Unprofessional Engineering

When you are looking for the top engineering university around, it won't take you long to realize that MIT is on the top of the list in nearly every category. But what sets MIT apart from the rest and what does it take to get in to such a great college? To start, you might not even want to look at what your scores need to be on the SATs. Let's skip that and assume you got in. Congrats! Why would y...

There are over one million joint replacement surgeries each year in the United States alone! Most of these are knee replacements followed by hip replacements, and all of them are gross sounding. The technology used for joint replacement has improved over the years, allowing your fake knees and hips to last longer and work better than in the past. We researched what goes into joint replacement surg...

Almost all of us do it, but do you know why we have daylight saving time? Or is it daylight savings time? Hmm... We look back at the history of daylight saving time to understand when and why we started to do this, who it benefits, and most importantly, why we continue to do this to cost me an hour of sleep and make me even grumpier.

When you think of Silicon Valley, what company comes to mind? If you're not thinking Intel, well, you still probably are thinking about a valid company, but Intel is kind of a big deal too. Take a listen to learn how Intel got started (spoiler, it wasn't just a couple of guys in a garage for a change), how quickly they grew, some of their biggest successes and failures, and of course, how many of...

In our third episode about the Periodic Table of Elements, we learned that not all elements are created equal. Sure, we knew that, but we didn't know how useless some elements out there really are (we're talking to you Einsteinium and Mendelevium). That doesn't mean that the history of how they were discovered isn't interesting! Thankfully, we also talk about titanium and Molybdenum, which are muc...

OK, OK.... before you start yelling at us about Boston Dynamics not being a company that built the world, it is just the series title. Is that better? Even if Boston Dynamics didn't "build the world," they are still doing some next level cool stuff!! Everyone has seen their fancy walking robot dogs or running humanoid robots, even if they didn't know that Boston Dynamics was behind them. We went w...

We hear a lot about "the grid," especially during times of inclement weather, but do you understand how the power grid works? Take a listen to understand how electricity makes its way from the power plant to your home and all of the step (ups and down) in between. In addition, we'll discuss the three main power grids in the United States, how they connect together, how power levels are controlled...

What started as a deep dive on Nikolaus Otto ended as a second installment of inventors that are famous for just a single invention. Why did this happen? Well, because Nikolaus Otto didn't do a whole lot other than the four stroke engine, but that sure was a great invention!! In addition to Otto, we discuss others like Laszlo Biro, Samuel Morse, John Walker (not to be confused with Johnnie Walker)...

Food preservation has been around for many centuries, and taken on various forms. How else do you think early man was able to keep all of that t-rex meat fresh?! We look back on when food preservation began, how the forms have changed over the years, what the differences are between the different food preservation methods, when you should use which method, and, of course, the science and chemistry...

When you think about air travel, what comes to mind? Cramped seats, hours of time wasted, and gross airports? Well, the airports would still be an issue, but the Concorde helped with some of the other problems! We looked at the plane that set the record for fastest commercial flight, going from New York to London in around 3 and a half hours! Wow!! Sure, it was so noisy that it was only allowed to...

You don't get much more cutting edge engineering and technology than with military vehicles. From tanks to planes and everything in-between (what does a hovercraft even even count as??), the military develops some of the coolest tech around. Luke and James searched through the archives to come up with their top 10 military vehicles of all time. Ranging from the Challenger 2 battle tanks, to the Bl...

With the new year almost here, and it likely that many of you are going to overindulge in celebration, it felt like the perfect time to investigate the science behind two horrible things: hiccups and hangovers! We've looked into what causes both hiccups and hangovers (no, not just "alcohol," but the process that results from alcohol consumption) and researched what the most likely cures are, if an...

As a special holiday gift, we dove into the engineering behind a modern'ish Christmas classic: Home Alone!! Kevin McCallister, less well known as Macaulay Culkin, sets up tons of traps for two less than capable burglars to bumble through as he protects his house. But would these traps actually work? And just how dangerous are they? We looked into all of them (OK, only the ones we deemed interestin...

It's the most wonderful time of the year!! The Unprofessional Engineering Christmas gifts episode for those hard to shop for engineers in your life!!! Whether you are shopping for the pinnacle of engineers, the Mechanical Engineer, all the way down to the Civil Engineers playing in the dirt, we have a gift recommendation that they would love, from stocking stuffer to giant presents if they've been...

We spend a lot of time discussing how great engineering is and all of the amazing successes that have come from it over the years. Not all engineering projects are a success, though. We have looked back in time and picked out some of the greatest engineering disasters of all time. Some, like the Titanic or Challenger disaster, are well known, but others like the molasses flood of Boston or gas exp...

When you discuss top engineering universities in the United States, Carnegie Mellon University will almost certainly come up regardless of the engineering (or computer science) discipline. If you are thinking about getting a degree in engineering, want to relive your glory days from college, or maybe you're just curious about what sets one university apart from another, this episode and series are...

Sometimes even what seems to be the simplest invention has a long and interesting history, and certainly isn't an instant success. That was the case with one of the most well known materials around today; Velcro! It all started when George de Mestral noticed some annoying burrs on his dog after a walk, and unknowingly used biomimicry to recreate this over time, creating Velcro! Of course, NASA get...

If you're thinking about getting into engineering, finding a new job in your field, or curious how much you should be getting paid, you don't want to miss this series on different fields of engineering. This time, we are focused on "What is Control Systems Engineering." Or Controls Engineering. Or Systems Engineering.... OK, you get the point. We've reviewed the top US and global universities for...

The B-2 Stealth Bomber, also known as the Northrup Grumman Spirit, is a long-range US bomber. It might be the most well-known plane in the US military, but much about its technology and capabilities is still unknown to the public. Designed during the Cold War, the Stealth Bomber is the world's first first low-observation (or stealth) bomber. In addition to being crazy sneaky, it also holds the rec...

Pennsylvania State University (otherwise known as Penn State) has a long history as a top engineering school in the United States. In our new series on great engineering universities, we decided to focus on Penn State, not only because James is an alum, but because it is actually a great school as well! Starting as a land grant school back in the 1800s, Penn State was one of the first universities...

It turns out that the first automobiles were not exactly the safest things to be motoring down the road (or what passed as roads) in. Imagine driving in a metal box, no seat belts, no air bags, no crumple zones... it doesn't paint a pretty picture! But how did these changes come about? We looked back at the history of vehicle safety to understand where vehicles started, how they have improved over...

Kevlar is widely known for its use in "bullet proof vests," but there is a lot more to it! In addition to this life-saving use, it is used for a number of other items thanks to its high heat resistance and high tensile strength. We looked into how Kevlar was created by Stephanie Kwolek while working at DuPont, the science behind its production, the different types of Kevlar out there, and a number...

As we continue our series on companies that built the world, we look at the history of one of the most valuable companies in the world: ExxonMobil. Known as part of "Big Oil" along with Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, Total SE, and BP, ExxonMobil makes up a large percentage of the oil industry around the world. In addition to the long history of Exxon, started way back with John D. Rockefeller, we als...

How exciting can driving in a straight line be? Well, when you're going over 300 miles per hour, it can get pretty intense!! Unprofessional Engineering dug into the sport of drag racing to better understand the rules, but more importantly, to understand the engineering and technology that goes into making these some of the fastest vehicles on Earth. Take a listen to how these drag racing vehicles...

Coca Cola is one of the most recognizable brands across the world, and the "natural flavors" included in each bottle or can is one of the most closely kept secrets, as well. We looked into the part that Coca Cola actually plays in the process of making this tasty treat (spoiler: it isn't a huge role), what the "brewing" process looks like, how bottling works, and some amazingly fun facts about thi...