It will be the site of 12 medal finals this February, but Richmond's Olympic Oval has already won gold in one event: on October 9th, it was awarded top honors for a sports or leisure structure from the Institution of Structural Engineers, beating out Wimbledon, the Copenhagen Zoo's Elephant House, and another Olympic venue, Beijing's Birds Nest. The Richmond Oval won largely on the strength of sustainability, including a 2 hectare roof built out of salvaged lumber from the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation. [more inside]
posted by mannequito on Oct 26, 2009 - 33 comments

Canstruction is a design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America. Teams of architects, engineers, and students compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Mar 9, 2009 - 10 comments

Spacesuits ll LunarRover ll NavigationComputer ll LunarModule ll SaturnV First aired on Discovery channel as part of Space Week, Moon Machines tells the story of the over 400,000 engineers and technicians that made it possible for us to go to the moon. Lots of gorgeous Nasa archival footage throughout.
posted by vronsky on Jan 10, 2009 - 14 comments

We need a way to have, buy, and sit on fewer and better things. — from the CICINA, a 20 minute video presentation on their effort to compare all things in a massive bracketed set of 2¹⁴ binary judgements. Which is better: Apples or Oranges?
posted by blasdelf on Oct 30, 2008 - 22 comments

An Engineers Guide to Cats (youTube)
posted by Lanark on Apr 13, 2008 - 49 comments

Islamic terrorists are more likely to be engineers than members of any other profession--and not because engineers possess superior technological skills. That's the conclusion of a controversial Oxford University study that has the engineering community buzzing. (PDF) The study's disturbing finding blames what it calls a universal engineering mindset, which it describes as one drawn to structure and rules plus clear, single solutions to complex problems. When coupled with the harsh realities of life in many Islamic countries, terrorism can be the result, the study says. ~ Via EETimes [more inside]
posted by infini on Mar 10, 2008 - 68 comments

Where the Engineers Are - "To guide education policy and maintain its innovation leadership, the United States must acquire an accurate understanding of the quantity and quality of engineering graduates in India and China."
posted by Gyan on Aug 24, 2007 - 39 comments

Calculators for hairy-eared engineers Mike Konshak's scanned and photographed collection of 500 slide rules from around the world (click on 'Mike's Slide Rules' in left-hand frame). An article on Mike from the local paper.
posted by carter on Jun 23, 2004 - 9 comments

A Sightseer's Guide to Engineering. Engineering sights around the USA.
posted by plep on Dec 21, 2003 - 8 comments

"The car has...a headrest with a valley down the center for women who wear their hair in ponytails." At Volvo, an all-female project team is designing a concept car for women -- which makes for some interesting features (like a car without a hood) as well as some curious tales from a (temporarily) female-dominated workplace. More inside...
posted by serafinapekkala on Dec 18, 2003 - 53 comments