Spatial and temporal spectrums are useful as a first step to breaking down systems, but quickly run into limits. Energy is likely a particularly useful spectrum to categorize our design … » More …

With our design specification nailed down, we now begin the process of idea generation. Let’s start with a quick exercise:

Get out a sheet of paper and write down the … » More …

… » More …

Now that we’ve 1) interviewed our customers, 2) reviewed basic literature on the topic, 3) divided the project into sub-assemblies, and 4) began specifying desired traits and characteristic functions of the … » More …

Today is Louis Henry Sullivan’s birthday. Sullivan’s wiki-page lists him as a famous American Architect widely considered the “Father of the Skyscraper.” In an 1896 … » More …

For those of you curious, Jake was lucky enough to be in Florida watching the MUOS-4 launch this morning and won’t be back until Friday. This is a … » More …

There’s an old saying — “A week’s worth of time spent in the library can save a year’s worth of time in the laboratory.”

Of course today the time is … » More …

“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.” ~Lao Tze

A traditional engineering homework assignment wants you to tell us the answer. Need … » More …

The difference is subtle:

and one is used to define the other —

<img decoding="async" ... » More …

A ritual hazing practice in many organizations (including department meetings) is to ask the newest person in the room to “take the minutes”, “secretary” is too loaded of a term now, so we … » More …