steampunk waaaaay later than engineering ... I'd say that my engineering experience affects my recently named "Steampunk Aesthetic", in other words I'm still designing as I did before the I was introduced to the genre.   I've always have designed 'this way' and steampunk as it were has come along and delivered a name for my engineering ... style (there has got to be a better way of describing this, but it's Monday and I have not yet infused myself with enough caffeine)

[Augustus Longeye]

Psychologist and hobbit* engineer and programmer here.

Steampunk has actually raised a lot of interesting psychological points for me, but I'm not at liberty to discuss them here just yet I'm afraid If you've ever studied social psychology, though, you'd see that this very forum breaks many trends!
~Longeye~

*that should be hobbiest, but google spell checker suggested that, and who am I to complain?

[Maets]

Mechanical Engineer
Ocean Engineer

And now a Steampunk Engineer

[Banfili]

History (not a science), Applied Science (Library & Information Management, hence not a science at all!), Archaeology & Palaeoanthropology/Forensic Anthropology & Forensic Archaeology (definitely science & my favourites), & a sort of general science grab-bag, including Palaeontology & Physics. Primary form of employment as a librarian, now retired (early) on disability. All round handy-person, maker of musical instruments, painter & poet. Currently working on a Master of History.

In short, a polymath clever-clogs!

[Roshanak]

History (not a science), Applied Science (Library & Information Management, hence not a science at all!), Archaeology & Palaeoanthropology/Forensic Anthropology & Forensic Archaeology (definitely science & my favourites), & a sort of general science grab-bag, including Palaeontology & Physics. Primary form of employment as a librarian, now retired (early) on disability. All round handy-person, maker of musical instruments, painter & poet. Currently working on a Master of History.

In short, a polymath clever-clogs!

You are so cool. So you mostly spent your life learning things?

I envy you so much...

Mechanical Engineer
Ocean Engineer

And now a Steampunk Engineer

I know it's kind of an obvious question, but can you build a pedal-powered submarine?

[Cubinoid]

History (not a science), Applied Science (Library & Information Management, hence not a science at all!), Archaeology & Palaeoanthropology/Forensic Anthropology & Forensic Archaeology (definitely science & my favourites), & a sort of general science grab-bag, including Palaeontology & Physics. Primary form of employment as a librarian, now retired (early) on disability. All round handy-person, maker of musical instruments, painter & poet. Currently working on a Master of History.

In short, a polymath clever-clogs!

You are so cool. So you mostly spent your life learning things?

I envy you so much...

Mechanical Engineer
Ocean Engineer

And now a Steampunk Engineer

I know it's kind of an obvious question, but can you build a pedal-powered submarine?

I believe it has been done...by those clever Russians.
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_europe/2010-02-19/459724567566.html

[Augustus Longeye]

I believe it has been done...by those clever Russians.
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_europe/2010-02-19/459724567566.html

If it wasn't Magicarp shaped they were missing out.
~Longeye~

[Cubinoid]

I believe it has been done...by those clever Russians.
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_europe/2010-02-19/459724567566.html

If it wasn't Magicarp shaped they were missing out.
~Longeye~

HTere's always the shark boat!

Seabreacher Shark Boat Sea Breacher !

[MistressMagpie]

Biological Sciences student, with added technical theater. That counts as engineering, right?

[Maets]

Mechanical Engineer
Ocean Engineer
And now a Steampunk Engineer

I know it's kind of an obvious question, but can you build a pedal-powered submarine?

I use to design and build equipment that went on and in the ocean, including on submarines.  But that was a long time ago. The stuff I designed is still used today for Ocean research.

[MistressMagpie]

History (not a science), Applied Science (Library & Information Management, hence not a science at all!), Archaeology & Palaeoanthropology/Forensic Anthropology & Forensic Archaeology (definitely science & my favourites), & a sort of general science grab-bag, including Palaeontology & Physics. Primary form of employment as a librarian, now retired (early) on disability. All round handy-person, maker of musical instruments, painter & poet. Currently working on a Master of History.

In short, a polymath clever-clogs!

You are so cool. So you mostly spent your life learning things?

I envy you so much...

Mechanical Engineer
Ocean Engineer

And now a Steampunk Engineer

I know it's kind of an obvious question, but can you build a pedal-powered submarine?

I believe it has been done...by those clever Russians.
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_europe/2010-02-19/459724567566.html

The French have also done some building. And I believe our own David Bushnell drew up plans for one, though I'm not sure if it was ever built.

[Capt James Salt]

I have great respect for engineers and scientists.  During the last 42 years I have been an electronic technician, an electrician, a mechanic and a safety manager.   I endeavor to keep things, that other people invent, working. 

And now steampunk provides me with the opportunity to invent my own devices.

[HR]

They called us agricultural engineers at collage, but I prefer Blacksmith

[Athanor]

My wife complains that I'm a pessimist, always worrying about how things could go wrong. I tell her I'm trained as an engineer, and every competent engineer is by nature a natural pessimist; it's an engineer's job to try to figure out all the various ways in which any given system might fail, and then design ways to prevent or minimise failure - or, in the words of one of my instructors, to "make sure that if the system fails, it fails to a safe condition."

(I always thought the idea was to try to ensure the system doesn't fail at all, but apparently that's too expensive.)

Anyway, what do the other members of this forum think? Are we engineers naturally pessimistic, thinking about failure all the time? Or is it just me?

Athanor.

[Engineer]

Engineer by name, engineer by occupation. In 'normal life' I'm a electronics engineer.

[xanthra]

Hello, all.
I'm a mechanical engineer by training.
I did R&D for a small defense subcontractor where I got to run machine tools in the prototype shop, which I really miss : (
Then I pretended to be a Software Engineer for 5-6 years before I became a Network Security Engineer.

So yeah, I'm all about the Steampunk machinery.  Especially mechanical computers and gears.

I guess you could call anticipating failure modes pessimistic, but I'd says that is more about being realistic and proactive.

[Captain Shipton Bellinger]

Ex Electronics Engineer here, although that fairly soon expanded into software engineering in parallel with the hardware development.

Anyway, what do the other members of this forum think? Are we engineers naturally pessimistic, thinking about failure all the time? Or is it just me?

I used to take an awful lot of stick, both in the RAF and later in civvy street, for being 'unduly negative'. My first reaction to any new proposal was always "Not bad, but what happens if...?" or something along those lines. Addressing potential problems should be done in the design stages—it's far too late if they make through to production.

For the last years of my service career I was embedded at a major defence contractor, and almost always their imperative was to do the absolute minimum required to meet the design spec rather than 'get it right'. It kept their costs down and left the future wide open for future 'development' programmes. It's no wonder that almost all defence projects go way over time and budget really—it's actually planned that way. 

[Unsubtle Pete]

Undergrad geology with an emphasis on Palaeontology. I currently spend my days looking at fossilised crocodile droppings.

[Capt James Salt]

Undergrad geology with an emphasis on Palaeontology. I currently spend my days looking at fossilised crocodile droppings.

Poopoligist?

[Maeg]

Coprology?

Currently an undergrad in Bsc Applied Geology, and spending the forseeable future getting friendly with minerals in thin section.

Lots of vintage radio sets under repair and in use this end, I hold an amateur radio licence (call M6GLD). I also have a primitive darkroom and enjoy reviving antique cameras (one of which is genuinely victorian), do please visit

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

www.DdraigCymraeg.deviantart.com

if you'd like to see some of the results.

M.