Thinking Outside the Bridge

I don't often talk about work in this blog. Well, that's because I like my job. I'd like to share a story about Engineering Day. Some time ago Lockheed Martin invented three teams from local junior high schools to tour our facilities and compete in an engineering contest. The contest was this: build something that will suspend ball bearing two inches off the table. Each team was given a budget with various items costing differing amounts. For example, paper clips might cost 10 points, a cup of sugar cost 2 points, string costs 5 points, etc. They were also given a limited time period for construction. I think it was an hour. They allowed to work with an engineer in advance on their design.

One of the teams built a box tower out of toothpicks and paper. This structure is the first thing that pops in my head when I think about suspending anything above a table. Ultimately, it didn't hold up to the weight of the ball bearings. It tilted to the side and collapsed.

The second team was made up almost entirely of girls. We marveled at their plan. Since we did not specify that the ball bearings were to be two inches above the table, they decided to construct a sling made of string, tape and paper to suspend them two inches BELOW the tabletop. It is a shame that women tend to get steered away from engineering careers. The girls seemed to enjoy the competition and took pride in their solution. Unfortunately, gravity won out and the sling snapped under the weight of the ball bearings.

The winning team had the simplest solution. Since sugar was cheap, it was central to their design. They made a cylinder of paper and tape. Then they filled it with four inches of sugar. They completed their project in about ten minutes. The cylinder held the ball bearings easily. The cheapest and quickest design won in the end.

I would like to think the children learned that engineering involves the challenge of balancing time and budget while meeting project goals. It can be an exciting and rewarding career choice. Also, while creative solutions are often needed, managing complexity is important. I have seen professional engineers struggle with their solutions. After a review of their software, I often tell them to eliminate unnecessary complexity and redundancy.

Posted at 8:48 PM