Balancing Life

Hmmm, maybe this one will have to be filed under domestic engineering... I'm trying to balance my life. Aside from the Stanford University classes I'm wading through (and really enjoying), I'm also working my way through a Statics and Strength of Materials text. I had the classes 20+ years ago, but most of my experience has been in design. And in the aerospace industry, we tend to be so specialized that the "Stress guys" do the analysis and the designers worry about fit, form and function.

I'm not a fan of this division of responsibility, and it causes a lot of problems. But over the last couple of years, I've actually been in the position of managing a sizable Stress group, and it has been a learning experience. Someday I will expound upon this unique niche of engineers, but not now. For now let's just say I've decided to brush up on my Statics, because given the opportunity, I'd like to shake up the status quo in some small way.

But aside from iTunes U and reading a text book, I've also got to be a father. And just lately I've had some excitement in that arena. I've got four really smart kids, but not one of them has ever shown the slightest interest in anything remotely close to engineering....or math.....or science.... Well, that's not entirely true, my younger daughter is interested in becoming a doctor, so that kind of a science, right?

But the great thing is that about a week ago my 10 year old son told me that he wanted to learn about engineering. And he's smart enough to know that this is not something to say to me on a whim.

In the last few days we have learned about right triangles, Sin, Cos and Tan. We measured a point on our wall within a 1/2" by sighting along a plastic protractor and doing the trig. We defined electricity and experimented with his electric motor to make it a generator. And we learned the principle of an airfoil. The most amazing part of all this is that, with the exception of interrupting with a million questions, he actually paid attention through long, detailed explanations and examples, and he followed the concepts well. Of course I am prejudice, and tomorrow he may revert to one of his previous career choices (fire fighter, donut maker, nursery owner, etc.) But for now, it's great to have another engineer in the house, and I think he will make a fine one.