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For All You Engineers of NS!!

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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
So i have to write up a short little paper on an engineering issue or problem on a large scale. Eventually we have to give a speech about it to our class to show off our public speaking skills to see how much we learned in there this semester and blah blah. Sounds easy because it will be...once i have a topic.

Basically I decided to come to you guys to help me come up with some interesting topics on some of todays engineering issues around the world. A couple i had in mind were like diesel fuel boring shit and stuff like that or how china is cheating the global economy sort of stuff. But those are lame and I thought I could get some other ideas here. Thanks!
Nov 2 2012 12:48AM
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Jakx~
Posts: 653 - Karma: 503
I know a recent big one is the tidal wave damns for new york. Funding and then also practicality with all the traffic in the port. But also several engineers are saying they could have protected the city completely.
Nov 2 2012 12:59AM
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Jakx~
Posts: 653 - Karma: 503
I know a recent big one is the tidal wave damns for new york. Funding and then also practicality with all the traffic in the port. But also several engineers are saying they could have protected the city completely.
Nov 2 2012 12:59AM
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FightClub27
Posts: 486 - Karma: 416
Kinda like you said with the diesel pretty much anything dealing with the energy crisis is usually a good choice. one other thing that i dont know if it would be something you could use but, cost cutting/cutting corners, trying to use cheaper materials and make production cheaper while still having a safe work environment and putting out a good product. thats all i got
Nov 2 2012 12:59AM
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B4NE1
Posts: 876 - Karma: 16
What variety of Engineering exactly?
Nov 2 2012 1:05AM
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Auschie
Posts: 297 - Karma: 392
So I'm not sure what your paper needs but if it's something that requires a problem and you state the solution then maybe I have a topic. Solar thermal heat storage by using molten salts could be a good one if you're into more of the renewable energy side of engineering. I wrote a short paper on it last year and the kids who got best paper of our engineering conference won with a very impressive paper on this topic. Look it up, it was interesting to me but I don't know what you're into so good luck!
Nov 2 2012 1:08AM
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Auschie
Posts: 297 - Karma: 392
Sorry for the double post but referring to mine the problem could be the eventual depletion of fossil fuels.
Nov 2 2012 1:09AM
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AT-AT
Posts: 3281 - Karma: 3,256
Sustainablity (or lack there of) of our modern society, should yield many an engineering topic. There's alot to build off of from that; solar, wind, ethanol, or those cool little algae that have been altered so they take in sunlight and excrete biofuels.
Nov 2 2012 1:35AM
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mynamegus
Posts: 33 - Karma: 12
if your looking at more of the sustainable side of engineering, there is lots of things to look at. different energy sources that are being developed, such as geothermal energy for heating and potentially as a power source in the future, using bioass (decomposing garbage in a dump, capturing the methane off-gasses and burning them to power generators), new photovoltaic cells for solar panels, different forms of high efficiency insulation and their different practicalities. if you are more into the chemical engineering side, you can do similar things as mentioned above. find a seldom used compound that is typically unstable and volatile, find a way to create a way to have it in controlled combustion reaction for a alternate fuel. if you are a civil engineer, examine how dams are being built past and present, draw comparisons in how they are built and why. theres a lot of possibilities, and if you want any extra thoughts on anything, message me.
Nov 2 2012 1:36AM
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AT-AT
Posts: 3281 - Karma: 3,256
If sustainability does not interest you, theres always that huge underground/submersed tunnel that the are building in turkey to cross under the black sea from europe to asia
Nov 2 2012 1:37AM
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dreadyboy
Posts: 2306 - Karma: 34
Are there any local landmarks being changed/ new ones being built? We have this lifting bridge that needs replacing and that has been a good topic for a lot of things.

I did my final research paper in first year on flywheel hybrids (Audi R18 etron, Porsche 918) that was cool.
Nov 2 2012 2:33AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
this is very important
Nov 2 2012 2:40AM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331
well im in mechanical but its for a general engineering class so i was kinda leaning more towards the renewable stuff since that is such a big problem. i feel like everyone and their dog might have the same related topics tho thats why i was seeing if you guys had any other thoughts.

i like the solar thermal energy stored in molten salts idea. but yeah we have to have a problem and sum it up with conclusion type paper. so using that idea my problem will discuss the un-sustainability of certain forms of energy and such and the issue being limited resources and a need for renewable and what not and my impact talking about how it will have an effect on everyone basically and then my recommendations would be taking these thermal storage ideas further and then sum that all up in a conclusion.

think that might just be my paper right there actually haha, but any other ideas are still welcome

Nov 2 2012 3:06AM
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stizzle
Posts: 371 - Karma: 623
It sounds like you hit the nail on the head. I came in here to say do it on alternative fuels but your point about everyone doing it is probably true haha.
Nov 2 2012 9:29AM
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brizz
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 74
Energy related is likely first thought, so many there from cars to wind... Water is another and can go at it from an demand or environmental aspect. Restore and improve aging infrastructure in US.
Nov 2 2012 10:07AM
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H8CH
Posts: 2709 - Karma: 218
Deepwater oil/Gas production....

The era of "cheap" oil is over - most new major fields offshore are in deeper and deeper water (up to and beyond 10,000ft Water depths), and are from reservoirs with higher and higher pressures and temperatures - HUGE engineering challenges... more than anything the general public can ever begin to comprehend...

Pick this - i'll help you and you'll crush it.

(It's my job.... )

Nov 2 2012 10:40AM
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kingsskier
Posts: 6212 - Karma: 2,100
Take a different spin on it and do it on whistle blowing in the engineering world. Very controversial thing as if you do it, you legally can't be fired but they will find a way. If you don't do it, you can hurt people. Its an interesting topic and is a spin away from main stream stuff
Nov 2 2012 10:43AM
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stovypotts
Posts: 153 - Karma: 6
if its just a general engineering class then u r prob a freshman? just do it on engineering ethics, work place culture, etc..very easy topic..i did this in my general engineering class my freshman year
Nov 2 2012 10:47AM
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stovypotts
Posts: 153 - Karma: 6
nvm not an engineering problem..oil is always a good topic..greenhouse gases...fuel cells..
Nov 2 2012 10:48AM
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.Capn.
Posts: 1454 - Karma: 152
Pick something cool like the fact that life is still single planetary / little to no defense from asteroids. No one will listen to a presentation about energy, but people always listen to stuff about space.
Nov 2 2012 10:54AM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
yeah but unless he somehow relates it to technology in space, its gonna be pretty irrelevant to engineering.

a good topic for engineers is always design flaws. dont do the tacoma narrows bridge because thats the oldest example ever, check out the Ford Pinto and it's exploding gas tank. your description of this assignment is pretty vague, but the pinto is a great example of a horrible design and it's consequences
Nov 2 2012 12:14PM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
or, tunnel boring is kinda cool, despite the name. my dad is managing a project that involves boring a 12 km tunnel underneath the endless suburbs outside of toronto, big enough for a truck to drive through. the machines themselves are fucking crazy. when they dug the tunnel under the english channel they had no way of bringing the machines out, so they met in the middle (one coming from france, one from england), both turned 90 degrees to their right and drove a bit away from the main tunnel, and they just cemented them in and left them there haha
Nov 2 2012 12:17PM
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corona
Posts: 12795 - Karma: 32,747
about how there is a lack of skilled tradespeople these days causing infrastructure to be build like shit that won't last half a century and how it currently may be boosting our economy but will ultimately lead to a short but sweet demise once resource availability is at a minimum to rebuild every structure that has been built and is currently and will be built in this era of skill-less labour.

or fracking
Nov 2 2012 12:23PM
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daskis
Posts: 1828 - Karma: 356
Do a report on something outside of the US. I did one on the planning and building of Gravity Driven Water Networks in third world countries after a service trip to Panama where we began to build a water network after years of planning. There is a huge lack of water in many countries, and it is largely a problem for engineers to solve. If you are a ChemE, you can focus on the quality of the water, if you are a MechE or CivE you can focus on the actual network and how gravity driven water networks work. Computer or Electrical Engineer... I got nothing.
Nov 2 2012 12:53PM
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