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 you want to go to MIT? For one, they have a pirate certificate! You read that right. If that isn't enough to get you to listen, I don't know what is! Learn everything there is to know about MIT in this episode of Unprofessional Engineering.

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 surgery (it sounds just the worst), what materials are used to help you get the best results, and previewed new technology that is being worked on to make this process even better in the future.

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 their founders went to MIT.

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 much more useful. Take a listen to find out everything you ever wanted to know about these four elements, from how they were discovered to what they are used for, and of course, if being around them is going to kill you.

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 way back (not really, Boston Dynamics isn't that old) to learn how the company got their start, explored the various projects that the government kindly funded to keep them afloat, learned about the multiple acquisitions of Boston Dynamics, and discuss their most popular robots!

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 across them, and what causes power grid failure.

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) and more. They may have only invented one thing, but each one was a real hit.

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 behind what is happening to your food when you preserve it.

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 fly over the ocean for the most part, but that is the price for speed. Learn all about the Concorde, how it was engineered, the various companies involved, and why this engineering marvel eventually had an early retirement.