Self Evaluation- Laurence B

I would have to classify my work style and personality as hugely influenced by the explorer and warrior aspect, and only slightly influenced by the artist and judge aspect. Growing up I always had a big interest in big buildings and bridges. Going to new york city for the first time changed my life forever. I remember standing at the base of the Empire state building and looking up only to see that the top of this mammoth structure was above the clouds. The clouds were lying low that day, but I was still amazed. I have always been the one to fix anything that broke in my house of seven people. The youngest boy is the most knowledgeable on the subjects of raw materials and how to make things work. This is how i know that I am an explorer and warrior, because when something broke, which happened often, I would explore what happened, and then how to fix it. Finally, I would have the confidence to rip walls apart and shut off main water and electricity supplies to go in and fix whatever needed to be fixed, finding little ways to improve things when possible. And that is what makes me a warrior, because I am not afraid to go after something, even if I am unsure of it, I have the confidence to know there is a solution.
The artist and judge part of me are present, but not dominate. I am definitely the one to ask tons of “what if..” questions, and I like to question rules and guidelines. For example, a have always wondered why they always told us not to eat the leaves on the tops of strawberries, I could not find a reason not to, and so, I eat strawberries whole, green leaves and all. I like to look past the publics view of how things should be done and figure out what works best for me. As for the judge part, I like to take a step back every now and then to see if what I am doing is worth while, like Thomas Edison learned after trying to invent an electrical vote recorder, “Never try to invent something that people don’t want.” I always try to make sure that whatever I am attempting to fix or do is going to be beneficial.
As for weaknesses, I need to be more of an artist in that i need to try to compare more. I need to let other peoples thoughts and ideas in, and see if they could help make mine better. I need to be more of a judge by looking harder at my cultural bias and really examining what could be wrong with the situation instead of just going in blindly.
To build up strengths, I need to collaborate more with people of opposite viewpoints and give and receive feedback on what is going on. Working with people will be an extremely beneficial tool. The more we speak up about our issues, the easier it is to come together and fix them.

Achievements Michael B

In recent history there have been many important achievements.  Of all of the innovations and achievements that occurred during the period of electrification, I consider the REA and the use of steam turbines to be the most important.

In 1935 FDR established the REA, the Rural Electrification Administration, in order to bring reliable electricity to the rural areas of the US.  FDR appointed Morris Llewellyn Cooke as the first administrator to the REA.  Mr. Cooke applied scientific management to the problem of bringing electricity to a large number of spread out farms.  Within two years the REA helped bring electricity to about 1.5 millon farms.

The steam turbine was developed in the early 20th century.  Its developement greatly enhanced the efficinacy of power plants, sometimes decreasing the ratio of pounds of coal to kilowatt hours, from 1:5 to 1:1.

Self Evaluation – Rafael Reynoso

I consider myself a well-rounded person. There are little differences in my abilities wearing the hat of an explorer, judge, artist or warrior, but they are not that great. Rating my personality and work style from best to worst, the order would be: judge, warrior, artist and explorer. Being a judge is the strongest I have in my mixture of characters. I am good at rationing and making sure things are in correct order. The weakest area of being a judge is going back to think about what assumptions were made. I consider myself a respectable warrior, because when I start getting my ideas together I like to put them in action as soon as possible so that they don’t get lost. I put a tremendous amount of effort into my work and sometimes overdue, but not in a bad way. My weaknesses as a warrior is that overdoing work can cost some very valuable time. I make a decent artist in that I like to do work that is unique and not cliché. As an artist, I take too much time to think of something unique, so I consider that something that holds me back. I’m also a decent explorer, I have the ability to search for and gather information, but I don’t really like to do it. My trouble with being an explorer is not that I am not able to do it; rather, I don’t like it. I consider that a weakness for me as an artist.

To improve on my weakness as a judge, I will take a note of what assumptions are being made and make sure I read it at the end of my work. This will allow me to determine if the assumption was correctly made. I can be a better warrior, by making sure my work is concise enough to fit in the time frame given. To become a better artist, I can strategize by asking a more artistic person how they go about coming up with ideas. As an explorer, since I know I am capable of doing the work, I can try to make it enjoyable. All of this will help me by building on my strengths to become better no matter what hat I wear.

Achievements Nicole O.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, minds blossomed.  The field of engineering was at a peak, with inventions emerging to modernize and better the lifestyles of people worldwide. Dunn and Wind made it possible for farmers to receive electrical power, using windmills to generate power for farms in U.S plain and rural regions.  The windmills were also used to generate power for lights, radios, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines and more.  These items are still used in today’s generation. Lewis Latimer, one may refer to him as a modern Thomas Edison, improved filaments in light bulbs. Marjorie Stewart Joyner, a beautician made it possible to curl African American women’s hair at one time. Her invention lowered the time she spent on each individual head and increased the number of customer in her salon. The 19th and 20th centuries made hard laborious task less time consuming and more accessible to all.

In the early beginnings of the 19th century, major cities had easy access to new labor-saving devices powered by electricity.  Private electrical power companies provided electricity to only major populated cities, leaving citizens such as farms in rural areas without access.  Dunn and Wind thought of ways to achieve electrical power to the outcastes. Dunn and Wind used 1 to 3 kilowatts  to drive power onto rural lands in the U.S. This made it possible for farmers to have easy access to new-labor saving devices. Farmers were able to make more products faster

Thomas Edison and Lewis Latimer invented the light bulb, however, Lewis Latimer by improved the filaments inside the bulbs. Lewis Latimer was Africna -American and a runaway fugitive. He became a draftsmen of incandecentlight bulbs and the founder of an electrical company in New York.  His work ws not only beneficial but hisotrically rewarding and an empowerment for other African -Americans. During this era, it seemed unheard of, for a black person to perform such intellectual and complex task. Lewis Latimer was one of the many African-Americans to prove socitey wrong.  Like many other black inventors, Latimer improved the light bulb as well as the racial mindsets of American society.

Marjorie Stewart Joyner, an african-american woman and a professional beautician. Later on, down her career path she was able to add another achievement onto her resume, as an inventor. Her invention, the set-curl, was remarkable to many black woman. “The iron’s larger curl relaxed tightly curled hair. But only one fire-heated iron could be used at a time. Joyner disliked the slow and uncomfortable process.”  Black woman who spent up to 6 hours on their hair were able to cut that time in half, even in a salon. Three hours on doing hair is still a long time but less tedious. Joyner used a 16 pencil- shaped pot roast rods and a hairdryer hood.  Her invention made it so that woman could roll their hair and just sit under a blowdryer with a hood. Black woman to use this technique today. This made it easier to curl the whole head without using a curling iron.

Achievements, Andrew G.

The first large power grid is created in 1953 when seven states connect to form one grid. By connecting a large amount of power generating points together, it helps to prevent blackouts. If one of the power plants needed to go offline to be serviced or unexpectedly shuts down, then the other power plants on the grid would be able to up their power output and make up for the lost power plant. One of the other major benefits of having a grid is that all the power plants are able to work at full capacity and the power is sent where it needs to be.

France and England decided to connect both of their power grids to form one large system in 1961. This allows the two major countries to share power and help to support the others grid. The United states forms into 3 main grids during the 1990s. Forming a power grid helps to ensure that there is a constant or close to constant supply of power that is transported in an efficient way.  Without this it would be harder for people to develop new electronics, or use things like a desktop computer.  It might not be the biggest or the most notable thing to happen in the last century, but it has helped to create some of the greater inventions.

Engineering Achievement – Ivan B.

During the 19^th and 20^th centuries there have been many inventions that lead to great advancements in technology and welfare of people. Some of the great achievements include the widespread use of electricity, the use of automobiles, advancements in health care, global communication and trade, transportation systems, and the list goes on. However, the greatest and most important engineering achievement was the ability of the human kind to get off the home planet they are native to and explore the outer space.

In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite that orbited the earth. This started the era called the Space Race between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. A year after the launch of Sputnik the US started a program called the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Huge leaps in the advancement of technology came from both sides of the space race. At first, the first animals were sent to space and they returned home safely, after which humans were sent to space as well. Eventually humans landed on the moon. There were spacecraft sent out to explore our whole solar system and land on foreign planets. There were also uses for space other than competition and research. Geosynchronous satellites brought on technologies like satellite communication (satellite cellphones), television, navigation, and radio, among others. Other technologies that have been invented or improved by the space race include: water and pool purification systems, sports shoes, solar energy, smoke detectors, flat panel televisions, sewage treatment, and the list goes on and on.

If humans did not start exploring the outer space as they have been for the last 50 years then we would not be enjoying many every day things that seem essential to us. The greatest and most important engineering achievement was humans reaching the outer space.

Achievments – Robert S

1910s              Vacuum light bulbs
Irving Langmuir of General Electric experiments with gas-filled lamps, using nitrogen to reduce evaporation of the tungsten filament, thus raising the temperature of the filament and producing more light. To reduce conduction of heat by the gas, he makes the filament smaller by coiling the tungsten.

1920s              High-pressure steam power plants
Boston Edison’s Edgar Station becomes a model for high-pressure steam power plants worldwide by producing electricity at the rate of 1 kilowatt-hour per pound of coal at a time when generators commonly use 5 to 10 pounds of coal to produce 1 kilowatt-hour.  The key was operating a boiler and turbine unit at 1,200 pounds of steam pressure, a unique design developed under the supervision of Irving Moultrop.

The invention and advancements of light bulbs and high pressure steam turbines could both be considered some of the most important achievements in the 19th and 20th centuries. Before there were light bulbs, the only available light came from either the sun or oil burning lamps. These lamps had the disadvantage of being dim, smokey, and involved fire. With light bulbs, much more light could be generated, and in a safer manner. Langmuir’s advancements helped improve the light bulb, designing a light that was brighter and burned longer.

Advancements in steam turbines were also incredibly important in 20th century. Steam turbines were the major means of power generation, and thus were vital to the electrification of the US and the world. More efficient turbines meant that more power could be generated with less coal, or that the same amount of coal could generate significantly more power. In 1903, only 5,000 kilowatts could be generated from the largest steam turbine; by the 1960s, steam turbines could generate one million kilowatts.

Both achievements greatly helped the advancement of electrification in the US and the world, from light bulbs emitting more light, to steam turbines using far less fuel for the same power output.

Achievements – Heera J

Some of the most important engineering achievements of the 19^th and 20^th centuries are the invention of the light bulb and simply opening the world to the better knowledge of electricity as is today. With the help of Edison, and a few other scientists, we live in a nation where most of our daily needs require electricity. Electricity has simplified life as is for us. Before the invention of a coffeemaker, we had to boil with water and add the coffee powder in after for it to heat and all that, but now, all we do is pour the water and coffee into the machine and BAM! Coffee is ready in a mug. Our lives are surrounded by things that run on electricity which has become a necessity in our life. We use the computer, cell phones and iPods as if it was a part of our life and we would not know what to do without it. I believe right now electricity might almost be equal to oxygen.

Another invention that is great is the invention of plastics. I know right now it is deemed hazardous to the environment, but it is in almost everything we use!  Our mechanical pencils, water bottles, toothbrush, are all made of plastics. Plastic is the new glassware. It lasts longer, doesn’t break, and well it’s cheap. It is in most car parts, and its use is very flexible. Inventors and innovators find new ways to improve the use of plastics. They have improved its use around the house especially in the refrigerator department, the office and school. Now even they have even improved to environmentally friendly plastics, which I actually don’t believe in. But nonetheless, one has to agree the plastic is as regular in our life as is electricity.

Achievements Desire’ B

 

1961 France and England connect electrical grids

France and England connect their electrical grids with a cable submerged in the English Channel. It carries up to 160 megawatts of DC current, allowing the two countries to share power or support each other’s systems

 

1935 Rural Electrification Administration bring electricity to many farmers. President Roosevelt issues an executive order to create the Rural Electrifican administration (REA) which forms cooperatives that bring electricity to millions of rural Americans.

The reason I chose these two as my great engineering achievements was basically because of the direction that I think could eventually be taken from them. The idea of connecting two electrical grids seems so beneficial to me. I believe that eventually more countries will be able to connect their grids with one another to form that relationship that France and England have; that if one faces some electrical problem or power outage the other one can aid them. It might be far out there but that idea just seemed ideal to me.

The same idea goes with this one also. I like the direction that this achievement could eventually take in the future. I believe that following the same theories they used to get electricity to the rural areas that they would one day be able to supply those other countries that still have to go without it. Again, I’m probably just being very idealistic but if France and England can connect their grids on the English Channel I would like to believe anyone else could do it too

Achievements David G

The first long range electrical line was strung by the American Gas and Electric company in 1917.  This allowed the company to bring electricity to its customers. It was built near a coal mine so that the transportation from the mine to the plant was nearly eliminated.  I feel this was one of the most significant inventions for a few reasons. It allowed us to use electricity without being really close to a power plant, and it helped to shape life today as we know it.

Without the ability to transfer energy over long distances we would not have computers, televisions, and definitely no Internet. Without this stuff we would not be able to communicate to the ability we are now. This also allowed us to get power to the rural area’s of America. Transmitting at volts starting around 220, however low compared to today’s 765,000 volts, allowed the power to travel further and therefor reach more people and make this way of life available.