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How Were You 'Bit by the Bug' of Engineering & Technology?

What's the Gift that Led You to Give Back?

 

Gift us the story of your love for engineering & technology!

 

Every great love affair starts somewhere.  Did the sparks fly the moment of your first encounter with anything related to engineering or technology?image

 

Maybe you found it dull and boring at first? Did your mind go numb as you listened to concepts too complicated to understand and numbers too overwhelming to compute? Did your love blossom slowly over time, as you discovered layer upon layer of depth, becoming arrested by incomprehensible beauty, as you longingly gazed into the abyss of a perfect alignment of mathematical symmetry and artistic harmony?

 

Did it begin with an exchange of gifts?  Engineering and technology, as you know, offers many tantalizing gifts. Did you have a moment together?  A moment that would change the rest of your life forever!

 

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The end of the year is a time for giving and reflection. Gifts are exchanged, resolutions are made, and you look back on the past. You may even reach further and think of the pivotal moments that led you in the current direction of your life.

 

Whether its the gift of an experience, the gift of a piece of hardware or software, the gift of an idea or a person who inspired you, think of a gift that influenced you to pursue engineering & technology.

 

Here are some examples of the gifts that led others to give back:

 

The Gift of Wonder

 

Steve Wozniak, widely credited as the inventor of the Personal Computer, gave an interview where he credits a journal he found in a hall closet for his interest in engineering and technology: "...I found a journal in a hall closet with descriptions of binary numbering, logic gates and storage devices....When I discovered a 9-year old could understand this stuff I knew it would be my passion forever."image

 

An engineer may not get or even want attention for their accomplishments, its their job, to make things work even if it means pushing technology as far as it goes, making the seemingly impossible, possible. A good deal of selflessness is required in engineering, which in its way makes it sound a lot like giving.  For an engineer like Wozniak, it opened up a world of wonder for him that would change the world forever!

 

"I found a journal in a hall closet with descriptions of binary numbering, logic gates and storage devices....When I discovered a 9-year old could understand this stuff I knew it would be my passion forever."

 

The Gift of the Whole Brain

 

Many of the skills required to be a good engineer are well known and have been talked about a lot.  A lot of formal training in math and science is required to develop the rational thinking and logic required to solve real world problems. Not only are you expected to solve complex problems, you are asked to implement solutions in cost effective and practical ways.This brings us to another prized trait in engineers; the ability to think creatively. The ability to think big and use your imagination is highly valued, especially when it comes to solving complicated problems that may involve monetary or feasibility concerns. Anyone that has ever worked in tech knows you have to work within the constraints of the technology of the given time and even a perfect product will be obsolete before you know it.image

 

Although mostly known as one of the great artist, there's perhaps no better exemplier what can be accomplished in engineering using a whole-brain approach than Leonardo Di Vinci: "To develop a complete mind: study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else."  In addition to being an accomplished architectural engineer, Da Vinci's investigation of human anatomy helped lay the early foundation of the biomedical engineering field.image

 

"To develop a complete mind: study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else."

 

 

The Gift of Diversity

 

In a world ruled by seemingly arbitrary lines. Engineering and technology follow the laws of physics and if you can master those laws and bend technology to your will, you find it's the product of your work that matters and this gives opportunity to people from diverse backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses.  The appeal of technology and engineering for people in all corners of the world is that regardless of your gender, race, family, background, or social status, your contribution has value because of where you come from. That is why some of the great technology companies and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) educators are at the forefront of recognizing the need to promote a diverse and inclusive environment.image

 

Engineers and technologists recognize the value diversity brings to the work they are able to accomplish, if you are going to invent and innovate solutions that solve the needs of everyone you're only going to succeed by bringing in diverse perspectives. Education in engineering is now focused on being more diverse because, as explained in an article about the changing face of engineering education, that drives innovation.

 

The Gift of Curiosity

 

Once you understand the mathematical and mechanistic way everything works you open doors, that lead you to other doors, that lead to still more doors. Engineers use quantitative analysis to understand and model the world around them. They witness the interplay between science and technology, how science advances technology, and vice versa. In a profile on Live Science, Maurizio Porfiri, who holds a PH.D. in engineering mechanics credits the literature he read growing up for the curiosity needed to excel in engineering: "Being creative and being curious is more important than being the smartest or best at equations if you want to be a great engineer or researcher."image

 

Porfiri was included in Popular Science's Brilliant 10 in 2012, an elite group of scientists under 40 who stands to dramatically impact their field, despite being a self-described "okay student" as well as the recipient of the 2008 NSF Career Award.  In engineering and technology, curiosity is what drives you to learn new programming languages, experiment with new systems, and come up with novel solutions to solve problems.

 

 

"Being creative and being curious is more important than being the smartest or best at equations if you want to be a great engineer or researcher."

 

The Gift of a Better Tomorrow

 

There are many pressing needs in the world in fields like technology including energy, sustainability, transportation, education, healthcare, food, and the environment. While a goal of many disciplines in science is to understand reality, the ultimate goal of engineering and technology is to create a better tomorrow that leaves the world a better a place.image

 

The work of engineers is everywhere.  In hospitals and clinics there is manufacturing pharmaceuticals, designing intravenous infusion pumps, programming electronic medical records. Biomedical engineers are as much a part of patient care as nurses and physicians. Meanwhile, mechanical engineers contribute to transportation; environmental engineers contribute to sustainability and energy; and electrical engineers contribute to communications.

 

The Gift of Generosity

 

Perhaps the greatest gift of engineering and technology is that it can not only make life more comfortable for everyone, but it can also save lives. An understanding of engineering and technology can be used to serve the public and address global challenges by putting you in a position to help others using your skills.  Environmental Engineer Lilia Abron, founder of Peer Consultants and Peer Africa, credits the book Silent Sprint by Rachel Carson, as the inspiration behind her sanitary engineering vocation.image

 

Lilia Abron runs a program that unifies energy efficiency and sustainable housing construction, along with economic development, to create sustainable human settlements.  She tells her alumni bulletin: "It bothered me to see people living without any power to change their lives, and government funds being wasted by construction companies just trying to make money. I told my business partner, 'I know how to solve this.'" The book Silent Spring, first published in 1962, is also the inspiration for the environmental movement that led to the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency).image

 

"It bothered me to see people living without any power to change their lives, and government funds being wasted by construction companies just trying to make money. I told my business partner, 'I know how to solve this.'"

 

The Gift that Kept On Giving

 

There's perhaps no better way to succeed in life than to love what you do because then you'll never you'll never "work" a day in your life. Educators are finding that key to developing children's interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) may lie in making STEM applicable to everyday life, making it more interesting and hands on, and emphasizing the process over results. If you developed a love for Science, Technology, and Math you could probably point to examples in your life that fall into one of those categories.  It could be a HEATH kit you received when you were a child, your first computer, working with your Dad in the garage, a science fair, or any number of experiences that you can point to as having influenced your love for engineering or technology.

 

You've heard from others.  Now, tell us what sparked YOUR interest in Engineering or Technology!  Was it a gift you received?  What was the gift?  Do you remember how old you were when the moment happened!  Do you remember where you were when it happened?  Tell us what it means to you now. Everyone has to start from somewhere, with that "eureka" moment. Were you working one day and suddenly realized, engineering and technology is where you want to spend the rest of your life.  Engineering and technology are definitely a worthwhile life-long companions. Others have always known they wanted to be with engineering and technology. What's your story?

 

Love at First Bite?  Tell Us How Your Love Affair with Engineering or Technology Began!

 

Love is a gift (I'm reliably informed by every rom com movie ever made). So we want to lavish technology gifts upon you, due to your love of technology (recipients of the freebies will be selected on the quality of their storytelling chops)!

Not only that, but we'll give you something to pass along to a techno-noobie to spread your love of electronics and inspire the next generation of engineers, like ripples in a solder bath.

 

Here's how to join in:

  • Register for free here at element14.com, or log in if you're already registered.
  • Tell the story of what got you hooked on electronics and tech in the comments below, leaving no lyric unwaxed!
  • Make sure your postal address and phone number are filled out in your element14 profile (if it's not, we can't send you anything even if we wanted to!). Click your name at the very top of the screen to open the  drop-down menu, followed by "Edit Profile + Privacy", and fill in the details so you're eligible for freebies.
    • PRIVACY NOTE: Click your name at the very top of the scree to open the  drop-down menu, followed by "Edit Profile + Privacy", go to the "Privacy" tab, and change the relevant options to "Yourself" so that your postal address and phone number aren't publicly visible.
  • This promotion only runs until 20th January, 2017, or until we run out of hot tech swag, so tell us your stories now!
  • in reply to skyzer

    I hope you have an exciting career like I did.

     

    I never imagined that I would get to play with so many neat technologies when I went into engineering.

     

    Never looked back.

     

    DAB

  • Since I was born I lived in a small countryside town, but after my father's death my mother and I moved near the city. It was then when I got astonished in how buses and trucks were able to move being so big for some kind of magic sorcery. But the experience that changed my life was seeing a train and getting on it for the first time, i still remember it, a 300 series electric trainset from EuskoTren company from the line between San Sebastian (Spain) and the French border.

     

    From that moment, my learning process has been focused on how these "monsters" were able to move, but I was so bad at maths. When I was 18 I started Electronic Engineering pursuing my aim of  working making trains, but two years after I left because of my lack of level. So i went to profesional school and started an Automation and Control degree, so I could get a lower level knowledge in this field. And after making a great job in my erasmus internship on a Bulgarian company, my bosses pushed me to go back to university and give the Electronic Engineering another try.

     

    I did as i was said, and after four years of hard work and learning I can say this is going to be my last year as an engineering student.

    That has been the only reason of my love for engineering, a silly child's dream.

  • Life can be pretty tough when people don't believe in you.

     

    July 2012. I climb up to the stage to receive my mark list for my HSC examination. For those who aren't familiar with the education system here, your score on the HSC is one of the most important factors engineering colleges look at to decide if they're willing to take you in. I managed to get a qualifying score. Barely. Bad decisions, worse company and a general disinterest towards academics had culminated in this moment. Averting the indifferent eyes of the Principal and the disappointed ones of my parents, I held out a limp hand to receive the passing certificate. A smattering of applause from a few of my friends and my parents told me that my teachers did not consider my efforts worth theirs. At that moment, I felt alone, and I knew that the only person to blame for that depressing feeling, was me.

     

    The top scorers gave eloquent speeches, I assume, because their words were just inaudible buzzing to me as I tried to fully comprehend my situation. I was now a scavenger. I would not be able to choose the college I attended, but wait for what would remain for me. At best, it would be a compromise.

    Luckily, the compromise I made four years ago has led me to this moment.

     

    I was selected for a lesser known branch, Instrumentation and Control Engineering, at one of the better colleges in the country. I did not know what the branch was, nor cared. All I knew was that I had something to tell people who asked what I did now, and I could say that I was learning engineering with pride.

    However, engineering, as I found out, was much more than getting a college. My lack of research about what my branch was about bit back by instilling in me a neglect towards the subjects. Soon I found myself slumping back into my old ways, spending an extraordinary amount of time outside the Dean's office for varied misconducts. Engineering was much less forgiving than HSC. Soon I began to see the same look of condescension in my teachers, and the despair returned.

     

    I began to seek out ways to vent this frustration, and as luck would have it, I joined a course on Embedded Systems. There, I met three people who would later become the best project partners I've ever had and more importantly, the most reliable friends I will ever have. With them, I blinked my first LED and pressed my first switch.

     

    This changed everything.

     

    I was opened up to a world where anything I did, be it change a line of code or twist a potentiometer, made a tangible difference to the world around me. It wasn't some equation which was Greek and Latin to me ( to be honest, sigma, omega, alpha, beta are actually Greek.), and whose only contribution to my world was a number. I dove head first into this interesting and captivating field.

     

    The beauty of it was that the more I learned, the more there was to learn.   

     

    I began to look at the world as bits and voltages. The four of us formed a group whose aim was to learn through doing. We learned PID control and PWM from line tracers, SPI and I2C from sensor nodes, RF communication and ZigBee from RC bots, and were introduced to IoT and cloud computing through our Bachelor's Degree project, a cloud connected autonomous LPG control system. We spent countless nights in the lab, testing, resting and other things interesting, till we had the perfect output.

     

    As a side effect, we won quite a few robotics competitions, awards for best project for our Bachelor's degree project, which went ahead to become the first patented project in our department.

     

    The love for Embedded Systems and Internet of Things stayed strong after I graduated, and I published two research papers on the merging of Internet of Things protocols and lightweight machine learning. To add to this, countless projects on a number of development platforms enabled me to learn new technologies, programming languages and applications. I have learned more in the past eight months than I have in the eight years before it.

     

    Most importantly, it stoked the passion in me to forge ahead and do more.

     

    So I asked myself, what are the people who are on the cutting edge of technology, pioneering the revolutionary paradigm of Internet of Things, doing?

     

    October 2015. I decided to apply for a Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I never had any expectations, but hoped for the best. I poured my love for all things electronic and my passion for the IoT domain into my statement of purpose, mailed it, and crossed my fingers.

    Until that fateful night, with shaking hands, in the dim white glow of my laptop monitor, I opened an email which read;

     

    "Congratulations! you have been admitted to the M.S. program in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University!"

     

    When I read this to my parents, I saw in their eyes something I had been searching for my whole life.

    Pride.

     

    It really is the gift that keeps on giving.

    Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year!

  •      Then...
         The "Electronics Bug" first bit me back when I was little; I had received a few SnapCircuit kits which I instantly found fascinating. Now looking back, I can only think to myself how childish those things were, no soldering and no chance of explosions! Fast forward a few years, I was about 13 and I admit I hadn't evolved myself much from SnapCiruits.

     

    Its funny how you remember these things, but one night I was browsing some YouTube videos when I stumbled upon some videos of a guy putting together his own computer. For reasons I can't explain, I was compelled to do that myself as well. I worked and saved up my money until I had enough to buy the components for a decent gaming rig. I ordered them up and next thing I knew I was at my cousins house putting to together. I enjoyed every second of it, even though I was terribly afraid of ruining a $200 part by scratching it.

    Almost instantly after that you could say my "Electronics Bug" turned into an "Electronics Swarm". I discovered the world of Arduino, and I began making simple robots and projects using that. Then that Christmas my cousin gifted me a Raspberry Pi 2, and my interest in that took off.

     

         Now...

       I am a programmer and builder for a high school FTC Robotics team. I spend my free time working with electronics and technology. My most recent project is a "Pi Boy" as you may call it. Its an original GameBoy shaped MAME console using a Raspberry Pi 2.

     

     

    Whether there really is an electronics bug or not, something sparked in me, and I can without doubt say there is no other hobby and future career I would want to go into  other than Technology.

  • I first got started in electronics when I built my first computer along with my Dad.  He built a 286SX and I built a 286DX because I liked how much faster it was than even the slowest 386 at the time.  My 286DX would run rings around most 386's at the time.  After that I was given an RCA television (solid state) in the early '80's by my father in law.  He had taken the TV to several shops around the area and could never get it fixed.  I took it home and plugged it in and gave it the "smoke" test to try to identify the problem.  The thing smoked and I found out where the smoke was coming from.  There was a burnt resistor in the sound board section so I grabbed an unknown resistor about the same size (1/4 watt) and stuck it in the circuit.  The TV came on and we watched it for a year before the second problem crept up.  We had wooden floors in the house we were renting and when you would walk across the floor the video would flash and some times go off.  I took it apart again and pulled out the IF board with the video output transistor and when I pulled the can apart I saw what was making the problem.  A solder ball rolled out of the IF can that was rolling around and shorting out the video output transistor as one would walk across the floor.  After I fixed that problem we watched that TV for over 10 years without any further problems.  Then it finally developed a high voltage leak around the fly back transformer so I sealed it up with silicone rubber and it lasted another 4 to 5 years and then developed another high voltage leak that I couldn't fix this time.  So through my experimentation we had a nice solid state color TV to watch for over 15 years. 

     

    I then became interested in CB radio since it was in vogue at that time.  My parents ran a base station with two mobile CB radios.  I joined the club and got a base station going with a 150 watt "kicker" (linear amp) and a mobile with a 75 watt kicker.  My parents and I would only talk single sideband because there was more power transmitted into the sideband than in AM alone (12 watts vs. 4 watts on AM).  Then I got me a frequency counter and began modifying SSB radios for those who wanted to go up or down the CB radio band - just barely keeping out of the HAM band on the upward side of the sideband.  I even bored a hole through my main radio cabinet so I could get a tuning wand on my oscillator.  That way I could adjust the frequency band to the upper side or go way below the 1 channel frequency.  I finally ended up into television repair and had my own business for about 2 to 3 years thereafter.

     

    Once again I got bitten by a bug--this time the model railroading bug.  Now I have my own layout that I wired myself and it works and does everything I had set out for it to do.  Now I'm into the Arduino UNO and plan to do some experimenting with the Arduino UNO board to control my new layout that I'm planning on building.  I've also wanted a new computer (linux) based so I'd heard about the Raspberry and decided to look into getting one for our main computer.  I hate DOS based machines and the Windows GUI;  it's a wonder I didn't end up with a MAC instead of a PC but the cost drove me to a PC.

     

    I'm a self taught electronics tech. with many hours of trial and error, since building my 1st computer.  I think a Raspberry PI3 in in my near future.  I'm also a former USMC sergeant and went to Vietnam in '71- '72.

  • So, here's where it all started.

     

    One sunny afternoon a long time ago, I was sitting around my house as all nine year olds would do. Staring at a speaker. the reason behind this, was that I was trying to figure out how sound was being produced from it, and what was inside of it. The next thing I did, being the smart nine year old I was, was take the speaker and throw it as the ground as hard as I possibly could in a vain attempt at opening it. Breaking it in half like an IPhone getting thrown off of the top floor of a parking garage. (I didn't know screwdrivers existed then.) Believe it or not this is what got me into engineering.

     

    After dealing with the consequences of destroying a $20 speaker I was still curious as to how on earth speakers could make sound, so I fished the speaker out of the revolting garbage and went to work in my room in secret. This time instead of throwing the speaker on the ground again, I proceeded to pull it apart piece by piece, through a process I would later learn was called reverse engineering. I unfortunately I never did manage to put the darn thing back together, mainly because I lost all the screws and the coil snapped, but, whatever. Anyway, after losing the speaker for good, that curiosity stuck with me. I would begin to look at everything i passed, and wonder how did someone accomplish that?

     

    So, with this newfound curiosity, I would try to reverse engineer anything I could get my hands onto. It was also because of this curiousness, that I Learned new skills, like how to solder wires together, how to avoid breathing it toxic gas from the solder, and the ability to repair things like the wiring in computers, or other things. These skills were certainty very useful. if it wasn't for me throwing that $20 speaker, I probably wouldn't be where I am now. Starting a potential family business creating arcades. programing Raspberry Pi's, and going to a technical school to learn more about engineering. That is how I first got into the amazing world of engineering.

  • always i think that the most importan thing of the engeenering is to solve

    any difficults and help each others, being helpfull for others is the main

    reason to get involved in technology.

  • I was an electronic technician for Hughes Aircraft Co. in El Segundo, CA during 1978 through 1981. I loved it - soldering and wire wrapping circuits. One day, one of the engineers handed me a magazine that mentioned some scientists that had invented a switch that could turn on and off over a million times a second! I was totally blown away, picturing a house light switch being frantically moved back and forth

     

    I asked him how that was possible, and he told be that it was by electric fields - no moving parts. I was hooked. I graduated with a degree in computer science, learning as much as I could about electronics, and it's been very useful in my career over the last 35 years.

  • I must have been born with a curiosity for electricity and mechanical things. My father had no skill or interest in these areas but he was very supportive, always bringing me things to take apart and explore. His lack of knowledge about electricity allowed me to explore the subject without interference from him. I blew my first fuse at age five when I hooked up a frayed extension cord to a small toy typewriter. I declared it an electric typewriter and plugged it in. By the time I was 10 I had received so many shocks from the old tube radios that I routinely played with that it was no big deal. That what I was doing could have been fatal never occurred to me or my parents. Perhaps around age 13 I was fixing more things than I was breaking, though my mother often told people that I could fix things the rest of my life and never make up for all the things I broke in those early years. While some kids collect coins, stamps, butterflies, or rocks I collected electronic and technology parts. I also like to organize them into small jam jars and boxes. To this end I still have parts, pieces and small hardware as a resource for present day projects that I collected 55 years ago. I continue this process to this day salvaging parts from broken equipment and electronics. I really enjoyed reading the stories of my fellow posters to this blog. We all seem to have been caught up in the adventure of understanding how things work. As I have tried, over the years, to inspire children and grandchildren I have come to realize that it is a special calling to have this consuming curiosity for the technical. Those that do not have the passion can be taught but keeping them going is like pushing a car down the road when it is out of gas.

     

    John

  • I have always been fascinated by how things work, not so much the theory but the mechanics of it.  Tools, screws and bolts and nails, taking things apart and successfully (hopefully) putting it back together fixed or better than it was ( or at the least the way it was before).

     

     

    My earliest passions were hammering and nailing, and unscrewing anything that would unscrew.  This generated many happy times from childhood and I'm sure the items left apart didn't bother my parents at all.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

     

     

    This combined with a love of math led to models of engines and cars, Rubik's cubes and fixing bikes.  I once took my sisters bike apart when I was mad at her knowing she couldn't put it back together, but she sweet talked me into putting it back together.

     

     

    I was fortunate to have a friend whose brother was mechanical, so I helped them remove a Saab engine and refurbish it.  I bought two parts car Saabs my senior year and put them together into my first car.  Btw, don't ever buy a Saab, they are a disease you can't cure.

     

     

    I rebuilt engines, I rewired more than one Saab (one after a fire) and troubleshot many issues and breakdowns.  I credit it with fueling an interest in troubleshooting that has helped me accomplish quite a bit in life, and saves money too.

     

     

    I can't help myself, have to tell one story where a girlfriend needed her car fixed.  I called around and got some prices but she couldn't afford it.  I agreed to look at it, and ended up fixing the issue for $50 bucks and 15 minutes while the dealer wanted $350.  A proud moment.

     

     

    It helped in my career as well, the analytical and logical thinking.  I did much scripting in multiple jobs (I'm old school and I love perl and vi) to streamline my job and make it easier.  It helps to have the tools to scratch the itch of solving a problem.

     

     

    I'm looking forward to learning more about electronics and devices that will allow me to continue the tinkering that has characterized my whole life.   It's a passion that I hope fuels me in the second half of my life.